Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman by Regina Jeffers is a Snuggle Up Event pick #romance #giveaway
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    • Nov 6, 2023
    • 7 min read

Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman by Regina Jeffers is a Snuggle Up Event pick #romance #giveaway



Title:

Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary


Author:

Regina Jeffers


Genre:

Regency romance; adaptations; pastiche fiction; women authors fiction; classic literature & fiction; variation; vagary, classic historical fiction; fiction romance; classic romance fiction; historical clean romance


Book Blurb:


Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary


"You do not know your place!" Elizabeth Bennet had heard those words time and time again from every man she encountered, with the exception of Mr. Thomas Bennet. Her dear father encouraged her unusual education, especially her love of architecture.


Fitzwilliam Darcy finally could name the day his beloved Pemberley would know its renewal. For five years, he had denied himself the pleasures afforded the landed gentry in order to view Pemberley House rebuilt after a questionable fire had left it in ashes. He would now choose a wife as the next mistress of Pemberley and raise a family.


When Darcy hires Elizabeth's relation as his architect, they are thrown together in unexpected ways. He requires a proper Georgian manor to win the hand of an equally proper wife, but Elizabeth is determined only the house she has designed will do. The house of her heart for the man of her heart, even though she will never spend a day within.


Excerpt:


When she entered the office a few minutes later, Jacob and Mr. Darcy had their heads together looking over a variety of architectural books spread out on the table. Elizabeth set the plate off Ericks’s left shoulder so he would not knock it onto the sample drawings over which they poured. “May I be of further assistance, Jacob?”


He briefly glanced to her. “Would it be possible for you to write down the items upon which Mr. Darcy and I agree? I fear with food there is not room upon the table for me to do so. Moreover, your handwriting is easier to read than mine.”


Mr. Darcy offered to wait until Jacob finished his meal, but Ericks refused. “You are a busy man, and I am accustomed to working while enjoying my meal. More importantly, it will save me valuable time later, for I am without a doubt Elizabeth will wish to know all we have discussed. Her father has ‘spoiled’ her in that manner. Very indulgent is Mr. Bennet when it comes to his favorite daughter.”


Mr. Darcy grinned at her. “I would not wish Miss Elizabeth to be disappointed.”


“I am grateful to be of service to both you and Jacob, sir,” she said, clearly eager to listen in on their discussion. She claimed a place at Jacob’s desk and set a sheet of paper before her. “I am prepared when you are.”


“How many storeys do you think is best for the residential area?” Jacob asked as he placed the sliced meat and cheese on bread and folded it over.


“We always had three storeys,” Mr. Darcy explained, “so I would think three, with the wine cellar, butler’s pantry, and kitchens, and so forth below ground. That is a very traditional plan, is it not?”


Elizabeth wrote down “three storeys,” followed by “customary rooms below the ground level.”


“It is,” Jacob assured, “but such depends on loads and stresses. Do you believe what remains of the house will hold the weight of new storeys? Are the walls badly damaged and need to replaced? We must remember materials we use now are different from even, say, fifty years past. For example, centuries of layers of brick and mortar prove more durable, but often heavier, requiring more support.”


“In truth, sir,” Mr. Darcy admitted. “I have no means of knowing.”


“I did not think you would,” Jacob confided. “I simply wished you to understand this type of work cannot be rushed.” He nodded to the book before them. “Do me the favor of turning each page and telling me what appeals to you. It is perfectly acceptable, for example, to choose more than one style of column. I imagine your current home was constructed more than two hundred years prior. Generally, the style then is not the style now, but we Britons prefer our traditional construction. There is no shame in preferring a Roman-style column. Styles can be mixed without harming the overall effect. Do not think much on each decision. We can barter back and forth later. Let us simply learn something of your particular tastes.” He paused to nod in Elizabeth’s direction. “Just do not tell Miss Elizabeth of your choices. Our Elizabeth often voices her preferences for something more modern. Traditional flies in the light of her opinions.”


Mr. Darcy turned to her. “Would I disappoint you if I chose a Roman-style column?”


Elizabeth knew she blushed, but she could not prevent the bit of heat rushing to her cheeks. She managed to say, “I have no say in the matter, sir.”


“Yet, I have come to trust your opinion,” he argued.


She nodded her acceptance of his challenge. “I would think,” said she, “there is a place for traditional grandeur, such as a formal ballroom, supper room, gallery, entranceway, and such. Murals. Marble floors. Portraits. Suits of armor and other such displays. Traditionally, I am speaking of the portion of the house where visitors might apply to a housekeeper for a tour.


