NEW RELEASE! A SISTER'S CURSE BY JAYNE BAMBER: GUEST POST, EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Hello, it’s good to be back at My Jane Austen Book Club!

I am so excited to share an excerpt with you from my new release, A Sister’s Curse. The story is another high-angst tale, with Elizabeth meeting Fitzwilliam Darcy – and his entire extended family – much earlier on. In fact, she finds herself a part of his extended family long before they ever fall in love – it’s complicated!

A LADY’S REPUTATION BLOG TOUR: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

About the Book

“Mr. Darcy, I am eager to hear your explanation for the fact that quite a few people believe we are engaged.”

It starts with a bit of well-meant advice. Colonel Fitzwilliam suggests to his cousin Darcy that, before he proposes to Elizabeth Bennet in Kent, perhaps he ought to discuss his plans with their families first. 

What neither man could have predicted however was that Lord Matlock would write the news to his sister or Viscount Saye would overhear, and tell his friends, or that his friends might slip a little and let their friends know as well. The news spreads just as quickly through Hertfordshire once Mrs Bennet opens the express Mr Bennet receives from Mr Darcy, and in a matter of days, it seems like everyone knows that Mr Darcy has proposed marriage to Elizabeth Bennet. 

Everyone, that is, except Elizabeth herself. 

Her refusal is quick and definite—until matters of reputation, hers as well as Jane’s, are considered. Then Mr Darcy makes another offer: summer at Pemberley, so that Jane can be reunited with Mr Bingley and so that he can prove to Elizabeth he is not what she thinks of him. Falling in love with him is naturally impossible…but once she knows the man he truly is, will she be able to help herself?

HIS CHOICE OF A WIFE BLOG TOUR: SPOTLIGHT POST, EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

About the Book

When a man’s honor is at stake, what is he willing to risk for the woman he loves?

After a disastrous marriage proposal and the delivery of an illuminating letter, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet hope never to lay eyes on one another again. When a chance meeting in Hunsford immediately throws them in each other’s way, Darcy realizes his behavior needs correcting, and Elizabeth starts to appreciate his redeeming qualities. But is it enough to forgive the past and overcome their prejudices?

KAREN M. COX, "UNDECEIVED: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IN THE SPY GAME" GETS A SECOND EDITION

Hi everyone! Thank you, Maria Grazia, for hosting me today to help spread the word about my re-release of Undeceived: Pride and Prejudice in the Spy Game. It’s the story of a unique Elizabeth and Darcy, CIA officers in the last years of the Cold War. He’s arrogant and standoffish—and heroic and handsome, of course. She’s bright and sparkling and naïve at the beginning, and learns from her mistakes with the grace we’ve come to expect from Elizabeth Bennet.

Undeceived is available now for preorder on various ebook platforms and will be 0.99 cents for the first 30 days after release (until 8/22/19.) The print version is in the works and will follow shortly after the ebook release.

AUTHOR GUEST POST: BEAU NORTH ON MAKING THE COLONEL

Hello, and thanks so much for hosting me today! After nearly a decade of having this story kicking around in my head (and through countless incarnations on my Google Drive) I’m thrilled to be able to finally share ‘The Colonel’ with all of you. Some of you might be familiar with my first book, Longbourn’s Songbird, and the trials and tribulations of Will Darcy’s cousin, Richard Fitzwilliam. When I set out writing this story back in 2009, I had an idea of telling Pride and Prejudice from The Colonel’s point of view, in a more modern setting while still keeping the action at a pivotal moment in world history.

After several drafts, I put most of Fitzwilliam’s story aside in favor of getting to the juicy Darcy-and-Elizabeth story. But Richard lingered in my head. A kind-hearted rake, the archetype of men I’d been watching on AMC since I was a girl. The final product, this character I’d borrowed from my beloved Austen, had become a sort of Frankenstein of these leading men. My Richard would have the quiet intensity of Cary Grant’s TR Devlin in Notorious, his exterior cool while his eyes devoured every expression on his lady love’s face. He would have the gin-soaked humor and self-depreciating wit of Bogart’s Richard Blaine in Casablanca, and the looks and go-to-hell attitude of Gene Kelly’s Victor in Cross of Lorraine.

