Romance Novel Giveaways - Freebies and Giveaways of All Things Romance Romance Novel Giveaways: How to Mend a Broken Heart by L.S. Parsons ♥ Book Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

How to Mend a Broken Heart by L.S. Parsons ♥ Book Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥




Three years after Mr. Darcy’s disastrous marriage proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, they meet again. Due to an unexpected twist of fate, Elizabeth finds herself a guest in the home of the Mr. Darcy’s aunt, the Dowager Lady Matlock. Long believing Elizabeth lost to him, Darcy has recently proposed marriage to an old flame, the widow of his friend. Now newly engaged Darcy encounters Elizabeth again and realizes she still owns his heart.

Although bound by honour to another, Darcy sets out to improve Elizabeth’s opinion of him. Tension mounts between Darcy and Elizabeth in that pursuit, and Darcy’s betrothed begins to see Elizabeth as a threat to her upcoming marriage. How will Darcy and Elizabeth ever reach their happily ever after?

How to Mend a Broken Heart is a non-canon variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and is intended for mature readers.



“Darcy, I believe you have already met Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth stood frozen in place momentarily, then she offered, “Mr. Darcy, it is a pleasure to see you again.” Performing a polite curtsy to the silent man with a shocked expression on his face, she was confused by his lack of manners. Does he still despise me so much that he cannot act civilly?
The touch of Miss Darcy’s hand against her brother’s arm drew him out of his stupor. “Miss Bennet,” was all he could manage to say.
When everyone was seated, Lady Matlock said, “Miss Bennet, my nephew has just informed us he is to be wed. Is that not happy news?”
Elizabeth noticed Mr. Darcy’s grimace and was curious as to why he should look at his aunt with such distaste. Was he just expressing his displeasure with the fact that they found themselves in each other’s company again? His curt nod in acknowledging her best wishes only added to the tension building in the room.
Only those of Fitzwilliam Darcy’s intimate acquaintance would recognize the myriad of emotions roiling across his mien. Only Miss Bennet was unaware of his emotional distress, and she took his demeanour as a sign of his aversion to her presence in the house belonging to a member of his family.
Having hoped their first meeting would at least be civil, Elizabeth found herself extremely uncomfortable under his scrutiny. It was akin to the way he had treated her in the early days of their acquaintance in Hertfordshire when they had been thrown together at Netherfield Park and the other social events in her neighbourhood. She noticed Darcy’s hand shake and felt particularly upset that he seemed angry with her for being in his aunt’s home. Was he still the arrogant prig she had known all those years ago?
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There was a tense silence in the room as Darcy’s family contemplated his unusually abrupt manner. While Georgiana and Lady Matlock suspected the disturbance in the gentleman to be due to Miss Bennet’s joining their family party, General Fitzwilliam had no such suspicion. He knew Miss Bennet seriously affected his cousin.
He also knew the only favour he could offer his cousin was to remove him from the drawing room. A small smirk graced the general’s lips as the realization of an opinion he had held three years prior was now confirmed: Darcy had been in love with Elizabeth Bennet. The bigger mystery was why Darcy had done nothing about his feelings.
Darcy could do nothing but stare intensely at Elizabeth, though his agitation was noticeable to all by the tremor of his hand and the clinking of his cup upon its saucer.
Georgiana seemed concerned by her brother’s peculiar behaviour. As if hoping to cover up his obvious staring, she began a conversation with Elizabeth. Miss Darcy was normally a shy and reticent young lady, and talking to a relative stranger was a struggle for her, but Miss Bennet’s amiable and easygoing manner helped to ease the young girl’s reserve, and the two young ladies were soon chatting in a friendly way.
As the shy Georgiana made an effort to be friendly with Miss Bennet, Lady Matlock and her son turned their attention to Darcy’s uncharacteristic behaviour and left the two young ladies to become better acquainted.
Giving her son a look, the countess silently pleaded with Richard to do something.
General Fitzwilliam had already devised a plan. “Darcy, do you fancy a game of billiards? We can discuss all the news not fit for the ladies. I have heard enough talk of lace and bonnets and coming out in the last few days to last me a lifetime.”
Darcy, staring intently at Miss Bennet, either had not heard his cousin or had chosen to ignore him.
“Darcy!” Richard raised his voice to garner his cousin’s attention.
Looking up, Darcy responded, “Not at the present time,” and returned his scrutiny to Miss Bennet.
The general walked behind the chair where Darcy was seated. Placing his hand firmly on his cousin’s shoulder, he gave it a hard squeeze. Darcy winced at the slight pain in his shoulder and looked up at Richard with an angry grimace that demanded the meaning of such an action.
Richard glared at Darcy. “Now would be the perfect time.”
Darcy looked at his aunt, who wore a decided scowl. When he looked back at Miss Bennet and saw how ill at ease she seemed, he decided a retreat might be in order. Rising from his seat, he followed the general from the drawing room but not without one last glance back at his Elizabeth.
Once in the hallway, Richard immediately began to tease his cousin. “Darcy, I see that you are still besotted with Miss Bennet. Pity your engagement to Mrs. Wagstaff is so ill-timed.” He nodded back to the door they just exited. “By Mother’s estimation, Miss Bennet is in need of a knight in shining armour. Too bad your shiny suit is already in service to Virginia Wagstaff.”













