To my dear friend, Gael, who is such an inspiration.
To Jo Terry for introducing me to lemon drizzle cake!
To Ann Channon and the team at the Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton for their enthusiasm and support.
And my wonderful friends on Twitter and Facebook – especially Heather Zerfahs, and Emma Dye who helped me choose Oli’s car! And to my lovely friends at Austenauthors. com – a wonderful website for Janeites.
And, as ever, huge thanks to my husband, Roy. I’m so lucky that he loves Lyme Regis as much as I do!
Read on to find out Victoria Connelly’s
Top Ten Romantic Heroes . . .
1 Captain Wentworth from Jane Austen’s Persuasion – He is Anne Elliot’s first love and the one she so regrets letting go. When he enters her life again nearly nine years later and writes to her saying, ‘You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me that I am not too late . . .’ you realise that he has been suffering through the long years too. It’s a beautifully poignant moment that makes you believe in happy endings.
2 Michael Maloney as Mark in Truly Madly Deeply. This is my favourite film and I love Michael Maloney’s performance as the man trying to win Nina’s heart after her lover, Jamie, has died. Mark is gentle and understanding and I love his first date with Nina when they hop along the Embankment asking each other questions.
3 Gabriel Oak from Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd. He is patient, kind and oh-so-capable! I love the opening of the book which describes his wonderful smile. He suffers so much but never gives up and is finally rewarded by winning the love of his life.
4 Lloyd Dobler from the film Say Anything. Played by a young John Cusack, high school underachiever, Lloyd, sets his heart on winning brainy Diane. They’re the most unlikely couple ever but Lloyd’s true heart and unconventionality wins her over.
5 Westley – the farm boy turned pirate in The Princess Bride. Played by Cary Elwes in the film adaptation from the novel by William Goldman, he is strong, determined and not afraid to laugh at himself. He can scale my Cliffs of Insanity any day!
6 Gene Kelly - I can’t possibly choose one Gene Kelly film because I love him in almost everything, but I adore Anchors Aweigh and On the Town – there’s something about him in a sailor’s suit that’s rather special! And he’s a knockout in Summer Stock and An American in Paris. He combines strength and sweetness, his comedies never fail to make me smile and he’s very easy on the eye!
7 Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday. He plays the suave American journalist who bumps into and falls in love with runaway princess, Audrey Hepburn. They only have 24 hours together but I love their adventures and the ending will break your heart!
8 James Stewart as Alfred Kralik in The Shop Around the Corner. My favourite actor of all time – I love his gentleness and warmth, and he is wonderful in this romantic comedy from 1940. It was later remade as In the Good Old Summertime and then again as You’ve Got Mail, but the original film is the best. It’s about two shop workers who hate one another, unaware that they’re falling in love with each other as anonymous pen pals.
9 Jem Merlyn in Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn. He’s rough, he’s rude and he’s a thief but he’s really rather gorgeous as all bad boys are. He keeps an eye on heroine, Mary Yellan, and when he says to her, ‘If you come with me, it will be a hard life and a wild one at times’, you just know what her answer is going to be!
10 Mr Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. What can I say about Mr Darcy? He’s everyone’s favourite hero, isn’t he? What I love about him is that he makes mistakes – really big, horrible mistakes – but he’s willing to admit to them and he’ll do anything for the woman he loves. He truly is the perfect hero!
A Weekend With Mr Darcy
Victoria Connelly
First impressions can last a lifetime . . .
Katherine Roberts is fed up. As a lecturer specialising in the works of Jane Austen, she has come to realise that the ideal man only exists within the pages of Pride & Prejudice.
Austen fanatic, Robyn Love, is blessed with a name full of romance, but her love life is far from perfect. Stuck in a rut with a bonehead boyfriend, she longs for an escape.
They both decide to attend the annual Jane Austen conference, hoping to cast their troubles away. But as chaos ensues, it seems an Austen weekend wouldn’t be complete without a little intrigue and romance along the way . . .
The ultimate treat for fans of Alexandra Potter, Katie Fforde and, of course, Jane Austen.
Coming Soon . . .
The Runaway Actress by Victoria Connelly
Publishing July 2012
But if you can’t wait that long and want to find out more about Victoria, visit her website at victoriaconnelly.com.
Discover news about events and signings, and you can also read about Victoria’s favourite books and musicals, see exclusive photographs and much, much more . . .
About the Author
Victoria Connelly was brought up in Norfolk and studied English literature at Worcester University before becoming a teacher in North Yorkshire. After getting married in a medieval castle in the Yorkshire Dales, she moved to London where she lives with her artist husband and a mad springer spaniel. She has had three novels published in Germany – the first of which was made into a film.
To find out more about Victoria please visit www.victoriaconnelly.com
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By the same author
A Weekend with Mr Darcy
Copyright
Copyright © Victoria Connelly 2011
Victoria Connelly asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-84756-226-5
EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780007373376
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Acknowledgements
Victoria Connelly’s Top Ten Romantic Heroes . . .
A Weekend With Mr Darcy
Coming Soon . . . The Runaway Actress
About the Author
By the same author
Copyright
About the Publisher
The Perfect Hero Page 30