blurbs: A Certain Persuasion

THE STORIES

A Charming Marine Prospect
Lou Faulkner
Birds of a feather flock together, they say, and William Elliot and Richard Musgrove strike up an instant rapport when they meet in the vicinity of Lyme, a few years before the events of Persuasion. But is their relationship any more to be trusted than the unstable landscape of the nearby under-cliff which they explore together?

One Half of the World
Adam Fitzroy
How much more romantic must it be to be stolen away in the night by a lady dressed as a man, to be thrown across the saddle of her horse and to be galloped off with across the moors by moonlight?

Hide nor Hair
Atlin Merrick
Adam Ashford Otelian began to suspect something when he saw Miss Mary Hay’s beard. Though to be fair, Adam found Miss Hay’s beard only the second most intriguing thing about her.

Outside the Parlour
Andrea Demetrius
Darcy is a single man of eight-and-twenty and in possession of a good fortune. Talk of marriage and prospects crowd in on him – as do reports in the broadsheets of convictions for ‘unnatural’ crimes. He knows his fate. A decision must be made soon.

Margaret
Eleanor Musgrove
The elder Dashwood sisters have long been established in their new homes and families, but now it is Margaret’s turn to spread her wings, when Colonel Brandon asks for her help with a rather delicate matter.

The Wind over Pemberley
Fae Mcloughlin
Darcy’s life changes forever when he happens across enigmatic Lint on Pemberley Cliff.

Cross and Cast
Sam Evans
Jonathan Darcy, ex-soap-star bad boy and runner-up in the latest celebrity dance contest, has reluctantly signed on to take part in another dance show, Dance with Jane Austen. His agent is sure it will be the making of him – but the ridiculous dance they’ve been asked to learn is titled ‘Mr Beveridge’s Maggot’, the theatre they’re rehearsing in is too cold, and most worryingly the show will bring Darcy back in contact with the man who rejected him so harshly months earlier, dancer Elvin Benoît.

Jonathan convinces himself that all he needs do is get through the rehearsals in one piece, avoid Benoît, and not split the breeches he has been given to wear.

It was going to be easy, right?

Know Your Own Happiness
Narrelle M Harris
Four years ago, Cooper West allowed his brother to persuade him that it was easier to pretend to be straight than admit to being bi. It was a stupid decision that cost him the love of his life, Archer Flynn. Now out, recently dumped and still harbouring regret for his lost love, Fate and Cooper’s cousin Kate are about to intervene, via a book club meeting where the book under discussion is … Persuasion.

Thirteen Hours in Austen
Fae Mcloughlin
Ashley gets more than he bargained for when he visits the Jane Austen museum with his mother.

Man of War
Sandra Lindsey
Intent on making his mark as the newest lieutenant aboard HMS Thrush, William Price takes on the task of tutoring an ordinary seaman, Robert Oakes, so that the young sailor may improve his chances of advancement.

Oakes, however, hides something which could see him unceremoniously dropped from the ship’s muster list and left in the closest port with just a few coins to his name. When William learns Oakes’s secret in the aftermath of a skirmish with a French frigate, he must choose between proving himself a worthy friend or a dutiful officer.

Elinor and Ada
Julie Bozza
Elinor Dashwood has fallen in love with her sister-in-law’s cousin, Ada Ferrars, and dares to hope that Ada returns her feelings. But soon Elinor must move to Devonshire with her mother and sisters, in much reduced circumstances – and while there, she learns a devastating secret. How can Elinor pursue this rare chance of happiness, when even duty and honour are against her?

Father Doesn’t Dance
Eleanor Musgrove
When George Darcy passes away, the women of Pemberley have to adapt. For one of them, however, what begins as a daring plan to save them all from destitution soon becomes a whole new lease of life.

A Particular Friend
JL Merrow
When Susan Price leaves Mansfield Park to accompany her aunt, Lady Bertram, to take the waters in Bath, she little expects to meet an old ‘friend’ of the family. Initially scandalised, Susan finds herself drawn to the former Mary Crawford, now a widow, Mrs Lynd.

But Lady Bertram will surely never countenance Susan’s intimacy with a woman whose brother caused her daughter’s disgrace – and Mrs Lynd’s true identity cannot be kept a secret forever.