I am thrilled to announce the launch of my latest novel, 'THE UNTHINKABLE TRIANGLE, now available at Amazon as e-book and soon also in paperback. And as a party is not a party without goodies, please follow the blog tour to enter the many giveaways:

1 September –  My Blog Page: Cover reveal and Giveaway (you can still enter, it ends at midnight BST on Wednesday 23 September. Please follow the link).

2 September – Austen Authors: Excerpt and Giveaway (the link takes you to the giveaway at Austen Authors, which ends at midnight BST on Wednesday 23 September too).

24 September – Laughing with Lizzie: Guest post, Giveaway and an Excerpt read out by the lovely Sophie Andrews, the very image of a Regency young lady.

28 September – Austenesque Reviews: Guest post and Giveaway

5 October – Babblings of a Bookworm: Guest post and Giveaway

7 October – Diary of an Eccentric: Guest post and Giveaway

8 October - Regina Jeffers's Blog: Guest post and excerpt

9 October – Babblings of a Bookworm: Review

12 October – Diary of an Eccentric: Review

13 October – More Agreeably Engaged: Guest post and Giveaway

16 October – My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice: Guest post and Giveaway

17 October – Hey Lady Publications – Interview and Giveaway

20 October – My Jane Austen Book Club – Guest post and Giveaway

22 October – From Pemberley to Milton – Guest post

24 October – The Calico Critic – Guest Post and Giveaway

26 October – From Pemberley to Milton – Review and Giveaway

29 October - A Covent Garden Gilflurt's Guide to Life - Guest post and Giveaway

31 October – My Love for Jane Austen – Guest post and Giveaway

A month or so ago I was deep in Cornish countryside, without much WiFi signal to speak of, but thankfully enough to get a message from the wonderful Sophie Andrews, who wrote to ask me if I was absolutely sure I didn’t want to go to the Pride and Prejudice 1995 anniversary event in Chawton. I did want to go, of course, but at the time I was under the impression it was not open to the general public. 

HUGE thanks, again and again Sophie, for letting me know I misunderstood, and for getting my ticket for this magical event, at a time when I had no chance to.

And what a magical event it was! Set in the beautiful Chawton House, home of Edward Austen-Knight, it began with some delightfully informative and entertaining talks by several reputed Austen scholars: Devoney Looser (Arizona State University), Juliette Wells (Goucher College, Baltimore), Linda V Troost (Washington & Jefferson College, Pennsylvania), Sayre Greenfield (The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg) and Nora Nachumi (Yeshiva University, New York).

But later on that day, a dream came true, and we were treated to a couple of hours in Pride and Prejudice Heaven, in the company of some of the people who have given us 20 years full of very happy hours.

Simon Langton was a joy to listen to, and the stories he had to share were a delight. Not least the one about how, in the filming of the underwater scenes, in a special tank in Ealing, due to an unwise decision taken by his first assistant, our dear Mr. Darcy ended up surfacing straight into the edge of the last section of the heavy metal lid, leaving the distraught director to contemplate four dreadful possibilities: recasting Mr Darcy (the horror!!!!) after nearly half of the film had already been shot; waiting for months for Colin Firth to emerge from reconstructive surgery; seeing the whole P&P project shelved while the BBC battled with the insurance company, or spending the next 15 years in jail for murdering his first assistant :D. Luckily, none of these came to pass. There was just a relatively small bump, easily concealed, and the show could go on.

Along with Jane Gibson, the wonderful choreographer who has given us the magical dance scenes, Simon Langton also told us how, in the very beginning, Mr. Darcy was ‘dancing-dyslexic’ (ever so hard to believe!) and how surreal the filming of the dance scenes seemed, because there was no music in the room, just in the carefully concealed ear-pieces every character had been supplied with.

We met Kitty Bennet (Polly Maberly) who is full of life and wonderfully welcoming, and so much prettier in real-life than in the role of a petulant and spotty teenager! Mr Bennet (Benjamin Whitrow) was there too, to tell us that he had modelled his portrayal of the character on his own father, who absolutely adored his mother although he ‘took the mickey’ mercilessly. So was Mrs. Gardiner (Joanna David), to share moving and deeply personal stories from the filming of the scenes in the Peak District, and to show us that she has not changed in 20 years.

The last story I have to tell (today at least) is that Susannah Harker told me she was extremely surprised that, despite the enthusiastic following, unlike Trekkies, Pride and Prejudice fanatics don’t have conventions.

Oh, but we do! We don’t dress up to portray Lizzy and Darcy (we wouldn’t dare; it’s a tall order, that!), but what are all the Jane Austen festivals we merrily go to, but countless Pride and Prejudice conventions? If you’re going to one in the near future, I hope you’ll have a wonderful time! I’ll post more from the one in Bath, very soon. 
Four days left! 
Can’t wait - can’t wait - can’t wait!

