Mistress – Guest Post & Giveaway

Hello everyone,

It’s been a busy week here at From Pemberley to Milton but I hope I can still reach all of you with a guest post from Sophie Turner, who has released an outside of the box book that is quite different from her previous works. Don’t worry, it is still JAFF but it does have some mature content that makes this a book appropriate for an audience over 18.

This is the final stop of the blog tour organised by the wonderful Claudine Pepe from JustJane1813, and I can see from the comments on the posts throughout the tour, that the book has got everyone very curious, myself included 🙂

I hope your curiosity and enthusiasm has not abated because today I’m very, very happy to welcome Sophie Turner with a vignette, that I hope is to your liking.

Also, take this last opportunity to win a copy of the book by commenting this post 🙂

Happy reading and enjoy!

 

One night, to decide his entire life’s happiness.

Chastened by Charles Bingley following Mr. Bennet’s untimely death, Fitzwilliam Darcy determines he will offer marriage to Elizabeth Bennet, but she marries another.

Years later, a widowed Elizabeth is mistress of Longbourn, and has vowed she will never marry again. A house party at Netherfield brings them back together, but Darcy will have to win more than her heart if he is to have any chance at making her mistress of Pemberley.

Readers of Sophie Turner’s more chaste Constant Love series should be aware that this novel contains decidedly adult content at certain parts of the story.

You can find this book at:

Amazon.com

Good morning, Rita. Thank you for the opportunity to visit your lovely blog, From Pemberley to Milton, and for allowing me to share this vignette with your readers from my new story, “Mistress.” As this is the final post for my blog tour, I’d like to say that I hope you and your readers have enjoyed this tour and that they take the time today to enjoy this final post and giveaway, along with this special Spotify playlist that was inspired by this story.

The presence of a strange equipage in Longbourn’s drive must have been announced within the house, for Elizabeth came out with her hands upon her hips, asking, “What is this?”

“This is Chip,” Darcy said, jumping down from the phaeton and then remembering the umbrella. Tom had followed him on Archer, leading Darcy’s own horse for the return journey, but he stayed mounted, and so no-one was holding Chip as Darcy began his demonstration. He ran at the pony, waving his arms, making such sounds as could usually be counted upon to spook a horse. He opened the umbrella right before Chip’s face and waved it around over the pony’s head, and all the while Chip looked at him placidly, if a little curiously.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, was laughing with her head thrown back at his antics, and Darcy thought it had been worth the cost of the pony if just to amuse her so thoroughly. Seeing he had stopped, however, she turned serious, and said, “Mr. Darcy, I told you not to attempt to make me a horsewoman.”

“You said not to make you a horse-rider. You said nothing about driving, Mrs. Collins. Would you turn away the sweetest-tempered pony that ever was, without even trying him? Without even coming over to make his acquaintance?”

Resigning herself at least to this, Elizabeth came over to where they stood, hesitantly reaching out to stroke the pony’s nose. She erred, in doing this, although with Chip it did not matter.

“Approach him a little from the side, next time,” Darcy said, gently laying his hand on her shoulder, and encouraging her to move to a better location, one which did happen to be nearer him. He ignored the thrill such closeness brought him, and continued, “We have yet to find that which will startle him, so it is of little matter to Chip, but it is good to get into the habit. Horses cannot see just before their noses, so for you to touch them without their seeing your hand approach is just like someone sneaking up behind you or I, and tapping us on the back.”

Elizabeth nodded, and recommenced stroking the pony’s nose. “He is very sweet, I will give you that, Mr. Darcy. But I cannot accept him from you, nor the carriage.”

“Mrs. Collins, there can never be said to be no risks, when horses are involved, but they could not be minimised more, with this pony and this phaeton. The wheels are low – if you do someday encounter that which startles Chip, it is only a little jump to safety. You may conduct your estate business without needing to walk anywhere, so you need only walk when you wish to for your pleasure.”

“I – it is a fine idea, and one I might consider, but I meant that I cannot accept such a gift from you. People will talk more than they are already.”

So her concern was for her reputation, then. Darcy was glad to have this confirmed, rather than the alternative, and said, “If that worries you, then try him for a time – I will teach you to drive him – and if you find you wish to keep him, then I will sell him to you. The phaeton, as well.”

Elizabeth had not stopped stroking the pony’s nose, and Darcy thought this boded well for Chip, and for himself. She looked over the phaeton, and seemed to consider the possibility seriously. She sighed. “Very well Mr. Darcy, I will give Chip a trial.”

“Mistress” is the first story I’ve published with adult content, and as I was writing, I began to realize that I needed to be very careful to avoid accidental innuendo. In this excerpt, Elizabeth’s statement that she will give the pony, Chip, a trial, ends the chapter, and when I first wrote it, she said: “Very well Mr. Darcy, I will learn to drive your pony.”

This lasted all of about 10 seconds before it made me think of the Ginwine song. My inner teenager had a good long laugh over it, and then of course it got rewritten. I did add the song to my writing playlist, though, for a little comic relief at the end of what was a fairly serious set of songs.

“Pony” wasn’t the only song that developed a connection to this story. When I wrote the first draft, Adele’s “Hello” was EVERYWHERE, and while the actual lyrics didn’t apply to the story, thematically and musically, I drew a lot of inspiration from it. For readers interested in further musical accompaniment to “Mistress,” here’s a Spotify playlist with some of my favorite songs from my writing playlist. Sans “Pony,” of course!

 

Sophie Turner worked as an online editor before delving even more fully into the tech world. Writing, researching the Regency era, and occasionally dreaming about living in Britain are her escapes from her day job.

She was afraid of long series until she ventured upon Patrick O’Brian’s 20-book Aubrey-Maturin masterpiece, something she might have repeated five times through.

Alas, her Constant Love series is only planned to be seven books right now, and consists of A Constant Love, A Change of Legacies, and the in-progress A Season Lost.

She blogs about her writing endeavours at sophie-turner-acl.blogspot.com, where readers can find direction for the various social drawing-rooms across the Internet where she may be called upon.

You can find Sophie Turner in the following social media:

Facebook   Twitter   Sophie Turner’s Blog

Goodreads   Pinterest   Amazon

 

Sophie Turner is giving away two ebooks of Mistress at each blog tour stop. To enter the giveaway here at From Pemberley to Milton, all you have to do is comment on this post and let us know what you though of this guest post.

This is the last stop of the tour, so don’t miss this last opportunity to win a copy of Sophie Turner latest novel.

The giveaway is international and is opened until the 9th of April. The winners will be announced shortly after.

Follow this blog to make sure you receive an e-mail with the winners announcement, you will not want to miss the opportunity to receive the book just because you missed your name in the announcement 🙂

Good Luck everyone!

Even if this is the last stop of the blog tour, you might still want to check the other blogs to read more about this book, so here is the complete Schedule:

March 18 / My Jane Austen Book Club/Launch Post & Giveaway

March 19 / Of Pens & Pages/Book Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

March 20 / Margie’s Must Reads /Book Review & Giveaway

March 21 / More Agreeably Engaged/Author Spotlight & Giveaway

March 22 / A Lady’s Imagination / Guest Post & Giveaway

March 23 / Just Jane 1813/Guest Post & Giveaway

March 24 / Diary of an Eccentric/Book Review & Giveaway

March 25 / My Love for Jane Austen/Excerpt Post & Giveaway

March 26 / My Vices and Weaknesses/Book Review & Giveaway

March 27 / So Little Time…/Excerpt Post & Giveaway

March 28 / Babblings of a Bookworm/ Guest Post & Giveaway

March 29 / From Pemberley to Milton / Vignette Post & Giveaway