Mr. Darcy Steals a Kiss + Giveaway

Heigh-ho, and Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah)!

I’m back today with the final excerpt from Mr. Darcy Steals a Kiss, as well as a giveaway. But first, I thought I’d share a bit about the historical backstory. As you know, authors often get lost in this time-suck vortex known as the Research Rabbit Hole. Sometimes the Rabbit Hole inspires the story, and sometimes it’s the reverse.

This time, the history found me. Fell into my lap, actually.  You see, there was this dude called Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, whose name has already been mentioned in Chapter One of this story. He was an ambassador in Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire from 1797 to 1803, and he procured–perhaps legally, perhaps not–a large quantity of ancient statues from the Parthenon in Greece. Most of them were life-size sculptures and friezes that were part of the building itself. He brought them home to England, though some may have been lost at sea in a shipwreck. It took divers three years to recover the collection we have today.

As you can imagine, this was *slightly* controversial. Lord Byron was a vocal opponent to what many called the plundering of Athens, and the debate about the proper ownership of this collection rages on today. What I can say is that the British Parliament decided to purchase Lord Elgin’s collection when his divorce left him in financial straits. The Parthenon Marbles (aka the Elgin Marbles) are on display today in a specially-built gallery at the British Museum.

So, there is a bit of the back story that formed the plot. In the second half of the book, a lot of the action moves to Somerset House, on The Strand in London. This was home to the Royal Academy of Arts, commissioned in 1768 by George III. The Royal Academy is no longer there, but Somerset House is still standing. I needed to “see” this building in my mind, so I spent a lot of time digging up information about it.

The Royal Academy was designed to train new generations of artists to preserve the knowledge of the masters. Aspiring artists applied for study and could attend the Academy for free. While the founding board included two women, the Academy did not usually accept female students. The normal course of study was six years, with students beginning their study at the Antiquities Academy, on one of the upper floors. After about two years, they would progress forward to the Life Academy on the ground floor, which hired live nude models. For many years, female students were not permitted in the Life Academy, but interestingly, the female models (usually prostitutes) were paid about three times what the male nude models were.

Every year from May through June, the Academy would host an Exhibition. Artists did not have to be students to submit their work for consideration. The one hard and fast rule (which was sort of violated for an exceptionally talented enamel artist whose art was focused on mimicry) was that the work could not be a copy of another work. Preferential placement of exhibited works was quite political.

Here are some fun links, if you’d like to dive down the Rabbit Hole with me!

Our dear Lady visited the Royal Academy! I love this article. The Royal Academy at Somerset House | Jane Austen’s World (janeaustensworld.com)

Then and now: the entrance to that fabulous spiral staircase as it might have looked in Jane Austen’s day versus today.  The Hall at the Royal Academy, Somerset House | Works of Art | RA Collection | Royal Academy of Arts   ******     Enjoy a private view reception at The Courtauld, followed by dinner at Somerset House | Somerset House

A virtual tour of Somerset House as it is today, housing the Courtauld Gallery: Gallery Virtual Tours – The Courtauld

Royal Academy – Somerset House, London | Romantic Circles (romantic-circles.org) (FYI: This link takes you to a painting by Thomas Rowlandson, who was known for the bawdiness of his work. This one has a nude female model.)

And now, let’s talk excerpts and giveaways!

I’m offering five ebooks to randomly drawn commenters. I’ll draw names on Friday the 23, so drop your comment below to enter!

Also, a bit of housekeeping: These excerpts will be coming down before the book goes live, in accordance with Amazon’s exclusivity policies. I know, I know. It stinks, BUT the book will be available in Kindle Unlimited when it launches on December 26.

This book has been available for pre-order for $2.99, where I have priced all my Alix James books so far. However, as a novel-length story, it’s not going to stay there. The price will go up to $4.99 tomorrow, so if you’re thinking of pre-ordering your own copy, today is the day.

Today, I’m sharing *part* of Chapter Five. I promised my newsletter subscribers that they were the only ones who would get to see that whole chapter before the release, so I won’t break that promise. However, do you remember how Chapter Four ended, with Darcy hiding from Elizabeth behind a fireplace screen? I’ll give you a hint about how the rest of it goes: Elizabeth doesn’t like being surprised. The girl can take care of herself. And she has a few weapons at her disposal.

To catch up, if you’re just now joining the fun:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapters Three and Four

Okay, so let’s do this!

Excerpt redacted in advance of publication. My apologies!

Please check out the early reviews on Goodreads.

My family is about to be ruined, and the only person who can help me is a burglar whose kisses make me forget my own name.

Elizabeth Bennet

My father is a fraud. There, I’ve confessed it. Jane and I are the only ones who know that he fakes “ancient Greek vases” and sells them to unsuspecting buyers for exorbitant sums to keep our mother in pin money. I don’t even have time for flirtations and courtships like other girls because I’m so worried that someday, he’ll sell one of his fake artifacts to the wrong person.

But I never thought it would go this badly.

His latest brilliant scheme is to sell a “rare and valuable” sculpture to someone whose name starts with “Prince,” (yes, that Prince!). And that’s just the beginning of the trouble. Now, we have a burglar on the loose, a “ladyship” who wants to squeeze into the action, a pompous fool who wants to marry me just to get his hands on my father’s collection, and a royal who will not think any of this is funny.

It’s pretty sad when the most trustworthy person of the whole lot is the burglar.

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Things I have never done (until this week):
1. Broken into a house. (But I sort of had permission.)
2. Split my head open. (Totally not my fault.)
3. Pretended to be a burglar. (In my defense, it was to save a lady’s reputation.)
4. Kissed a stranger. (It didn’t affect me at all. Mostly.)
5. Paid a king’s ransom for a sculpture that may or may not be genuine. (I panicked. See above.)
6. Agreed to steal said sculpture to keep my neck out of a noose. (I’ve got nothing.)
7. Kissed a…

Perhaps she’s not a stranger anymore.