Greetings, Janeites!
I have been deep underground this summer, mostly because I have been spending a LOT of time camping! Our kids just keep getting older, so my husband put his foot down and decreed that we would take advantage of every weekend we could this summer, to just go do something with them before first jobs and drivers licenses took them away. The result? I have hardly scribbled a word.
What I do have is not quite ready for Prime Time, but I hope you will forgive me for that. I meant to have a cover ready to share by the time I started posting more about this story, but I just might have—just maybe—procrastinated in talking to my darling Janet Taylor about it. Oops!
A little about the background of this story – it has me terrified. There, I’ve confessed it. I’ve never veered this wildly off the canon path before, so your gentle remonstrances will tell me if I’ve gone completely off the rails. I have shared bits and pieces of the story before, but now it’s time to get serious and start sharing it from start to finish… Or at least start to somewhere-while-I-get-it-finished. You guys are responsible for holding me accountable to get it done this time!
So terrified am I of this story that I wrote an entire book before forcing myself to come back to this one when it started spooking me. Why, you ask, am I so scared of a regular period JAFF? Let me count the ways.
- Elizabeth is an American (but the bulk of the story takes place at Pemberley)
- Fitzwilliam Darcy has a ‘stache (in the beginning)
- Love triangle and the third member is someone nobody wants to see hurt
- Takes place in 1900 rather than Regency era
- The Bennet Family are failed cattle ranchers… and Lizzy doesn’t quite fit in in Gentle Old England
- You might not hate Collins this time
- Elizabeth has a shady secret
If you think you can bear it, then read on! I am excited/nervous/proud/scared spitless to share the first chapter of Tempted with you.
-NC
London, England
July 1900
Elizabeth Fitzwilliam had enjoyed a most excellent morning. Born of a quiet Wyoming town, the majesty of London numbed her senses and left her speechless with awe—a rare occurrence in her life. After a week in such an environ, one might have expected her to have overcome her wonder at each new aspect of the sparkling, ancient city, but it was not so.
They had returned to their modest hotel now; she, her sister Jane, and their cousin Billy, who acted as their escort on this voyage. Jane collapsed into a little divan near the small writing desk, fanning herself against the summer heat, and Billy had left them to see about some “luncheon,” as the English called it. Elizabeth remained steadfastly by the window, gazing out over the rippling heat waves rising from the paved streets.
“Oh! Lizzy, I do hope you hear from Richard soon!” Jane sighed. “How long do you think it will take for a letter to arrive from South Africa?”
Elizabeth, still craning her head out of the window, shrugged vaguely. “It cannot be so very much longer, I think. I thought we would have had word from his family by now, though. He did say to forward our address to Lady Matlock at Twenty-Six Grosvenor Street, did he not?”
“Are you certain it was not Twenty-Seven?”
“Almost positive. Perhaps we ought to have calling cards made up. Surely we could not be accounted rude for taking cards by, though we have already given notice of our arrival. Billy says that is the proper thing to do. Jane, do you suppose his family might refuse to receive us? Perhaps they will disapprove of their son marrying an American.”
Many girls’ voices would have risen in a note of strained panic at that fear, but not Elizabeth’s. Her brow furrowed in distress, but it was only out of concern for potential disharmony with her husband’s relations. Nothing would bar her from beginning her new life with Richard Fitzwilliam when he returned home from the front, and after that, his family’s displeasure would be little more than a distant trifle. The life of an active cavalry officer was a vagrant one, and she intended whenever possible to travel with her husband.
A quick rap sounded on the door of their little suite. Elizabeth, anticipating only her cousin’s return, gestured flamboyantly with her hand as she continued to gaze out the window. Affecting her very best English accent, she playfully sang out, “You may enter, William!”
The personage who emerged through the door was a very different sort of William than she had expected. Elizabeth had only glanced over her shoulder when the door opened, but spun and jerked stiffly when a strange man entered their suite. Jane also leaped to attention, embarrassed that a stranger should have caught her lounging so idly.
