Best Second-Chance P&P Variations

Nameless: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Julia Cooper

ORPHANED AND ALONE IN THE WORLD, Elizabeth Bennet has found reasonable contentment as a companion to the Dowager Countess of Matlock in Nameless: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Julia Cooper. The affairs of 1811 and Fitzwilliam Darcy long forgotten. But the past intrudes upon her again, and Mr Darcy returns to her, handsome, wealthy, and widowed, and hiding many secrets beneath his solemn exterior.

BUT IF TIME HAD ALTERED THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES, one thing remains: Mr Darcy still wishes to marry her, and this time, Elizabeth consents. At nearly twenty-nine it is inarguably a good prospect for her and indeed, not until they arrive at his vast estate does she realise how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their growing love. But the new Mrs Darcy’s courage will continue to rise despite the many attempts to intimidate her; and she vows to use whatever power she holds over the master of Pemberley to keep him.

NAMELESS is a tale of the triumph of good over evil, of passion over prejudice, of loyalty over lies…and most of all, of enduring, unfailing love.

Taking Another Chance: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Brenda J. Webb

Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet have suffered profound heartache in the fourteen years since parting in Lambton when word of Lydia’s folly reached her family in Taking Another Chance: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Brenda J. Webb.

At the age of forty, Darcy is now a widower raising a teenage daughter, whilst Elizabeth, a spinster, has spent the intervening years in service.

Unexpectedly thrown into each other’s company by circumstances not of their making, has time stood still when it comes to matters of the heart? Can their timeless love survive the newest obstacles to their happiness?

Some Natural Importance: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Jan Ashton

Fitzwilliam Darcy already has one arranged marriage in his past in Some Natural Importance: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Jan Ashton. The last thing he envisions for himself is another, yet he has somehow become entrapped in a promise to a dying man. Not only must Darcy overcome his resentment in order to live up to his sense of honour, but when he realises how deeply his heart may be engaged, he must convince Elizabeth Bennet of his true feelings.

Elizabeth never expected the imperious Mr Darcy to become a good friend of an idle gentleman like her father. And she certainly never anticipated they would form a secret pact compelling her marriage to a man she dislikes. She must set aside grief and resentment, as well as her suspicions: Is Darcy using her to avoid another bride pushed onto him by his family, or to gain riches Elizabeth never knew she had?

Or is it possible he loves her?

Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Caitlin Williams

What if Elizabeth actually went to the Lake District and was nowhere near Pemberley, and she and Mr Darcy never met again until another four years had gone by in Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Caitlin Williams?

Now they are very different people, altered by marriage, time and situation, although, Mr Darcy’s failed proposal in the Parsonage at Hunsford still haunts both of them in different ways.

Elizabeth is a companion to her Aunt, Mrs Mountford, a widow of great standing in society who married exceptionally well and ‘Miss Bennet’ finds herself accepted in the very best of circles and able to marry whomever she might chose.

Mr Darcy did his duty by his sickly cousin, Anne de Bourgh, and married her to protect her from the tyrannical force of her mother Lady Catherine. He has come to Bath, however, a widower, with his family, the Fitzwilliams, and his sister, Georgiana.

Mr Darcy is still a little proud, still not able to ‘perform to strangers’. Can Elizabeth see past his reserve and awkwardness to the decent man underneath?

Nefarious: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Nicole Clarkston

Once trapped by marriage to a woman he loathed, Fitzwilliam Darcy is finally free again in Nefarious: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Nicole Clarkston. Resentful, bewildered, and angry, he is eager to begin his life over—preferably with a woman who is the exact opposite of his wife.

He never imagined a short stay in Hertfordshire would bring him face to face with his worst nightmare; a woman similar in face, form, and name. He certainly never expected her to be so impossible to ignore.

Torn between what he believes he wants and what his heart cannot live without, his dignity begins to unravel. Will his desperation to escape his past drive a wedge into his closest friendship and destroy any hope of a future?

Will Miss Elizabeth Bennet prove to be as nefarious as his wife? Or, will the last woman in the world be his only chance at happiness?

Mr. Darcy’s Forbidden Love by Brenda J. Webb

When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Elizabeth Bennet for the first time in Mr. Darcy’s Forbidden Love by Brenda J. Webb, he is already married to another woman. Forced into a loveless marriage, in name only, to the widowed Lady Gisela Grantham because of his father’s sins, Darcy is obliged by honour to remain in the marriage to hide a dark secret.

That unhappy part of his life, however, is quickly coming to an end as he meets the love of his life in a little-known village in Hertfordshire. Mr. Darcy’s Forbidden Love is a Pride and Prejudice variation, not a simple retelling. It is the story of a love that was meant to be—a passion too strong to be denied.

