Joana Starnes lives in the south of England with her family. Over the years, she has swapped several hats – physician, lecturer, clinical data analyst – but feels most comfortable in a bonnet.
She has been living in Georgian England for decades in her imagination, and plans to continue in that vein till she lays hands on a time machine. She loves to look for glimpses of Pemberley and Jane Austen’s world, and to write about Regency England and Mr Darcy falling in love with Elizabeth Bennet over and over and over again.
She is the author of twelve Austen-inspired novels: From This Day Forward ~ The Darcys of Pemberley, The Subsequent Proposal, The Second Chance, The Falmouth Connection, The Unthinkable Triangle, Miss Darcy’s Companion, Mr Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter, The Darcy Legacy, The Journey Home To Pemberley, A Timely Elopement, Twists of Fate and Snowbound.
Find Joana on joanastarnes.com, Facebook, YouTube, Goodreads, Instagram, or visit All Roads Lead to Pemberley for places and details that have inspired her stories.
~ Joana’s Novels ~
Snowbound
A narrow escape and a staggering encounter mere miles from the gates of Pemberley leave Mr Darcy in no doubt: The Fates have grown tired of nudging gently.
And now Elizabeth is in his home. Beside him. Every waking hour of every day.
“I missed you. Dreadfully. And now you are here. Against all odds, you came to Pemberley, and every moment brings fresh glimpses of what my life could be if you stayed.”
Will she?
Thanks to a broken bridge and a heavy snowfall, she is not going anywhere. Not yet, anyway. How is he to persuade her to remain forever while maddening houseguests would do anything to thwart him, and an old secret is at work behind the scenes?
Twists of Fate
What if Mr Collins were to shock Elizabeth with his base conduct at the time of his proposal, thus sending her dashing out of her house, and into the arms of Mr Darcy? What if that encounter was witnessed, and impropriety was assumed?
What if Mr Darcy was glad of the excuse to marry his heart’s desire – only to have his best hopes blasted within hours of his wedding? What if he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time more than once?
Evil rumours, an early marriage, a dreadful misunderstanding, an old secret and good intentions gone awry.
What if ‘I do’ is not the end, but the beginning of the adventure?
A Timely Elopement
What if Mr Darcy’s first proposal was interrupted by a bearer of ill tidings? The worst tidings: an elopement!
Ah, but whose elopement would allow Elizabeth and Mr Darcy to spend quite so much time together and overcome their prejudices and his stubborn pride?
The Journey Home To Pemberley
A chance encounter in the wilds of the North brings more joy to Elizabeth and Mr Darcy than either of them dared hope for.
But her world is rocked by blow after blow – and the truth would only cause him pain. ‘I must be cruel only to be kind’ is Elizabeth’s guiding precept, and she chooses her path. Yet time, circumstances and new acquaintances teach her she had made a terrible mistake.
How can she regain what she had lost and rebuild a future with the only man she will ever love, but for whom disguise of every sort is his abhorrence?
The Darcy Legacy
Pemberley’s ancient halls harbour many secrets. Which one will affect Fitzwilliam Darcy and the love of his life? How is Mr Bennet to enjoy the comforts of a well-stocked library, when his wife’s premature demise had left him with the task of finding suitable matches for their daughters? And what of a misleading encounter on a muddy lane in Hertfordshire, that renders a country-town assembly rather more tolerable than some might have thought?
Shades of mystery, meddlesome relations – not least a drenched Adonis – raillery, old errors and a very recent union make for a challenging courtship when Fitzwilliam Darcy is not on his own ground. Yet when love is the reward, challenges make it more worth the earning.
“A fraught courtship? So, let it be fraught,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said with a nonchalant flourish of his hand. “A good challenge never hurt anyone.”
Mr Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter
When Colonel Fitzwilliam’s disclosures are interrupted by the bearer of distressing news from Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is compelled to accept an offer she would have otherwise dismissed out of hand. An offer of marriage from the all-too-proud Mr Darcy.
Yet how is she to live with a husband she hardly knows and does not love? Will she continue to feel trapped in a marriage of convenience while events conspire to divide them? Or would love grow as, day by day and hour after hour, she learns to understand the man she married, before she loses his trust and his heart?
Miss Darcy’s Companion
Miss Georgiana Darcy is in need of a companion, and she would much rather not have Mrs Younge. The recently bereaved Miss Elizabeth Bennet is in need of a position. When she accepts the one Mr Darcy offers, she finds herself in his near-constant company and gets to know him at his best. Not as he would present himself to strangers in some remote corner of Hertfordshire, but as his nearest and dearest know him. An excellent brother, landlord, master. A wonderful man, noble, kind – and impossibly handsome.
So who falls in love first? What of Mr Wickham and his dastardly ploys? And how is a lady’s companion ever to have a future with one who could marry into the best houses in the land?
The Unthinkable Triangle
All is fair in love and war – or is it? What if Mr. Darcy’s rival for Elizabeth Bennet’s hand and heart is not some inconsequential stranger, but his dearest, closest friend? How is he to reconcile the claims of loyalty and kinship with the urge to pursue his heart’s desire?