Of all the scenes in all the ‘Pride and Prejudice’ adaptations, ‘The Look’ at Pemberley is, hands down, the one I love best. But the piano scene at Rosings is a close second, followed by the gentlemen’s first visit at the Parsonage.

Around this time last summer, while my family was climbing up Langdale Pike in the Lake District, my idea of fun was very different. There I was, in the garden of a gorgeous old coaching inn, with a glass of lime-and-soda, pen and plenty of paper – and the story started to take shape. 

Then I went home, and set it aside. It’s always tempting to punish Mr. Darcy in some pretty harsh ways for his excessive pride and his misjudgements, but I thought that making him learn that the love of his life is engaged to his dearest cousin is probably a step to far!

And what of the dear Colonel? We love him very nearly as much as we love Darcy, so how can we bear to see him lose the girl in the end – as surely he must? How to ensure that the close connection between the cousins doesn’t get irretrievably damaged in the process? How to bring about a happily ever after’ for everyone?

So I started writing another story instead and got a few chapters down, that owed a lot to Deborah Fortin’s knowledge of horses and side-saddle riding. Thanks ever so much for the info, Debbie, that story will be written one day. But not yet. It just didn’t want to be written. But ‘The Unthinkable Triangle’ really did.

The main reason is that, fraught as it might be in the first half, ‘The Unthinkable Triangle’, with its premise of Elizabeth’s engagement to Colonel Fitzwilliam, presented terribly appealing opportunities for her and Mr. Darcy to spend more time together than they ever did.

Because, in everybody’s eyes, they were almost related – they were as good as cousins. So, along with Jane, Elizabeth can accept Georgiana’s invitation to spend time at the Darcys’ townhouse.

She can get to know Darcy, if not at his most intimate, then certainly at his least formal. She can learn to see him for what he truly is: a good man, an affectionate brother, a considerate master. Someone who would be a tower of strength in times of dire trouble. Someone for whom reserve is but a mask he wears to strangers. Someone who would preserve the woman he loves from every evil. And thus she can discover at long last there is nothing she wants more than to be that woman.

An excerpt from the first chapter is now up at the Writers’ Block and if you’d like to have a peek, you can find it here. More excerpts will be available on various stops on the blog tour, but for now what do you think of these two short quotes?

“What have you against my engagement?” Fitzwilliam queried. “You may not approve of Elizabeth, but I pray matters would mend between the two of you. Will you not try, for my sake, to accept her?” 
From his deepest hell, Darcy wished he could beg for mercy – for an end to the cruel torture. Yet he could not, for it would only bring a different hell, where all the sores would be laid into the open.

“Elizabeth, you must leave me room to hope! Or, as God is my witness, by this time tomorrow I will have carried you off to Gretna Green and damn the consequences!”

So, are you intrigued or plain terrified? Are you willing to take this roller-coaster ride with me? ‘The Unthinkable Triangle’ will be released soon after the Jane Austen Festival, on the 23rd of September. In the meantime, please leave a comment for the chance to read it for free as soon as it’s released. The international Giveaway is open until midnight (BST) on Wednesday 23 Sept 2015 and includes a paperback and two e-copies. Good luck and see you soon!
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(Posted at Austen Authors 2 Sept 2015 http://austenauthors.net/the-unthinkable-triangle-upcoming-release-and-giveaway/ )

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


What if Mr. Darcy’s rival for Elizabeth Bennet’s affections 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?”

We do love our ‘Pride & Prejudice’ what-ifs! We simply can’t have enough tales of our favourite couple. Some tales are adventurous, some are exquisitely and deliciously romantic - and some can be plain horrifying. Like, for instance, what if Mr. Darcy’s closest friend beats him to the post and proposes to the woman he loves, mere hours before he was going to? And what if Elizabeth says ‘Yes’? 

It’s fair to assume that such a tale might torture Darcy far beyond the limits of what should be legally allowed :) which is why I have been so hesitant to write it.

But then, what if the rewards make up for the cruel torture? They say that what is hardest to reach is what people value most, so by these standards Mr. Darcy should treasure his wife more than anything in his entire world! 
And that, as we all know, is exactly what he does!

An excerpt from Chapter 1 of ‘The Unthinkable Triangle’ has just been posted in the Writers Block at Austen Authors, and you can find it here.

Proud members of the ‘Let’s Torture Darcy’ Club, come join me for a sneak peak and please leave a comment here on my website, for a chance to read the full story for free, as soon as it’s released. 

​The international giveaway of two e-books closes at midnight (BST) on the release date, 23 September 2015. Do visit and I hope you’ll like what you see.