Secrets Across the Sea: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

by Katelyn Rae

When family secrets are revealed, will Darcy and Elizabeth be able to withstand the tide?

Darcy has always lived between two worlds. At home with his family in America, at school in England; always divided by the sea. Yet, when nearly everything in America is snatched from him, Darcy crosses an ocean, hopeful that he can find a new life… and that the family secrets he runs from do not follow him.

Can secrets truly be forgotten?

Can love scatter his pain to the four corners of the wind?

Elizabeth has boasted a happy life. One with family, ease, and comfort. Yet, when tragedy strikes and she and her sisters must take on responsibilities never meant to be theirs, the only thing they can do is cling to one another… and trust that whatever secrets their mother kept will not unbalance their world again.

Can Elizabeth discover her mother’s secrets?

Can love be as sure as the world she and her sisters built?

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2025

About the author

A lover of stories, Katelyn Rae enjoys watching, reading, listening to, and creating tales of her own. No matter if it is retelling a classic or writing a story from scratch, one of Katelyn's favorite things is holding a pen or sitting behind a keyboard and letting the words flow.

To learn more about Katelyn Rae and her upcoming releases you can go to KatelynRaeBooks.com or find her on various social media sites by searching KatelynRaeBooks

Reviews

[Jeannette Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An American Mr Darcy meets a very English Miss Elizabeth Bennett

I enjoyed this tale so different from Canon and care I say no George Wickham to spoil the tale.
American born Mr Darcy although educated in England along with his maternal cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Mr Darcy was born and raised in the USA. In fact his Grandfather Darcy was An alleged spy for the Americans and his Father George a very happy resident of Boston and viewed himself as an American too.. His Mother sister to Lord Matlock the Colonel's father and not forgetting Lady Catherine De Brough had been courted by George Darcy when he like his son attended University in England.
Darcy and his two younger sisters Georgina and Catherine love very happily on their Estate near to Boston. Their parents are killed in a carriage accident leaving Darcy to raise his two devastated younger sisters. He decides that the girls and himself should return to England to be close to his Mother's siblings and his cousins. He is shocked when he arrives to discover his Aunt Catherine wants nothing to do with him or his sisters. She calls them traitors and her late sister a fool. Lord and Lady Matlock are not so cutting but refuse to appear with them at social occasions. The Ton do not welcome him either despite his extremely wealthy holdings and his very attractive looks and manners.
The Bennett's are living at the entailed Longbourn the parents very much in love and happy.
Tragedy strikes and the sisters with Jane the eldest only 16 have to come to terms with one totally devastated parent and a very mysterious past of the other.
The sisters succeed very well at running Longbourn by themselves .
The day comes when the three eldest Bennets set out to a House Party their hostess said to be a friend of their Mother
Fellow houseguests are Mr Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam and his very good friend Mr Charles Bingley.
Then the games commence.
I did enjoy this tale. It gave a very different slant to the characters and I admit not having any input by Wickham and very little of Caroline Bingley increased my enjoyment of this tale.

[Jeris Joyner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was privileged to be a beta reader of Katelyn Rae's, Secrets Across the Sea.

Extremely well written, this book is full of plot twists and turns that will keep any reader on the edge of their seat to the very end. It certainly did that for me! It was hard to put down.

In this read, I love how Darcy and Elizabeth not only grow as individuals on their own merits, each on their own life-journey... but how, in living hundreds of miles across the sea from each other, fate and circumstances eventually bring them together.

Through many twists and turns in attitudes, circumstances, and secrets revealed, Darcy and Elizabeth each grow deeper in love with the thought that true love was beckoning all along, calling forth a possible future together. Not only does this book eventually bring Darcy and Elizabeth together, but her sisters also share in romance along the way!

