Showing results by narrator "Harry Frost" in All Categories

Pride, Prejudice & Permutations: 12 what-if short stories inspired by the original Pride & Prejudice, with more than merely tolerable tales that give a glimpse into several of our beloved Pride and Prejudice characters. These regency romance Jane Austen variations are unique and varied: some are silly, some are serious, and some have magic and mystery!

What if Kitty Bennet's silliness were all a disguise to hide the fact that she was brilliant cryptographer?

One distressing night in Ramsgate, Elizabeth Bennet impulsively offers Georgiana Darcy aid. Scandalous rumors soon surround the ladies and Fitzwilliam Darcy, forcing Elizabeth and Darcy, strangers to each other, to marry. Darcy despises everything about his marriage to the daughter of an insignificant country gentleman with vulgar relations. Georgiana, humiliated after a near-elopement with George Wickham and full of Darcy pride, hates her new sister. Their family look upon Elizabeth with suspicion and do little to hide their sentiments.

It is Christmas, 1811, and the Bennets of Longbourn are startled by the sudden arrival of Mr. Aaron Gardiner, Mrs. Bennet’s older brother who was banished to India more than two decades ago. Aaron, now rich from his business dealings, is a wise man with a deep understanding of human nature, and his insights into the characters of others prove invaluable to Elizabeth and Jane Bennet.

Elizabeth Bennet has always known her father was a prince, she simply never expected it to matter. Living quietly in Hertfordshire with her mother’s family, her royal blood seems irrelevant. But just after her eighteenth birthday, an envoy from the Thurnian court arrives with an invitation: her grandfather the king wishes to welcome her into the royal family.

Elizabeth and Jane Bennet have their very own guardian angels in the form of elder twin brothers, Michael, and Gabriel, who are on high alert when Meryton is suddenly flooded with eligible gentlemen. One is honorable although a tad too proud, one is a known flirt always on the lookout for his next ‘angel,’ and one is a garrulous bore. All of them have their eye on a Bennet sister. The brother’s protective instincts are further heightened when a dangerous predator arrives in their sleepy village, and more than one lady learns that evil can appear in the guise of a handsome man.

Elizabeth Bennet is pleased when Netherfield Hall is let at last to Mr. Charles Bingley, a young man of good fortune from the north. She is less pleased to discover that Mr. Bingley is already married and that his clever and handsome friend, Mr. Darcy, is engaged. Darcy finds himself entranced with Elizabeth Bennet, but he has been forced by duty into an engagement to another. Many years previously, a man had done a great service for the Darcy family, which resulted in a promise by the elder Mr. Darcy.

Elizabeth Bennet happens upon Georgiana in Ramsgate, along with her companion and an old family friend. Her new acquaintance seems to have everything: family, fortune and love. But when Elizabeth observes some strange things, she suspects that all is not as it appears, and a few well-intentioned words set into motion a surprising series of events.

At fifteen, Elizabeth Bennet is intelligent, perceptive, and doted upon by her father. Life in Hertfordshire is peaceful—until the arrival of Mr. Damian Fiennes, the new master of Netherfield Park. Though outwardly charming, something about him unsettles Elizabeth. She does her utmost to avoid him, yet the spirited young girl captivates Mr. Fiennes, and he is determined to possess her. When a series of manipulations ensnares both Elizabeth and Mr.

Mrs. Bennet fled from Longbourn with her lover and Jane two months after Elizabeth was born, leaving little Elizabeth behind with Mr. Bennet. Mr. Bennet dedicated his life to raising Elizabeth the best he could. Mr. Bennet had loved Elizabeth dearly from the first time he picked his little girl up and she smiled her baby smile at him, and grabbed at his sideburns. When Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy arrive in the neighborhood, Elizabeth finds herself falling in love with Mr. Darcy. He makes her heart flutter, and he respects her like nobody but her father respects her.