“However, I do not imagine a family, and you, sir, have briefly spoken of desiring to marry and have a family fill the halls of your ancestral manor house—a family, in my humble opinion, would not wish to dine every morning and evening in such a formal room. Your children, sir, would likely wish to sit beside a favorite brother or sister. Teasing and testing and loving each other. You would not prefer to sit so far removed from the future Mrs. Darcy. If you are to share a ‘partnership’ with the lady, you would wish her seated at your right-hand and your children and their various nurses and governesses, also present, along with your sister with, perhaps, someday, her own family. All about the same table. All talking over each other. Would not such please you, sir?”


Mr. Darcy said reverently. “It would, Miss Elizabeth.”


They held each other’s steady gaze for a few elongated moments before she recalled herself. She asked, “Should I write down ‘separate family quarters,’ Jacob?”


He looked upon her peculiarly. “Yes, along with ‘a smaller kitchen, servant quarters, etcetera, in the family wing.” To Mr. Darcy, Jacob asked, “And the number of guest rooms. Such indicates how many chimneys are required.”


Mr. Darcy asked, “Could wings be added as the family expands? Perhaps, my eldest son would prefer a separate wing for himself and his family, though my wife and I are in the traditional family wing of the house.”


“Naturally,” Jacob pronounced. “A wing or a more private area could be built with inner rooms—those with windows to the outside. Naturally, they could also be used as guest rooms. The inner rooms could be smaller for a single guest. However, there is more of an issue of light when such is constructed. Candles are available, but there are newer lighting possibilities being developed all the time. We could add them now and light them later.”


“And if we have no inner rooms?” Mr. Darcy asked.


“We could create a wing,” Jacob suggested, “with one side opening to a central passage and to a gallery, ballroom, and dining hall. If you think to ask my opinion, this would be my suggestion. Possibly, five to six rooms on each side of the three storeys, all facing the grounds and gardens, with windows for light and the view. Having not seen the land upon which the house will sit, I am thinking five to six rooms on a side, meaning forty-five to fifty-four guests’ rooms. In reality, even numbers are better because rooms can share a chimney wall. If the house has the shape which I currently imagine, we could add a similar wing to the back of the house. It could be attached or separate with a shared garden or some sort of palisade-style enclosure, not for defense, but to provide protection from the sun and Derbyshire’s elements, especially in the winter.”


“I am fond of the idea of a separate wing,” Mr. Darcy admitted. “We could wait to consider building it, though I would wish for the plans to show it. Perhaps I will not have as many children as I would like.” He turned again to her to say softly, “Thank you, Miss Elizabeth, for the suggestion.”


Elizabeth nodded her head in graciousness. She would not tell the gentleman the house she had described with a husband and children all about was part of her dream for her own family—a place she would never realistically know, but one she was happy to share with him.


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):



Available to Read on Kindle Unlimited





November is a time to be thankful. What are you most thankful for this year?


I am thankful for the same things I have been thankful for the last twelve years: 3 adorable, healthy, creative, and intelligent grandchildren (ages 12, 10, and 7), who excel in school and follow God. In addition, I am thankful for the relatively good health I have manage at my age. Losing one’s long time friends is a very sobering experience to have, and it reminds one how precious life is. One must truly live his best life possible.


Why is your featured book worth snuggling up to?


Mr. Darcy and the Designing Woman takes a familiar tale and provides it a new twist. The reader will recognize the characters as old friends, which is quick comfortable, but he/she will not expect the twists and turns of a “What IF?” story, where somethings remain the same and others take our deal couple down a path they had not planned to walk. The story takes places in the last few years of the Napoleon Wars and signals a new beginning for all; yet, it does so in a realistic historical setting and with actual events mixed with the fiction.


Giveaway –


One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon gift card



Open internationally.


Runs November 1 – 30


Drawing will be held on December 1.



Author Biography:


Before writing romance, Jeffers wore many hats, including that of a tax preparer, journalist, choreographer, Broadway dancer, theatre director, history buff, teacher, grant writer, and media literacy consultant for school districts and public television. Now, “supposedly” retired, she writes full-time, skillfully enveloping her readers in the hearts and minds of her characters.


Social Media Links:


Every Woman Dreams (Blog) https://reginajeffers.wordpress.com

Always Austen (Group Blog) https://alwaysausten.com/

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