Just when I thought the first book by this author, A Red Coat: A Pride & Prejudice Continuation, was great, Secrets Across the Sea proves to be a best-seller for me. A book well-written by an extremely talented author.... and well worth the read!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Pride and Prejudice variation where when their parents are killed in 1807, the Darcys offspring of Fitzwilliam, Georgina and Catherine leave Boston and travel to England where they are met by prejudice. Meanwhile in 1808 Mrs Bennet dies also in an accident and it is left to the five daughters to run Longbourn. What secrets did the Bennets keep from the daughters. Might a invitation to a Christmas house party reveal all and give the 3 eldest daughters happy ending.
An entertaining and well-written story

[Mariska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable!

I always enjoy it when all 5 Bennet girls are joined together from early youth. I also enjoy it when Jane has a backbone, Darcy is not stuck up, and Mary is not pedantic. I love how all of the children in both families overcome the tragedies in their lives. The scenes in the castle as the girls seek answers are truly funny to me without being farcical.

[Corrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, but the middle dragged so much I actually took a break to read three books before I could finish it! It really didn't pick up until about the 77% mark (I read it on my Kindle), then the plot really picked up and I found it engaging again.

I also don't know if the author tried to emulate how the original story was written, but it made for awkward reading. Maybe it's simply because I haven't read too many classics, though.

[Meiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming variation!
Secrets Across the Sea tells the story of Darcy and Elizabeth in circumstances very different from those of P&P. Darcy has family ties in America, and is therefore looked down upon by the Ton and not considered a desirable catch, despite still being a wealthy gentleman; Elizabeth and her sisters suffer a drastic change in their lives with the untimely death of their mother, being forced to take on more responsibilities and consequently mature.

The story was a bit slow at first as we followed the changes in Darcy and Elizabeth's lives over the course of years, but the moment they met at Lady Charmane's house the story picked up speed and it became impossible to put the book down. Darcy and Elizabeth's path to true love was more smooth this time. With a different background Darcy is no longer a pedant so he never utters the famous insult to Elizabeth, they just become adorable together! Jane and Mary also have their own romances. I was happy to see Mary fall in love with my favorite Colonel again.

The only thing I didn't like was the fact that the Bennet sisters lived alone when their father was away on the Continent. In the Regency Era, unmarried daughters were not allowed to live in a house without a relative who could supervise them. Due to this and some spelling mistakes, I give the book a 4.5 star rating.

Secrets Across the Sea is a sweet Pride and Prejudice variation with just the right touch of drama provided by some surprising family secrets; I will definitely be adding a physical copy to my bookshelf.

[J.C. Plummer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the story. The beginning was interesting. However, the story descended into tedium with the descriptions of the daily activities of the sisters as they managed Longbourn. At the midpoint, all the action moves to a house party, held over the holiday season by a mysterious friend of Richard’s mother. The second half of the book takes place at this house party, and unfortunately, it was not very interesting as we move through each day’s activities.

I really struggled to finish the story as the pace was so slow.

The story was relatively well edited, although the author does not seem to know that “alright” is not proper English. It’s not a real word and should never be used in formal writing.

I could not rate it higher because I struggled with plot holes so big that a coach and four could pass through them.

Some of the more annoying plot holes:


Darcy’s grandfather faced many accusations of treason, and he even admits his grandfather was sympathetic to the Americans. Why didn’t the crown seize Pemberley? The crown would have been giddy to seize such a large, prosperous estate.

Darcy, his parents and sisters, all live in Boston and have lived there for many years. Yet, the Darcys also own Pemberley. Who is managing the estate? How can he manage an estate like Pemberley while living in Boston? Ironically, later in the story, a man is chastised by Richard and Darcy for not being directly involved in managing his estate.

Mrs. Bennet is dead. Mr. Bennet later gets sick and goes to Italy. The five Bennet sisters, all unmarried and four are underage, live alone at Longbourn, managing it without any male relative there, just various loyal servants. It doesn’t matter whether they were capable of managing the estate, the fact of the matter is they would have NEVER been allowed to live there alone, without a male relative, and manage the estate. No. No way this would have happened.

Lastly, Mrs. Bennet would have never kept her secret that she has noble relations.