I am working on a new Austen tale to be published later this year. That is to say, I am working on a new Austen tale AND book 4 of a series of Regency romantic suspense/mystery books for Dragonblade Publishers AND a novella for a summer Regency anthology from Dreamstone Publishing. [This discounts all the other tales waiting shamelessly and with little patience in my head.]
Book one of the mystery series is to be released June 18, 2025. It is called Lyon in the Way and is attached to Dragonblade’s Lyon’s Den Connected World. Book 2 is Lyon’s Obsession (releasing September 17, 2025), and Book 3 is Lyon in Disguise (releasing December 17, 2025). Lyon in the Way has been edited and is now with the proofreader and the production staff. Lyon’s Obsession is now with the Dragonblade editor. I received Lyon in Disguise back from my regular editor (Thank you, Linda A.), and I am working my way through it again before sending it off to DB, while writing book 4, Lost in the Lyon’s Garden (to be released March 18, 2026). Book 5, Lyon on the Inside, will be released June 20, 2026. That last one is already very well settled in my brain, but must wait its turn to be written, though scenes often join me in my head while I am trying to sleep at night. Each book is a romantic suspense/mystery and there is an overlapping mystery that is slowly revealed throughout the series to be finalized in book 5.
The Dreamstone summer anthology is based around “Summer Melodies” as the theme. I am not so musically inclined (Those of us part of the Sputnik generation gave up the fine arts to study advanced science and math – had to beat the Russians, etc., etc., etc.) as some of the other authors on this site, but I was at one time a professional dancer, so my tale centers around a ballerina at the Royal Opera House. It will be called “Never Contradict a Lady.”
The premise behind this new Austen book is Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, and Kitty have lost their chances at finding happiness of their own, thanks to Lydia’s impetuous elopement with Mr. Wickham. It was a truth universally acknowledged in the Regency that if one of the daughters took a fall from grace, so it was likely the rest would follow.
Therefore, Elizabeth and Jane and Mary and Kitty have concocted a place to make a brief appearance in Brighton in hopes of one or more of them will find a match. Brighton is chosen because it is cheaper than London and not as far removed as is Bath, and they have come up with a plan that their mother will not join them there, so they can watch their purse strings carefully.
Hopefully, you enjoy this excerpt from Chapter One where Jane and Elizabeth explain their plan to their father, along with a few lies to their mother. [Please note, none of this has, yet, seen an editor, me or otherwise.]
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Hertfordshire, 1813
A Year After Lydia Bennet’s Elopement with Mr. George Wickham
It was a truth universally acknowledged in the Regency that if one of the daughters took a fall from grace, so it was likely the rest would follow.
“Jane, you cannot be serious,” Mr. Thomas Bennet said. “This is not a solution to our problem.
Her elder sister looked to Elizabeth for assistance. “Papa, we have talked it over. Extensively so. There is no means for any of us to find husbands in the area. Lydia’s downfall has placed each of us in, quite literally, a ‘no man’s land.’ No respectable man within thirty miles around would consider any of us as a suitable wife, and without large dowries, we have little upon which to hang our hopes or yours. Our mother barely leaves her bed. She accepts no visitors nor does she return calls, though few they may be. Something must change. I have heard from Charlotte Collins. She is expecting a child before Christmastide. If it is a son, it will spell the end of the Bennets of Longbourn.”
Their father sat heavily. “I suppose I possess few choices. Though I do not like the idea of my daughters taking on this task, what do you propose?”
Jane cleared her voice. “Lizzy and I have completed our computations. First, we are assuming that the funds originally set aside for each of your other daughters remains intact. We pray you were not required to use our funds to ‘entice’ Mr. Wickham to marry our Lydia.”
“Your Uncle Gardiner was most generous in that matter. Too generous for me to repay him, though I have my mind set on doing so, even if I must sell parts of my library to have him made whole. Gardiner also set aside a bit of money for each of you when you were born. Accumulated interest gives you somewhere around seven hundred pounds each. I did the same, meaning you have fourteen hundred pounds each, along with the thousand for all of you from your mother’s dowry.”