DARCY IN HOLLYWOOD BY VICTORIA KINCAID - EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY

Hello everyone! New release under the spotlight for your consideration. It's a contemporary variation of Pride and Prejudice by Victoria Kincaid. Here's her message + an excerpt + giveaway open internationally. Enjoy and ... good luck!  Maria Grazia

BLOG TOUR - THE MIST OF HER MEMORY, EXCERPT AND GIVEAWAY

The Mist of Her Memory

What happened that fateful morning in Lambton?

What brutal attacker caused such grievous, near-fatal injuries?

Does she remain in danger? Elizabeth cannot remember!

Sequestered in her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner’s London home, Elizabeth Bennet tries to recover from a devastating incident that stole her memories during their Derbyshire tour. She continues to suffer from strange, angry voices in her head and to recall events that people tell her never happened. Even those who love her refuse to believe her. Elizabeth can barely endure the confusion!

Fitzwilliam Darcy is desperate for any hint of his beloved’s well-being, yet he lacks the information he seeks as her family forbids him contact with Elizabeth. His frustration mounts when he learns that her mental impairment incited taunting and torment in her home village of Meryton.

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: DEAR JANE BY ALLIE CRESSWELL

Dear Jane - Book Blurb

The final instalment of the Highbury trilogy, Dear Jane narrates the history of Jane Fairfax, recounting the events hinted at but never actually described in Jane Austen’s Emma.

Orphaned Jane seems likely to be brought up in parochial Highbury until adoption by her papa’s old friend Colonel Campbell opens to her all the excitement and opportunities of London. The velvet path of her early years is finite, however and tarnished by the knowledge that she must earn her own independence one day.

Frank Weston is also transplanted from Highbury, adopted as heir to the wealthy Churchills and taken to their drear and inhospitable Yorkshire estate. The glimmer of the prize which will one day be his is all but obliterated by the stony path he must walk to claim it.

Their paths meet at Weymouth, and readers of Emma will be familiar with the finale of Jane and Frank’s story. Dear Jane pulls back the veil which Jane Austen drew over their early lives, their meeting in Weymouth and the agony of their secret engagement.

Read an excerpt 

One of the joys and the challenges of writing Dear Jane has been regressing the characters of Jane and Frank to find out what formative influences made them into the young people who met at Weymouth and embarked on their foolhardy secret engagement.

Enscombe is imagined - by people who have never been there - as a very grand and superior house, equivalent, perhaps, to Rosings Park or even Pemberley. My Enscombe is quite different, a place of chill stone passageways and shrouded rooms. Its inhospitable accommodations and drear surroundings, together with Mrs Churchill’s utterly selfish sway over every aspect of Frank’s life, were my starting point in trying to understand the young man we meet in ‘Emma’.

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: GLOVED HEART BY CHARLOTTE BRENTWOOD - EBOOK GIVEAWAY

Gloved Heart

Can she ever trust again?

Amy Miller is struggling to come to terms with her new life as a mother, while being a reluctant guest in a rigid gentry household. A victim of abuse, she is determined to never trust a man again.

Henry Russell has loved Amy for as long as he can remember, but his family want nothing to do with her. A chance encounter with Amy rekindles a friendship which might save them both.

The discovery of a secret which holds the key to Amy’s past will change them forever, and jeopardise any chance they have for happiness. Can Henry show Amy that true love will give her everything she could ever need?

Note, although this is a 'sweet' read, there is some subject matter that may offend sensitive readers, including mention of a rape and very mild violence and coarse language.

A word from the author

I hope readers enjoy the second book in the “Hearts of Amberley” series. GLOVED HEART can be read as a standalone but if you’ve read THE VAGABOND VICAR you’ll enjoy seeing your favourite characters again.

