As her twenty-second birthday approaches, Elizabeth Bennet finds herself preoccupied with the notion that perhaps she was never meant to find a husband who would be the object of the 'very deepest love' that she wishes for. While her friends and even her younger sisters begin to find their matches, Hertfordshire beings to feel stifling and small.
When an early spring holiday turns unexpectedly wintery, Elizabeth is presented with a choice. A practical one, to be sure, but a choice. But would such a marriage to a young man from a 'good family' be enough to make her happy?
But after a daring rescue on an ice-covered lake, Elizabeth's thoughts stray ever more often toward a stoic widower with a young daughter—a Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy—who lives alone with his child in an estate not far from where Elizabeth is staying.
Can Elizabeth put her feelings aside and make a decision that would leave her wondering what could have been? Or will she bend to the wishes of her parents and the practical choice presented to her…
"An Unexpected Joy" is a sweet and clean Pride and Prejudice holiday variation that is suitable for all lovers of Jane Austen's classic.