A Preview & Exclusive Excerpt of Dating Mr. Darcy: A Romantic Comedy (Love Manor Romantic Comedy Series Book 1), by Kate O’Keefe

From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress: 

Happy Holidays to all of our fabulous readers! Are you still shopping and making merry? I have trimmed my tree and decked the halls and am all ready to kick back and relax a bit during the remaining of the holiday season.

Today I happy to present a light, fun, and humorous Austenesque rom-com for your consideration. Dating Mr. Darcy is the first book in Kate O’Keeffe’s “Love Manor” trilogy, a combination of Pride and Prejudice meets The Bachelor reality TV show. It is a contemporary Austen-inspired novel to bring a smile and a quick escape.  By featuring Dating Mr. Darcy here today we are participating in the Clean Romance for Christmas online event with several other book bloggers. It features 14 bestselling and popular authors, so please check them out too. AND…be sure to enter the Amazon gift card giveaway listed at the end of this post. Good luck to all.

I am wishing you all a joyful holiday season and a Happy New Year.

Laurel Ann

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

Is it a truth universally acknowledged, that a girl must compete on reality TV to win a modern-day Mr. Darcy’s heart?

Emma Brady is having doubts about how far she’ll go to promote her new activewear line. Sure, being on a reality show could be the big break her business so desperately needs, but is putting up with a Mr. Darcy wannabe worth it?

Sebastian Huntington-Ross is straight out of an Austen novel. But it’s hard to focus on his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, and wickedly sexy accent when all Emma can see is his pride, arrogance, and smug demeanor.

Sparks fly when Emma realizes Sebastian has his own agenda for being on the show. Will Emma hold fast and keep the aristocratic Sebastian at arm’s length? Or will she put her reservations aside when the lines between reality and “reality show” start to blur?

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EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

How on this sweet Earth did I get myself into this position?

I’m not talking metaphorically or spiritually or anything like that here, you understand.

Oh, no. I’m being much more literal.

Right now, I’m all alone in the back of the limo, whizzing through the outskirts of Houston on my way to some ranch out in banjo territory. I’ve managed to remove my mic, which was a feat all its own, and now I’m wrangling with my Timothy leggings. With an almighty effort, I pull them up to my thighs, my dress bunched up under my chin. Ever bunched up a sequin dress under your chin? Not comfortable.

As the car turns corners, my task becomes increasingly complex. Just when I scoop my butt up off the seat to pull the leggings up, the car turns, and I go crashing into the door. Luckily it’s firmly shut or I’d be splattered across the road somewhere.

By the time I’m halfway done, I’m hot and sweaty and panting like I’ve gone three rounds in the ring with Muhammad Ali. Or some other boxer from this century. (Fighting’s so not my thing).

My leggings finally in place, I heave a sigh of relief. Time for my Timothy top. I pull my sequined dress over my head, only for it to get snagged on my hair.

I tug at the dress. It pulls at my hair but it holds tight. I tug again. This thing is not budging.

The car begins to slow. I peer out the smoky glass window and see a large house at the end of the long drive. It looks like a ranch in the middle of nowhere.

Uh-oh.

Panic begins to set in. I need to get this darn dress off and pull on my T-shirt over my strapless bra, and I need to do it now.

As the car slows to a stop, I yank on the dress, hard, only to cry out in pain as my hair refuses to untangle itself from the many sequins.

I hear a car door thud closed and know the driver is about to walk around to open my door.

No! We can’t be here already!

Think, Emma, think!

In just my leggings and strapless bra, my dress acting as some sort of weird hair extension, I’m not only going to be the laughing stock of the nation, but I’m sure the Mr. Darcy wannabe will send me home before he can say “that one was totally cray cray.” Penny’s and my dream will amount to nothing.

With probably less than about three seconds to go before the driver reaches my door, I ditch the near-impossible hair issue and focus on getting my top on. I grab it out of my clutch and loop one leg through, then the next. With a strength that would impress Wonder Woman herself, I yank the top up over my thighs, and begin to loop an arm through one side. So far, so good. All I’ve got to do now is loop the other arm through and …

The next thing I know, the wall I’m leaning up against gives way and I fall backwards out of the privacy of the limo and land with a thud on my butt.

Ooof.

As my butt meets the hard, unforgiving ground, the wind is instantly sucked out of me and the pain sears. Trying to regain my balance, my legs flail in the air like I’m some kind of insect that can’t get itself back up. At least twelve different cuss words erupt from my mouth. Cuss words my mother would blush to hear me say.

Everything goes quiet around me.

Smooth, Emma. Real smooth.

“Well, that was quite an entrance,” a voice says.

Chapter 2

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ADVANCE PRAISE 

• “I loved every word of this book! One of my favorite rom coms of the year. Such a wonderful, fast-paced, swoony read. Highly recommend!” —Becky Monson, Amazon bestselling author of The Spinster Series
• “The Bachelor meets Pride and Prejudice in this laugh-out-loud chick-lit romp!” —Melanie Summers, bestselling author of the Crown Jewels Series
• “Short, sweet, and filled with humor, Dating Mr. Darcy is a quick pick-me-up for anyone who wants to get an instant boost of happiness.” —Rabia Tanveer, Readers’ Favorite
• “…a very entertaining romantic comedy combining a modern Pride and Prejudice variation with a parody of reality TV programming (specifically The Bachelor).” — Debbie Brown, Goodreads
• “I laughed so hard my sides still hurt.” — Kristen Lewendon, Goodreads

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Books in the “Love Manor” Series

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AUTHOR BIO

Kate O’Keeffe is a bestselling author of fun, feel-good chick lit and romantic comedies. She lives and loves in beautiful Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand with her family, two scruffy dogs, and a cat who thinks he’s a scruffy dog too. He’s not: he’s a cat.

When she’s not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries around the globe, and eating chocolate. A lot of it.

WEBSITE | GOODREADS | BOOKBUB | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

 

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BOOK INFORMATION

• Dating Mr. Darcy: A Romantic Comedy (Love Manor Romantic Comedy Series Book 1), by Kate O’Keefe
• Wild Lime Books (August 3, 2020)
• Trade paperback and eBook (305) pages
• ISBN: 979-8667690634
• Genre: Austenesque, Contemporary Fiction

ADDITIONAL INFO | ADD TO GOODREADS

We purchased a copy of this book for our own enjoyment. Austenprose is an Amazon affiliate. Cover image, book description, excerpt, & author bio compliments of Kate O’Keeffe © 2020; text Laurel Ann Nattress © 2020, austenprose.com.