As a mother of a young baby, I was able to pour my heart into this story of a new mother, Amy Miller, adjusting to her life in less than ideal circumstances. She has sworn off men for good, but she comes to rely on the friendship of Henry Russell. She resists her growing feelings for him, building walls around her heart. Just as she begins to trust, the revelation of a secret will ruin everything. 

This is also a book about strong women and the relationships between them. It’s really the women who drive the story and I loved exploring their unique bonds despite their different stations in life. The men provide the sparks and also the problems, just like in real life!

Charlotte Brentwood

UNEXPECTED FRIENDS & RELATIONS - BLOG TOUR WITH AUTHOR JAYNE BAMBER

 The Faults in Austen’s Stars: Flawed Heroines

By Jayne Bamber, author of the Friends & Relations Series

In all the facets of Jane Austen’s genius, perhaps the most delightful is the reality she imbues in all her characters. No one is quite perfect, making them all the more relatable. We can easily imagine ourselves as one or other of her heroines, not because they are as perfect as we might wish to be, but because they, like us, are not. Elizabeth Bennet, the paragon every Janeites wishes to be, is prejudiced and faulty in her judgement. Anne Eliot is too easily persuaded, and Fanny Price rather a bore and a prude. Each of the Dashwood sisters lacks one of the titular traits, while experiencing rather too much of the other, and Catherine Morland literally accuses her future father-in-law of murder (yikes.)

BE MORE JANE BY SOPHIE ANDREWS - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

There are books that change our lives dramatically when we happen to find them. They become a treasure we guard jealously so that we can resort on them when we find ourselves in need.  

Sophie Andrews found her treasure book very early in life. She was nine when her mother sat her down to watch a new movie, the 2005 adaptation of Pride ad Prejudice. Little did either of them realize then how meaningful Jane Austen would be in Sophie’s life. A few years later, aged 16 she would start a blog, Laughing with Lizzie,  after studying Jane Austen’s novel at school.

Since that moment she has become a very active, enthusiastic and creative Janeite: she organizes events such as picnics, balls and house parties for other Austenites and she was even featured in the BBC documentary, My Friend Jane, which focused on the fun and friendship she has found with fellow Janeites.

Now Sophie owns 100 different editions of Pride and Prejudice and has just released her first Austen-inpired book, Be More Jane, with which she tries to help us bring out our inner Austen to meet our lives’ challenges.  

This book is first of all an object of beauty, especially so thanks to the lovely illustrations by Jane Odiwe . Then it is a precious handbook in which Sophie searches and finds significative connections between Jane Austen’s work and real life. What can we learn from such a beloved writer which can be helpful in our every day predicaments?

PERILOUS SIEGE BLOG TOUR - PRIDE & PREJUDICE IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

A new awesome blog tour for Meryton Press starts today here at My Jane Austen Book Club. Are you ready for some more fun? Read what author C.P. Odom has written to introduce us to the alternate universe of his new Pride and Prejudice original retelling.  Good luck in the giveaway contest!  M.G.

Good day, Maria Grazia. It's a pleasure to be with your readers today to launch the tour for my latest release from Meryton Press, Perilous Siege: Pride & Prejudice in an Alternate Universe. Today I am sharing an insiders' look at the artwork behind this story because not only am I the author of this story, I am the illustrator of this 3-D art too!

I thought it would be fun to share this exclusive look inside my new book as a way for your readers to a sneak peek at this story and learn some more about this illustration process. Thank you for welcoming me to your blog and supporting authors, such as myself. 

INTERVIEW WITH VICTORIA GROSSACK ABOUT THE MANSFIELD PARK MURDERS & GIVEAWAY

Victoria, what made you decide to write The Mansfield Park Murders?

I had already written The Highbury Murders: A Mystery Set in the Village of Jane Austen’s Emma and The Meryton Murders: A Mystery Set in the Town of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. After each novel appeared, several readers asked me to please write another.

