After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabethâs life changes when Matthew Macfadyenâs Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie falls hard and makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. This ill-advised pledge threatens to ruin any chance of finding true love. During the six intervening years, she has refused to give any interested suitors a chance. They werenât Mr. Darcy enough.
Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. That guy is Chad, a kind and thoughtful science teacher and swim coach. While sheâs dating Chad, her dream comes true in the form of a wealthy bookstore owner named Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. Of course she has to follow her dream. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, sheâs forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.
Karey White grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist.
She loves to travel, read, bake treats, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four great children. She teaches summer creative writing courses to young people and is currently working on her next book.
Excerpt 1
Janessa folded her arms and looked at me for so long I started to squirm. âWhat?â
âI wish youâd look at yourself. Youâre ruining your life with this stupid obsession.â
âIâm not obsessed.â I stood up quickly, nearly tipping my chair over. I rinsed my plate and put it in the dishwasher. I could feel Janessaâs eyes on me the entire time, but I refused to look at her. âAnd just because Iâm not interested in this guy doesnât mean my life is ruined.â
âLet me guess. Was he blond?â
âKnock it off.â
âToo short?â
âHe wasnât short. Iâve got to go.â I left the kitchen with Janessa on my heels.
âWas he too cheerful?â
âOh brother. Iâm not having this conversation with you.â
Janessa grabbed my arm and turned me toward her. âYes, you are.â
âIâm going to be late for work.â
âThen weâd better talk fast.â
âI donât have anything to say,â I said.
âThen Iâll talk. You listen. You have to start giving these guys a chance.â
I folded my arms tightly. âI give them a chance.â
âYou give them one date, two at the most. But youâre not really giving them a chance because your mindâs already made up before you even go out.â
I was getting annoyed. âI donât have time for this conversation again.â Janessa was practically reciting word for word what sheâd said after my last date. And the one before that.
âLizzie. If you donât want to have the same conversation, do something different. Shake things up a little.â She smiled and did a little shimmy. I refused to smile no matter how silly she looked.
âHow do you suggest I do that?â
âIf this guy⌠Whatâs his name?â
âChad.â
âIf Chad calls you back, go out with him again.â
âI donât see the point.â
âDid you get a serial killer vibe from him?â
âNo, I got a nice-guy-that-doesnât-deserve-to-be-led-on vibe from him.â
âNice guys are good. So youâll say yes, right?â
âIf Iâm not interested, it wouldnât be fair to say yes.â
âOh knock off the baloney. You havenât been fair to a guy since high school. Youâre just afraid if you get to know a guy, you might like him. And wouldnât that be awful? Was Chad funny?â
âYes, he was funny.â
âHandsome?â
I sighed. âI donât know if Iâd call him handsome, but he was cute.â
âCute is good. Especially if he was funny. So go out with him again.â
âYou act like itâs all up to me.â I walked to the closet and collected my purse. Like a tiger leaping on her prey, Janessa pounced at the bowl on the entry table and grabbed my car keys. âThis isnât funny, Janessa. Iâm going to be late for work.â
âThen letâs make a deal. You agree to go out with him ten times before you toss him aside and Iâll give you your keys.â
âTen times? No way.â
âThatâll give you time to get to know him.â
âYouâve got to be kidding.â
âIâm serious, Lizzie. Ten is a good number. In that amount of time, you can make a real decision. Instead of one based on a stupid movie.â
Now Janessa was skipping through a minefield. âItâs not a stupid movie and Iâve got to go.â
âItâs the stupidest movie in the world if it ruins your life.â
âNothingâs ruining my life and Iâm going to be late. Give me my keys and weâll talk about this later.â A little tussle ensued as I tried to rescue my keys from her clutches. I almost had them when she darted to the bathroom and shut the door hard and fast, locking it behind her. âThis is real mature.â
âI donât care about mature. Youâre my best friend, Lizzie. Â I love you and Iâm trying to save you from yourself.â
I banged on the door. âGive me the keys. Now.â My voice had become shrieky.
