Devotion by Meg Kerr - Guest Post, Excerpt and UK/Canada Giveaway

Today I am happy to welcome an author who I had heard of, but not yet read, Meg Kerr. Meg has written a pair of sequels to Pride & Prejudice. The first of these, Experience, picks up directly after the end of P&P and follows the fortunes of Mary, Kitty, Lydia and Caroline Bingley over the course of the next three years. The second book, Devotion, follows on from this, but can be read as a stand-alone book.

Devotion takes a look at Georgiana. I think she's an interesting character because she's a bit of a closed book. We know that she nearly eloped with Wickham at the tender age of 15. What type of girl would do that? One option is that she is quite naive and trusting... but she may have been a bit of a Lydia under her shy exterior! She might have been as fond of her brother as he is of her, but on the other hand, perhaps she was resentful of the attention he gave to his estates and social obligations and wanted to do something she knew would hurt him or just as a cry for attention. It's open to speculation.

I'll share the book blurb and then hand over to Meg for a guest post and excerpt. Meg is also kindly offering a giveaway to UK / Canada readers.

Book Description:

In this sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Georgiana Darcy, now twenty years old and completely lovely, is ripe for marriage. Her brother has carefully selected her future husband, but the arrival of a long-delayed letter, and a secret journey, bring Georgiana into the arms of an utterly wicked and charming young man whose attentions promise her ruin. At the same time, events in Meryton are creating much-needed occupation for Mrs. Bennet and a quandary for Lydia Bennet’s girlhood companion Pen Harrington; and the former Caroline Bingley is given — perhaps — an opportunity to remake some of her disastrous choices. Meg Kerr, writing effortlessly and wittily in the style of Jane Austen, sweeps the reader back to the year 1816 for a reunion with many beloved characters from Pride and Prejudice and an introduction to some intriguing characters.

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Hello readers of Babblings of a Bookworm! My name is Meg Kerr, and I’m thrilled to be here with you. First, I’d like to thank Ceri for allowing me to contribute this guest post and which contains an excerpt from my new Austen-inspired book, Devotion. I am also happy to offer a giveaway of three (3) signed copies of the book! The giveaway is open to readers from UK and Canada.

As Ceri mentioned at the beginning of August, Devotion explores events after Pride and Prejudice ends through fan-favourite characters including Georgiana Darcy and Mrs. Bennet, and I think you’ll find it an interesting read as I’ve added several twists. As Georgiana Darcy is one of the main focal points of the book, I wanted to choose a book excerpt where she’s featured. But first, a bit of context:

John Amaury, the illegitimate son of a lord, is handsome, charming, penniless, ruthless, and determined to marry Georgiana Darcy for her fortune. And if lawful marriage can be faster attained through seduction, so be it!

So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy this short excerpt! If you’re interested in reading the full book, it’s available via Amazon. I’d love to hear your thoughts (and your own ideas!) via a review soon.

Affectionately yours,
Meg Kerr

Excerpt (from Chapter 13 of Devotion)

Amaury came to her as soon as she was in the room. “Georgiana, I am in love with you,” he said. She was very willing to hear him, and suddenly he was making violent love to her, proclaiming his passion and declaring that he would die if she refused him. Georgiana could not respond; but Amaury did not want her to talk. Departing so far from every honourable feeling, even from the common decorum of a gentleman, he took hold of her, clasped her around the waist and began to kiss her eagerly, until he was stopping her very breath and she could hardly remain upright. Indeed she would have fallen had she not been locked in his arms, pressed to his ribs. Still on fire with his first assault, her astonishment and perplexity decreased as he took these barbarously insolent freedoms with her, and her struggles against him were brief, if indeed they existed at all. Even then she had not sense enough to try to avoid her fate. Instead of acting as virtue and honour required, instead of striving to avoid destruction, she began to return him kiss for kiss, the friendly darkness emboldening her. He then took the liberty of thrusting his hand in her bosom, an affront at which Georgiana demonstrated her resentment by re-doubling the fervour of her kisses. She seemed to have not the least hesitation to assist in her own undoing. No longer in doubt about the capabilities of her—heart, or that she was completely under his ascendancy, he knew that the business could be accomplished within five minutes.

A wolf has no aspiration to heroism, or to the satisfaction of carrying out a difficult task. He would not rather attack a lion than a lamb, and if the lamb meekly offers her throat for the sacrifice he does not spare her in the conviction that he ought to work harder for his dinner.

That Amaury intended to do what is called the worst is entirely certain and that Georgiana would have granted what is called the last favour is little less so. What a strange revolution of mind therefore that Amaury should have drawn back! But he was overcome by a feeling of tenderness unlike anything he had known before. What a miracle it was to be loved by such a pure and modest girl, to excite her virginal ardours! Five minutes were not enough to initiate her into the pleasures of love. She must be allowed to savour at length her weakness in his embrace, and at last admit the ecstasy of defeat. They must marry, and he must find another method to persuade her than that of robbing her of her precious innocence. With some difficulty therefore he put Georgiana from him, holding her at arm’s length while both endeavoured to regain breath; and with yet greater difficulty he persuaded her to withdraw from him and go to her room, promising that they would meet early on the morrow.

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Surprising, no?! When I received the excerpt I was expecting a battle-scarred Georgiana, who would be shy of men, having learned her lesson at her near-escape from Wickham, despite this book being set some years later (5 years after the aborted elopement, I think). But clearly Meg has gone another way with this character.

If you're interested in reading more, Meg has also visited some other blogs lately, including a post on seduction over at Madame Gilflurt's, a review at More Agreeably Engaged, and an author interview and video from Meg at My Jane Austen Book Club.

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About the Author:

What do you do when you live in the twenty-first century but a piece of your heart lies in the nineteenth? If you are author Meg Kerr you let your head and hand follow your heart. With her love of country life—dogs and horses, long walks in the woods and fields, dining with family and neighbours and dancing with friends, reading and writing and the best conversation—and her familiarity with eighteenth and nineteenth century history and literature, Meg has a natural gift to inhabit, explore and reimagine the world that Jane Austen both dwelt in and created, and to draw readers there with her.

Connect with the author:

Email via Prism Publishers • Publisher's Website • Amazon Author Page • Goodreads

Giveaway Time!

Meg is kindly offering three commenters here the chance to win a signed paperback of Devotion. This giveaway is open to readers in the UK/Canada for postal reasons. To enter, just leave a comment on this post by the end of the day on Friday 18 August. Please leave a way for me to contact you, so that I'll be able to get in touch if you are one of the lucky winners.

Thank you so much to Meg and her publishers for the guest post and giveaway, and all the best with Devotion, which I look forward to reading.