Most Ardently Yours: A Novel

By Freya Sampson

From USA Today Bestselling author Freya Sampson comes a swoon-worthy, laugh-out-loud romance inspired by Jane Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice that begs the question: what if your book boyfriend jumped from the pages of their story and into your life? "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of many romance novels, must be in want of a book boyfriend." Zoe Knight, a struggling romance writer, has sworn off men for good. At least...the ones in real life. Once a believer in a happily ever after, she now curbs her loneliness with the help of the best book boyfriends in literature - and there is no better man than Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy. So when she stumbles into a classic London bookshop and argues with the annoyingly attractive store owner, Nick, who refuses to sell romance novels, she decides to liberate him of a dusty copy of Pride & Prejudice abandoned on a top shelf. But this is no ordinary book. After reading from the pages, Zoe finds herself in a remarkable situation: she has accidentally summoned the Mr. Darcy to the real world. Now, she's face-to-face with the man she's loved forever, and he's everything she dreamed he would be. Handsome? Check. Brooding? Check. Talks like he swallowed a thesaurus? Check and check. But even in all his regency perfection, can he ever be as good as in the novel? And if he's here, in her London apartment trying to figure out how to work a shower, what will happen to the literary world he came from? With Nick--the last man she could ever be prevailed upon to work with--urging her to send the fictional Darcy back to his own story, Zoe will have to decide what she really wants from a happy ending, before it's too late.

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Published Jul 7, 2026

320 pages

Average rating: 7.33

3 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Mengwe Wapimewah
10/10 stars
oh. my. GOSH. certified. fricken. BANGER‼️‼️‼️ dude what a creative, hilarious, well crafted way to subvert this genre, and make the hearts of every die-hard rom com/romantasy fan, explode 🥹 truly brilliant, and as someone who literally has seen characters from books as friends at points in her life, i thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing something that makes me feel so seen and validated. shoutout nick, shoutout ms atallah, shoutout B, for being legit the BEST friend on the planet...and shoutout freya, for this banger
JL Reads
6/10 stars
A cute romance about romance books. But that’s about it. The story had so much potential, but it took itself way too seriously. Everything felt so cheesy that I just couldn’t take the conflict seriously. It was a quick, easy read. 3⭐️ Book #47 in 2026