Guest Post & Giveaway: Victoria Kincaid Shares Her New Audiobook Release, When Mary Met the Colonel
Please welcome back Victoria Kincaid to the blog today. She's going to let us into the world of Mary Bennet and Colonel Fitzwilliam from When Mary Met the Colonel, a new audiobook with the fabulous narrator Stevie Zimmerman.
But first a bit about the book:
Without the beauty and wit of the older Bennet sisters or the liveliness of the younger, Mary is the Bennet sister most often overlooked.
She has resigned herself to a life of loneliness, alleviated only by music and the occasional book of military history. Colonel Fitzwilliam finds himself envying his friends who are marrying wonderful women while he only attracts empty-headed flirts.
He longs for a caring, well-informed woman who will see the man beneath the uniform. During the wedding breakfast for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, a chance meeting in Longbourn’s garden kindles an attraction between Mary and the Colonel.
However, the Colonel cannot marry for love since he must wed an heiress. He returns to war, although Mary finds she cannot easily forget him. Is happily ever after possible after Mary meets the Colonel? Please give Victoria a warm welcome and stay tuned for the giveaway:
Hello Serena and thank you for having me back to visit! I am very pleased to announce the release of my audiobook of When Mary Met the Colonel – a love story between Mary Bennet and Colonel Fitzwilliam. I’ve wanted to make an audio version of it for quite a while and was thrilled that the wonderful Stevie Zimmerman became available to narrate it. She does a lovely job! At the beginning of the book, the Colonel meets Mary in the Longbourn garden during Elizabeth and Darcy’s wedding breakfast. The scene below takes place the next morning when the Colonel is having breakfast at Netherfield. I hope you enjoy it!
Here's the excerpt:
All the things I could tell her about Ciudad Rodrigo….
“Colonel, are you feeling well?”
“Hmm?” Fitz looked up from his breakfast plate at Bingley. “Perfectly well, thank you.”
Why was Bingley inquiring?
“That was the third time I asked.” Bingley chuckled.
Fitz rubbed his forehead with one hand. “I apologize. I am not the best of guests. Perhaps I am overly tired.”
“Yesterday was a long day,” Mrs. Bingley said graciously as she poured him more tea. “I am certain Elizabeth and William were quite fatigued by the time they reached London, but they did not wish to delay their departure.”
Bingley smiled at his wife over the rim of his tea cup. “I believe most newly married couples prefer to be alone.”
Mrs. Bingley blushed but said nothing. Fitz had the sense of being outside in the cold, watching a family enjoying a warm Christmas dinner. Do not be bitter. You have a rewarding career, food, a roof over your head, and good friends and family. It is more than many have. Somehow, such admonishments did not improve his spirits.
“I apologize that I could not secure a place in the post carriage for a departure today,” Fitz told his hosts. “It is very good of you to have me another day.”
“Think nothing of it!” Bingley responded. “We are quite pleased to have you visit. Darcy has mentioned you often, and I am happy to make your acquaintance at last.”
“And I you,” Fitz said. Bingley was quite an amiable fellow and seemed well-suited to his wife. Mrs. Bingley cut into her sausage. “Will you be going abroad again soon, Colonel?”
Fitz nodded. “I expect so.”
Bingley’s eyes lit with interest, but he said nothing. Fitz guessed that he preferred not to discuss the war in his wife’s presence.
She nodded. “My sister Lydia’s husband is in a Northern regiment. She expects he will be ordered abroad soon.”
Fitz said nothing. The Bingleys obviously did not know that he had helped secure Wickham’s commission, and Fitz had no desire to enlighten them. He sought a less fraught subject for the conversation. “How will your parents fare with only two daughters at home?”
Mrs. Bingley smiled gently. “It will be quite an alteration for them. Until recently, we were all five at home, and now three are gone within a short span of time. At least I am close here at Netherfield.”
“Have any of your other sisters formed attachments?” He cleared his throat, unsure why his voice cracked when he asked such an innocuous question.
“None that I am yet aware of,” she responded. “But Kitty is always out and meeting new people. Mary is more retiring.”
Fitz frowned. Why did nobody give Mary the credit she deserved? “I had a very pleasant conversation with Miss Bennet yesterday.”
Bingley’s eyebrows shot up. “Miss Mary Bennet? Are you sure?”
“Indeed, I have no difficulty differentiating the two ladies,” Fitz said dryly. Mrs. Bingley hid a smile behind her napkin.
“Are you much interested in theology?” she inquired.
“No, we discussed—” Abruptly, Fitz remembered that Mary’s interest in military history was a secret. “Uh…history…and the events of the day. It seems she reads the papers a great deal.”
Mrs. Bingley’s eyes widened. “Indeed? I thought she only read Fordyce’s Sermons.”
How was it that even Miss Bennet’s own sister did not know of her true cleverness? The poor woman was even more sadly misunderstood than he had first thought.
He found himself wishing to speak with her again. Soon he would return to London where the women of the ton only discussed gossip and gloves or sought to please his vanity—when they deigned to notice a second son at all. How lovely it would be to have one more conversation with a woman of intelligence before returning to such dreariness! But how could it be contrived?
He was scarcely acquainted with the Bennet family; calling upon them would surely bring him unwanted attention from Miss Kitty.
“Do you plan to visit Longbourn today, Mrs. Bingley?” he asked, hoping he sounded casual.
She set down her fork. “I should. Mama’s nerves will be in a state after the excitement yesterday.”
He vowed to discover some means to manage Kitty. “I would be happy to accompany you and thank your parents for their hospitality yesterday.”
“That would be very pleasant,” she responded. “Charles, shall you join us?”
“I believe I will.”
Fitz could not account for the sudden rapid beating of his heart. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I can't wait to have a listen to this one. Please leave a comment about your latest favorite read in the Jane Austen variation world? I'm looking for recommendations.
Entries for 1 audiobook will be accepted through July 31, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.