Mr. Darcy is not in want of a wife. Determined to avoid a loveless marriage, he devises a clever plan to protect his heart from fortune-hunters and relentless matchmakers. Elizabeth Bennet heartily agrees to join him in feigning a courtship, believing it will allow her to escape her mother’s matchmaking schemes. As their deception spirals into a whirlwind of unexpected complications, both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy begin to discover a deep connection neither of them anticipated.

In this romance anthology, 15 Austenesque authors assemble to sketch Darcy's character through a series of reimaginings, set in the Regency through contemporary times - from faithful narratives to the fanciful. In The Darcy Monologues, the man himself reveals his intimate thoughts, his passionate dreams, and his journey to love - all told with a previously concealed wit and enduring charm.

When the Bingleys and Elizabeth visit, Darcy's peculiar sister Georgiana finds Miss Bennet to be a delightful companion. As Elizabeth helps Darcy to understand and appreciate his sister, he realizes the handsome Miss Bennet is an admirable woman. Caroline Bingley, Catherine de Bourgh, and George Wickham plot to achieve their own selfish goals. Even as these threats arise, love whispers to Elizabeth and Darcy to overcome their pride and prejudice.

Is not the very meaning of love that it surpasses every objection against it? Jilted. Never did Mr. Darcy imagine it could happen to him. But it has, and by Elizabeth Bennet, the woman who first hated and rejected him but then came to love him - he believed - and agree to be his wife. Alas, it is a short-lived, ill-fated romance that ends nearly as soon as it has begun. No reason is given. More than a year since he last saw her - a year of anger, confusion, and despair - he receives an invitation from the Bingleys to a house party at Netherfield.

Sometimes the real folly is falling in love. Fitzwilliam Darcy is prepared for the usual argument when he arrives at his aunt's estate in Kent—the one about Lady Catherine’s poorly built, badly situated folly. What he is not prepared for is to learn that Miss Elizabeth Bennet is currently residing at the parsonage across the lane. The woman he fled Hertfordshire to forget is still pretty, witty, and poor, not at all the sort of woman his family would approve of as his wife. But when Darcy's warnings prove his foresight in a dramatic fashion, neither will leave Kent entirely unscathed.

At a dinner party in London during the season, Fitzwilliam Darcy meets an enchanting young woman. Though he recognizes her beauty and poise, he is struck by a sense of familiarity and realizes she is someone connected to him. What follows is a whirlwind of events in which the woman's lineage is discovered and her true identity is established. Darcy quickly realizes she is a woman estimable in her own right, and he finds himself besotted. But amid the miraculous events of a lost soul returning home, dark forces conspire against the young woman, for her loss was not an accident.

A unique story in the Austenesque catalogue—a Viking era variation of Pride and Prejudice. Set in the late 800s when King Alfred the Great ruled in Wessex and Harold Fairhair united tribal Norway into one kingdom. Elizabeth’s courage had risen when faced with the fierce Viking, but what will she do when she finds herself as a stowaway on a Viking ship, heading for a major sea battle?

When Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy find themselves locked together in the library during the Netherfield Ball, they face compromise and scandal. Elizabeth’s startling solution to the problem causes Fitzwilliam Darcy to discover something profound—the lady he ardently admires thoroughly despises him. Darcy resolves to do everything in his power to change her mind about him. With gossip and slander flowing throughout Meryton, this is not an easy task, but Darcy has never backed down from difficulty.

Mr. Darcy’s proposal is rejected. But a hero is born. Elizabeth Bennet was entirely surprised when Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy proposed marriage to her. He was more surprised when Elizabeth forcefully rejected him. Colonel Fitzwilliam, caught in the middle, fuels her considerable self-doubt. Had she been wrong about the rude and snobbish Mr. Darcy? Jane is shaken by events of the past, and the scales fall from her eyes, revealing to her a world filled with evil. Her anger toward Bingley pushes them apart. Can Bingley’s best efforts overcome poor odds or has Jane moved on for good?

What if Bingley's abandonment of Jane after the Netherfield Ball caused Mr. Collins to offer for her? Would she accept him?