More Than You Know – Paperback Release and Giveaway!

Hi, friends! I’m happy to announce that my latest book as finally available in paperback! 🎉 So, if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a physical copy, this is your chance. 📚

To celebrate, I’m giving away a signed paperback to one lucky winner (more details at the bottom of the post). But for now, I have another excerpt to whet your appetite. 🙂

This scene takes place a little bit later in the story. It’s mid-December, and Colonel Fitzwilliam has just escorted Georgiana to Pemberley where is she is to spend Christmas with her brother and some invited guests—Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, along with the Gardiners and Mr Bingley—who are due to arrive any day.

I hope you enjoy!

More Than You Know

Excerpt

 “How is Georgiana, really? I have not been able to glean much from her letters.” Darcy exhaled heavily, raking a hand through his hair. “I suppose I had hoped she would have put this business behind her by now.”

Richard shrugged, taking a measured sip of his brandy. “She seems well enough to me. Mama said she has been a bit dispirited, but I suppose that is to be expected after…everything. In any case, she was perfectly convivial on the journey here.”

“Was she?” Darcy asked, surprise evident in his tone. “Did she speak at all about… Ramsgate?”

“A bit,” Richard admitted. “In a roundabout sort of way. But if you must know, we spoke mainly of you.”

“Me?” Darcy replied, taken aback.

“Yes, you, Cousin,” Richard said, his exasperation plain. “You and your scheme to marry her off at the earliest opportunity.”

“My scheme?” Darcy repeated, his voice rising. “You were in agreement when last I took note!”

“Yes, well, I am no longer convinced it is a good idea,” Richard shot back. “Can you not see that this whole affair with Wickham would not have happened if you had been more forthcoming? She never expected that you would be angry with her. She believed herself to be doing as you would wish—securing a husband.”

Darcy huffed, his temper flaring. “As if I would ever condone acquiring a husband in such a way! And Wickham, of all people! No one in the entire country would be a less suitable match.”

“And how was Georgiana to know that? Since you have never thought it prudent to confide in her about anything, all she knows is that George Wickham was a favourite of her father’s and a friend to you. Can you blame her for thinking that you would be pleased with the arrangement?”

Darcy’s jaw tightened as he turned away, pacing to the hearth. “This entire misadventure is your fault,” he muttered darkly. “You were the one who convinced me to remove her from school.”

“Now hold on a moment! I suggested you take her from school so the two of you could spend more time together. I did not tell you to bundle her off to Ramsgate with only a companion of dubious repute for company!”

“Mrs Younge came with an impeccable character!” Darcy sputtered, his face heating. “How was I to know she was a reprobate—and in George Wickham’s pocket to boot?”

Richard set down his glass with a weary sigh, rubbing his hands over his face. “Well, there is no sense arguing about it now. What’s done is done. I just wish you would reconsider bringing Georgiana out next spring. It is too soon. What happened in Ramsgate should have convinced you of that.”

A muscle ticked in Darcy’s neck, tension simmering just below the surface, but when he replied, it was in measured tones. “We have been through this a hundred times already, and you know my reasoning. The sooner she is settled, the better.” After a pause, he added with a note of defiance, “Besides, Georgiana is sixteen now. Plenty of girls marry at such an age.”

“Yes, girls whose circumstances force it upon them, or empty-headed romantics like the youngest Miss Bennets,” Richard bit back. “I am telling you, Darcy, Georgiana is in no way ready to be a wife. You have kept her cloistered all these years—first in the care of nursemaids and governesses, then at school. She knows nothing of her own family, let alone the rest of the world! Marrying her off now, simply to suit your own interests, would be like sending a lamb to the slaughter.”

Darcy stiffened. “You exaggerate. All Georgiana needs is an opportunity to gain a bit more confidence. I have already taken steps to engage another companion. There is a respectable lady—the widow of a clergyman—who has recently come to my attention. Someone like that could provide just the sort of steadying presence she requires.”

Richard huffed out a sigh of frustration. “That is all well and good, but she needs more than a companion—she needs a brother! A brother who is open and honest with her. One who confides in her and shows her some affection!”

“Enough,” Darcy snapped, his voice sharp. He felt perilously close to the end of his patience.

Across from him, Richard exhaled heavily, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “Very well,” he said, his tone resigned. “I did not come here to argue. Since we clearly cannot agree, let us set the topic aside and speak of pleasanter things—like the impending arrival of your guests. Georgiana was positively agog at the prospect of visitors at Pemberley. When she was not filling my ears with talk of you, she was pestering me with all manner of questions about the eldest Miss Bennets.”

Darcy frowned. “I hope it will not be too much for her. When I extended the invitation, I had not considered the fact that she would be required to act as hostess…” He hesitated before continuing thoughtfully, “Although, perhaps it will prove educational. I think she will enjoy the company of the Miss Bennets, and Bingley is already known to her. At least she will be spared Miss Bingley’s effusions.”

