Coming Soon
Requirements for Love
Available September 2025
She told herself she hated the man who ruined her sister’s happiness. But anything could happen when she’s forced to spend two weeks under his roof…
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Elizabeth Bennet holds a grudge. Fleeing her mother’s displeasure over a jilted suitor, the frustrated young lady heads to London to join her aunt and uncle for the winter. But when she sprains her ankle outside the home of the handsome gentleman who ruined her beloved sister’s happiness, the spirited wit is dismayed to hear she can’t be moved for two weeks.
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Fitzwilliam Darcy is horrified by his own heart’s yearnings. But calling upon his younger sister to act as a chaperone, he nobly offers his residence as a place for the beautiful woman to recuperate. And when the two ladies start matchmaking to find Elizabeth a husband, the wealthy landowner hopes it will quash the temptation to propose once and for all.
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Shocked by how well they get along, Elizabeth realizes her chivalrous host is the ideal fit for her list of qualities necessary in a spouse. But with her uncouth family still nagging at Darcy’s sense of propriety, he defaults to the harsh honesty that already caused their ugly rift.
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Will they compare secret notes and discover a delightful happily ever after?
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This full-length Pride and Prejudice variation is low angst and kisses-only.
Excerpt
In this excerpt, Elizabeth, Mrs. Gardiner, and Jane are doing errands in town after Jane has paid a disappointing call on Miss Bingley. And it's an icy January day...
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They cautiously made their way across the crowded pavement covered in patches of ice. Elizabeth stepped out last, and after the driver handed her down, a pair of young dandies walking and laughing strode past. One of them jostled her with his walking stick, and she stumbled, and a false step on a slick of ice brought her suddenly to the ground.
She cried out in surprise, and one man turned back, touched his hat, and said, “I beg your pardon,” and continued down the street.
Mrs Gardiner and Jane hurried to her side. With their help, Elizabeth raised herself from the ground, but her foot had been twisted in the fall, and she could scarcely stand. “Lizzy,” her aunt cried, “are you hurt?”
When she tripped, her foot rolled inward, and she had felt a sharp pain on the outer side of her right ankle. “I am well.” Elizabeth stepped toward the shop, but winced and lost her balance and staggered into her aunt. They might have both fallen had a stranger not steadied her arm.
“Forgive me, madam, but I saw the entire thing,” the man said. “Those two men ought to be ashamed of themselves for not staying to assist you. May I call your carriage?”
Elizabeth was too embarrassed by her situation to answer him. All of her traipsing about the country, and she had slipped in London in front of so many people.
“We would have to hire another hackney,” her aunt said, sounding alarmed, “but I am uncertain how she can climb into it if her foot is sprained or broken. I think we need someone with a cart so we can lift her onto the back.”
“My ankle will be perfectly well,” she insisted. “Perhaps I can just sit in the shop for a moment?”
She let go of the stranger’s arm and tried to put her weight on it again, but she winced and he adjusted his grip to keep her from falling.
“Madam, my cousin’s house is just there in Charles Street,” he said to Mrs Gardiner, pointing. “You can nearly see it from here. Allow me to carry the young lady there, and we can send for a surgeon.”
“Oh no!” Elizabeth cried. This was too mortifying. “It is not that bad.”
“Lizzy,” said Jane, “do not let your modesty decline what your situation clearly renders necessary.”
“We could not impose on your cousin,” said Mrs Gardiner. “But perhaps if you know someone with a cart who would return us to Gracechurch Street?”
“Neither my cousin nor I could call ourselves gentlemen if we were not of service to you,” he said earnestly. “And it is always best in these cases, you know, to have a surgeon’s opinion without loss of time.”
The stranger was about thirty, not handsome, but in person and address most truly the gentleman. Mrs Gardiner looked at her, and Elizabeth knew she was going to agree. “Very well, we would be much obliged to you and your cousin, if you think he would be agreeable.”
The kind man gestured his intention to pick her up, but Elizabeth shrank back. “Surely there is another way to convey me to the house? I can lean on your arm and hop. You said it was not far.”
“I fear that would leave you rather sore and we would make slow progress. I promise your weight will not stagger me,” he said, smiling. “It is not half a furlong to the door.”
Her aunt and sister stared heavily at her, emphasising that this was unavoidable. Elizabeth forced a smile.
“By your leave?” he asked, and when she nodded, the stranger took her up in his arms.
It took only a moment to arrive at number six, and the stranger entered and placed her on a chair in the library. It was a large room filled with books open to an equally fine dining room. Whoever this man’s cousin was, Elizabeth admired his taste; it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine.
The stranger went back into the hall to speak with a woman, presumably the housekeeper, who promised to despatch a footman for a surgeon and said the master was due shortly.
“I should hope so,” the stranger said as he returned to the library. “We were to meet here at half past, and he is never late.”
“Are we to know the name of my niece’s rescuer?” Mrs Gardiner asked when the housekeeper left.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam.” He bowed.
Elizabeth started as her aunt made the rest of the introductions. Fitzwilliam was Mr Darcy’s given name. It must be a curious coincidence. Surely this pleasant, accommodating man could not be cousin to a selfish man like Mr Darcy.