“Over two thousand each,” Jane said wistfully. “It is more than we anticipated, is it not, Lizzy?”
“Yes, dearest,” Elizabeth agreed. “Uncle Philips has offered us a hundred pound a piece. We may use part of that for cloth for dresses and gloves and bonnets. Kitty is a true genius in creating something spectacular from the simplest muslin.”
“Though you two are of age and can make your own way in the world, if necessary, I cannot in good conscience permit all my daughters to travel to Brighton alone.” Mr. Bennet raised his hand to silence any of their protests. “I know there is no need to remind me, Lizzy, that you warned me against closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Who might serve as your chaperone? And I would prefer not to allow your mother knowledge of this scheme. Mrs. Bennet would wish to travel with you and purchase expensive wardrobes for one and all. It would be best if she thinks you are off to visit the Gardiners or some such nonsense.”
“I thought to tell her, I would again join Charlotte Collins for the summer. Mama will be too busy criticizing me for not accepting Mr. Collins and chastising Charlotte for doing so to notice my absence.”
“Mary and I will supposedly be assisting Aunt Gardiner with the children and uncle in his office at the warehouse. Yet, we still require an excuse for Kitty,” Jane shared.
“Permit me to consider the possibilities,” Mr. Bennet instructed. “We must stagger your departures so as not to alert Mrs. Bennet to your plans.” He paused to consider the situation. “What of one of your Aunt Gardiner’s brothers, rather than a female chaperone? It would provide you more credibility than an older female. No respectable landlord in Brighton would let rooms to four young ladies.”
“May I make a suggestion, Papa,” Elizabeth asked.
“Assuredly, my child,” Mr. Bennet said with a nod of agreement.
“Ask Aunt Gardiner’s brother Samuel. I do believe he has had his eye on our Mary for several years. If Samuel Ericks was in a position to protect Mary from the attentions of other gentlemen, it is my opinion he would see his way to propose to Mary.”
“And you how do you know this?” Mr. Bennet asked with a challenging lift of h is brows.
“Aunt Gardiner mentioned Samuel’s interest some two years back. Since then, I have watched Samuel’s interactions with Mary. I believe initially he thought himself too old for our Mary, but I understand he is to receive a vicarage in the autumn, and he is finally considering marriage. He will never be rich enough to save all of us, but I would be satisfied if each of us could find someone who sincerely cares about us and can offer us a happy life with children.”
“I will write to Samuel if you two believe Mary would not accept him in desperation. I like Samuel very well and would not see him saddled with someone who did not treasure him properly. Neither do I wish Mary to know unhappiness.”
“Trust me, Papa. There are feelings enough on both side,” Elizabeth declared. “They simply fear rejection from the other. Samuel has long believed Mary was too young and there were too many years between them for a successful marriage, but, as you well know, despite the actual years between them remaining the same, Mary has matured and would be a good wife for a vicar. Some time for them to be together could easily clear both of their nearsightedness.”
“Do you agree, Jane?” their father asked.
“I do, Papa. I did not see it at first, but when Elizabeth mentioned the possibility of Samuel and Mary last Christmastide, when he visited with us, I began to see what Elizabeth already knew.”
“Then I will will explain to Mr. Ericks, I am hoping this venture will find each of my daughters a husband to protect and cherish her before Mr. Collins displaces all of us with a son. I will pretend ignorance of Samuel’s interest and simply offer him a ‘salary’ for his efforts on your behalf.”
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“It is ridiculous,” their mother complained when Jane and Elizabeth called upon Mrs. Bennet after supper. “All of you leaving me. Who will keep me company in the evenings? Who shall ask Mrs. Hill to being me my smelling salts or my tonic?” Their mother reached for her handkerchief. “I am to be punished for Mrs. Forster’s inaction. Everyone blames me for not taking Lydia in hand, but who would think the wife of a colonel would permit Lydia such latitude? I assumed the colonel would keep them all in line, just as he does his troops.”
Elizabeth wished to remind Mrs. Bennet that she had lodged multiple objections to Lydia’s scheme to be the first of them to marry. Yet, Mrs. Bennet had heard enough complaints, and her mother would never be a sensible woman. “Hind sight is no sight,” she thought as she swallowed her counter statement.