Some readers say that Mansfield Park is their least favorite Jane Austen novel. Would they still like The Mansfield Park Murders?

I’ve heard many Jane Austen admirers say that Mansfield Park is their least favorite of her novels because they don’t care for the heroine, Fanny Price, who is so retiring and timid. But whether you love or hate Fanny Price doesn’t matter for The Mansfield Park Murders, as Fanny doesn’t have a big role in The Mansfield Park Murders. Instead I focused on her younger sister, Susan Price. Susan was described by Austen as being “fearless,” which makes her a better protagonist for a murder mystery. Besides, when Fanny marries Edmund, she moves to Thornton Lacey, so she would not even be living at Mansfield Park.

NEW RELEASE! THE FLIGHT LESS TRAVELED: AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

Leigh Dreyer is a huge fan of Jane Austen variations and the JAFF community I had the pleasure to host with an interview about a year ago (HERE) when she released The Best Laid Flight Plans. But  I had so many other questions I wanted to ask her about her love for JAFF and  about 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet and Captain William Darcy. That's why I've proposed her a few more questions to promote the sequel to her modernization of Pride and Prejudice: The Flight Path Less Traveled. 

In this modern Pride and Prejudice continuation and sequel to The Best Laid Flight Plans, 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet and Captain William Darcy are facing trials after the events of Elizabeth’s last flight. Darcy’s proposal lingers between them as Elizabeth becomes almost single sighted to her rehabilitation and her return to pilot training. A secret is revealed to Elizabeth about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s past that throws all she has known to be true into a tail spin. The romance between our hero and heroine begins to blossom through military separations, sisterly pranks, and miscommunications.  

Are you ready to discover more about Leigh and her version of Elizabeth and Darcy? Go on reading. And, by the way, don't miss the chance to win your own copy of The Flight Path Less Traveled in our giveaway contest!

INSPIRATION BLOG TOUR - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Maria Grace stops with us at  My Jane Austen Book Club to present her new release: Inspiration, a novella that features  Mr Darcy as an artist. For further information go on reading! Enjoy the excerpt and good luck in the giveaway contest (check the rafflecopter widget below this post)

Hello, Maria Grazia! It’s so good to visit with you again. I’m really excited to share with you my latest project, Inspiration. This has been such an unexpected project for me—starting with the plan to just write a scene, then growing to a short story, and finally ending up a novella.

Inspiration tell the story of gentleman artist Darcy and his muse who has fixated upon the one woman in the world wants nothing to do with him. I suppose my muse has been just an insistent as Darcy’s, making sure this tale got told.

Here’s a peek inside:

VICTORIA KINCAID PRESENTS THE AUDIOBOOKS OF HER POPULAR DARCY TALES + GIVEAWAY

I've received this lovely message from author Victoria Kincaid and I'm glad to share it with you. Read the excerpt and take your chances to win 1 of 2 free audiobooks she is offering to the readers of My Jane Austen Book Club. Enjoy reading and good luck!

M.G. 

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - SHANNON WINSLOW ON PERSUASION BEHIND THE SCENES

Hello dear friends and welcome to our online book club. Today our guest is Shannon Winslow, who is one of the twelve authors of Austen-inspired fiction that collaborated in a unique, creative attempt to fill in "missing" scenes to Austen's classic work, Persuasion,  sure to delight any true fan. The result is Persuasion Behind the Scenes.   Enjoy Shannon's guest blog and take your chances to win in the giveaway contest you find below. 

UNMARRIAGEABLE BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - INTERVIEW WITH SONIAH KAMAL

Hello Soniah and welcome to My Jane Austen Book Club. Thanks for accepting my invitation! My first question for you is, when was your first encounter with Jane Austen and what was it like? How did the idea of writing Unmarriageable come to your mind?