L.S. Parsons recently retired from a major computer company where she was employed as an Information Technology Specialist. She lives with her husband of 30 + years in the DFW area of Texas. They have one dog. She has been writing Pride and Prejudice fan fiction for over ten years, mainly as a hobby.


   


Win a Kindle eCopy of How to Ment a Broken Heart (4 winners)!


3/21: Guest Post & Giveaway at My Jane Austen Book Club
3/22: Excerpt & Giveaway at Romance Novel Giveaways
3/23: Review at Margie’s Must Reads
3/24: Excerpt & Giveaway at Best Sellers and Best Stellars
3/25: Guest Post & Giveaway at Skipping Midnight
3/26: Review at From Milton to Pemberley
3/26: Excerpt & Giveaway at Liz’s Reading Life
3/27: Guest Post & Giveaway at Babblings of A Bookworm
3/28: Excerpt & Giveaway at More Agreeably Engaged
3/29: Review at Half Agony, Half Hope
3/30: Review at Just Jane 1813
3/31: Guest Post & Giveaway at So Little Time…
4/1: Guest Post & Giveaway at Austenesque Reviews
4/1: Review at Tomorrow is Another Day
4/3: Excerpt & Giveaway at Jennifer Vido
4/4: Review at Diary of an Eccentric



@MerytonPress @LSParsonsAuthor @J_Leatherberry http://goo.gl/DE1obQ

12 comments :

  1. Question to the author: Are there vocabulary words or concepts in your book that may be new to readers? Define some of those.

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    1. So I don't know whether to be honored or scared, but to answer your question, the British spelling is used throughout the book. Also I found some of the concepts I used originally were not historically accurate so they needed to be changed, i.e. a man did not need to ask permission from a young lady's parent or guardian to court her or that pregnant ladies were allowed out in public.

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  2. Interested to know how Elizabeth gets to stay with Lady Matlock

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  3. Thank you Lauren for extending your hospitality in allowing me to share my debut novel, How to Mend a Broken Heart, with your readers at Romance Novel Giveaways.

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  4. Sounds interesting. Since I love Pride and Prejudice, this would be fun to see a twist.

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  5. Lee, from this extract, it sounds as if you're another card-carrying member of the Let's Torture Darcy Club!

    It's going to be fascinating to find out how you reach the HEA.

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  6. Ah the tension is high! I'm curious to know how Elizabeth came to be a guest at Darcy's aunt's home.

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  7. Thank you for the giveaway :)

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  8. This book seems like a super fun read, so please count me in thanks.

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