Wednesday 15 March 2017

Front Cover Reveal - My Mr Darcy and Your Mr Bingley by Linda Beutler

Cover Reveal: My Mr Darcy and Your Mr Bingley by Linda BeutlerToday I have the honour of joining one of my favourite bloggers in sharing with you the cover of Linda Beutler's upcoming new story, 'My Mr Darcy and Your Mr Bingley'. I'll be sharing the front cover, and Rita, of 'From Pemberley to Milton' will be sharing the back cover.

I am pleased to be able to bring you news of Linda's new story. She's visited the blog before, as the author of 'The Red Chrysanthemum', 'Longbourn to London', 'A Will of Iron' and as a contributing author to the 'Sunkissed: Effusions of Summer' anthology.

Firstly, let me whet your appetite by telling you a little bit more about the premise of this story...

One never quite knows where the inspiration will strike. For award-winning author Linda Beutler and My Mr. Darcy & Your Mr. Bingley, the moment of genesis arrived in a particularly contentious thread at the online forum A Happy Assembly. What is the nature of personal responsibility? Where do we draw the line between Mr. Bingley being too subject to Mr. Darcy’s “persuasion” and Mr. Darcy playing too heavily on Mr. Bingley’s “sensibility”? This is a conundrum guaranteed to raise even more questions.

What happens to the plot and character dynamics of Pride & Prejudice if Mr. Bingley is given just a dash more spine? Or if Jane Bennet decides enough embarrassment is too much? How does Mr. Darcy manage the crucial apology a more stalwart Mr. Bingley necessitates he make? What if Mr. Darcy meets relations of Elizabeth Bennet’s for whom she need not blush on their home turf rather than his? Suffice it to say, this is a story of rebuked pride, missing mail, a man with “vision”, a frisky cat, and an evening gown that seems to have its own agenda.

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A frisky cat and a misbehaving evening gown?! Sounds like fun!

Author Bio

Author Linda Beutler
Linda Beutler’s professional life is spent in a garden, an organic garden housing America’s foremost public collection of clematis vines and a host of fabulous companion plants. Her home life reveals a more personal garden, still full of clematis, but also antique roses and vintage perennials planted around and over a 1907 cottage. But one can never have enough of gardening, so in 2011 she began cultivating a weedy patch of Jane Austen Fan Fiction ideas. The first of these to ripen was The Red Chrysanthemum (Meryton Press, 2013), which won a silver IPPY for romance writing in 2014. You might put this down as beginner’s luck—Linda certainly does. The next harvest brought Longbourn to London (Meryton Press, 2014), known widely as “the [too] sexy one”. In 2015 Meryton Press published the bestseller A Will of Iron, a macabre rom-com based on the surprising journals of Anne de Bourgh.

Now, after a year-long break in JAFF writing to produce Plant Lovers Guide to Clematis (Timber Press, 2016)—the third in a bouquet of books on gardening—we have My Mr. Darcy and Your Mr. Bingley bursting into bloom.

Connect with the Author: FacebookTwitterAuthor Blog at Meryton Press

Now without further ado, here is the front cover of 'My Mr Darcy and Your Mr Bingley'..... drumroll......

Book Cover: My Mr Darcy & Your Mr Bingley by Linda Beutler


What do you think of the cover? I can't help but wonder whether this could be the character with 'vision'? Are these Jane's arms? And is she removing his spectacles to give him a kiss or to avoid breaking them when she hits him?! I love book covers, it's always fun to speculate about what the author is conveying in the picture that they have chosen.

Now you've seen the front cover, you might well want to pop a peep at the back cover. But wait! Linda posted a blog post very recently about the trouble with bookends, which relates to the back cover, so why not read that too?

The back cover is being revealed by the lovely Rita over at 'From Pemberley to Milton', which is one of my favourite blogs, and ensures that the wonderful Mr Thornton of 'North and South' gets as much love and appreciation as the more widely adored Mr Darcy. Please drop by and see the back cover :)

There will be more about this book to come. My thanks go to Janet Taylor, for arranging the joint cover reveal, and to Rita, for co-ordinating with me to make it a joint effort!

Stop Press!

The book has been released earlier than planned and can be bought now! You can get it at Amazon US, Amazon UK and very likely other places too. Check your country's site.

35 comments:

  1. Thank you for your kind words Ceri! It was such a pleasure coordinating this cover reveal with you, and even a bigger pleasure to see the outcome in your blog. You did a terrific job :)))

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    1. So I'm reading Ceri's post first (since it's the front), and thank you, ma'am, for the drum roll! You're suppositions are entertaining, but I can say no more than that. I shall say that in this story, any furtherance of even so much as a friendship between Darcy and Elizabeth is dependent on Bingley and Jane!

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    2. Thank you so much Rita. It was lovely working with you :)

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  2. I love the partnered cover reveal!! Great job Ceri, Rita, Janet, and Linda! Sounds like such an interesting story! LOL! Ceri, I love your suppositions!

