Mr. Darcy’s Perfect Match by Kelly Miller – Cover Reveal

Good Afternoon everyone,

How are you this week? I am working in a different city this week, which means I have more alone time after I leave work and that obviously means more reading time, so my week is pretty good so far 🙂

I am also starting the week here at From Pemberley to Milton with a cover reveal, which is one of my favourite types of post because it means I can discuss beautiful covers with you.

The artist behind the cover I am revealing today is the talented Janet Taylor, and you all know how much I love her work. We are showing you today the cover for Mr. Darcy’s Perfect Match, Kelly Miller’s second novel, and a work that proves that Janet Taylor cannot get it wrong.

I believe Mr. Darcy’s Perfect Match will be very different from Death Takes a Holiday at Pemberley, Kelly Millers debut book, but I’ll let you read the blurb and take your own conclusions 🙂

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When secrets are revealed and a family agenda works against him, can Fitzwilliam Darcy recover his damaged spirits and find happiness?

Following his disastrous proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy returns to London from Kent broken-hearted and dejected. One bright spot penetrates his sea of despair: his sister, Georgiana, has finally recovered her spirits from the grievous events at Ramsgate the previous summer. She has forged a new friendship with Miss Hester Drake, a lady who appears to be an ideal friend. In fact, Lady Matlock believes Miss Drake is Darcy’s perfect match.

Upon Elizabeth Bennet’s arrival at the Gardiners’ home from Kent, she finds that her sister Jane remains despondent over her abandonment by Mr. Bingley. But Elizabeth has information that might bring them together. She convinces her Uncle Gardiner to write a letter to Mr. Bingley providing key facts supplied to her by Mr. Darcy.

When Mr. Bingley discovers that his friend and sisters colluded to keep Jane’s presence in London from him, how will he respond? Given the chance, will Darcy and Elizabeth overcome their past misunderstandings? What will Darcy do when his beloved sister becomes a hindrance towards winning the lady he loves?

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The blurb is a little evasive and it doesn’t give us many spoilers does it? Do you think you can find any hints regarding what will happen in the cover?

 

What do you think? This time, I couldn’t find any hints in the cover regarding the story itself but I was mesmerised with the lady’s eyes because they are full of vivacity. Janet Taylor told me she didn’t change their coulour but that she did give the painting some touches here and there that could have an impact in the eyes, and I think she was very successful in giving them the intensity that compels people to check out the cover twice.

I believe the covers’ intent is always to call readers attention to a book, and she certainly achieved this with her care and good taste. I also loved the jewellery in the portrait, especially the necklace and the different grades of colours in the background. I believe the final result is a cover that captures peoples attentions, which I am sure is exactly what this book deserves.

 

I don’t know much about the back cover, but I loved the feeling of peace that emanates from it. What do you think?

Knowing Janet was the one doing this cover I am sure that the back has some significance in the book, which is also another appeal in these covers. I always want to read the books to see if I can figure out the link of one scene to something that is present in the cover 🙂

I hope you liked the cover and that you share your opinion with us, but I also know you value a good excerpt that can give you a taste of a book, so here it is 🙂

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Friday, 17 April 1812
Rosings Park, Kent

Where was she? After forty minutes of fruitless pacing, Fitzwilliam Darcy’s steps had become mechanical and laborious. While the morning sun smiled upon the adjacent meadow, he was well cloaked in the shady grove of beech trees, embellished by their fuzzy, tassel-like flowers, one of the many harbingers of spring. The location was ideal for the view it afforded—the two major points of confluence for the paths traversing the grounds of Rosings Park were to his right and his left. She must venture within his prospect unless she opted to take the road, a busy and much less pleasant alternative.

A flurry of deliberations occupied Darcy’s mind in his frenetic search for comprehension. How had he arrived at this wretched circumstance? He was a man of good breeding who had been given the best advantages, been afforded the finest education, and travelled the continent. How had he allowed a lady of such humble origins to lodge within his affections, dominate his every thought, and disturb his life?

Moreover, how could he have been so blind? He had succumbed to his affections, maintaining a wilful ignorance of the fact that the lady, whose mere presence provided a heretofore unknown, giddy joyfulness, viewed him as an offensive person—one to be avoided at all costs.

And how was it that, after the injurious and erroneous diatribe she directed at him last night, the consuming nature of his feelings for her had not diminished a whit? Of all the cruel injustices, this had to be the worst. Despite her cutting speech, she might reconsider. No—why torture himself with baseless suppositions when the lady’s feelings were far from undecided and could not have been made more explicit?

