If you’re anything like me and you’re a fan of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, you just love the oodles of fan fiction, spinoffs, and continuations that are flooding the market and feature Mr. Darcy . . . and of course the Bennets. There also are the modern day retellings as well that keep me coming back for more, and Victoria Connelly, author of A Weekend with Mr. Darcy, is one author that doesn’t seem to disappoint with her renditions.
Her current novella, Christmas with Mr. Darcy, is a sequel to her Austen Addicts Trilogy (A Weekend with Mr Darcy, Dreaming of Mr Darcy, and Mr Darcy Forever) in which characters from the trilogy meet again at Purley Hall in Hampshire for a special Jane Austen Conference. But when a first edition of Pride and Prejudice goes missing, there is only one thing for them all to do . . . find out where it has gone.
Connelly has a quick wit and some great characters, who always need a little extra help from Austen to get down the romantic path. I’m sure this novella, first available on Kindle, will be no exception.
Today, she’s offered my readers and exclusive excerpt from the novella to whet your appetites, but first a note from the author:
I have always wanted to write a Christmas book and, this time last year, I had the idea for Christmas with Mr Darcy. All the main characters from my Austen Addicts Trilogy would come together when they attend a very special Jane Austen conference at Purley Hall in Hampshire – the setting of A Weekend with Mr Darcy. Throw in a badly behaved lost brother, a marriage proposal, and a missing first edition of Pride and Prejudice and the stage is set for a fun-filled festive season!
I really hope you enjoy finding out what happened next to my characters. It might be a little early for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas but I have to confess that writing this novella made me want to unpack all of our glittery baubles and start decorating our home!
Thanks, Victoria. We hope that you enjoy your holidays. And now the excerpt from Christmas with Mr. Darcy:
Robyn Love Harcourt was writing the last of her Christmas cards. She’d left it horribly late this year but she’d been so busy organising the Christmas conference with Dame Pamela that her own private little Christmas had been put on hold. Still, it had all been such enormous fun. She’d been working happily as Dame Pamela’s PA since accepting the job offer after her first weekend at Purley and had fallen into the new role as if she’d been performing it her whole life.
Together, they had pored over hundreds of magazines and websites for inspiration for the Christmas conference and, Robyn couldn’t help thinking with a laugh, perhaps they’d spent a little too much time discussing colour schemes.
“Is pink and purple a bit too much?” Dame Pamela had asked at one point, having found a company that sold pink glitter-ball baubles.
Robyn had been swept along by the idea of Purley Hall decked out in romantic shades of pink and lustrous shades of purple but had then come back down to earth.
“I think we’d better keep things traditional,” she’d said at last, secretly craving the pink baubles they’d discovered. Perhaps Dan would let her decorate their own tree with them. She could just imagine how pretty Horseshoe Cottage would look. She’d already secretly purchased a couple of gingerbread garlands and two ropes of multi-coloured fairy lights which baby Cassie had loved when Robyn had switched them on.
Once again, Robyn felt the warm glow of pride when she thought about her little girl. She still couldn’t believe how her life had changed since coming to the Jane Austen Conference. She’d fallen madly in love with her host’s younger brother, Dan Harcourt, and she couldn’t believe that he’d returned her feelings. It had all been such a whirlwind. She’d given up her job in North Yorkshire and had driven herself and her hens all the way down to Hampshire to start her new life. She smiled as she remembered that dreadful journey with Lizzie, Lydia, Mrs Bennet, Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley and Wickham the cockerel. Named after characters from Pride and Prejudice, Robyn had since added three ex-factory hens to her flock: Elinor, Marianne and Emma. They’d arrived at Horseshoe Cottage with pale combs and threadbare breasts but they had embraced their new free-range life and had bloomed into beautiful birds.
Robyn would often laugh with Dan at the life they’d created for themselves. There were dogs, horses, hens and a baby. It was permanent chaos but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
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