He was quite possibly the tallest man they had ever seen—of impressive proportions in addition to his startling height, and a dandy by all appearances. He had removed his hat, revealing a richly tousled mop of curly black hair, but every other iota of his dress was meticulously precise. A golden tie wrapped around a high starched collar, his chest shimmered with a matching waistcoat, and luxurious satin trim edged the crisp lapels of his coat. His trousers were pressed so sharply that it was a wonder he had not cut himself on them, and the toes of his gleaming shoes were no less pointed. The most ridiculous of all was the thick, twirled moustache, which was so in vogue with fine gentlemen, but seemed preposterously out of place on a man whose appearance already tended toward the extravagant.
He glanced uncomfortably between them, shifting a folded letter from one hand to the other. He finally settled on Jane—which most men eventually did. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I presume?”
“I am Elizabeth,” she answered before Jane could correct him. She came boldly forward—her chin up, one laughing eyebrow quirked, and an expectant smile just starting about her mouth. “I believe you must be Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, is that correct? Richard has told me about you.”
He stared mutely for half a second, his mouth not quite closed. With a quick blink, he recalled himself. “Quite so.” He hesitated, then bobbed her a quick, formal bow. “At your service, Miss Bennet.” He straightened, then cast his gaze down to the letter he held. The brief wave of astonishment in his eyes gave way to some deeper feeling as he ran one finger down the edge of the paper.
For the first time, Elizabeth felt her stomach twist, but she forced herself to remain calm. “Have you some word from Richard?” she asked lightly.
Pained eyes rose to her. She could see the tight collar moving as his throat worked, and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came. Elizabeth’s breath left her, and she drew unconsciously close—pleading for the fear in her heart to be only a passing nightmare. “Is… is he…?” Her voice trembled.
He drew in a shaking sigh, and the flashing dark eyes rounded in deepest sympathy. He could not form his own words, so at last he opened the letter and read a portion of the excruciating print. “… We regret to inform you that Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam of the 4th Battalion of the Derbyshires has been listed as Missing in Action….”
He got no further. The devastation which had fallen with those fateful taps of some distant typewriter ripped Elizabeth’s hopes from her chest. An inhuman cry choked within her, and she trembled as she had never trembled before. Jane’s gentle arms wrapped around her, but it was not comfort Elizabeth needed—it was strength, for she had none left of her own. The world fell away from her feet; she saw nothing but blackness as she shook and stumbled for some purchase on reality. Her knees at last gave way, and she could not even bring herself to put out a hand to break her fall.
Just before her head would have struck the floor, black satin arms shot beneath her body and wrapped her in a cradling embrace. Elizabeth’s eyes, glazed with horror, only lingered on the fluttering paper—thrown away at the last second to spare her—and watched as it slowly floated to the floor.
Wyoming, United States
April, 1900
Colonel Richard Andrew George Fitzwilliam, second son of the Earl of Matlock and special envoy of Her Majesty’s Army, drew his horse to a halt. He patted the beast with some satisfaction after their long gallop and searched his saddlebag for his field glasses.
The purportedly well-travelled road he followed was little more than two deeply-worn wagon ruts, with several meandering animal trails beaten along its edges. The blossoming grasses and scrub brush of the valley below him seemed home to a multitude of small birds, creeping rodents, and he had even glimpsed a few snakes—he had no idea if they were harmless or not. As his horse panted, he took a moment to appreciate the terrain. Stunning country, this!
Richard pressed the glasses to his face and swept the vista from his right to left. Rolling, golden hills in the foreground gave way to jagged, snow-capped peaks in the distance. As far as the eye could see, not one earth-bound human soul flitted about the rugged landscape. It was desolate, wild, and staggeringly immense. He lowered the glasses, his face reflecting the fascination and the undeniable call echoing in his heart. The frontier, with all its rough savagery and backward ways, was far more boundless and glorious than he could ever have imagined!
He had been the first to loudly protest this assignment. He was a leader of men, and rightly ought to be with his men as they struggled on the Boer front. His superiors, however, thought otherwise. More than good men, what the army needed most was good horses, and rapidly. His reputation as a fine judge of horseflesh and an accomplished master of the cavalry had cemented the war office’s opinion that he should be the one to replace Colonel Marcus at this backwater outpost. One thousand horses every two months—that was what they had ordered him to procure, and they had to be of a hardy type to withstand the rigours and deprivation of war.
