Joana Starnes

Snowbound

A narrow escape and a staggering encounter mere miles from the gates of Pemberley leave Mr Darcy in no doubt: the Fates have grown tired of nudging him gently. And now Elizabeth is in his home. Beside him. Every waking hour of every day.

“I missed you. Dreadfully. And now you are here. Against all odds, you came to Pemberley, and every moment brings fresh glimpses of what my life could be if you stayed.”

Will she?

Thanks to a broken bridge and a heavy snowfall, she is not going anywhere. Not yet, anyway. How is he to persuade her to remain forever while maddening houseguests would do anything to thwart him, and an old secret is at work behind the scenes? The Hunsford proposal never happens in this version of events. Instead, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy are thrown together sooner than expected. She finds herself snowbound at Pemberley, along with some of her well-behaved relations. But Mr Darcy has other houseguests, and they behave very ill indeed. Miss Bingley is refusing to accept defeat. And who else comes to add to his troubles? When a house as large as Pemberley is not large enough, what will Mr Darcy do to win his heart’s desire?

Mr Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter

When Colonel Fitzwilliam’s disclosures are interrupted by the bearer of distressing news from Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is compelled to accept an offer she would have otherwise dismissed out of hand. An offer of marriage from the all-too-proud Mr Darcy.

Yet how is she to live with a husband she hardly knows and does not love? Will she continue to feel trapped in a marriage of convenience while events conspire to divide them? Or would love grow as, day by day and hour after hour, she learns to understand the man she married, before she loses his trust and his heart?

(Given the ‘early marriage’ premise, the issue of growing affection and intimacy is central to the story. The scenes are not graphic, but the novel does address mature themes.)

Twists of Fate

What if Mr Collins shocked Elizabeth with his base conduct at the time of his proposal, thus sending her dashing out of her house, and into the arms of Mr Darcy? What if that accidental encounter was witnessed, and impropriety was assumed? What if Mr Darcy was glad of the excuse to marry his heart’s desire – only to have his best hopes blasted within hours of his wedding? What if he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time more than once?

Evil rumours, an early marriage, a dreadful misunderstanding, an old secret and good intentions gone awry. What if ‘I do’ is not the end, but the beginning of the adventure?

(The novel addresses mature themes. Given the ‘early marriage’ premise, the issue of growing affection and intimacy is central to the story. The relevant scenes are emotive and deeply sensual, but never explicit.)

A Timely Elopement

What if Mr Darcy’s first proposal was interrupted by a bearer of ill tidings? The worst tidings: an elopement! Ah, but whose elopement would allow Elizabeth and Mr Darcy to spend quite so much time together and overcome their prejudices and his stubborn pride?

The Journey Home to Pemberley

A chance encounter in the wilds of the North brings more joy to Elizabeth and Mr Darcy than either of them dared hope for. But her world is rocked by blow after blow – and the truth would only cause him pain. ‘I must be cruel only to be kind’ is Elizabeth’s guiding precept, and she chooses her path. Yet time, circumstances, and new acquaintances teach her she had made a terrible mistake. How can she regain what she had lost and rebuild a future with the only man she will ever love, but for whom disguise of every sort is his abhorrence?

The Darcy Legacy

Pemberley’s ancient halls harbour many secrets. Which one will affect Fitzwilliam Darcy and the love of his life? How is Mr Bennet to enjoy the comforts of a well-stocked library, when his wife’s premature demise had left him with the task of finding suitable matches for their daughters? And what of a misleading encounter on a muddy lane in Hertfordshire, that renders a country-town assembly rather more tolerable than some might have thought?

Shades of mystery, meddlesome relations – not least a drenched Adonis – raillery, old errors, and a very recent union make for a challenging courtship when Fitzwilliam Darcy is not on his own ground. Yet when love is the reward, challenges make it more worth the earning.

“A fraught courtship? So, let it be fraught,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said with a nonchalant flourish of his hand. “A good challenge never hurt anyone.”

Miss Darcy’s Companion

Miss Georgiana Darcy is in 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?

The Unthinkable Triangle

All is fair in love and war – or is it?

What if Mr Darcy’s rival for Elizabeth Bennet’s hand and heart is not some inconsequential stranger, but his dearest, closest friend? How is he to reconcile the claims of loyalty and kinship with the urge to pursue his heart’s desire?

The Falmouth Connection

Just as Mr. Darcy finally decides to propose to the enticing Miss Elizabeth Bennet, she is summoned to Falmouth, to meet a relation she never knew she had.

Thus, the ill-starred Hunsford proposal is avoided, but before he could even begin to understand his luck, adverse circumstances hasten to conspire against him, and Fitzwilliam Darcy is compelled to follow the woman he loves to the far reaches of Cornwall, into a world of deceit and peril where few – if any – are what they seem to be…

The Second Chance

Soon after the Netherfield ball, a troubled Mr. Darcy decides to walk away from a most unsuitable fascination.

But heartache is in store for them all, and his misguided attempts to ensure the comfort of the woman he loves backfire in ways he had not expected…

The Subsequent Proposal

A number of broken-hearted characters from Jane Austen’s best novels are thrown together by the vagaries of fate, and all manner of unwise decisions are taken at this vulnerable time. But then their past creeps up upon them – and what is there to do but face it, and hope that their convoluted paths will finally lead them to their proper place?

“Elizabeth… ” he murmured against her lips, her skin, her hair, and then her lips again. “I cannot forsake you. I cannot! I cannot bear to think of a life without you. ‘Tis not worth living, ‘tis but a slow death. I cannot lose you! I beg you, do not send me away again. I love you. Elizabeth, I love you!”

Friends, rivals, foes, wrong choices and a duel – Fitzwilliam Darcy’s life is never dull. ‘The Subsequent Proposal’ – a story that is primarily about him – follows Mr Darcy in his struggles to decipher the troubling enigma of Elizabeth Bennet’s feelings – and to correct the worst misjudgement of his life…

From This Day Forward

A sequel to Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’, ‘From This Day Forward’ explores life at Pemberley after Elizabeth Bennet’s marriage to Fitzwilliam Darcy, and the turns their fates might have taken.

On a crisp winter morning in a small country church, Miss Elizabeth Bennet married Mr Darcy – and her quiet, tame existence had abruptly changed. The second daughter of a country gentleman is now many different things, to different people. Beloved wife. Mistress of a dauntingly great estate. Reluctant socialite. Daughter. Sister. Cousin. Friend. Her world is very different too, touched by a series of events that the creator of ‘Pride & Prejudice’ would have recognised. As the days of her married life go by, bringing both joy and turmoil, the man that stands beside her is her shelter and comfort in the face of family opposition, peril and heartbreak. Three very different Christmas seasons come to serve as landmarks to their lives and there are blissful days and times of sorrow at the old English country house. And before too long, a time would come when Darcy must decide if he is prepared to risk everything for the sake of a full life together – or succumb to the collection of his fears.

“Quiet footsteps, eerily quiet, drew him from his trance. He looked up – and followed. The ghostly sound faded as he reached the eastern staircase and he took the steps two at a time, down to the very bottom. A madman’s quest for he knew not what pushed him to the gallery. In the light of the moon, from her portrait, his grandfather’s first wife looked down upon him with the deepest compassion. He dug his fingers into his hair. A long, dry sob racked his chest as he pounded the frame of the unfortunate woman’s likeness, and broken gilt plaster fell to the floor. He covered his mouth with his fist, stifling the groan. And ran out of the deathly quiet room, chased by his demons.”