The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Sapphic Regency Historical Romance of Forbidden Love by Lindz McLeod

Jane Austen meets Bridgerton in this sapphic romance between Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet that begins four years after the end of Pride and Prejudice.

When Mr. Collins dies after just four years of marriage, Charlotte is lost. While not exactly heartbroken, she will soon have to quit the parsonage that has become her home. In desperate need of support, she writes to her best friend, Lizzie. Unable to leave Pemberley, Lizzie sends her sister Mary Bennet in her stead.

To Charlotte’s surprise, Mary Bennet is nothing like she remembers. Mary’s discovery of academia and her interest in botany (as well as getting out from under her mother’s thumb) have caused her to flourish. Before long, Charlotte is enraptured, and with each stolen glance and whispered secret, their friendship quickly blossoms into something achingly real.

But when her time at the parsonage begins to dwindle and a potential suitor appears, Charlotte must make a choice—the safety and security of another husband, or a passionate life with Mary outside the confines of the ton’s expectations.