He almost snorted to himself as he lifted his field glasses again. With an order of that size to fill, the army did not need a judge of horseflesh, but a bulk merchant! He doubted that even the best cavalryman could assemble what did not exist. Her Majesty’s army would have to take what was available, and hope for the best.
Richard grimaced down at the rangy brute assigned to him when he had stepped off the train. It was not an auspicious beginning, if this was intended to be an honour to his rank. To call the creature a Thoroughbred was a stretch. He seemed willing and at least somewhat trained, but he was a raw-boned thing with a loose-jointed gait that rattled the tailbone and a head that could have suited one of the long-faced cattle he had passed.
How Darcy would laugh to see him astride such a monstrosity! Ah, Darcy. How this savage land would appal you! His genial face split into a grin beneath the glasses as he appreciatively scanned the horizon once more. Three miles to the west, along this crude wagon road, had been his directions….
His fingers flinched on the glasses as a moving figure dashed across their magnified view. Pulling them down, he squinted his eyes and then trained the glasses once more on a galloping horse. It was cutting a path almost diagonal to his own, and flying at breakneck speed.
He leaned unconsciously forward in the saddle. Was that a thatch of long, curly brown hair streaming behind the rider? Why, yes, it… it was a woman! She rode astride, her wide-legged split skirt flapping in the wind and her hat fluttering by long ribbons behind her. He swept the terrain again, and found no other horses nearby. A runaway!
Without a second thought, Richard’s experienced eyes projected a path to intercept the wayward steed. He put heel to his mount, and they were off in hot pursuit. The leggy brown horse performed better than he had hoped, and in little time at all—though it seemed much longer—they had nearly caught the flying little range pony. He angled a bit more sharply towards it, his hand outstretched to catch the horse’s bridle.
The woman had seen him now. Wide eyes met his own, and her mouth rounded in a single, inaudible syllable just as he closed in on her.
“Whoah, there!” he called, snatching the reins and giving a firm tug to bring the little pinto into line beside him. “Steady, boy! Miss, are you w—” he began to ask, but in that instant, she slashed across his face with the long ends of her reins.
“Unhand my horse!” she cried, and swung her reins again. “Get back, sir!”
Yelping as if she had scalded him, Richard dropped the rein and jerked away. “I mean you no harm, Miss!” he protested. “I only thought to stop your runaway!”
The fury drained from her features, replaced quickly with wry amusement. “My runaway?” she laughed. “I am glad you informed me I had such a problem, for I might have mistakenly continued to enjoy my ride.”
“You… you were not in any danger, Miss?” he stammered. Naturally, he had known many a bold female rider—why, his sisters enjoyed a splendid gallop as much as any man, and his cousin, Georgiana, followed the hounds whenever she got the chance. The reckless abandon with which this woman tore across the range, however, was altogether new to him. “I… I do beg your pardon. Forgive me for frightening you.” He backed his horse away, touching his hat.
Perhaps sensing her own dishevelled state, she reached to settle her wide hat over her wild, wind-tangled hair. “You are new to the area,” she observed, with a little curve to her brow and an impish smile about her mouth.
Unaccountably bashful all at once, he could not stop himself from admiring her before he spoke. How her eyes did sparkle when she smiled. “Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, at your service, Miss. You are correct, for I am only arrived today.”
She lifted her chin in a nod of acknowledgment as her smile widened. “In that case, Colonel, I might suggest you take care of the prairie dog holes when you race your horse off the road like that. Another of your colonels crippled two horses in that way last year.” With a mercurial wrinkle of her nose, she offered him one last grin, whirled her stubby-legged pinto, and darted off along her original course.
Fitzwilliam’s own mount attempted to bolt after the other horse, and had he not his orders, he would have been scarcely less inclined himself. He stared after her. What the devil was a prairie dog? And what a singular young woman!
He remained thus, gazing after the receding wisp of flowing dark hair, until she had completely disappeared. Americans were a strange lot.