Colonel Fitzwilliam smirked back at him. “I must confess, I am rather shocked that Miss Bingley will not be of the party. I cannot imagine what would possess the lady to forgo an invitation to Pemberley.”

Darcy shrugged, though he had to admit he had been equally perplexed.

“According to Bingley, she chose to travel to Scarborough with the Hursts for Christmas. They left town a fortnight ago.”

Richard quirked a brow. “Travelling to Scarborough in the dead of winter? I hope you saw fit to pen a strongly worded letter of protest.”

Darcy shot his cousin a withering glance, but Richard merely took a generous swallow of his brandy, the twitch at the corner of his mouth betraying his amusement. “And what of your own guests?” he remarked casually, reclining further into his chair. “I do hope they arrive before I am forced to return to Briarwood. I am especially looking forward to seeing Miss Elizabeth Bennet here at Pemberley,” he added, casting a sidelong look in Darcy’s direction.

“I am certain you are, considering you were the one who invited her.”

“True,” Richard replied, “but as I recall, you did not waste any time in echoing the suggestion.”

Darcy turned away, unable to meet his cousin’s teasing gaze. Of course, Richard was correct. When faced with the prospect of having Elizabeth at Pemberley, he had indeed leapt at the opportunity. And in the weeks since his return to Derbyshire, he had imagined her here—her laughter filling the halls, her keen eyes observing every detail of the estate—more times than he could count. If he were honest with himself, it was the only thing that had brought him any joy in longer than he cared to admit. But it was all an illusion; Elizabeth’s place would never be by his side. There was no future for them at Pemberley or anywhere else. And he would do well to remember that.

Shifting his attention back to his cousin, Darcy began slowly, “Richard, I know you have the best of intentions, and I appreciate your concern for my welfare—truly, I do. But I must ask you to cease playing Cupid. It serves no purpose. You well know my plans, and I have already spoken to Miss Elizabeth. She is aware that I cannot marry.”

“Will not marry,” Richard corrected, leaning forwards in his chair. “And does she know why?”

“Certainly not! Nor will she, if I have anything to say about it. And if I find that you have breathed one word to her—”

Richard held up his hands in mock surrender, his expression one of feigned innocence. “She will hear nothing of that from me. While I do not agree with your…choice, I have long accepted that it is yours to make. Still, I could not see the harm in inviting her to Pemberley, not when she was to be in Lambton already. Surely, you would not wish to deprive yourself of her company when she is but five miles down the road.”

Darcy groaned, running a hand over his face in frustration. “But can you not see? The longer we are in company, the more difficult this becomes! Now, not only am I to play host to Miss Elizabeth, her sister, and her aunt and uncle but to Bingley as well. So I shall have the dubious honour of watching their courtship play out before my very eyes.” He turned away, his voice lowering to a mutter. “I would not be surprised to learn that he and Elizabeth are already betrothed.”

“Doubtful,” Richard said easily, setting his glass aside. “Would Bingley not have written of such a momentous development? Besides,” he added more gently, “that was what you wanted, was it not?”

Darcy looked away, a surge of emotion tightening his throat and making it momentarily difficult to speak. No, it was most certainly not what he wanted—not by a long shot. But it was the wisest course, for everyone involved.

Straightening his shoulders, he met Richard’s gaze with feigned composure. “Of course. Now, if you will excuse me, I shall see whether Georgiana is settled.”

~ Book Description ~

Fitzwilliam Darcy has spent years guarding a secret—one that could cost him everything.

Resigned to a solitary existence, Darcy has long accepted that love and marriage are luxuries beyond his reach. But when a chance encounter on the Yorkshire moors proves impossible to forget, the life he has so carefully constructed slowly begins to unravel.

Years later, drawn into Hertfordshire society by his friend Charles Bingley, Darcy crosses paths with Miss Elizabeth Bennet—clever, spirited, and unafraid to challenge him at every turn. Yet as his attraction to Elizabeth deepens, so does the fear that winning her affection would mean exposing a truth he has long kept hidden.

Unable to endure the agony of watching Bingley pursue the woman he loves, Darcy flees—but fate has other plans. When unexpected circumstances bring Elizabeth to Pemberley, his restraint is tested like never before.

Torn between duty and desire, Darcy must decide: will he cling to the barriers he has spent a lifetime building, or risk everything for the one woman he cannot forget?

Okay, giveaway time! Since we’re celebrating the paperback today, I’m offering a signed copy, open to all U.S. residents. 📚 To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below. The winner will be drawn on April 22nd.

And if you’d like to purchase the ebook or paperback (or read on KU), you can do that HERE. 🙂

Until next time!

JA