A Spy Thriller
We are excited to announce that Kelly Dean Jolley’s latest book, Pride, Prejudice, and Pretense, is available for preorder at Amazon. This is a story that is gripping from beginning to end. Not only is it a spy thriller, but it is also an intense and touching romance. It is about Darcy and Lizzy so it has to be, right?
To give a taste of the story, here’s the blurb.
Pride, Prejudice, and Pretense Blurb
“Finish, good lady; the bright day is done, and we are for the dark.”
— Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
Elizabeth Bennet, CIA, has just returned from an exhausting deep-cover mission when she receives a late-night call to Langley, where she’s offered yet another new deep-cover mission without the break she sorely needs. She would be teamed with Charles Bingley, fellow CIA agent, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, MI-6.
Darcy has come to the States following George Wickham, who is believed to be the leader of a notorious international terrorist group. When he first meets Elizabeth, Darcy is unconvinced that she’s the right agent for the job. His dismissal irritates her so much that she accepts the mission, one she otherwise would have refused: the seduction of Wickham.
Pride, Prejudice, and Pretense is shadowy, taut, and urgent. It is also, by turns, romantic, ironic, and reflective. Can Elizabeth work with Darcy? Can she face what the mission requires of her? Can he? Can she discover her desired future, recover her unsorted past, and do it all in her fraught, undercover present?
A spy tale, a romance, and a character study, the novel takes Austen into the shadows—pitting Elizabeth and Darcy against each other, against George Wickham, and also against their professions and their pasts
Doesn’t it sound good? What do you think of Wickham being the leader of a notorious terrorist group? Poor Elizabeth, having the job of seducing Wickham sounds scary and dangerous. If you like a good love story and a page-turning thriller, this is the book for you!
The author is going share with us why he decided to write a Pride & Prejudice spy thriller.
From the Author
Why write a modern Pride and Prejudice spy thriller?
It is the result of my history as a reader, addicted to spy novels, to Ludlum and le Carré, reading and rereading, for example, The Bourne Identity. Those novels left fingerprints on my imagination. Later, Austen’s novels would arrive and do the same, so, unsurprisingly, the two eventually blended for me.
That is not simply an accident of my reading history. My favorite spy novels and Austen’s novels are oriented on abstract concepts. Pride and Prejudice is as much about pride and prejudice (what is it to be (improperly) proud? what Is it to be prejudiced? why is it so difficult to know if you are?) as it is about Elizabeth Bennet or Fitzwilliam Darcy. The Bourne Identity is as much about identity (how can we know others? how can we know ourselves? how can we make ourselves known to others?) as it is about Jason Bourne or Marie St. Jacques. Orienting on abstract concepts makes my favorite spy novels and Austen’s novels surprisingly similar.
Still, there is a clear dissimilarity. Austen’s novels reveal her intense moral preoccupations. In her world, high principles are undoubtedly superior to low principles, and greatness of heart to littleness of heart. But the spy world is (typically) chill and amoral, a world of low principles and littleness of heart, of disloyalty, dark compromises, and lying promises. Part of what motivated me to write Pride, Prejudice, and Pretense was to see whether Austen’s world could house the spy world. More specifically, I wanted to see whether Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship could survive being caused by Wickham — and, in a sense, mediated by him. Could their relationship grow in an environment of enveloping pretense — with each of them having to be someone else? In such an environment, could they come to know and trust one another? Could each discover the reality of the other underneath the appearance?
What do you think? Do you have any questions for the author? If you do, please ask them in the comments below.
Are you ready to see the cover?
Isn’t this a striking image? Syd Edwards lends his artistic talent once again for the front cover drawing. It is amazing. Tell us what you think. It will give you a chance to win your eBook of this intriguing novel.
We also have an excerpt to share with you, so let’s get to it!
Excerpt
Elizabeth Bennet stalked through the Langley corridors, her spiked heels echoing down the various hallways in their different directions, making it seem that a synchronized squad of women was on the move rather than only one.
It was late at night or very early in the morning, almost one a.m., and she had been summoned to Langley by the CIA director, Walter Kellynch.
Lizzy was unhappy with the summons. She had returned from a deep-cover infiltration assignment only days before, one which had emptied her mentally and physically. Desperate for time off―time to be herself, no cover―Lizzy yearned to wear her own pajamas, eat her own food, and sleep in her own bed. Think my own thoughts and do my own deeds.
She had spent the past three months as someone else, forced to think and act doubly, always shadowing and monitoring herself. The first requirement of a deep-cover spy assignment was spying on yourself. It was necessary to measure and angle your actions to ensure that you projected the person you were supposed to be. It was utterly exhausting.
