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Mailbox Monday #457

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog. To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links. Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Martha, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what we received:

Angel of Waterloo: Jane Bennet, War Nurse: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novel by Emma Osborne, free on Kindle.

When Charles Bingley takes up his brother’s regimental appointment and goes across the channel to face Napoleon, Jane Bennet is faced with a choice… stay in Hertfordshire while her sisters court the Meryton regiment, or follow her heart to Brussels.

When Jane’s letters stop coming, Elizabeth Bennet is determined to find her sister, no matter the cost. Mr. Darcy, concerned about his friend Charles Bingley’s sudden silence is also planning a trip across the channel and the two are thrust together in an uneasy alliance to discover the truth behind Jane and Bingley’s ominous silence.

Kitty’s Lucky Charm: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Bianca St James, a Kindle freebie.

Catherine Bennet is in possession of the worst kind of luck. With three of her four sisters happily married, she is stuck in a quiet house with a sister who does not care for balls and dancing with garrison officers, or what new ribbons are in the shops in town. Mrs. Bennet might be anxious to have her married off, but for Kitty Bennet, nothing seems to be going right.

Kitty’s luck takes a turn for the worse when a journey to visit her sister Elizabeth to help welcome their first child puts Kitty in a perilous situation. Her disappointment is unmatched, however, as she discovers that her only hope is not a dashing officer in regimental red, but a young man with ink-stained cuffs and an earnest smile.

Miss Darcy’s Companion by Joana Starnes, a Kindle freebie.

Miss Georgiana Darcy is need of a companion, and she would much rather not have Mrs Younge. The recently bereaved Miss Elizabeth Bennet is in need of a position. When she accepts the one Mr Darcy offers, she finds herself in his near-constant company and gets to know him at his best. Not as he would present himself to strangers in some remote corner of Hertfordshire, but as his nearest and dearest know him. An excellent brother, landlord, master. A wonderful man, noble, kind – and impossibly handsome.

So who falls in love first? What of Mr Wickham and his dastardly ploys? And how is a lady’s companion ever to have a future with one who could marry into the best houses in the land?

Holidays with Jane: Thankful Hearts by Ceclia Gray, Jessica Gray, Nancy Kelley, and more, a Kindle Freebie.

t’s time for crisp weather, colorful leaves, and a Thanksgiving feast. The authors of the Holidays with Jane series bring you Holidays with Jane: Thankful Hearts with six modern-day adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels. Join your favorite heroines around the fire with a cup of hot apple cider for heart-warming takes on these classic stories.

Amelia Elkins Elkins by A.M. Blair, a Kindle freebie.

In 1817, if childbirth didn’t kill a woman, there were good odds a “miasma” would. Now, thanks to modern medicine, a woman’s demise at the prime of her life is uncommon enough to deserve an investigation. That’s what two lawyers at the Harville Firm promise to do when Amelia Elkins Elkins, a member of a prominent family with more baggage than money, contacts them in the wake of her mother’s untimely death.

In this retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, Amelia and her sisters turn to the American court system to seek justice for their mother’s death. It’s too bad their conceited, silly father is doing everything he can — inadvertently, of course — to hinder their success.

Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man by Brenda J. Webb, a Kindle freebie

Fitzwilliam Darcy, An Honourable Man is a Pride and Prejudice variation. Not a simple retelling, it is an intriguing new story that does not follow canon. It is rated for mature audiences.

Leaving England after his disastrous proposal was refused at Hunsford, Darcy spent two lonely years in Scotland and Ireland before returning home to face Elizabeth Bennet, certain that he could regard her as an indifferent acquaintance.

Events that transpired in his absence have left Elizabeth a changed woman. The victim of a marriage by deception to Count Stefano, she has suffered greatly at his hands.

Will Mr. Darcy rescue the woman he vowed to forget?

Jewels on the Water: A Pride and Prejudice Sequel by Rachel Elizabeth, a Kindle freebie.

Does love truly conquer all? Or is sadness inescapable? Is it worth the effort required to be free of its dark downward pull?

The Victorian Age has been kind indeed to Gardiner-Bingley Enterprises, third largest company in Great Britain. Gardiner’s Emporium warehouses in London and Scarborough, and most recently expanded to include Bristol and New York City, are well supplied by the partnership with Bingley Shipping and Bingley Woolen Mills now headed by patriarch Charles Bingley. His second son, Thomas, is blessed with everything the mortal heart can most desire—good looks, splendid property, noble kindred—and his own ship.

He enjoys his well-ordered life until the day he looks into the eyes of his heart’s partner and recognizes her for who she is. But mystery surrounds her. Why is a gentlewoman, a peeress, booked aboard a freight steamer enroute to America—without a maid or companion? Why does she deflect all questions about herself or her future plans?

Like his father before him, Thomas quickly comprehends that he has found his ‘angel’. But will she fly away before he can convince her to stay?

Although there is no explicit content in this story, it does deal with the sensitive topic of successfully recovering from sexual, physical, and emotional violence to find that life can still include ‘jewels on the water’.
This is a clean read appropriate for readers 17 and older

Mr Darcy’s Christmas Angel by Katy Green, a Kindle freebie.

In this story, Lady Catherine never visited Longbourn so Elizabeth and Mr Darcy were never reunited. Mr Darcy is dangerously ill the following Christmas and calling for Elizabeth. Colonel Fitzwilliam goes to fetch her and what happens next is the subject of this festive short story.

Darcy and Elizabeth: Duet in the Halls of Pemberley: Two Pride and Prejudice Variations by Cassandra Knightley, a Kindle freebie.

Two chances for Darcy and Elizabeth to find their happily ever after!

Escape to the polite society of Pride & Prejudice in these sweet, clean variations bubbling with spirit, humor, and romance.

Love Blooms at Pemberley
In the aftermath of Elizabeth’s rejection of Mr Darcy, the worst possible outcome has befallen the Bennet family. Mr Bennet has died unexpectedly, leaving his widow and unmarried daughters at the mercy of Mr Collins.

In this time of hardship and sorrow, Mr Darcy shows his true nature through his kindness, generosity, and friendship. But will Darcy and Elizabeth be able to put aside their hurt pride and stubborn natures to find the Happilly Ever After they both seek?

Mischief & Misunderstanding
A stolen kiss at the Netherfield Ball sparks a merry war between Darcy and Elizabeth.
After unexpectedly inheriting both a title and the fine estate of Messina Grove, Lord Bennet and his family leave Longbourn forever to start a new life of nobility. And why should they not? Mr. Bingley and his party had quit Netherfield no more than a week earlier, leaving Jane quite publicly heartbroken, and Elizabeth secretly so.

But two years later, Lord and Lady Bennet receive a request from Lady Catherine De Bourgh asking if her Nephews and a small party would be welcome to stay at Messina Grove for a short duration.

Jane is very excited to have a second chance with the still unmarried Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth does not care what Darcy does because she does not care at all about him! In this week of mischief and games, true love will be reunited and discovered, but hearts will also be broken when jealousy and old hurts rise.

In this silly, clean variation, Cassandra Knightley knits together two of her favorite tales: Pride & Prejudice and Much Ado About Nothing.

Pour yourself a cup of tea, take a seat on a comfy sofa, and be prepared to laugh and cry and swoon as Darcy and Elizabeth muddle their way towards true love in these two adorable P&P variations.

What found its way into your mailbox this week?