“And Mary will be going with you, Jane?” Mrs. Bennet asked in hopeful tones.
“I discussed it with Papa,” Jane said in the same tones they had rehearsed previously. “Uncle Gardiner spent a great deal to settle things with Mr. Wickham, whose commission alone was more than four hundred pounds, and that does not address the fee for Mr. Wickham’s stay in St. Clements, nor clearing all the lieutenant’s debts in Meryton and with the militia. Uncle is in need of assistance now, and as we are ostracized . . .”
“Ostracized?” Mrs. Bennet shrieked. “Why should we be ostracized? Your father’s family has been in this area of Hertfordshire for five hundred years. No other family in the area can claim a lineage of equal fame.”
Elizabeth thought to answer, but she permitted Jane to lead. “Whether we agree or not, between Lydia’s boisterous nature and the gossipy tendency of Colonel Forster’s young wife, all in the area know that Lydia is a ‘fallen woman.’” Mrs. Bennet thought to protest, but Jane held up her hand to prevent their mother’s denial. “Lydia’s marriage softens the criticism, but it does not erase the means she used to achieve a marriage to a handsome man, but one lacking in scruples.” Jane hiccuped her pain. “None of your other daughters have received even one caller since the word of Lydia’s ‘adventure’ spread through the neighborhood. Not even the poorest farmer wishes to be associated with any of us. That is the truth Lydia will not admit. Please tell me you see the havoc exacted upon us all.”
“That cannot be accurate,” Mrs. Bennet protested.
“Lydia’s marriage was a year ago in May,” Elizabeth explained. “It is now early April. No callers, Mama. Not even at Christmastide.”
“But . . .” Mrs. Bennet’s bottom lip trembled.
Originally, they had not though to tell Mrs. Bennet of Charlotte Collins’s expecting a child, but the news would keep Mrs. Bennet from interfering in their plans for the six weeks in Brighton. “This will upset you further,” Elizabeth began, “but I am confident Lady Lucas will be calling upon you soon.” Elizabeth added, knowing her mother would better understand the urgency. “I have been asked by Charlotte to visit with her again. Maria and I are to travel together. I had thought to take Kitty with me. Lady Lucas hopes Lady Catherine will choose Maria as a companion for Miss de Bourgh. Do you not think Kitty might make Miss de Bourgh a better companion than Maria Lucas?”
“My Katherine is superior to Maria Lucas in every manner!” Mrs. Bennet declared. “At least our Kitty knows the difference between satin and silk. She learned that from me.”
[to be continued later]
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Naturally, certain gentlemen must follow the ladies to Brighton, but will they be welcomed into the Bennet sisters’ lives a second time? As I have just begun Chapter 6, I cannot say definitively, for I have a tendency to write “by the seat of my pants,” so to say, but I do enjoy when ODC has a few obstacles to overcome before they know happiness.
In the mean time, if you have not yet read my February 10 release, Leave Her Wild, shame on you. LOL! You may find it here.
Leave Her Wild: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary
A Mandate from His Uncle
The only reason Fitzwilliam Darcy has come to London for the Short Season is to save his beloved Pemberley. He requires a bride fast. Unfortunately, only a man’s of Darcy’s prideful nature would laggardly think one female is the same as another. Quickly, he realizes he is in love with his betrothed’s hazel-eyed and highly-opinionated sister, and he has proposed to the wrong sister, but propriety demands he must not abandon Miss Jane Bennet.
Sitting on the Shelf
After Lydia’s elopement with Mr. Wickham and the family’s ruin, Elizabeth Bennet understands the need for her sister Jane to marry well, but why must Jane bring home the one man Elizabeth both despises and loves? Elizabeth’s one ball…one dance…had been ruined by the man her sister means to marry. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy’s opinion remains the marker by which she looks upon all others. Can she deny the tender feelings she carries for the gentleman and silence her traitorous heart?
Note: The title comes from a quote from the poet Atticus on Instagram.
Kindle – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQL8CJ2R
Read on Kindle Unlimited
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