Bøker av Jan Ashton

None of us like Mr Darcy, but I must determine the truth about him if we are to know the real character of Mr Wickham. WHEN JANE BENNET RETURNS from a holiday at Ramsgate engaged to a handsome and charming young man, Elizabeth Bennet is astonished to find herself the only person at Longbourn questioning their attachment. Just who is the elusive George Wickham? What is it that has drawn him to her handsome elder sister who has no fortune, no family connexions to offer him? WEEKS AFTER SEPARATING HIS SISTER Miss Georgiana Darcy from the attentions of the nefarious George Wickham, Fitzwilliam Darcy arrives in Hertfordshire to visit his friend Charles Bingley at Netherfield Park. There, he discovers that Wickham has impugned his character and is now betrothed to a lady whose enchanting younger sister has both decided opinions and strikingly beautiful eyes. MR DARCY'S DOUBTS AND ELIZABETHS CONCERN over the misalliance lead them to set aside their mutual distrust and determine the truth about Wickham's true intentions, but the more they discover, the deeper they find their own hearts entangled.

Elizabeth Bennet, saddled with a difficult family, dull dating prospects, and a mundane marketing job, had never met a man like Fitzwilliam Darcy, the wealthy and remote British-American heir to a family famous for both style and tragedy. The aspiring novelist finds herself intrigued yet aggravated by the enigmatic businessman who never imagined thinking about, let alone falling in love with a woman as conversant in Looney Tunes and Yogi Berra as in literature and Greek poets. When they're thrown together for a weekend in the country, they find themselves of like mind and lust. Confessions are made and secrets exchanged until misunderstandings and angry feelings overtake the intimacy they shared. Things only worsen when George Wickham stirs up an emotional tempest with tales of the Darcy family's unhappy history and laces Elizabeth's book project with traces of legal impropriety. Marked by their painful pasts, their acquaintance sears them both with anger, yearning and confusion.Can Elizabeth reconcile her distrust of unconditional love and lasting relationships with Darcy's need for trust, forgiveness and enduring love? She expects to have expressions of love laughed away; he never anticipates receiving them. This contemporary variation of Jane Austen's classic Pride & Prejudice sweeps the couple through Darcy's heartbreaking background and Elizabeth's ongoing family complications as they duel over everything from college football to the Social Register.

Charles Bingley is a man who relies on Darcy's judgment in all things yet understands very little of it, at least when Darcy is speaking Greek to a horse who only understands Latin or staring at the quick-witted sister of his own angelic Jane Bennet. What was happening behind the scenes at Netherfield, Pemberley, and Darcy House, and just what did those men talk about over billiards and brandy? A generous, kind, and always hungry Bingley sheds a little light on keeping company with the most interesting man in the world, and shares his thoughts on puppies, his dreadful sisters, and the meaning of happiness.

"It is the way of the world, Elizabeth. Men hold power over women, but I am not a man who wants to wield such power. I would prefer a woman who has some power over me."Fitzwilliam Darcy already has one arranged marriage in his past. The last thing he envisions for himself is another, yet he has somehow become entrapped in a promise to a dying man. Not only must Darcy overcome his resentment in order to live up to his sense of honour, but when he realises how deeply his heart may be engaged, he must convince Elizabeth Bennet of his true feelings.Elizabeth never expected the imperious Mr Darcy to become a good friend of an idle gentleman like her father. And she certainly never anticipated they would form a secret pact compelling her marriage to a man she dislikes. She must set aside grief and resentment, as well as her suspicions: Is Darcy using her to avoid another bride pushed onto him by his family, or to gain riches Elizabeth never knew she had?Or is it possible he loves her?