If you like Pride and Prejudice, you probably remember Mr Collins? He’s the odious clergyman who asks lovely heroine Elizabeth Bennet to marry him. She refuses.
He’s one of the most ridiculed characters in English literature. Jane Austen portrays him as dull, foolish, toadying, awkward and pompous. He makes inane remarks (“what excellent boiled potatoes”) and can’t dance. The woman who eventually marries him, Charlotte Lucas, does so not out of love but because she’s fast becoming an old maid, and no longer wishes to remain unmarried and a burden to her family.
Yes, on the face of it, Mr Collins is ghastly. Absolutely the kind of man you’d run away from at a ball.
But I got to thinking … what if the man we see in Jane Austen’s novel is not the real, or not the whole man? Austen plays him for laughs, but what if he had a secret life that not even his creator knew about? And, instead of being an odious side-character in a great romance, what if he had a love story of his own?
Mr Collins in Love is my attempt to re-imagine the character as a man who is still recognisably ‘Mr Collins’ but to give the reader an alternative way of looking at him, with a new appreciation of his inner life, and the possible reasons behind some of his seemingly less forgivable traits and actions.
If you read my book, you’ll find he’s admirable in many ways. He’s humble, kind, honest, loyal and decent. He finds socialising difficult, but the modern reader may recognise some traits of autism. He’s not a bad man at all. In fact, he’s a good man, doing his best in a difficult world.
In my story, he’s in love with his gardener – an old friend, a man he’s known since childhood. It’s an unconventional relationship and it remains a secret, but it’s a true romance nonetheless. And it has a happy ending, of course!
Here’s what people are already saying about Mr Collins in Love:
“A deeply kind retelling. I loved the warmth, the wisdom, and the way it offers a realistic but profound happy-ever-after to people who rarely get such a thing in romance.” – KJ Charles, author of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen.
“I didn’t think anyone could make me love Mr Collins, but Lee Welch has done it with this beautifully written story. Jem’s Blackbird comes to life in all his sweet awkwardness, and I couldn’t love him more if I tried.” – Lily Morton, author of My Darcy, On Circus Lane, and the Finding Home series.
Mr Collins in Love: A Pride and Prejudice inspired m/m romance is out on 1 August 2025 and is currently available for preorder on Amazon and most other online bookstores, including Kobo, Apple, Smashwords and many more.
If you’re a romance reader or reviewer and would like a free advance review copy prior to 1 August, please contact me via leewelchwriter (at) gmail (dot) com. Please let me know where you intend to post your review, and at least one of your social media handles, and I’ll be in touch – thanks! Lee x 😊
Lee Welch 