London
July 1900
Darcy gazed straight forward in his motor car, his back rigid and his jaw set. How was it that doing the “right” thing somehow always fell to him? He had refused to engage any of his passengers in conversation once they were underway, although he felt the solemn weight of the gaze of the lady riding directly beside him.
“Ah, the Royal Academy! I have it on good authority that the glazing of the windows alone cost in excess of a thousand pounds!”
Darcy arched a brow but otherwise dismissed the American’s ignorant comment. Collins, his name was. A blathering, baby-faced simpleton who spouted useless “facts” of dubious origin about a city he had never visited. A more bumbling, inept, and forgettable chaperon Darcy had never seen.
He pulled up before his own house and hesitated. The temptation of the instant was to turn the steering handle once more and go on, take his passengers to the earl’s house and wash his hands of it all. Once he invited that doughy American fellow into his own home, and the ladies felt the comfort of his protection, they would be his problem—just as surely as they should have belonged to someone else.
The taller lady—the prettier one—had ridden in silence just behind him, her hands neatly folded in her lap and her complexion pale. She seemed respectable enough, though he had heard an occasional gasp of uneducated awe at the sights they passed in the street. A raw, simple country girl, but not an offensive one. She could disappear, and he would hardly know she was around. And that pasty fellow on the rear seat beside her could be easily ignored—heaven knew, his house was large enough that he might scarcely see the man.
It was the third guest, the reason he could not turn them all away, who troubled him the most. She rode in much the same posture as her sister, but there was something about her eyes… they seemed to be living, speaking things. They fell on him frequently—he knew this by the way his collar tightened each time they swept his way. He had made the mistake of catching her eye only once, and he still could not shake that eerie sense of familiarity.
She was too free with her expressions. That must be the cause. Her figure seemed to pulse and snap, in contrast to the others who were politely indifferent to one another. Not so with this woman. He could read each nuance of her thoughts as she turned to the window, could perceive her gratitude for her sister’s presence and her patient disdain whenever her cousin recited another triviality about the London sights… and whenever she looked his way, he felt certain she was some enchantress, endowed with the ability to peer into the hearts of mortal men.
She was staring at him now—Richard’s wife. That was the best he could possibly hope to call her, for either she was an ill-judged “mistake” of his cousin’s, or she was a fraud. Her gaze was steady, her breathing deep and slow as if she were meditating before some great undertaking. Darcy spared her another glance in that last instant before he opened the door. Her eyes never left him.
He stepped down from the motor car to assist the ladies. His very shoulders tensed and the back of his neck prickled when she took his hand, and then she stood on the pavement, her face tipped up to his front door.
He extended a hand towards the steps in the most gracious manner he could affect. “Welcome to Darcy House.”
Well, what do you think? I will have a surprise cameo for you in a few chapters, too, so hang on to your hats and watch for the next chapter!
Nicole
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Nice Nicole…Countryside story of ODC in the 1900s.Excited with your new story. thank you for sharing.
Wonder if our Lizzy will be a fierce horse rider since their family is in the cattle business?
Lizzy is as tough as nails, Buturot. But for a lady of the time, that was not always an admirable quality!
I’m not usually one for JAFF in the wild west, but it was probably not quite as wild by 1899, plus this is intriguing. The part with Richard & Lizzy’s “runaway” horse seems familiar, though none of the rest does. I’m eager to read more, as I greatly enjoy your books.
I’m a bit concerned that Lizzy’s surname in 1900 is “Fitzwilliam”, and Darcy believes her to still be a Bennet. Not promising for the kind of outcome we tend to expect for ODC. Is there a way for all three people in this triangle to live happily ever after?
Well, Beatrice, let me set your mind to rest on a couple of points. It doesn’t really take place in the Wild West, but it does begin there. That point is critical to Elizabeth’s past. And yes, there can be a Happily Ever After, but as expected, it won’t be easy. I hope you stick around for more!
Although this story is readable due to the author’s fine writing, the only possible resemblance it may have to P & P is character names and relationships.
Thus is cheated the unsuspecting reader lured in by the promise of JAFF, but encountering a modern romance novel instead.