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    1. The real credit goes to Janet! It is always great to work with her. She also did the remarkable cover of The Red Chrysanthemum, and I was delighted (and kind of relieved!) that she consented to work with me again. For that first cover, I "forced" her to watch Colin Firth's legs during the Pemberley reunion with Elizabeth for six hours! ;-)

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    2. It was good fun, thank you Meredith! I wonder if any of my suppositions will come true :)

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  3. This cover certainly makes one curious, doesn't it? It seems to reveal so little, but truly it gives away far more than we probably know before we read it. Congrats on the joint reveal, Ceri and Rita, what a clever pair you are! Lovely cover, Janet, and congratulations Linda on the new release!

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    1. Thanks so much, Nicole, for praising these two kind bloggers! I can't say too much about the cover as a plot point, but could it be a "Clark Kent" moment?

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    2. That is such a good point, Nicole. One of the things I like about Janet's covers is that at some point the cover significance will reveal itself.

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  4. Carole in Canada15 March 2017 at 14:51

    Ha! Love your comment about Jane possibly taking the glasses off to hit him! Love the cover and like Nicole says we will have to read it to determine what it all means. Maybe Jane is giving him the glasses to make him truly see what is right in front of him!

    This is so much fun and a great idea with the collaboration of the cover(s) reveal! Congratulations to all. Now to off to Linda's post! Thank you!

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    1. Thanks, Carole! The front cover does reveal an important moment in the plot, and the back cover...well, you will have to visit Rita to hear more about the importance of that rather bombastic-fantastic object!

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    2. I hadn't thought that she might be trying to help him see, Carole, good thought! I suppose we will have to read it to find out :)

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  5. Great reveal. I wasn't expecting that. I have read all Linda's books so this has now been added to my list. I like the storyline, I read a sample and thoroughly enjoyed Darcy's interaction with Caroline. I hope he soon realises that he can't live without Elizabeth and manages to convince her!

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    1. I cannot say much here about the plot, of course, but thanks, Glynis, for your comment! Darcy does realize he does not want to live without Elizabeth, but how is she to be convinced of his sincerity? Hope you get to read MMD&YMB soon!

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    2. Thanks for commenting, Glynis. I hope you enjoy this book when you read it :)

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  6. Lovely reveal, ladies. I love when Bingley has a bigger backbone, so to speak! And poor, Darcy! Can he handle this idea!! LOL!!

    Congratulations, Ceri and Linda!

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    1. Thanks, Claudine! Ceri and Rita were great sports from the beginning! They both embraced the dual reveal without hesitation!

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    2. I like to see Bingley have a bit more gumption too, Claudine. It's one thing to take advice from a friend in respect of his estate, but in matters of the heart he should stand on his own feet. He gets off very lightly in P&P.

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  7. What a great idea for a double cover reveal! The cover does make you wonder what is happening... I agree with Claudine, I love when Bingley has a stronger backbone!

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    1. Yes, both Bingley and Jane are somewhat stronger...well, bit sure Jane is stronger so much as perhaps becoming unpleasantly proud of being so singularly chased. We'll hope someone can talk her around!

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    2. I like to see it too Dung.

      Re. Linda's comment about Jane becoming unpleasantly proud, that's certainly a departure for Jane that'll be interesting to see!

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  8. So I've seen the front and the back so I guess I better find out what's in the middle. Best Wishes Linda!

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    1. Thanks, Jen Red! I do hope you enjoy the middle!

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    2. That's so funny, Jen! I'm glad the front and back have enticed you to know more about the middle.

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  9. Neat to see the two-part cover reveal. Oh yeah, I'm super curious after seeing the cover and title. :)

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    1. Janet did a great job on the cover. It was so fun to be reunited with her creativity.

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    2. I'm glad you enjoyed the cover reveal, Sophia, and I hope you enjoy the book when you read it.

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  10. Just enough information to pique our interest!!! Am intrigued at the premise and can't wait to read the book!! Congrats Ceri on the book reveal.
    Linda,hope this is received well in the JAFF community.

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    1. Thank you, Mary! I hope so too. It posted at AHA as Your Mr. Bingley, but more has been added since then. And it has had the benefit of my usual fine editor, Gail Warner.

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    2. Thanks for commenting Mary! I hope you enjoy the book when you read it.

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  11. What a brilliant idea to have a front AND back cover reveal! The front is certainly intriguing, especially as it appears to be a significant point in the plot. Janet is certainly one talented lady. Btw, I love the idea of her being "forced" to watch Colin Firth's legs for the cover of The Red Chrysanthemum (love that book). Must have been such a hardship!

    The book itself sounds fascinating. I'm intrigued by the idea of a Bingley with more backbone - which I've always thought he could do with. Sounds like Jane has a more forceful personality, too.

    Off now to check out what on earth the bombastic-fantastic object is.

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    1. I'll be posting more about the back cover fairly soon. Finding it was such a relief, and it really is a remarkable thing. One can easily imagine it as a Darcy family heirloom.

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    2. Hi Anji. It's funny to think of poor Janet having to ogle Colin's legs for The Red Chrysanthemum cover. What some people will suffer for art, eh!

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  12. Great cover and an exciting reveal. :) I love Binglwy in glasses.
    Congratulations on the book release. :)

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    1. Thanks for your comment Kate! I hope you enjoy the book when you read it.

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