Chasing Elizabeth by Jennifer Joy – Cover Reveal & Giveaway

Hello everyone

I hope you’re all keeping safe and busy reading 🙂 Unfortunately my reading time is no longer at its best. I’ve been quite busy at work and with the gradual decrease of the social distancing measures it feels like I don’t have much time for anything anymore.

Hopefully June will bring more stability and with that I may be able to focus and read more. My TBR will appreciate that, especially since I keep adding titles to it, namely Jennifer Joy’s upcoming release. That’s right, you heard me correctly, she is releasing another book next week! Isn’t that awesome?! And if you aren’t excited yet, just wait until you read the blurb, it had me with the first two lines!

Today we decided to share with you the cover of this third book of the Mysteries & Matrimony series and an excerpt. I hope you enjoy it and keep looking for it at Amazon. It should go live next week 🙂 Now, I bet you would rather read the famous blurb, look at the cover and get a glimpse of the book with the excerpt, so here they are.

---

She shows him the meaning of home.

He gives her the adventure of a lifetime.

Elizabeth Bennet longs for a break from the confines of Longbourn. Her morning rides with her best friend at Lucas Lodge are her only relief from the endless tedium of a lady’s never-changing routine. 

Until she’s thrown from her horse and lands at the feet of a mysterious stranger… 

Fitzwilliam Darcy has not set foot in Derbyshire in three years. His is a life of danger and deceit as he closes in on an evil agency who threatens the safety of England. Only after he fulfills his mission will he return to his home — to Pemberley. 

That is the plan … until a fine-eyed maiden with a talent for getting into mischief upends his world.

If you like falling in love with Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth as they fall for each other, then you’ll love this sweet romance adventure based on Jane Austen’s timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice.

Chasing Elizabeth is the 3rd book in the Mysteries & Matrimony series of standalone novels.

---

Curious about the cover?

What do you think of it? I love the landscape on the back and the clouds in the sky, and this is certainly one of my favourite covers from Jennifer Joy.

It is also very distinctive, which is something I really appreciate. I love looking at a cover and identifying it with a certain author. Sometimes they are completely different, but I love it when authors keep the same design or add a small detail that is present in all their covers. Those details and consistency make my library much prettier  🙂

---

Several thoughts passed through Elizabeth’s mind in the split-second it took for her to fall to the sloppy ground. First and foremost, sidesaddles were an evil invention of man. Good thing she had freed her feet from the stirrups without getting too tangled in her skirts (another questionable invention when it came to riding.) Second, this never would have happened on Tempest. Third, and more important, who else was riding on her and Charlotte’s favorite path at the same early hour?

Two polished boots appeared not two feet in front of her nose. A deep, velvety voice said, “Are you hurt?” 

The gloved hand that hovered by her face was so clean, Elizabeth hesitated to take it. She lifted her own hand from the slippery muck to confirm what her damp skin and garments suggested. She was covered in mud. 

She looked up at the mannerly stranger, the morning sun casting an angelic halo around what she prayed was merely an apparition, a figment of her overactive imagination. The chiseled jaw, firm chin, and the arch of concern in the dark brow of the handsome man standing over her certainly fit the appearance of a dreamy hero. 

Elizabeth blinked, but he did not disappear. Nor did she wake to find herself at Longbourn, tucked into her warm bed. In fact, she was getting cold. She looked down. Yes, the mud was real. The man was real. Her humiliation was real. 

Clenching her fingers into fists, Elizabeth stifled a groan. What a lovely predicament she was in. As if it was not bad enough to be thrown from a horse when she considered herself a skilled horsewoman, it had been observed by a stranger who would always associate this unfavorable moment with her. That he was handsome only added to her vexation. 

“Pray allow me to assist you,” he said, moving his hand closer to her.

Handsome and a perfect gentleman. The affront against Elizabeth’s vanity multiplied. And yet, reason told her she could not ignore him and remain in the puddle all day. It was a quandary made of her own foolish self-consciousness. She could not extract herself from the muck without making a worse disaster of her riding habit, but neither did she wish to dirty his pristine kid leather gloves. 