Worse, it was dehumanizing. You had to think and act in ways that you could not own and do it for so long with so little downtime that it was hard at times to remember who was the pretense and who was the pretender.
Kellynch had been apologetic on the phone but ultimately insistent. Lizzy tried to refuse and suggested other agents, but he had not yielded. He regretted that it was necessary to send her into the field again so soon, but he had already secured the go-ahead from the Company psychologist who had overseen her final debriefing.
Lizzy had no grounds for refusal other than her preference, and she was not going to fight for her preference with her boss. She was headstrong but not obstinate. At his core, Kellynch was not an evil man, but he was―as his position required―hard. The combination of traits made him brittle, glassy. Driven by jealousy for the Company’s reputation and by vanity about its success under his leadership, each morning in his office, over coffee, Walter Kellynch combed the internet for positive press, favorable mentions.
Lizzy was his best, he often told her—and he’d repeated that to her on the phone earlier. This mission required his best.
As she crossed the Central Intelligence Agency logo on the marble floor, she took a deep breath. Kellynch’s administrative assistant, Charlotte Lucas, sat at the desk in front of the door to Kellynch’s office, on guard, as ever.
Charlotte smiled when she saw Lizzy, the smile warm but serrated with subtext. While the two women were more than acquaintances, perhaps almost even friends, Charlotte envied her. She had been low-key in love with Walter Kellynch for all the years she had been his AA―low-key because Charlotte was rarely otherwise about anything. That did not make her love for Kellynch less real, but her love was as low-key as everything else about her. She had always interpreted his favoritism for Lizzy as partly romantic…not wholly professional.
“Morning, Charlotte,” Lizzy said quietly as she reached the large desk. “I won’t say it’s a good one―too damn early, too damn soon.”
Charlotte nodded. “I told him that you needed some time off, that it was too soon, but—” She stopped, fighting a frown from her face. “But he had to have you for this.” She managed not to stress the you.
Lizzy heard it with that stress and took Charlotte to intend it that way. She simply sighed. “I know. He said. On the phone. Thanks.”
She was certain Charlotte was wrong about Kellynch’s attraction to her. Once, a year ago, Lizzy had tried to disabuse her of the notion, but the conversation had not gone well. Charlotte had gotten angry—angered both by Lizzy’s cluelessness and her involuntary but clear recoil at the thought of Kellynch’s interest. “He’s worth having, even if you don’t want him,” she had hissed, blushing slightly. By silent contract, the two of them had awkwardly avoided the topic since.
Before Lizzy could step around the desk to enter Kellynch’s office, Charlotte leaned forward, gesturing for her to lean in to hear her whisper. “He’s got two men in there. Agent Bingley and another man I don’t know. I think he’s MI-6.”
Strange for whispers to seem out of place in Langley.
Lizzy smoothed her blouse and checked the slim belt of her pants. Charlotte’s previously resisted frown now manifested as she watched her. Pretending not to notice, Lizzy continued to stall while she mentally prepared to enter the next room. Someone from MI-6? Who? Why?
***
Does this excerpt pique your interest? Do you want to read more? Watch for more excerpts leading up to the release date on December 26th, just in time for Boxing Day!
Amazon Universal Buy Link
Pride, Prejudice, and Pretense
Giveaway
This is your chance to have your share in the conversation and get an early release of Pride, Prejudice, and Pretense. Meryton Press is giving away two eBooks worldwide. In the comments below leave your thoughts about the blurb, the excerpt, or both. Kelly and Meryton Press want to hear from you. Do you like spy thrillers? What about one with Darcy, Lizzy, Bingley, and Wickham? You will be surprised at the roles of some of the other characters who appear.
The giveaway will end at midnight Central Time on December 18th. Good luck to everyone.
Books by Kelly Dean Jolley
Big Swamp, The Vanishing Woman, Darcy’s Struggle, and Pride, Prejudice and Pretense are available on Amazon. The Vanishing Woman is a story of second chances—a Christmas tale and mystery that takes place on a train. It’s a great read for the holidays! Big Swamp is available as an audiobook, and Darcy’s Struggle will be available as an audiobook in a couple of weeks or less.
Sarah P.
Great cover. Must admit I’ve been waiting for this book release, since I read it on the boards. So glad my wait is now over.
It was a brilliant story, with lots of twists and turns, I especially loved the interplay between Bingley, Darcy and Elizabeth.
Now I can’t wait to read the published book.
Meryton Press
We’re so happy to hear that Sarah! I’m glad your wait is almost over too. It is a brilliant story. Thanks, and good luck in the giveaway. Didn’t Syd do a great job with the drawing on the front cover?
