My newest book baby, How to Fall in Love with a Man You Thought You Hated, was released to the big wide world TODAY! You can find it almost anywhere you buy books, in paperback and e-book, and soon in audio. This book is light and fun and filled with flirtation and banter – one of my most favorite things. Basically dating, regency style. Here’s the first chapter for you to get a taste of what it’s like. Happy reading!

For Elizabeth Bennet, Charlotte is the friend who is—annoyingly—always right. Colonel Fitzwilliam is the mischievous brother she never had. And if their convictions that Mr. Darcy is in love with her are correct, he could be the lover she’s always wanted.

There’s only one problem—he tried to ruin her favorite sister’s life, and she made an absolute fool of herself in front of him.

Can lasting happiness come out of such a beginning? And can a man die from chasing a woman too quick to be caught? Darcy is about to find out.

1

A Tuesday Afternoon in Kent

“Charlotte, you are being ridiculous!”

“One is not rendered ridiculous by simply having a different opinion from your own.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Charlotte’s smug opinion. She sat across from her friend in the parsonage’s small parlor, drinking tea and discussing the previous evening at Rosings.

“One may not be rendered ridiculous by a difference of opinion, but one is certainly rendered ridiculous by belief in the absurd.” Elizabeth raised a brow triumphantly and sipped her tea.

“Only you would be proud of believing a man in love with you to be an absurd notion.”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open and she set her teacup down with a clank. Charlotte resettled herself in her chair, looking every bit the proud matron.

“Do you think it will rain today?” Charlotte looked out the window and stretched her neck to look up into the sky.

“Charlotte!”

“I suppose not. It has been rather warm lately.”

Elizabeth sighed in frustration. “Very well. I will take your change of subject as a signal that you recognize the absurdity of your assumption and move on. How is Mrs. Selton? Is she feeling any better?”

Charlotte turned to face her friend. “Eliza, I know we may joke about it, but as your friend, I cannot allow you to continue to believe that a man being interested in you romantically is a ridiculous notion. That is ridiculous!”

Elizabeth sighed again. “It is not that I think a man finding me attractive to be impossible, but this man in particular.”

“And why is that?”

“He said himself I am merely tolerable!”

“And can a person not grow in attractiveness once one knows them better?”

Elizabeth looked frustrated. “Of course, but that is hardly the case here.”

“Is it not? How can you know that?”

“Because it is not!”

Charlotte took a deep breath. “What did you say the first day you met Colonel Fitzwilliam?”

Elizabeth was thrown by the change of topic, but recovered and said, “I thought him friendly and amiable.”

“And handsome?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, then snapped it shut. “Well, not at first,” she said slowly.

“When he left the parsonage, Maria said he was good company, but it was a shame he was not in a red coat, for it would improve his looks immensely.”

Elizabeth stared silently at her friend.

“And you agreed with her.”

“I was being silly! I should have held my tongue had I known you would throw it back at me this way!”

“And how do you find the colonel’s looks now?”

Elizabeth was thrown again by Charlotte’s question. “He is perfectly agreeable.”

“Do you find him attractive?”

Elizabeth colored. “Well, I, he is,” she paused and looked away, shaking her head and pursing her lips. “Yes, I find him attractive.”

“And if he offered to court you tomorrow, you would accept?”

Elizabeth huffed.

“Or would you decline on the grounds of him being unattractive?”

“Of course not! What a ridiculous reason! A person cannot help their looks.”

Charlotte leveled a piercing look at her friend. “Exactly.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “It is hardly the same thing.”

“Is it not?”

“Men care much more about these things than women do.”

“Do they?”

“Yes!”

“Then how is it that I am married and Jane is not?”

Elizabeth gasped and looked at Charlotte with shock and offense.

“If beauty alone were the deciding factor in marriage, Jane would have wed years ago. And if beauty alone were the deciding factor in spinsterhood, I would still be one.”

“What does this have to do with Mr. Darcy?” she asked warily.

“So he found you tolerable. What of it? That was months ago. He has now come to know you better. It is entirely possible he now finds you attractive, much how you have changed in your opinion of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s looks.”

“I am certainly prettier than the colonel,” she grumbled.