Mr. Darcy’s Forbidden Love is a Pride and Prejudice variation. Not a simple retelling, it is an intriguing new story that does not follow canon. It is rated for mature audiences.

Master of Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Jane Grix

After the death of his wife, the former Anne de Bourgh, Darcy knows it is his duty to marry again to provide a male heir for Pemberley in Master of Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Jane Grix.

He knows exactly what sort of woman he wants until he meets Elizabeth Bennet. With her clever mind and fine eyes, she challenges him and inspires strong feelings that threaten to undo all his careful plans.

Master of Pemberley is a variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set in the Regency Era.

Fortune & Felicity: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Monica Fairview

Seven years after Darcy’s disastrous proposal, Darcy is in need, not of a wife, but of a governess for his young daughter in Fortune & Felicity: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Monica Fairview.

Imagine his surprise when he discovers Elizabeth Bennet on the list of possible candidates provided by the employment agency. The question is, should he take her on as a governess, or would he be playing with fire?

Elizabeth Bennet is forced by her reduced circumstances to take on a position. However, when Mr. Darcy invites her for an interview, she is embarrassed and humiliated. How could she possibly live under the same roof as the man she had rejected so strongly seven years ago? Whatever decision she makes, there will be a high price to pay… one way or the other.

The Events at Branxbourne: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Kindle Edition by Caitlin Williams

Lady Lambert, or Elizabeth Bennet as she was once known, appears to have made the perfect match in The Events at Branxbourne: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Kindle Edition by Caitlin Williams. Having refused Mr Darcy’s proposal of marriage at Hunsford, she is now married to a viscount.

Yet beneath her fine clothes beats a heart filled with regrets. Dark secrets lurk in every corner of her elegant London townhouse, and while she might have at her disposal many excellent and numerous carriages, they all seem to take her places she does not truly want to go.

Into her, now desolate, existence comes Mr Darcy again, a changed man, a better man, the very best of men, and still very much in love with her. Is it all impossible? She ought to resist him, yet she cannot stay away. Theirs is a dangerous, scandalous love.

In an age when women are owned by their husbands, can a wife escape a husband she has come to loathe, and when there is blood on her hands, how will Elizabeth explain herself?

Darcy and Elizabeth – A Promise Kept by Brenda J. Webb

Five years after his disastrous proposal at Kent, Fitzwilliam Darcy receives a letter from Charles Bingley regarding a promise made when their friendship ended in Darcy and Elizabeth – A Promise Kept by Brenda J. Webb.

Should Darcy keep the promise, it will throw him into the company of the one woman he has struggled for years to forget–Elizabeth Bennet.

Having just entered a secret agreement with Lady Markham, will Darcy put his future in jeopardy by stepping in to help Bingley? Has time and distance helped him overcome his regard for Elizabeth, or will he fall as madly in love with her as before?

The Complete Lost Heir Novella Series: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by April Floyd

This completed series entitled The Complete Lost Heir Novella Series: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by April Floyd takes Elizabeth from her home at Netherfield Park, as Colonel Fitzwilliam’s widow. She goes to London where she must decide whether she might trust his parents and reveal the secret that will save their family.

Along the way, the Darcys love and protect her while Lady Matlock and Major Wickham wish to bend Elizabeth to their will.

When the story is completed, only love will save the Fitzwilliam family and honor the memory of Colonel Fitzwilliam.

Bitter Mournings: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Linda Gonschior

IT IS SUMMER’S END OF 1821 when the ladies of Longbourn learn that Netherfield Park has been let at last, to two wealthy young widowers in Bitter Mournings: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Linda Gonschior. The news is elating to Mrs Bennet, who has never given up hope that her beautiful eldest daughter Jane will one day marry a rich gentleman. For the former Miss Elizabeth Bennet—now Mrs Matthews—the news is less exciting. A widow herself, she is more interested in caring for her two young children and settling her recently widowed mother into a new home than with thoughts of husbands.

FITZWILLIAM DARCY HARBOURS NO THOUGHTS of acquiring a wife, only entering into the society of Hertfordshire on behalf of his friend. Yet, the more he sees of Mrs Elizabeth Matthews, the more she draws his eye and the more his dreams of Pemberley becoming a house of warmth and laughter and love prick at his mind.

BUT A LIFE LIVED IN THE SHADOWS of grief has become too comfortable for them both. Falling in love will require both Darcy and Elizabeth to recover their lost hopes, reignite long-forgotten dreams, and regain the courage to give their hearts to one another.

The Best Part of Love: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Amy D’Orazio

When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Miss Elizabeth Bennet in The Best Part of Love: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Amy D’Orazio, his heart is almost immediately engaged. Seeing the pretty lady before him, a lady of no consequence or fortune, he believes he should not form an attachment to her, unsuitable as such a woman is to be his wife.