âIâll give you the keys as soon as you promise youâll go out with him ten times.â
âI doubt heâll ask me out again.â
âWhy? Were you a jerk?â
âNo.â
âAre you sure?â
I hesitated, knowing I hadnât been very good company. âIâm pretty sure.â
âIf he doesnât ask you out, you have to ask him.â
âNo way am I asking out a guy ten times. No way!â
âYou just have to ask him out once. If he doesnât return the favor you can move on. But you have to be nice to him and give him a reason to want to ask you out again.â
âThis is the dumbest idea youâve ever had.â
âListen Liz, Iâm doing this for you. Give a guy a chance before you give him the old heave-ho.â
I leaned my head on the door. âJust give me the keys. Please.â Now I was whining.
âYouâre the one keeping yourself from your keys. And probably true love.â
I looked at my watch. Now Iâd have to risk a speeding ticket or get to work five minutes late. I wasnât sure which was worseâa ticket from a police officer or a tongue-lashing from Delia.
âFine. Iâll go out with him again if he asks me.â
âAnd?â
âIf he doesnât ask me, Iâll ask him?â
âRight. And how many times will you go out with him?â
âWay too many,â I said under my breath.
âI canât hear you.â
âTen times. If he asks me.â
The door cracked open. âAnd youâll be nice to him?â
âWhatever you say. Now give me the keys.â
Janessa emerged from the bathroom and triumphantly dropped my keys into my outstretched hand.
âYouâre an idiot,â I said.
âAn idiot that loves you and wants you to be happy,â she said. She turned and headed down the hall. âSomeday youâll thank me,â she sang.
âIf I donât kill you first.â I slammed the door behind me.
Excerpt 2
It was a busy Monday morning. I was looking out at the line of waiting customers when he walked in. I gasped, shut my thumb in my cash drawer, and then tried not to cry while Mr. Sandoval from a hearing aid store asked me if I was okay.
When I finished Mr. Sandovalâs transaction, I looked at him again. He was taller than anyone in the room. Of course. His hair was dark and a little disheveled. It was hard to see from where I was, but his eyes looked like they were blue. And best of all, he didnât smile. He looked gorgeously unpleasant and impatient. He looked around the room and his eyes met mine. Still he didnât smile. My heart was racing. He looked perfect.
I did my best to time it so Iâd be his teller. I went a little too fast with one customer and accidentally shorted her a twenty dollar bill. I tried to concentrate as I corrected the transaction. I slowed way down on the next customer, but just when I thought I was finished and would be able to help him next, my customer asked me to break a ten into change. He walked up to Courtneyâs window while I counted out nickels and dimes. Furious, I stomped my foot. Not too loudly but enough to release a little of my frustration.
I listened closely as Courtney helped him to see if I could learn anything, but he hardly spoke. He gave a terse nod when Courtney thanked him for coming in and turned on his heel and left. He had excellent posture and a nice, confident stride.
I finished with my customer, and then before anyone else could step forward, I picked up the phone and dialed Courtneyâs extension. She glanced at her phoneâs display and looked over at me curiously.
           âWho was that?â I whispered when she picked up the receiver.
âElizabeth, look how many customers there are.â
âI know. Just tell me who that was.â I watched as Courtney picked up her last transaction slip.
âHis name is Matt Dawson.â
âIs he married?â
âI have no idea,â Courtney said.
âWas he wearing a ring?â
âI didnât look. Whatâs going on, Lizzie?â
âI just need to know about him.â
âWell, I donât know anything about him and Deliaâs watching us. Iâve gotta go.â
Matt Dawson. Matt. Matthew. Like Matthew Macfadyen. Dawson. It was pretty close to Darcy. The only way it could be better is if his name was Fitzwilliam but Iâd never met a Fitzwilliam in my life.
Matt Dawson.
This had to be a sign. Â
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Kathryn Cooper 