Pity. I had such high hopes for Ms. Clarkston’s next novel.
Author
JAFF is a rather wide genre. We all have our preferences, to be sure, but I believe you will very clearly see the characters and essential plot elements we all know and love.
I love it! I can’t wait to see how the story progresses. How often will you be posting chapters? I eagerly await the next installment.
Author
I shall consult the calendar, Robin! At least a couple of times a month, but hopefully more. Thank you for your enthusiasm!
Nicole I absolutely adore your writing, I always preorder and I often re-read and still get as much enjoyment as the first time! Im enjoying this premise and I’m really looking forward to more. (Pretty please ask Darcy’s valet to shave off that tache however !) Poor Colonel Fitzwilliam though, I have a feeling I may need a box of tissues. Any JAFF that kills him off or has him left on his own leaves me bereft! There was one, I think by Caitlin Williams that I nearly didn’t want Darcy to win!!! Shocking!!
Elizabeth Fitzwilliam? No Nicole, how could you?
I have read bits of this before as I remember Darcy’s arrival and Richard stopping Elizabeth’s horse!
I know that somehow Darcy and Elizabeth will end up together (hopefully minus that moustache 😂) but if she’s really married to Richard surely that means he will have to die? I’ll just have to pray that somehow the marriage wasn’t legal 🙏🏻.
Obviously with your track record with books I will be reading it but I need to know how many boxes of tissues I need to buy! If it’s on a par with These Dreams obviously I need to stock up!
I’m so glad you had some lovely times with your family as it’s true that they grow up much much too quickly.
Thank you for sharing this (I think!) I look forward to reading more (also think! – no ……… definitely!) 😳
Author
Deep breath, Glynis! There’s an explanation and a history. Things are not as they appear. 😉
There were a couple of reasons for setting the story in 1900 rather than 1811, so those will come into play. We still have ye olde pressures of family expectations, culture clash, and money troubles. I hope you like the twists and turns!
Darcy has a “Stache”. What on earth is that? When will book be out? Is it a clean read?
Author
A mustache. Aiming for November, Frances, if I can make it, and yes, it will be clean.
Nicole, I believe that you stated that you were stepping away from canon and putting our characters in a later time period. I have read other JAFF novels set in the west, and they are just as intriguing. I would suggest that everyone give this book a chance! Jane and Elizabeth are not mail order brides in this one. You have an excellent beginning, and I look forward to reading more!
Author
Thank you, Joan! I appreciate your willingness to give it a chance!
Hi Nicole!!
I was so excited to see you have another story for us!!
I have to tell you, though, that love triangles (with the Colonel more specific) terrify me. I usually stay away from those because it’s just too painful, since the Colonel is usually a dear man. However, since it’s you, I will keep on reading, because your stories are always a delight! But I am already picturing all kinds of scenarios in my head, hehehe.
So Elizabeth is presumably married to Richard (why does Darcy keep calling her Miss Bennet?) and he is MIA. Poor him. Maybe they’ll think he died and Elizabeth and Darcy will start having feelings for each other and then Richard is back. 🙁 🙁
Well, I’ll have to wait and see. So far Darcy hasn’t given me a good impression, lol. He does look like a dandy and the moustache! lol. I hope it’s gone soon .
Thank you for this first chapter. Looking forward to more. 😉
Author
Darcy doesn’t have the whole picture regarding “Miss Bennet” and he won’t have for a while. He may be a bit of a stuffed shirt to start with, but he’s a much nicer guy than the Nefarious Darcy. 😜
Oh, Nicole, I had to read this immediately. Anything you write is a must with me.
When my oldest was entering her senior year in HS we took a train ride from Pennsylvania to Flagstaff, AZ via Chicago and spent 2 weeks exploring the “west”. I wanted our last summer together as a family to be memorable as a train ride allowed us to see the countyside. Summer jobs and college friends take over after HS.
Yes, I am wondering why Darcy is calling her “Miss Bennet”? When as his cousin he should know of the marriage – I can’t imagine with the two cousins’ closeness that Richard would not have communicated that fact to Darcy.