What he cannot see, however, is the truth, that the simple country girl harbours a secret. Before she meets Darcy, Elizabeth has spent two years hiding from the men who killed her beloved first husband. Feeling herself destroyed by love, Elizabeth is certain she will never love again, certainly not the arrogant man who has offended her from the first moment of their acquaintance.

There You Were: A Pride & Prejudice Retelling by Michelle Ray

ABANDONED BY HER MOTHER and ignored by her father, it is hardly any wonder young Elizabeth Bennet’s curiosity soon brings about trouble and marriage to a man she does not love in There You Were: A Pride & Prejudice Retelling by Michelle Ray.

Colonel Fitzwilliam’s family—save for his cousin Mr Darcy—despises her, and life is not what she dreamed of. As she matures and grows from an impetuous girl into a woman, Elizabeth’s most reliable source of friendship and comfort becomes Mr Darcy. When tragedy strikes, leaving her a widow, she is free to discover who has been in her heart all along.

DARCY HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTRIGUED by the girl his beloved cousin married, and finds himself drawn into helping her after her husband’s death. Over time, admiration turns to love. Admitting his feelings to her – or even himself – could lead to ruin, but denying his passion could shatter him.

The Rogue’s Widow: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Nicole Clarkston

Elizabeth Bennet never expected that answering an advertisement for a lady’s companion would result in almost immediate marriage and widowhood in The Rogue’s Widow: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Nicole Clarkston. Destitute and hopeless after her father’s death, she accepts the position as a means to provide a home for her family, but is daily baffled by the abrupt ways and inscrutable motives of her employer and benefactor, Mr Darcy.

Fitzwilliam Darcy had a simple plan: secure a steady companion for his younger sister Georgiana and a wife for his father’s dying ward, to prevent a neighbouring estate from falling into the hands of George Wickham. Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect answer… a little too perfect. As her sweetly impertinent character encourages Georgiana and wins the respect of the village, Darcy’s own heart begins to fall for the woman whom honour forbids him even to think of.

When a legal challenge brings into question Elizabeth’s rights to the estate, Darcy must find a way to mend old family breaches and reveal secrets better forgotten. Will he permit himself to reach for the one who holds his happiness? Or will events conspire to take her forever from his life?

The Widow Elizabeth: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Summer Hanford and Renata McMann

When Elizabeth weds one of Darcy’s dearest friends in The Widow Elizabeth: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Summer Hanford and Renata McMann, he tries, and fails, to put his love for her behind him.

Then, after two years of regretting his decision to step aside for his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy is given that rarest of gifts, a second chance. Though he mourns the cousin he loved like a brother, Darcy can’t help but wonder what might have been, and what could still be.

Elizabeth’s heart is broken by her husband’s death. Worse, she’s being pressed to marry not only by her family, but a barrage of suitors. Amid the chaos and sorrow, only one person, Mr. Darcy, seems to fully understand her need to grieve. He, like Elizabeth, knows Colonel Fitzwilliam deserves the respect of a full twelve months of mourning.

Undoing by L.L. Diamond

Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Bennet always hoped to marry for love—that is until she surrenders to her mother’s demands and marries the handsome Duke of Leeds in Undoing by L.L. Diamond.

Thrust into a society disinclined to accept the country nobody who entrapped one of their most sought-after bachelors, her marriage of convenience is nothing like she expected. Her husband confuses her, as he hides a scandalous secret he’s reluctant to share.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a man torn. After meeting the Duchess of Leeds at a ball, he is fascinated by her intelligence and humour, but how does one maintain a respectable friendship with a lady—particularly when that lady is the wife of his cousin and godfather? Yet by spending time in her company, he loses more and more of his heart to a lady he is forbidden to possess.

Tormented, his feelings must stay hidden from everyone, particularly Elizabeth. How is he to keep himself under such strict regulation when he is constantly thrown into her company? How does one prevent their own undoing?

Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man by Brenda J. Webb

Leaving England after his disastrous proposal was refused at Hunsford, Darcy spent two lonely years in Scotland and Ireland before returning home to face Elizabeth Bennet in Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man by Brenda J. Webb.

Events that transpired in his absence have left Elizabeth a changed woman. The victim of a marriage by deception to Count Stefano, she has suffered greatly at his hands.

Will Mr. Darcy rescue the woman he vowed to forget?

A Dance with Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary by Regina Jeffers

Five years earlier, Darcy had raced to Hertfordshire to soothe Elizabeth Bennet’s qualms after Lady Catherine’s venomous attack. But in A Dance with Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary by Regina Jeffers, a devastating carriage accident left him near death for months and cost him his chance at happiness with the lady.

Now, they meet again upon the Scottish side of the border, but can they forgive all that has transpired in those years? They are widow and widower; however, that does not mean they can take up where they left off. They are damaged people, and healing is not an easy path. To know happiness they must fall in love with the same person all over again.