Kelly Dean Jolley
Thanks, Sarah! I’m delighted you’ve been waiting for the release.
Suzan Lauder
I’ve always liked mystery and suspense books, and when combined with JAFF, this is a go-to book for me!
Meryton Press
We hope you will love it, Suzan. It has lots of twists and unexpected turns! Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Kelly Dean Jolley
I’m a big fan of mystery, suspense, and, of course, of Austen. Writing this felt like hitting a sweet spot. Thanks, Suzan!
jeannette
Oh my! I can feel my pulse throbbing just from the description and excerpt. So she will walk into the office and Darcy will insult her and she will take the job out of spite–not a good reason to offer herself in a scheme of seduction, IMHO. And what will Darcy do when he comes to admire her and she is in the arms of Wickham? And will Wickham discover her subterfuge? And what will happen when he does? Will her life be in danger? Will Darcy’s life be in danger. What is the storyline for Bingley. Is the good Colonel Fitzwilliam in this book. Can you tell that I am excited about this book? 🙂
Meryton Press
Oh Jeannette, your comment is awesome! I loved reading it. No, she may live to regret her decision. You have put forth some fantastic questions! I guess it will take reading the book for the answers! I’m so happy your are excited about this book. Good luck in the giveaway.
Kelly Dean Jolley
Wonderful that you are so excited, Jeannette! The only question I can answer here is that Col Fitzwilliam does not make an appearance. The book will answer your other questions. Thanks for the comment!
DarcyBennett
I enjoy spy stories so believe this is one I would enjoy although a little nervous about her mission to seduce Wickham.
Meryton Press
This mission makes me nervous too, DarcyBennet. It sounds too scary!
Kelly Dean Jolley
DarcyBennett, it made me nervous writing it! Thanks for the comment!
Meryton Press
Love this answer, Kelly!
Kelly Miller
Congratulations on your new release, Kelly, it sounds intriguing!
Meryton Press
Thanks for stopping by, Kelly. We’re so glad you did.
Kelly Dean Jolley
Thanks, Kelly, I appreciate the comment!
Robin G.
I love moderns, and this is a story idea I haven’t read before. I am a little perturbed that Elizabeth has to seduce Wickham, but that won’t keep me from reading it. Thank you for the cover reveal, excerpt and giveaway. Congrats and best wishes on the new release!
Meryton Press
We’re glad that Lizzy’s seduction of Wickham won’t keep you from reading the book. The romance and sparks between Darcy and Lizzy more than make up for that “other” tidbit. Good luck and thanks for dropping by.
Kelly Dean Jolley
Robin, I understand your perturbation. I share it. Thanks for the response!
SAF
Love the premise, and I can’t wait to read it!
Meryton Press
That’s great to hear! Thanks for stopping by.
Kelly Dean Jolley
Hope you enjoy it!
Kelly Dean Jolley
I understand your perturbation, Robin G! This is my first modern variant, and I had lots of fun writing it.
Glory
Oh this sounds good & I can’t wait to read it! Going on my must read list!
Kelly Dean Jolley
Glad it’s going on your list! Thanks for the comment!
Rebecca L McBrayer
I am amazed at the idea of mixing P&P with The Bourne Identity. I am eager to read more. Congratulations on a new release!
Kelly Dean Jolley
Rebecca, thanks! The book’s echoes of Bourne Identity are mostly in theme, not plot. As far as the plot goes, there are echoes of le Carre’s Little Drummer Girl. Hope you enjoy the book!
Satu
Sounds truly interesting but I just wish we didn’t need to have Wickham here 🤣.
Kelly Dean Jolley
Shall we call him a necessary evil? I hope you find the use of Wickham in the story interesting. His scenes with E grow steadily more pressurized.
Julie Goodman
Sounds amazing!
Kelly Dean Jolley
Thanks, Julie! I hope so!
Ree H
Congratulations, KDJ! Oh, this sounds so good. I’ll be looking forward to reading how your clever writing brings our dear couple into a world of modern intrigue!
Kelly Dean Jolley
This is a longer, more ambitious novel than my others. I will be eager to know what you think of it. Appreciate the comment!
Jan Hahn
Great cover! Sounds like a great story too. Congratulations!
Kelly Dean Jolley
Jan, thanks much! I hope it’s good! Congratulations on your new book!
Sheila L. Majczan
Great cover. I do enjoy spy stories, so will look for this release. Good luck with that release.
Kelly Jolley
Thank you, Sheila!
Betty Madden
Good cover! I hope to read this, Kelly.
Kelly Jolley
Terrific! Appreciate the response!