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.

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.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy was in an awful carriage accident in the fall of 1811, and he never made it to see his friend Mr. Bingley’s rented house in Hertfordshire. He was laid up all through the spring of the following year, and so it’s not until August, as she’s touring Pemberley with her aunt and uncle, that Mr. Darcy first sets eyes on Miss Elizabeth Bennet. He’s sopping wet from a dip in the lake, and he should be mortified, but she manages to ease a dreadful pain in his hand—a malady that lingers from the carriage accident. Her fingers on his wet palm are some kind of sorcery, and she’s beautiful and witty, and he begins to feel his danger immediately. But then she is called home on urgent family business, and it’s some time until Mr. Darcy sees her again. When he does, he’s half-mad in his desire to be close to her. There is no barrier that will stop him—not her lack of connections, not her disgraced family owing to her sister Lydia’s indiscretion, not even propriety itself. Elizabeth Bennet has bewitched him, body and soul, and he must have her near him. Dear reader, this is a book you get when you cross the Colin Firth lake scene with the Matthew McFayden hand flex, toss in a bit of homage to The Crucible, and then somehow get buried in spicy scenes, including, er, a bit of size kink. Adventurous readers only, I’m afraid. You have been warned.

Darcy is more deeply in love with his wife than ever As the golden summer draws to a close and the Darcys look ahead to the end of their first year of marriage, Mr. Darcy could never have imagined his love could grow even deeper with the passage of time... Lizzy is full of surprises... Elizabeth is unpredictable and lively, pulling Darcy out of his stern and serious demeanor with her teasing and temptation. Looking ahead and planning for celebrations and life events large and small, Lizzy can still catch Darcy unawares when he least expects it... But surprising events force the Darcys to weather absence and illness, and to discover whether they can find a way to build a bond of everlasting love and desire...

When Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, she learns he is engaged to be married to Miss Caroline Bingley. He seems devoted to his bride-to-be, quite attentive to her comfort and always willing to escort her to bed when she falls asleep early in the evenings, as she is wont to do. They are to be married in something of a rush, it seems, as soon as the banns are read. Which is why it’s monstrous that Mr. Darcy looks at Elizabeth in that way that he looks at her sometimes, or that Elizabeth feels an odd stirring towards him. Positively monstrous. Beneath them both. And there is nothing for it, after all. Once a gentleman gives his promise to a woman, he cannot break an engagement. It’s against all codes of honor to do so otherwise. Mr. Darcy will marry Miss Bingley, and there’s no reason for Elizabeth to think it could ever be otherwise. Dear reader, this story features a good Mr. Wickham and a sympathetic Caroline. Obviously, Caroline doesn’t actually marry Mr. Darcy, but read this if you’d like to see just how badly they’re entangled, how we end up with Caroline happily ever after with Colonel Fitzwilliam, and how we get our dear couple sorted. Take note that there is content that may be objectionable to some readers, including nonconsensual activity, violence, and detailed lovemaking scenes.

Mr. Darcy is the steward of a grand estate. Elizabeth Bennet is a lowly housemaid. It's P&P, but all the characters are servants below stairs All Elizabeth Bennet wants is to escape. The housemaid position in the refuge of Donwell Abbey seems to be the answer to all her prayers. She finds an immediate friend in fellow housemaid Jane Langley, and she respects the housekeeper, Mrs. Charlotte Lucas. Certainly, the steward, Mr. Darcy, is haughty and proper and thinks she’s not handsome enough to tempt anyone, but he’s easily avoided. Soon, however, Elizabeth must dodge the advances of the butler, Mr. Collins, who has determined making her his wife will greatly increase his happiness, and the jealousy of fellow housemaid Caroline Bingley. And if that weren’t bad enough, a dark man from her past lurks outside on the grounds, ready to destroy her new life. Mr. Wickham knows all her secrets, and he can crush her if so decides. Dear reader, this variation places all the characters we know and love as servants in Donwell Abbey—yes, Mr. Knightley’s Donwell Abbey. This timeline takes place after the events in Emma and features the happily married couple and a cantankerous Mr. Woodhouse. I wanted everyone to read it, so I did my very best to keep it clean. And I mostly succeeded (mostly, mostly, but you know me, so there are some innuendos…), however I could not help but write a bonus steamy wedding night scene at the very end of the book for my spice-loving JAFF aficionados! Enjoy!

Miss Elizabeth Bennet is pleased with the state of her life. She lives with her sister and her sister’s husband, Mr. and Mrs. Bingley, and she dotes on her niece and nephew. She doesn’t long for a husband or children of her own. To do so would only bring her misery. Then news reaches them which tears Elizabeth’s contentment to shreds. Mrs. Caroline Darcy is dead. She’s drowned herself. Everyone has long observed the late Mrs. Darcy’s dissatisfaction with her loveless, childless marriage, so the news, while tragic, is not entirely surprising. Elizabeth knows that Caroline trapped her husband into marrying her by falsely accusing him of a compromise that never occurred. Of course, that truth has never mattered, nor has the fact that Mr. Darcy is still in love with Elizabeth and that she is in love with him. Now, Mr. Darcy is free, but propriety dictates that he cannot remarry immediately. A quick marriage would court scandal and it would wound Caroline’s brother, Mr. Bingley, who is also Mr. Darcy’s dear friend. So, though Elizabeth knows that Mr. Darcy will be hers eventually, they cannot be officially engaged yet. Now, they must wait. For these two who have waited so long for each other, the waiting will prove to be the hardest part. Read this variation if you like our dear couple angsty and yearning, and if you’re amenable to a steamy culmination to all that tension.