COVER REVEAL - LOVE AT FIRST SLIGHT BY J. MARIE CROFT

Genre: Fiction | Romance | Historical | Regency | Jane Austen Sequel

Publication Date: October 1, 2013

About the Book:

“It may not be universally acknowledged, but the unvarnished truth is that a young widow in possession of a good fortune is not necessarily in want of another husband.”

In this humorous, topsy-turvy Pride & Prejudice variation, all the gender roles are reversed. It is Mr. Bennet’s greatest wish to see his five sons advantageously married. When the haughty Miss Elizabeth Darcy comes to Netherfield with the Widow Devonport nee Bingley, speculation—and prejudice—runs rampant.

William Bennet, a reluctant and irreverent future reverend, catches Miss Darcy’s eye even though he is beneath her station. However, his opinion of her was fixed when she slighted him at the Meryton Assembly. As her ardour grows, so does his disdain, and when she fully expects to receive an offer of marriage, he gives her something else entirely ….

SPOTLIGHT ON ... JESSICA DOTTA, BORN OF PERSUASION + JANE AUSTEN PILLOW GIVEAWAY

Book Blurb 

The year is 1838, and seventeen-year-old Julia Elliston’s position has never been more fragile. Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.

With two months to devise a better plan, Julia’s first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother’s mysterious past. Before she knows what’s happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country’s most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.

A Sneak Peek: Chapter 1

“I am quite vexed with you.” Mrs. Windham placed a slice of lard cake on a plate. She eyed my dress hanging loosely over my frame, then added another sliver alongside a gooseberry tart. “Why did you not tell us your mother was ailing? Had I knowledge, I would have visited before she passed; indeed, I would have.”

My hand faltered as I reached for the plate. While I’d known the topic of Mama’s death was unavoidable, I

AUSTEN IN AUGUST - MEET THE LATEST DARCYS

Today I'm a guest at Book Rat's Blog for the Austen in August Event. Thanks to Misty Braden for hosting the event and featuring my "Meet the latest Darcys". I'll wait for you there!

LONGBOURN: DOWNTON ABBEY - OR UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS, IF YOU PREFER - MEETS PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Pride and Prejudice was only half the story ...

US cover

Downton Abbey meets Pride and Prejudice in this brilliant novel out today. Or if you prefer, Upstairs Downstairs. In Longbourn, Jo Baker gives respctful voice to those characters whom we have met only in passing on stairs or through commentary and dialogue from Austen’s much loved Bennet family.  While reading Longbourn you experience the opposite path: you’ll see the Bennets from a different point of view, that of their servants.

Sarah, the heroine of Jo Baker’s novel, is a maid servant at Longbourn. She is strong, brave and hardworking but ... does she like her job? She looks at the young ladies in the house with a sting of envy and admiration at the same time. Miss Jane, Miss Elizabeth, Kitty, Lydia and Mary ... 

She thinks  that if Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, she would be more careful not to trudge through muddy fields.  

But when she thinks of Miss Elizabeth she sees her as so different from her sister, Jane, especially when it comes to dealing with gentlemen. Elizabeth is bright-eyed and quick and lovely, making the young men blush and stammer, and the old fellows smile and wish they are half their age, and that little bit scarpe in their wits.

Sarah has her own opinion on each one of the Bennet sisters, but as you can guess, Elizabeth is the one she admires the most. 

JANE, ACTUALLY. MEET AUTHOR JENNIFER PETKUS

Hello Jennifer and first of all let me welcome you back at My Jane Austen Book Club. 

Thanks very much, Maria, I really appreciate the support you’ve given me and other authors at your book club.

The Premise to your latest release Jane, Actually sounds really intriguing! Do you want to present it to our readers briefly?

Briefly? As my friends will attest, I never do anything briefly, but here goes. Because of an accidental discovery/invention, it’s possible for the dead to communicate with the living and with each other via the Internet. Basically everyone who ever died is now free to watch cat videos, criticize the government or in the case of Jane Austen, finally publish “Sanditon,” the book she was writing when she died.

Unfortunately it’s difficult for the dead, or the disembodied as they prefer to be called, to prove who they were when alive. And the longer ago you died and the more famous you were, the more difficult it is. Fortunately Austen’s agent has helped Jane prove her identity, so the famous Regency author has landed a book contract with Random House and is on a book tour that will culminate in the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America in Fort Worth, Texas.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... DEBORAH YAFFE, AUTHOR OF "AMONG THE JANEITES: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WORLD OF JANE AUSTEN FANDOM"

First of all Deborah, welcome to our online book club. I’m really glad you’re here today to introduce yourself and your new book to our readers.
Thank  you for inviting me!

Of course, my first question is:  “How did it come that you  decided to write about  Austen  fans,  the so – called Janeites” ?

I’ve been an Austen fan since I was a child, and over the years I attended a couple of the Jane Austen Society of North America’s annual conferences, which I loved.  About eight years ago, I read Karen Joy Fowler’s novel The Jane Austen Book Club and decided it would be fun to found a book club like that, dedicated to reading all the novels in order. I roped several neighbors into the group, and during our Pride and Prejudice discussion, a question came up about the entail, that legal device that’s so important to the inheritance issues in P&P. The next day, trying to research this question online, I decided to drop in on the Republic of Pemberley, the largest online Austen fan site, which I’d vaguely heard of but never visited.  I fell instantly in love with this community of fellow Austen obsessives  and started spending inordinate amounts of time there, to the point that I would get embarrassed when my husband caught me at it – after all, I was supposed to be hard at work on a book on a completely different subject.  One day, I was telling him about this wonderful community and its many quirky personalities, and he said, “You should write a book about that.” It took me a few years, but eventually I did.