SPOTLIGHT ON ... A LITTLE WHIMSICAL IN HIS CIVILITIES BY J. MARIE CROFT - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Hello there! I'm really glad to open J. Marie Croft's Blog Tour for the release of her new humorous novella! Good luck to her and great success to her new book and, of course, good luck to all of you in the giveaway below. Don't forget to read and enjoy the excerpt before you try your luck! 

MG

Excerpt

It’s the third evening following Darcy and Bingley’s return to Hertfordshire,

and they’re attending another Meryton assembly in the hopes of winning their hearts’ desires.

For Darcy, old habits die hard.

Already on tenterhooks and made increasingly impatient while awaiting the Bennets’ arrival,

he has become a tad testy, to put it mildly.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... DARCY'S CHRISTMAS WISH BY PENELOPE SWAN - BLOG EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Fitzwilliam Darcy never forgot the little girl, with the beautiful dark eyes, who saved his life fifteen years ago… though he never expected to meet her again. But when he comes to Rosings Park to spend the Advent season with his aunt, he discovers that at Christmastime, miracles - and wishes – can come true… 

DARCY'S CHRISTMAS WISH is a sweet, clean standalone Pride and Prejudice variation - a holiday romance inspired by Jane Austen's classic novel!

PRAISE FOR PENELOPE SWAN 

"Penelope Swan has captured the essence of the characters and their "voices" so well that one would think the text was written by Jane Austen, herself." ~ Ingrid Holzman

CHARLIE LOVETT'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS IS OUT IN PAPERBACK. READ AN EXCERPT AND WIN A COPY.

Charlie Lovett’s  FIRST IMPRESSIONS is now out in paperback! To celebrate the event, here's a   great excerpt to read and the chance to win a copy! (See  the rafflecopter form below this  post)

Read an  excerpt

Steventon,  Hampshire, 1796

  

FOND AS  SHE  WAS of solitary walks, Jane  had  been  wandering rather  longer  than  she had intended, her mind  occupied not so much with the story she had lately been  reading as with one she hoped  soon to be writing. She was shaken  from this reverie by the sight of an unfa­ miliar  figure, sitting  on a stile, hunched over a book. Her first impres­ sion was that  he was the  picture  of gloom - dressed in shabby clerical garb, a dark look on his crinkled  face, doubtless  a volume of dusty ser­ mons clutched  in his ancient  hand.  Even the  weather seemed  to agree with this assessment,  for while the sun shone all around  him, he sat in the shadow of the single cloud  that hung in the Hampshire sky. Realiz­ ing how far she  had come  from  home,  Jane thought it best to retrace her steps without  interrupting the cleric's thoughts as he had  unknow­ ingly interrupted hers. During the  long walk home, across fields shimmering with  the  haze  of  summer   heat,  she  amused   herself  by sketching  out  a character  of this old  man,  storing  him  away, like so many others,  for possible inclusion  in some novel yet to be conceived. He was, she decided, a natural history enthusiast, but his passion lay not with anything beautiful  like butterflies  or wildflowers.  No, his particu­ lar expertise  was in the way of garden slugs, of which he could  identify twenty-six varieties.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... JANE BY THE SEA BY CAROLYN V. MURRAY - WIN PAPERBACK OR EBOOK!

Very little is known about the young man that Jane Austen met during a seaside holiday in 1800. Her sister was later to say that she believed this young man was falling in love with Jane and was someone she felt was truly worthy of her sister. What transpired that summer? Perhaps it happened this way …

Jane begins her search for love with giddy optimism, but her first encounter proves devastating. The young Irishman who captured her heart is convinced by his family that marrying a penniless clergyman’s daughter would be a terrible mistake. Jane resolves never again to succumb to false hope, romantic delusions, and pathetic heartbreak.

Lieutenant Frederick Barnes is on medical leave from the Royal Navy. By the time he crosses paths with Jane, she has lost her faith in love and is determined to protect her heart at all costs.But the Lieutenant is captivated and equally determinedto break through her defenses. Jane must battle between what she knows and what she feels. What will happen to her heart if she is wrong again?