Thank you so much for inviting me. When I was around fourteen years old, my Aunt Helen gifted me a gorgeous red and gold hardback copy of Pride and Prejudice. I remember skimming through it, mesmerized by the illustrations. I finally read it cover to cover when I was sixteen and promised myself then and there that I would do a retelling set in Pakistan. Growing up there were no novels in English set in Pakistan and so I’d just grown used to imaging everything I read terms of my miliue. I find it interesting that the desire to do a parellel retelling of Pride and Prejudice stayed with me versus any other book.   

Was it difficult to blend a story originally set in Regency England with a modern-day Pakistani context?

No and Yes. No beause Austen’s was a patriachal culture as is Pakistan’s to this day. I think one of the reasons Unmarriageable resonates so strongly with women everywhere is because they intuitively understand the constraints of living under ‘a man is more important and knows best.”  Also, the morals and manners of Regency England such as maintaining a good repuation and landing a great catch is still very much the expectation in Pakistan, although, thankfully, the world has opened up for Pakstani women on career options and divorce is no longer the great stigma is used to be.

Yes because mirroring some of the plot points was very challenging. For instance, Netherfield Park is a house the Bingelys rent and one which Jane Bennet stays at after she catches cold, and where a ball is thrown. In Unmarriagable I needed an equivalent setting, however a house did not make sense. Turning Netherfield Park into Unmarriageable’s multi event wedding, called NadirFiede, by  joining together the names of the couple getting married (Nadir Sheh and Fiede Fecker), was a huge bingo moment.

NAPOLEONIC WARS, SPIES & SEA BATHING: DARCY AND DECEPTION BY VICTORIA KINCAID

Thank you for having me as a guest, Maria Grazia!  In some ways, Darcy and Deception was one of my most challenging books to write.  I started it nearly two years ago and then set it aside when the plot wasn’t working out, but I kept thinking about.  This summer I figured out how to solve the biggest problem plaguing the story and recently finished it. 

I didn’t plan to write two Napoleonic War spy stories this year (the other is TheUnforgettable Mr. Darcy), but that’s how it worked out.  Fortunately, the research for one benefitted the other.  Despite the similarity of the espionage theme; however, the two books are quite different—with Darcy and Deception ending up as more of a mystery story.  I hope you enjoy the excerpt below!

Book Blurb

Returning home from Kent, Elizabeth Bennet is still distressed over Mr. Darcy’s insulting marriage proposal.  However, her attention is diverted by the local militia commander who asks her to observe Wickham, now suspected of being a French spy.  Pretending to be besotted with Wickham, Elizabeth accompanies the regiment when they relocate to Brighton. 

Darcy arrives at Longbourn with the intention of making amends to Elizabeth, only to discover that she is now at Brighton with Wickham.  Desperate to save her from the scoundrel, Darcy follows her to the seaside, where he hopes to woo her away from the other man.   

Deception piles on top of deception as Elizabeth attempts to carry out her mission without betraying confidences—or breaking Darcy’s heart.  However, the French plot runs deeper than she knows; soon she and Darcy are plunged into the confusing and dangerous world of international espionage.  Can Darcy and Elizabeth escape with their lives and their love intact?

BLOG TOUR: HAPPIER IN HER FRIENDS THAN RELATIONS. AUTHOR GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Evil Jane!

By Jayne Bamber, Author of Happier in Her Friends Than Relations  

Giving you flowers or giving you the finger?

As a reader (okay, addict) of Austen fanfiction for over a decade I have, like many of you, consumed a lot of JAFF over the years, and have seen all sorts of wild liberties taken with the characters and storylines we love so dearly.

One of my favorite tropes in fanfiction is raising antagonists to Supervillain Status, and it’s been done with a lot of characters from Pride & Prejudice – Lady Catherine, Caroline Bingley, and George Wickham (the usual suspects) are often upgraded to evil masterminds with nefarious schemes against our dear Lizzy and Darcy. Even characters like Mr. Collins, Lydia Bennet, and Mrs. Bennet, who are more chaotic-neutral (or idiotic neutral?) than true evil, have taken their turn as villains, as have revered supporting characters like Mr. Bennet, Georgiana Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam. So why not the angelic Jane Bennet?