A Mutual Interest in Numbers

Book excerpt: Love and the Library - A celebration of the beginnings of love wherein young Regency gentlemen meet their matches over a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” at the library. Book 2: Ellen and Laurence Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice. Does it? Mr. Laurence Coffey doesn’t care for libraries and novels. His interests run to steam engines and mathematics. But his friend found the lady of his dreams at the library over a copy of “Pride and Prejudice”. Laurence yearns for a lady of his own, one of wit and cleverness as well as beauty. And while he doesn’t expect his friend’s luck, visiting the library can’t hurt. Inventor’s daughter Miss Ellen Palmer uses her skill with mathematics to help her father and brother build steam engines. Unfortunately, many men frown on bluestockings. She loves the library and its mathematics books as well as its novels, especially her favorite, “Pride and Prejudice”. How she would like to find her own Mr. Darcy. Perhaps someday, somewhere, she can discover a man who wants an intelligent woman. At the library, they both reach for a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” at the same time. Can their mutual interest in numbers—and this particular novel—make their dreams come true? A sweet, traditional Regency romantic comedy, but not a retelling of “Pride and Prejudice”. 28,000 words, about 105 pages. And there’s a duck. Quack! 1800s London romance, Regency, Pride and Prejudice, library, bluestocking heroine, beta hero, scientist hero, gentleman hero, class differences, comedy, sweet romance, British historical fiction, steam engines, mathematics, love, duck