Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet

Lindz McLeod is a queer, working-class, Scottish writer and poet who dabbles in the surreal. Her short prose has been published by Apex, Catapult, Pseudopod, Best of British SF, and many more. Her longer work includes the short story collection TURDUCKEN (Spaceboy, 2023), as well as her books BEAST (Hear Us Scream, 2023), SUNBATHERS (Hedone Books, 2024), THE UNLIKELY PURSUIT OF MARY BENNET (Harlequin, 2025), and AN HONOUR AND A PRIVILEGE (Stanchion, 2025). Her work has been taught in schools, universities, and turned into avant-garde opera. She is a full member of the SFWA, the club president of the Edinburgh Writers' Club, and is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing. She lives in Edinburgh with her fiancee and their two internet-famous cats, Fitzwilliam and Dane. Find out more at www.lindzmcleod.co.uk or follow Lindz on social media @lindzmcleod

A RONA Debut Romantic Novel of the Year Award Nominee"With Charlotte as the sole narrator, the mystery of whether she’s reading Mary’s signals correctly keeps the pages turning right up until the moment their passion erupts. The result is an unabashedly escapist, feel-good romance.” —Publishers Weekly "A triumph of a book, and an utter delight from start to finish" —Thomas D. Lee, the Sunday Times bestselling author of Perilous Times“McLeod includes a thoughtful look at same-sex relationships in Regency-era England and refers lightly to characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, while focusing on Charlotte and Mary and how they use the language of flowers to convey deep feelings as their romance delicately blossoms. For fans of Regency romances and of the contemporary friends-to-lovers stories created by Talia Hibbert and Casey McQuiston.” —Booklist"From the brilliantly witty opening line, this sparkling tale of love between two of Jane Austen's beloved characters had me captured. It makes perfect sense that Mary Bennet, the studious, piano-playing younger sister of Elizabeth Bennet, would one day fall in love with Charlotte Collins, a woman who married for practical reasons, but has never known real love. This was the sweetest of delights!" —Emily H. Wilson, author of The Sumerians trilogy