Where the Waters Agree by Susan Adriani – Excerpt & Giveaway

Good Afternoon everyone,

It’s release day for Where the Waters Agree by Susan Adriani so I couldn’t be happier to have her visiting today with an excerpt of this wonderful novella. I was very lucky to receive an advance readers copy and spoiler alert: it’s going to be my first 5 star review of the year! I simply loved this novella and I can’t wait to bring you my review! I’ll publish it next Monday, so if you want to know why I loved it, stop by next week 🙂

Until then, I’ll let you read this beautiful excerpt that demonstrates exactly the type of romance and incredible writting you’ll find in the book.

Thank you so much for visiting Ms Adriani, and thank you Quills & Quartos for the opportunity to spread out the word about this book.

---

Elizabeth Bennet was walking with him.

She was not ignoring him, or glaring at him, or ringing a peal over him as he had so often imagined would happen should their paths ever cross again.

When she had first set foot on the bluff and beheld him, there was no denying she was shocked. Darcy had been shocked himself. How could he have felt anything but shock? He had come to Evermore on Sea hoping to find clarity and direction. He had hoped to find some modicum of peace. Instead, he had found Elizabeth, whose fine eyes and handsome countenance inspired thoughts and sensations and emotions that were the very opposite of peaceful.

Somehow, Darcy had managed to ignore the pounding of his traitorous heart and find the courage to speak with her of mundane things: the weather and the state of the roads. Elizabeth, however, had been uncharacteristically subdued, and the responses she gave to his questions, while perfectly civil, were disinterested. It was as though their personalities had been reversed, at least when they had first encountered each other.

Now, things had settled into a more familiar pattern as Darcy listened with rapt attention as Elizabeth recounted her impressions of the coast—her awe upon beholding the sea for the first time, and her enjoyment as she watched the sun inch towards the horizon at the end of each day and slowly melt into the sea. Then, after expelling a breathy little laugh, she told him, “I believe I could live quite happily here but for my mother’s daily admonishments. Of late, I have developed an unfortunate habit of returning home at dusk with sunburnt cheeks.”

Darcy smiled. At that very moment, her cheeks were in fact tinged with pink, the result of spending countless hours out of doors exploring the shore and the bluffs or perhaps even bathing in the sea. “When it is not obscured by clouds,” he told her, “the sun does tend to burn brighter here. As a boy, my cheeks were often sunburnt as well and by the end of my stay my skin was rather tan. Evermore on Sea felt like a magical place. The sea itself was vast, and the waves were like nothing I had ever seen, cresting and breaking and rolling without pause. It was spectacular and awe-inspiring and a bit frightening as well. And yet, the colours of the land were not nearly as vibrant as they were at home in Derbyshire. They were subdued, almost to the point of appearing drab. I found it difficult to reconcile the blandness of the landscape with the strength and vitality of the sea.”

“They are very different entities,” said Elizabeth, plucking a tall blade of pale grass from the ground as she went. Her ruined bonnet, which had become a makeshift basket for the myriad wildflowers she had collected as they ambled along the bluff, swung from her arm. “I confess I have grown quite fond of the subdued hues of the seaside. When compared to the lush fields and woods of home, the landscape here appears a bit bland, it is true, but it has a subtle, understated beauty I have found to be soothing. The sunsets, though, are so vivid! Even more so than those I have seen in Hertfordshire from atop Oakham Mount.”

“The sunsets here are indeed something to behold, but I have found Hertfordshire to be very beautiful as well,” Darcy replied, all the while thinking that she was the true beauty, more vibrant than any sunset, more mysterious than the sea. Thankfully, he was master enough of himself to refrain from speaking such words aloud.

---

He ached from just looking at her. From wanting her. And from wanting to tell her—again and again—that she was the very best thing that had ever happened to him.

EVERMORE ON SEA IS NOT BRIGHTON. There are no horse races, no balls or parties held every other night, and no red-coated officers to provoke the two youngest Bennet sisters into behaviour that would embarrass themselves and their family, which is precisely why Elizabeth Bennet believes Mr Bennet sent his wife and daughters there when her mother had pestered him for a seaside holiday.

WHILE MRS BENNET FINDS THE VILLAGE much more to her liking than the seaside itself, Elizabeth finds solace and pleasure amongst the sandy strands and grassy bluffs of the coast, which are very different than the woods and fields of Hertfordshire. It is atop one of those picturesque bluffs that she unexpectedly comes face to face with Mr Darcy.

MR FITZWILLIAM DARCY HAS COME TO EVERMORE ON SEA to find clarity. Instead, he unexpectedly meets Elizabeth Bennet, who has only ever provoked him, confused him, and broken his heart. Now, after making amends, she has offered him her friendship. Friendship, however, is the last thing Mr Darcy wants from the woman he loves but he accepts in any case, hoping to show her he has taken her reproofs to heart and changed for the better.

THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE does not always run smoothly, however, especially when surrounded by family—Mr Darcy’s as well as Elizabeth’s. They are no longer enemies but will this second chance meeting move them from friendship to love? Will he be able to win her heart and therefore her hand? Or will complications arise that prohibit their being together, even in friendship?

WHERE THE WATERS AGREE is a novella length variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

You can find Where the Waters Agree at:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

and on Kindle Unlimited

---

Quills & Quartos is giving away 1 ebook copy of Where the Waters Agree to one lucky reader who stops by at From Pemberley to Milton. To apply to the giveaway, all you have to do is comment this post and let us know what you think of this book. Quills & Quartos will announce the winner on their Facebook page, so check it out to see who won 🙂

Good luck everyone!