An Unexpected Harvest by Cat Andrews – Excerpt & Giveaway

Good Afternoon everyone, 

I hope you are all doing well and maybe having some fun on these warmer and longer days. Today is my first vacation day, so I am really happy and relaxed 🙂 It is curious because I am hosting Cat Andrews today and the last time she visited was last year also during my holidays. At the time she was here to talk to you about Sanctuary, a book I have just finished reading this month and that I trully loved (review is already live), so I am very happy to receive her once more. 

Today she brings to you an excerpt of An Unexpected Harvest, a book I really want to read because I simply cannot resist a city girl / country boy story! I am sure this book will be unforgeteble for me because it is just my cup of tea 🙂

Are you also fond of these kind of stories? Do you prefer city girl/country boy? Or city boy/country girl? I love both, but I am a partial to a country boy 🙂

I hope you enjoy the excerpt and don’t forget to comment this post to enter the giveaway. 

Thank you so much for visiting once more cat, it is a pleasure to have you here one more. And best of luck with this new release, I know it will be a sucess!

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Hello! I’m happy to be here at From Pemberley to Milton once again! Thanks, Rita, for taking part in the blog tour for my modern Pride and Prejudice variation, An Unexpected Harvest. 

I had a lot of fun writing this story, playing with the characters and swapping out their personalities, or completely changing them—one reviewer calls it a “literary shell game,” which I absolutely love! It’s an entirely accurate description. 

The story is divided into two parts, and this deleted scene comes from Part 1. In it, we see Elizabeth meeting with an old flame—the very polished Colin Williams (a flip of Bill Collins)—who shows up at her office and makes a last-ditch effort at winning her back. But his hopes are dashed when he realizes he might be too late; Elizabeth’s heart may already be engaged by another. I hope you enjoy it!

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When Elizabeth pushed open the doors to the lobby, her eyes went to the receptionist, who nodded discreetly toward the windows. A man stood there, gazing outside and holding a large bouquet of flowers in his arms. Even from behind she could see he was impeccably dressed, his dark blond hair perfectly styled.

He heard her approach and turned, smiling widely. “Liz.”
She sighed. “Hello, Colin. Did you give up web design for a career in floral delivery?”
“A ploy that had the desired result.” He handed her the flowers and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Thanks, but you shouldn’t have.” Her eyebrows rose at his answering shrug. “I mean you really shouldn’t have. What are you doing here?”
“Can we go somewhere to talk privately?”
She hesitated, wary of encouraging him, but knew they’d be better off without an audience. She led him through the lobby and into a conference room, closing the door behind them, and carefully laid the flowers on the table.  

“Why are you here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to win you back.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “It’s not going to happen. And how did you know I’d even be here? Technically I’m still on vacation.”
“Because I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t be able to stay away. You can’t. This is your second home.” He tugged on a loose curl of her hair. “And I think it could happen. Me winning you back, I mean.”
She took a step back. “It won’t.”
“Because of the farmer?” 

“I broke up with you before I even met the farmer. I’m not involved with him—”
“You could have fooled me.”
Her patience waned. “For crying out loud, Colin! I kissed him. Once.”
“You like him.”
Her cheeks heated. “I’m not involved with him, and I didn’t cheat on you with him. Do I feel badly things happened the way they did? Yes, of course. But no matter what you say or how many bouquets you buy me”—she gestured toward the flowers—“nothing will change my feelings for you.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“You didn’t ask one.”
He tilted his head and smiled sadly. “Do you have feelings for the farmer?”
She pulled her eyes from his and shook her head.
“There’s a right way to respond, Liz. Just answer honestly.”
Her eyes went back to his and she took a deep breath. “Yes, I–I do. But—”
“I don’t want to know anything else.”
She remained silent, grateful he’d stopped her from saying more. Telling him her affection for Will wasn’t reciprocated would have only made Colin feel worse; she was turning him away, only to pine for someone who didn’t want her.
“You know I had to try just once, right?” he said. “I felt lousy about the way things ended on New Year’s Eve, and I hoped that being back home might make you see things differently.”
“I’m sorry, Colin, but I don’t.” 

Things would be so much easier if she felt for him what he felt for her. But she didn’t, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them.
He smiled. “We’ll still be friends, won’t we? I don’t want things to be weird when we bump into each other.”
She nodded. “Friends.”
After a long moment of looking at her, he kissed her cheek again. “Bye, Liz. I’ll see you.”
“Bye, Colin.”
He let himself out of the conference room, and when he was gone she picked up the flowers and held them to her nose, inhaling deeply. One of the things he’d said resonated deeply.

You know I had to try just once, right? 

She didn’t want to understand, but she did. They’d been a couple for eight months, after all. Sadly, of the two of them, she was the more pathetic. She’d only known Will Darcy for a month, and couldn’t make herself walk away; she’d had to try. Just once. And that was after a few apparently meaningless encounters and a lusty but empty kiss. God only knew what she’d do after eight months.

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Elizabeth Bennet left her affluent New England home at the age of sixteen and never looked back. She’s built a fabulous life in Boston and loves everything about the city—especially her dream job as creative director at an advertising agency.

Will Darcy has never lived anywhere but in rural Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He lives the quintessential small-town life and loves everything about the country—especially his family’s farm, which he’s doing his best to modernize and return to prosperity.

When her older sister moves back to New England, Elizabeth reluctantly pays a visit to the hometown she left behind. Soon enough, the city girl meets the country boy and the insults and misunderstandings fly—but so do the sparks.

No one is more surprised than Elizabeth and Will when those sparks turn into a brilliant flame, and the 300 miles between them that once felt far too close suddenly turns into an unbearable distance.

The city girl and the country boy know a good thing when they see it—even if they don’t see it nearly enough. Can they overcome their greatest challenge and find common ground—and their happily-ever-after?

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This novel is a modern variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but with a slight spin on the usual cast of characters. It contains adult content and is meant for mature readers.

 

You can find An Unexpected Harvest at:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Kindle Unlimited

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Cat Andrews has always been an avid reader, but didn’t discover Jane Austen until her love of a certain British actor led her to the BBC’s 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice, because she just had to know—why all the fuss over this Darcy guy? What followed her viewing of that glorious miniseries was an inhalation of and immediate fixation on all of Austen’s novels, though Pride and Prejudice remains her favorite.

Her discovery of Jane Austen Fan Fiction opened up a whole new world, and thus began her addiction, and months and months of sleep deprivation, as she immersed herself in JAFF. After reading a modern Pride and Prejudice variation that she fell in love with, she was inspired to begin a cautious but earnest foray into the world of writing. 

In real life, Cat has spent thirty-plus years working in healthcare. She enjoys life on the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts where she grew up, fell in love with her own Mr. Darcy, and raised a family (and a three-legged dog). More often than not, you can find her at the beach with a book in her hand and her toes in the sand.

An Unexpected Harvest is her second novel. 

Contact/Social Media:

Website: http://www.catandrews.com

Email: catandrews.author@gmail.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/cat_a_auth

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cat.andrews.583

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/cat_andrews_author

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The blog tour is just starting, so don’t forget to check the other stops:

June 1 – author’s blog – www.catandrews.com

June 4 – Babblings of a Bookworm

June 7 – From Pemberley to Milton

June 9 – Jane Austen State of Mind

June 11 – Austenesque Reviews

June 14 – Diary of an Eccentric

June 16 – Probably at the Library

June 18 – My Vices and Weaknesses

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Cat Andrews would like to  give away one ebook copy of An Unexpected Harvest to one reader. The giveaway is open to readers with a US amazon account and all you have to do to apply is leave a comment on this post.  

Good Luck everyone!