“Eyes tightly shut against the horrifying future, Darcy dug his fingers in his hair. Lost to him forever. Not merely lost, but promised to his cousin – firmly in his life, but never his! How in God’s name was he to bear it and not become unhinged? How was he to have her at his table as Richard’s affianced, and not betray himself? How was he to see her, time and again, and give no sign that he wanted her more than he had ever wanted any woman? How was he to keep up the pretence, day after excruciating day?
“This cannot be! Today’s events have tampered with your judgement.”
“Elizabeth, pray let my judgement be my concern alone. From the very first days of our acquaintance, I sat in judgement instead of courting you, and I paid a terrible price for it. After a year such as I had, there is nothing – nothing, do you hear? – that I would not do to be with you.”
He kissed her with a passion bordering on desperation, then burst out, more fiercely than ever:
“You must leave me room to hope! Or, as God is my witness, by this time tomorrow I will have carried you off to Gretna Green and damn the consequences!”
The Falmouth Connection
Just as Mr Darcy finally decides to propose to the enticing Miss Elizabeth Bennet, she is summoned to Falmouth, to meet a relation she never knew she had.
Thus, the ill-starred Hunsford proposal is avoided – but before he could even begin to understand his luck, adverse circumstances hasten to conspire against him, and Fitzwilliam Darcy is compelled to follow the woman he loves to the far reaches of Cornwall, into a world of deceit and peril where few – if any – are what they seem to be…
The Second Chance
Soon after the Netherfield ball, a troubled Mr. Darcy decides to walk away from a most unsuitable fascination. But heartache is in store for them all, and his misguided attempts to ensure the comfort of the woman he loves backfire in ways he had not expected…
Why is it that the worth of a true blessing is never felt as keenly as when it seems to have become quite out of reach? In this tale of ‘Pride & Prejudice’ meets ‘Sense & Sensibility’, Mr. Darcy is compelled to reflect on this very question, as he struggles to come to terms with the effects of his wrong choices, and fervently hope for a second chance at finding happiness.
“Well, Sir, what shall it be? The joy of music or of the printed word?” she asked, in a manner so highly reminiscent of their past interactions as to make him almost giddy with renewed hope.
“The joy of you! My greatest folly was to ever walk away from it!”
The Subsequent Proposal
A number of broken-hearted characters from Jane Austen’s best novels are thrown together by the vagaries of fate, and all manner of unwise decisions are taken at this vulnerable time. But then their past creeps up upon them – and what is there to do but face it, and hope that their convoluted paths will finally lead them to their proper place?
“Elizabeth… ” he murmured against her lips, her skin, her hair, and then her lips again. “I cannot forsake you. I cannot. I cannot lose you! I cannot bear to think of a life without you – ‘tis not worth living, ‘tis but a slow death. I beg you, do not send me away again. I love you, Elizabeth. I love you!”
Friends, rivals, foes, wrong choices and a duel – Fitzwilliam Darcy’s life is never dull. ‘The Subsequent Proposal’ follows him in his struggles to decipher the troubling enigma of Elizabeth Bennet’s feelings, and to correct the worst misjudgement of his life…
From This Day Forward ~ The Darcy’s of Pemberley
On a crisp winter morning in a small country church, Miss Elizabeth Bennet married Mr Darcy – and her quiet, tame existence abruptly changed. The second daughter of a country gentleman is now many different things, to different people. Beloved wife. Mistress of a dauntingly great estate. Reluctant socialite. Daughter. Sister. Cousin. Friend. Her world is very different too, touched by a series of events that the creator of ‘Pride & Prejudice’ would have recognised. And as the days of her married life go by, bringing both joy and turmoil, the man that stands beside her is her shelter and comfort in the face of family opposition, peril and heartbreak. Three very different Christmas seasons come to serve as landmarks to their lives and there are blissful days and times of sorrow at the old English country house. And before too long, a time would come when Darcy must decide if he is prepared to risk everything for the sake of a full life together – or succumb to the collection of his fears.
“Quiet footsteps, eerily quiet, drew him from his trance. He looked up – and followed. The ghostly sound faded as he reached the eastern staircase and he took the steps two at a time, down to the very bottom. A madman’s quest for he knew not what pushed him to the gallery. In the light of the moon, from her portrait, his grandfather’s first wife looked down upon him with the deepest compassion. He dug his fingers in his hair. A long, dry sob racked his chest as he pounded the frame of the unfortunate woman’s likeness, and broken gilt plaster fell to the floor. He covered his mouth with his fist, stifling the groan. And ran out of the deathly quiet room, chased by his demons.”
~ Anthologies ~
Joana is also one of the contributing authors to the Quill Ink anthologies (Editor: Christina Boyd): The Darcy Monologues; Dangerous to Know; Rational Creatures; Yuletide; Elizabeth, Obstinate, Headstrong Girl
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