He stopped short, his every muscle taut. A flash of movement darted along the boundary of his visual field. He turned towards it: a glimpse of colour gliding between the box hedges on the path skirting the northern edges of the estate. He narrowed his eyes until Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s familiar form, wearing a blue pelisse, came into focus. In an instant, a vigorous, purposeful energy fortified his limbs, and his wayward heart surged with an avidity he was powerless to constrain. With his object in sight, his legs covered an expanse of ground with each stride.

The precise instant the lady spotted him was unmistakable—she halted, spun around, and walked at an increased pace in the opposite direction. Her action incited a stinging twinge deep within his chest that hindered his breathing, but he remained tenacious to his purpose.

“Miss Bennet.” At his call, which to his chagrin had a plaintive quality, she froze in an unnatural, tense position, as if awaiting an atrocious punishment. Perhaps punishment was the best word for his actions. Was he not forcing his company, for however short a time, upon a person who despised him? As he neared her, each step, each breath, grew more arduous.

Her alluring floral fragrance, though faint, stirred his blood and drove his pulse to a turbulent beat. The lady’s eyes did not rise towards him. Her entire rigid presence evidenced unease, and her hand crushed the cloth portion of her bonnet into a small ball. Her glaring discomfort in this grove, a place she otherwise would have been content, was all due to him—his oppressive, unwelcome proximity. His earlier resolve not to stare at her was abandoned; it might be his final view of her.

A picture of effortless beauty, her dark, curly locks framed her countenance in a free, unfettered pattern, though her attitude remained stiff and unnatural. The facial features he had learned to cherish now seemed drawn and weary, lending her an air of fragility. Even her dark, expressive eyes lacked their usual glimmer this morning. Was this, too, his doing? For her sake, he would leave as soon as possible. “I have been searching the grove in the hopes of finding you. I shall impose upon you but for a moment.” A wisp of her dark hair was blown in front of her eyes by a wind gust, and his hand lifted to move it aside before he stopped himself and withdrew. Thanks to her continued refusal to look towards him, his blunder escaped her notice.

He groped in his pocket for the missive, the product of many hours spent writing and re-writing. “Would you do me the honour of reading this letter?” When her small, gloved hand accepted it, he released his breath. With a bow, he turned to leave her.

“Wait!”

He spun around, his lungs empty of air.

Miss Elizabeth’s eyes, sparking with anger, fixed upon him. She spoke in a harsh undertone as she held the missive out to him. “I cannot accept this. You know very well that it is improper.”

He made no move to retrieve the epistle, though her obvious distress, like a crushing weight upon his chest, hindered his ability to focus. He took several moments to gather his thoughts. “I apologize for making such an unorthodox request, yet I must. Therein is vital information. I gave the letter to you here to ensure privacy. Once you have read it, you may burn it, and all evidence will be gone.”

She glanced around them before dropping her hand back to her side. “Very well.”

With a nod, he left her. Not until he had entered the shelter of the woods did he turn his head in her direction. She had taken a seat upon a bench amidst a cluster of buttercups and was reading the letter; he could take some small comfort in that. Faced with the growing temptation to linger where she was in view, he forced himself to leave.

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Kelly Miller is a native Californian and Anglophile, who made her first visit to England in 2019. When not pondering a plot point or a turn of phrase, she can be found playing the piano (although like Elizabeth Bennet, she is errant when it comes to practicing), singing, and walking her dogs. Kelly Miller resides in Silicon Valley with her husband, daughter, and their many pets.

Mr. Darcy’s Perfect Match is her second novel published by Meryton Press. Her first was the Regency novel Death Takes a Holiday at Pemberley, a Pride and Prejudice romantic sequel with a touch of fantasy. Her third novel, Accusing Mr. Darcy, will be released later in 2020.

Contact Info:

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads Author Page

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

 

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The blog tour for this book will start next week at Austenesque Reviews, so please follow it for more information about this new book and a chance to win one of the 8 e-books that will be offered. The schedules will be the following:

January 27 Austenesque Reviews

January 28 My Jane Austen Book Club

January 29 Austenprose

January 30 So Little Time…

January 31 Babblings of a Bookworm

February 3 More Agreeably Engaged

February 4 Savvy Verse & Wit

February 6 Donadee’s Corner

February 7 Diary of an Eccentric

February 10 From Pemberley to Milton

February 11 My Vices and Weaknesses

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Thank you Kelly for visiting once more, and thank you Janet for giving me the opportunity to share your work! I hope you all return on February 10 for an interview with author Kelly Miller and another wonderful excerpt of this story 🙂

And if you can’t resist until then, you can pre-order the book now! It’s already available for pre-order on Amazon, and it will be delivered to your kindle on January 25th 🙂

Until then, Happy Readings!