With gentlemen scarce at the Meryton assembly, Elizabeth Bennet means to scold the man in the shadows who refuses to dance. But when he comes into the light, she sees his horribly scarred face and his limp. Fitzwilliam Darcy survived a tragic carriage accident that claimed the life of his sister, and by all accounts of those who knew him, he is much changed. Now, he is a beast of a man, often in a bad temper, owing the pain he still suffers from the injuries he incurred. Elizabeth pities the man until he kisses her in the middle of the dance floor at the Netherfield Ball with everyone looking on. He’s trapped her in a marriage that is not of her choosing, and now she must travel with him to the isolated estate of Pemberley. Mr. Darcy knows what he’s done is monstrous. But there are monstrous things within him now. He doesn’t know what has possessed him to trespass against this beauty that will now be his wife. He knows he is beyond any hope. And yet… she stirs things within him. He will not let her go. This first book in the Happily Ever Collection unites Beauty and the Beast and Pride and Prejudice. Though each story in the collection takes its cue from a fairy tale, there are neither magic nor otherworldly elements in the stories.

Elizabeth Bennet’s father died when she was very young, and her mother remarried a few years later to a man named Bingley. Though her mother has sent her and her older sister Jane away to stay with relatives for significant periods of time in their lives, Elizabeth has spent enough time in the presence of her stepsisters Caroline and Louisa to grow accustomed to their cutting remarks and their treating her like a servant, even as they tolerate Jane. But her stepbrother, Charles, often away at school, is practically a stranger. Still, Elizabeth finds it a bit awkward to discover a romance is brewing between Jane and Charles Bingley, and she’s not keen on the idea of helping her sister sneak around with her new paramour by pretending to be Jane at a series of masquerade balls. Elizabeth harbors a dream to be a published novelist, and she would rather stay at home and scribble away at her book than dance at a ball. Especially not if she has to endure the company of Mr. Darcy. He is Mr. Bingley’s awful friend. Sometimes silent, sometimes smug, always loathsomely arrogant. No, she fears that if she spends too much time anywhere near man, she will be unable to keep herself from telling him exactly what she thinks of him. And that can only go badly. The Happily Ever Collection is a series of books that retell the story of our dear couple mixed with various fairy tales. This is a combination of Cinderella and Pride and Prejudice. Set in Regency England, there are no magical or paranormal elements. Though this is the second book in the collection, it stands alone and can be read separately from the others in the series.

Once upon a time, a girl was captured by a madwoman and imprisoned in a tower… Lady Catherine de Bourgh is rumored to have been carried away by grief over the death of her daughter Anne. When Elizabeth Bennet is visiting her friend Charlotte in Kent, she hardly expects to be abducted by the woman and imprisoned in a tower, a replacement for the dead Anne de Bourgh herself. Forced to wear Anne’s old clothes and to answer to her name, Elizabeth does everything she can to escape from her prison, but Lady Catherine’s madness is impenetrable. When Mr. Darcy arrives to visit his aunt, Elizabeth tries to signal him from the tower window, and he sees her, but it is all for naught when he, too, is dragged to the tower and imprisoned. After all, Lady Catherine always did have plans for Mr. Darcy and her daughter. But these plans she is carrying out now, they are dark and despicable. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy fear they may not get out alive. And they only have each other to rely on. This Rapunzel retelling is part of the Happily Ever Collection, a series of novels that puts together Pride and Prejudice and fairy tales. This is a Regency Era retelling with no paranormal elements, but it is exceedingly gothic and owes a great deal to the grimmer aspects of the Grimm Brothers’ tale. Readers who like high stakes, a healthy dollop of angst, and just a hint of heat will likely find this is just what they’ve been looking for.