Having read of love triangles at least three times in other books I know it will be rather depressing that one man loses out especially if/when he dies. Although in the one book the marriage was delayed and Elizabeth fell in love with Darcy while Richard was on the continent fighting.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I truly look forward to reading this. Good luck with your writing.
Thank you, Sheila! Elizabeth has come from a hardscrabble existence in a very small community and is going to be thrust deep into high society of another world. She has all the self-respect you might expect of someone who can take care of herself, until she lands in an environment she doesn’t understand. Pride and Prejudice, anyone?
Darcy will be too intrigued not to get to the bottom of her mystery, so don’t you worry about that. The problem is what to do with that extra point on the triangle! Oh, dear. I hope you enjoy the ride, Sheila!
Based on the quote you have included herein, I’m very intrigued…who is “watching her”? Also what is Elizabeth’s “shady secret”??? Hopefully, it is not something so catastrophic/damaging that creates significant misunderstandings/mistrust between Elizabeth and Darcy/the Fitzwilliams. If Darcy is the one “watching her”…wouldn’t her reaction to the news that Richard is missing in action convey how deeply she feels about Richard, or will he think she is just pretending to be devastated at the news? I am guessing the Fitzwilliam family will believe that she is a fortune hunter and socially inferior and refuse to embrace her warmly (since she will be staying at Pemberley and not Matlock). I’m guessing that Darcy invites them to stay at Pemberley because he and Richard are very close cousins and he would feel honor bound to protect the woman Richard loves/married. You are sooooo right…if the love triangle will be Darcy, Richard and Elizabeth…I would not want Richard to be hurt either. Darcy as a dandy???? I always find it extremely funny when Darcy starts out as a dandy, or is perceived to be a dandy. Will Darcy be shy/socially awkward, or will he just behave as a typical aristocrat of that era? I also love the humor you infuse in this (and all of your) story…”His trousers were pressed so sharply that it was a wonder he had not cut himself on them”….hilarious! Why was he so astonished when he first saw her? So many intriguing possibilities! I can’t wait to see how this delightful tale unfolds!! I’m already hooked on this story!
Well, now, those are some excellent questions! Some of them will be answered sooner rather than later, and others will have to wait a bit. I think you’ll like Darcy from the beginning in this one, as opposed to Nefarious, where he had to be smacked upside the head before anyone could tolerate him.
I’m glad you enjoyed my little fun at Darcy’s expense! There will be a bit more of that, and no one is sacred. Just wait until Elizabeth meets Georgiana. Also, Anne de Bourgh is quite a card. Who’d’a thunk it, eh?
As for Richard, I can promise you that It Will Be Okay, but not for a while. Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!
I have been intrigued by this one since you started posting snippets of it. Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.
Thanks, Sara! I hope you enjoy it as it develops!
Splendid – I just love it. Go on, please – thank you!!
Thank you for the encouragement, Doris! Stay tuned! 🙂
Loved this! I’m always amazed by the ease with which authors resituate ODC in different time periods, cultures, etc. This is off to a rollicking good start. Looking forward to the next installment.
Author
Thanks, Regina! It’s just like imagining what your best friend would do if you dumped her in a strange place. Except totally different. 😀
I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Nicole, haven’t you put this out before, maybe as a teaser? It sounds very familiar, but still very intriguing.
Author
Great memory, Hollis! Yes, I shared a little bit back in January on the blog (the week before I posted the first chapter of Nefarious). I also shared a bit on my own blog, but now we will start rolling with the story in sequence. As of next week, everything will be all new. I hope you enjoy it!
This is one of the only excerpts from a variation set further in the future I’ve read that I sincerely want to finish! I don’t read a lot of alternate time variations, but this sounds fabulous!
Author
I’m so excited that you think so, Leah! Things are really not that different from Regency once we get going. Elizabeth has a funny accent, and trains exist. That’s about it. 😉
Wow! Another great story from you. I am intrigued in the first chapter and wanting more.
Author
Thank you, Shelley! I hope you enjoy it even more as we go!