Charlotte smiled. “That you are. So you see, Mr. Darcy could very well be in love with you.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes again. “Charlotte, you have taken up an idea and run wild with it.”

“Why do you say so? Has he insulted you again and I did not hear of it?”

“No.”

“Does he still stare at you when you are together in company?”

“He is looking to find fault!”

“Because men so often stare at that which they dislike,” said Charlotte with a look of smug disbelief.

Elizabeth huffed again. “There is nothing better to do at Rosings.”

“Of course. A young man of independent means in the country of his own accord can find nothing better to do than stare at you out of boredom. I comprehend it clearly now.”

“He does not speak to me!”

“He is a quiet man.”

“He is rude and haughty.”

“That does not mean he dislikes you.”

Elizabeth sighed. “I am going for a walk.”

“Very well. Stay out of the sun or you will have a red nose.”

~

The next day, Charlotte and Elizabeth were walking in the village of Hunsford and stopped to look in the window of a small haberdashery.

“That is a hideous bonnet,” said Elizabeth quietly.

Maria agreed. “It needs a different ribbon, and the brim should be wider.”

“Yes, you are quite right. It is so ugly I cannot stop looking at it,” added Charlotte.

Elizabeth turned to mock glare at her friend. “Come along, Maria,” she said too brightly. “I wish to see if the library has anything new.”

Charlotte sniggered to herself and followed them.

That evening, they were reading the books they had borrowed in the parlor after dinner. Mr. Collins had been called to the bedside of an elderly parishioner and the ladies sat alone. Charlotte said it happened often. It seemed to be one of her favorite things about her choice of husband.

“This book is dull,” complained Maria, setting down the history she had chosen.

“Why did you choose it? It is not your usual fare,” said her sister.

“It looked interesting.” Maria sighed in disappointment.

“Take mine,” said Charlotte as she passed her sister her book. “It is a novel, and terribly dull, but that is what makes it impossible to put down. I always find that the more I dislike a book, the more time I want to spend reading it.”

Maria clearly did not know how to respond to such a speech. Elizabeth looked at her friend with pursed lips. Charlotte smiled sweetly back at her.

“Take mine,” said Elizabeth, rising and depositing her book on the table next to Maria. “I have quite lost my taste for books this evening. Good night.”

She left the room without a response and Maria looked about in confusion.

“What is going on?” she asked.

“Nothing to worry about, my dear. Will you read aloud while I sew? You have such a pleasant reading voice.”

~

Elizabeth lay in bed long after the household had retired, unable to sleep. Why must Charlotte harp on so? It was clear to anyone with eyes that Mr. Darcy did not like her. He never spoke to her! If they were in the same room together, he never sat near her or sought her out in any way.

Well, he had spoken to her as she played the pianoforte at Rosings, but not nearly as much as the colonel. His aunt would always call him away before they had spent more than five minutes in conversation.

And why would she do that?

No! She refused to believe it. Mr. Darcy could not possibly be in love with her. It was an outrageous idea! Charlotte was now married and wished everyone around her to be married as well. There was nothing to it. Nothing at all.

Though… Charlotte had said Jane should show more affection than she felt, or at least show what affection she did feel for Mr. Bingley. He would not be brave enough to love her without encouragement, or so Charlotte had said. Well, look how that had turned out! He had left and never come back, breaking sweet Jane’s heart in the process.

But why did he not come back?

The question niggled at the back of her mind until she could ignore it no longer. Elizabeth had long believed it was because of Jane’s lack of fortune and connections. But what if Charlotte was correct? If Jane had encouraged him, would it have changed anything?

No, she would not think like this. It could not be! Mr. Bingley had spent hours in Jane’s company. If he could not discern her feelings after that, it was his fault, not Jane’s. She could not be expected to display her deepest feelings to the world with no indication of the gentleman’s feelings or intentions.

For all they knew, Mr. Bingley had known exactly how Jane felt and had been talked out of proposing by his sisters and Mr. Darcy. Yes, that must be it. Charlotte was wrong. Elizabeth was certain of it.

Click here to see on Amazon.com

Click here for Amazon UK

Click here for Barnes and Noble