Stuff and fluff, she was being ridiculous! There was nothing to do but make light of her situation. Then, maybe, the stranger would understand her blush to be the result of laughter instead of shame. Shame at her own bruised vanity (for, what import did she place on others’ opinions of her?) and for her delayed reaction. One would think she had suffered a blow to the head.

“Are you injured? Did you hit your head?” the stranger asked.

Ha ha! There it was. She could not take offense with his question when she had thought the same only a moment before. If anything, she must applaud the gentleman’s sound deduction.  

By the time Elizabeth’s smile reached her eyes, it had developed a sincerity of its own, and she laughed heartily as she placed her hand in his. “I thank you, sir. I assure you the greatest injury I suffered was to my pride.” 

The stranger pulled her to her feet before she could catch her breath.  

Now that the sun did not blind her, she considered the gentleman. His eyes were the same color of the lapis lazuli on her brooch. Life was especially unjust against her that morning. 

It became imperative that she explain. “The mud is slippery—” She cringed. Of course, mud was slippery. “And, mercifully soft.” 

Elizabeth bit her lips together before she said anything else nonsensical. Maybe she had hit her head during the fall. She wiped the mud from her brooch, avoiding his gaze until she had collected enough of her dignity to look him in the eye.

The gentleman watched her. He must think her mad. Or worse, foolish. She was tempted to offer another explanation, but the flinch at the corner of his lips stopped her. Whoever he was, he was not immune to the humor of their situation. It was some comfort — enough to latch on to. 

Her tension eased and her embarrassment subsided, Elizabeth felt amusement bubble up inside her. 

“Lizzy!” cried Charlotte from behind her. 

Elizabeth startled. She had forgotten all about Charlotte. Pulling her gaze away from the mystery man, who only then dropped her gloved fingers and stepped away, Elizabeth wondered how long he had been holding her hand. How long had she been staring into his eyes? 

Her cheeks burned once again. How could she act like a moonstruck maiden in the full light of morning? Had Elizabeth observed herself, she would have poked fun at her own folly and nonsense.

Mercer gathered the mare’s reins before she stepped on them — something that only occurred to Elizabeth to do when she saw it done. Some horsewoman she was! The gentleman must think her completely inept. 

She had never felt more helpless. Elizabeth did not like it one jot, and she determined not to continue in the same manner for a second more. 

Defiantly avoiding so much as a peripheral gaze at the gentleman lest her senses take leave of her once again, Elizabeth turned to Charlotte. “I am well. I ought to have known there might be other riders along the path instead of charging heedlessly ahead, and now I have received my due punishment.” She pulled her mud-caked habit from her body, the further consequences of her present state chilling her like another dash of cold puddle water. 

Elizabeth’s heart hammered against her ribs. “My father!” she gasped, feeling physically ill. There would be no hiding what had happened from him. The line she walked to maintain the freedom she cherished was a fine one … and she had crossed it.  

The poor gentleman behind her had every right to think her a complete hoyden with abominable manners, but if she did not return to Longbourn before her family gathered in the breakfast parlor, her father would use this incident to forbid her from ever riding again. That it was her own doing smarted the worst. 

Collecting the reins from Mercer and rushing him to assist her atop the dreaded sidesaddle, Elizabeth mounted, and with a heartfelt “Thank you!”, she threw an apologetic smile behind her as she took off past gaping Charlotte toward Lucas Lodge. 

Of what use were polite introductions when her freedom was on the chopping block? Elizabeth determined not to concern herself about the mannerly gentleman. She had graver matters to worry about.

However, the hint of his smile stuck with Elizabeth all the way back to the stables, and the image kept up with her as she ran to Longbourn…

---

 

Apart from the cover, Jennifer Joy brought to From Pemberley to Milton four e-book copies of Chasing Elizabeth to offer to our readers across the globe.

The giveaway is international and to participate all you have to do is comment on this post by sharing your thoughts on the blurb, the cover, or Jennifer’s previous books. Have you read any from this series yet?

The giveaway is open until the 6^th of June and the lucky winners will be randomly picked and announced a few days later.

Good luck everyone!