Oh God, could you please this time allow our dearest Colonel to keep her? Really, it will not be a sacrilege if Elizabeth chooses Colonel Fitzwilliam. And our beloved Colonel deserves for once to have his HEA in his own terms. After all Darcy had his HEA with Elizabeth in thousands of books, please, please, please, let it be different in this one!
Author
Goodness, Sophia, you just broke my heart! Gaping hole, right in my chest!
What I can assure you of is that everyone gets what they truly want. Will that help?
Oh boy, oh boy, OH BOY. Okay, I’m in. When I saw it was set in 1900, I momentarily went ‘uuhhh…m. a. y. b. e. …..not????’ But then I immediately told myself, ‘snap out of it, this is Nicole you’re hemming and hawing over, sheesh! You know you’re gonna love it.’ (And with horses! Right up her alley. Yay!! )
I heartily applaud you and Mr. Clarkston for taking this summer and just DOING THINGS, with the kids. There are some things that just do not wait for one, while we worry over how nice the house looks. Not that THAT is your chief priority, I’m sure. You have horses to take care of. But the kids, yeah, they won’t stop growing. Mine turned 40 this summer. Gulp. And we all gotta keep our #1’s happy and humming along.
Yes, I’m in. Stocking up on Kleenex today.
Author
Well, that’s the vote of confidence I needed! I’m so glad you’re in, Michelle. I’m still a little nervous about this one, but I hope it won’t disappoint!
Thanks for the thumbs up on my summer schedule. Yes, it’s been an amazing summer so far, and it’s not over yet. I will treasure the memories we made these last two months forever. <3
I’m not a fan of the wild western genre, but you are a writer I know I can trust with a story written with a lot of amusement, strong descriptions and interesting twists. Darcy as a dandy with a big mustache is very hilarious. The triangle about Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy and Elizabeth is not new. Some of the stories are really good but with a lot of unrelieved pain and broken hearts.
Darcy loves and needs his cousin like a brother.
I have just finished your book ” Nefarious”. Wow, it was outstanding. Darcy got his happy-go-lucky live after all. I can`t believe how this Bendict family could be that bad. Holy crap. Darcy`’s ache in the beginning was hart to read because Elizabeth was the receiver of his vitriol. She was strong and did return blow for blow. And when I thought it was the end of the story after the engagement to marry, Darcy was arrested! You have to write a warning for the possibility of a heart attack! For heavens’s sake I had to hold on tight and read until the end! Now I can breath again. 🙂
I’m waiting for the next chapter to unfold the many questions I have…..
Thank you so much!
Author
Well, thank you again and again, Simone! Truly, this story might seem a bit “Wild West” at first, which is one of the reasons I’m worried about it. However, it won’t stay there and hopefully won’t feel like an old black and white western movie. Lizzy is a smart girl from the wrong side of the planet, but her background makes her a breath of fresh air.
Yes, the triangle has been done often, but each has its own twist. I hope you’ll enjoy the details in this one!
Nefarious was such a blast for me to write! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Making such a thoroughly unlikeable Darcy come around and be a decent guy you can cheer for was one of the hardest things I’ve tried to do, and I’m glad you felt that it worked! Hopefully you will like the Tempted Darcy even better, because he may be a bit foppish to start with, but his true nature will show right away. Thanks for stopping by, Simone!
Hey, Nicole! I’m with Hollis and remember this from an earlier post. I loved the story then and I love it now. I can’t wait to see what happens with our D& E and the Colonel. Darcy with a mustache… OMG! That was hilarious and a brilliant addition. He seems even more stuffed shirt in this story than any JAFF I’ve read before. **Snicker** What fun. You have given me my giggle for the day.
Author
Thank you! Yes, the mustache is comical. It was in fashion at the time, but it’s SOO not Darcy! Fear not, our girl will have something to say on that. He is cute and silly in a very proper way. I hope you enjoy where this goes!
Great beginning, Nicole! I’m in for the long haul. I trust your writing and story-telling and know you will give us a HEA for all. Thank you for taking a chance on something outside your comfort zone. I’m eagerly looking forward to more!
Author
Boy, is this ever outsize the zone! Thank you for your confidence, Janet. It means the world to me <3 I hope you know what a gem you are!
