To Conquer Pride

Book excerpt: In the tight confines of the coach, Elizabeth's scent enveloped him -- a mixture of wildflowers and citrus, and something else Darcy couldn't quite name. Closing his eyes, he stifled a groan. God help him, he was still in love with her. The course of true love never did run smooth... When Fitzwilliam Darcy departs Hunsford after his disastrous proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, he does not expect their paths to cross again. Indeed, knowing the lady's true feelings for him, he makes every effort to see that they do not. But when a chance encounter leaves him stranded in an abandoned cottage with the one woman he can never have, Darcy quickly realizes there is more at risk than just Elizabeth's reputation. Elizabeth Bennet knows Mr. Darcy is the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry. Until the morning he hands her a letter, his countenance as dark and forbidding as the windswept sky. Now, trapped in a snowstorm with the one person she was certain she despised, Elizabeth is startled to discover that her feelings are not at all what she expected. But is one night alone together enough to alter the course of their future? Can any man as proud as Mr. Darcy be expected to offer for the same woman a second time? In this tale of serendipity and second chances, literature's unlikeliest couple must conquer pride, prejudice, and faulty first impressions in the elusive quest for their own happily ever after. ** 2019 Author Shout Reader Ready Award: Recommended Read **