Ordinarily I don’t much care for variations outside of the Regency period, but this one has caught my attention. Look forward to the rest of the story, Nicole.
Author
Thank you so much, Gianna!
Well, if that means that Elizabeth wants for the thousandth time Darcy, probably not. Why can’t she want for once someone else? (sigh) If you are determined to brake my heart though, could you match my dear Richard with Jane or Georgiana? And definitely not with Charlotte
Author
Oh, my dear! I don’t suppose I set out to break anyone’s heart, but perhaps it’s unavoidable. Poor Richard! I do love that man, though. Not to prop a different book, but he had a true love in These Dreams.
I have These Dreams but haven’t started it yet. I ‘ll do so promptly. I wish there were more books with my beloved Richard Fitzwilliam as the main character! He is so interesting and complicated for me, I think he deserves to have his own books with his HEA (just not with Charlotte!)
Hi Nicole,
I’m sorry that I am so late in reading and responding to this new story. And it is wonderful!!!! 😀
Of course, I am wondering why Elizabeth did not reveal herself as Richard’s wife at her first meeting with Darcy. Perhaps Jane will say something while Elizabeth is not herself? Or will she not tell Richard’s family at all? Hmmmmm.
I so admire you and your husband for taking time with your kids this summer. They grow up so fast!! It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that all of mine have graduated from high school through our homeschool program and that one is married!! Yikes!! The time flies by so quickly!! You and your husband are very wise to spend this extra time with them now. 🙂
I’m busy teaching Fan Fiction at Brave Writer right now which is such a fun class to teach. Half the class is already posting FF on Wattpad and FF.net while the other half has never heard of FF at all. So we take some time to define FF, to read and analyze FF, to shore up our storytelling weaknesses, and then we jump into writing a flash fanfic, then a 500-1000 word fic, and then a 1000-2000 word fic. They can write all in one fandom or they can vary the fandoms for each assignment. It’s pretty cool! Now that I’ve started back at Brave Writer, I will be teaching straight through until Christmas. The summer classes are fun, though, because we get more traditionally-schooled kids in our classes who are shoring up their writing before school starts again or they love writing and are excited to take a class with such intensive assistance from the instructor. Plus, we have students from around the world in our classes; in this class, I have students from Nova Scotia, the Isle of Man (in the Irish Sea–where my mom’s family hails from), Bristol, and Switzerland. In my last class (Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing), I had students from Singapore, Shanghai, France, and the United Arab Emirates. The kids love learning a global perspective from each other in our online courses, and I love it, too!!
Okay, enough homeschooling stuff. I need to get back to my class, so thanks again for this marvelous excerpt!! 😀
Warmly,
Susanne 🙂
Hummmmmm!!!!! Ok I’m hooked! I love how your mind works to keep us guessing. Love It❤️ Family is your first priority. Can’t wait for more. Enjoy your summer.
Darcy a dandy with a ‘stach and pointed shiny shoes 😮hope you were not reading Christie’s poirot before starting this book 🤭
Jokes apart, loving this intriguing story .. like lot many JAFF lovers I find it difficult to accept when any of the ODC has a previous romantic attachment.. and with Col Fitzwilliam as the third in a triangle the story becomes especially angst ridden.. however things don’t seem really straight forward here.. April they met, June he is already in South Africa and in July Elizabeth is in London.. looks like a timeline for a thriller rather than a great love story 🙂 eagerly waiting for how things go forward
Author
Yes, not very straightforward at all! And guess who gets to spend some quality time with our girl?
Poor Darcy’s fashion sense was merely a victim of the time. Don’t worry, E will get his head on straight!
[…] and stay tuned for next week! If you’re catching up, you can read Chapters One and Two […]
[…] You may remember that I posted bits of this story last year, and then I ran off and wrote other books. Yes, it’s acceptable to yell “Squirrel!” now. I won’t re-post Chapter One, but here is a link to it. […]
[…] You may remember that I posted bits of this story last year, and then I ran off and wrote other books. Yes, it’s acceptable to yell “Squirrel!” now. I won’t re-post Chapter One, but here is a link to it. […]