Read an excerpt 

It was after one o’clock in the morning when I climbed out of bed, pulled back the curtains for moonlight, and began to dress. The rustling awoke Cassie. I told her to return to sleep, but that the warm air was too much for me. If I could only steal down to the waves, and feel the cool water wash over my ankles, I should cool down immediately.

“You cannot be serious. To go down to the beach? At this hour?” Cassie inquired in disbelief.

“Go back to sleep. I shall return very shortly.”

LINDA BEUTLER, A WILL OF IRON - BLOG TOUR: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Dear Maria and Readers at My Jane Austen Book Club,

Thanks for hosting a stop on the A Will of Iron Blog Tour. The excerpts I have selected need a touch of setting up before we begin. Here are two conversations that take place at the end of Chapter 5, “A Funeral”. The funeral in question is that of Anne de Bourgh, who has died due to complications of a secret pregnancy. In this chapter, Darcy and Elizabeth interact for the first time since Darcy’s return to Rosings for his cousin’s funeral, after the Hunsford Proposal. These two later conversations, first with Darcy and his sister, and then with Charlotte and Elizabeth, give us a hint to the changes in their feelings and how they look at themselves. The conversations are followed by an entry from the journal of Anne de Bourgh; it ends the chapter. The journal entries are sprinkled throughout A Will of Iron, for it is Anne’s iron character, and her Last Will and Testament, which color every moment of the Darcy + Elizabeth romance presented here.

Linda Beutler

Excerpt

Darcy and Georgiana at Rosings:

Having successfully gained his attention, Georgiana huffed into the chair that was the match of the one occupied by Darcy. “Do I understand correctly, Brother, that the young lady serving coffee is the Elizabeth Bennet of whom you have written?”

Darcy stared at his sister blankly for several moments, vastly disconcerted. … He straightened himself and met her gaze. “Yes. Mrs. Collins is her particular friend, and Miss Bennet has been a guest at the vicarage for some weeks. She was due to leave Friday last, but our family’s events and her inclusion in Anne’s will have lengthened her stay.”

SO FAR AWAY BY P.O. DIXON - READ AN EXCERPT AND WIN A COPY!

From the Author

I am happy for the chance to visit My Jane Austen Book Club once again to share an excerpt from my newest release, So Far Away. Thank you so much, Maria Grazia!

In Lady Elizabeth: Everything Will Change Book One, Darcy made an astonishing discovery that set him on a course destined to change Elizabeth’s life forever. So Far Away: Everything Will Change Book Two centers upon the aftermath of Darcy’s discovery.

The Book

So Far Away: Everything Will Change Book Two

Now that Elizabeth knows the truth about her past, she has returned to Longbourn. Wanting to reclaim her rightful place in the lives of her Bennet relations, she needs time before considering a life far away in Derbyshire with Mr. Darcy.

He promised he would wait for her for as long as it takes. With so much distance between the two of them the question soon became how long is too long.

INTERVIEW WITH SAMANTHA ADKINS, AUTHOR OF BANFF SPRINGS ABBEY: JANE AUSTEN'S NORTHANGER ABBEY REIMAGINED + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY

Hello and welcome, Samantha. It's great to have you here at My Jane Austen Book Club. First of all I'll invite you to tell us something about your writing background 

 I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing, especially fiction.  I come from a family of writers. Both of my grand-fathers wrote nonfiction and my Dad writes both fiction and nonfiction.  In grade six, my teacher gave us a novel-writing project.  I wrote a fantasy story called The Amazing Dollhouse and I’ve been hooked ever since.  English was my favourite subject in junior and senior high and I went on to study journalism and professional writing in college.  I have since self-published seven books and one picture book.

Why do your write Jane Austen-related fiction?

My sister loved the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice as well as the Bridge Jones books and movies.  For her birthday, one year, I thought I would write her a short sequel to Pride and Prejudice.  The planned 20 page story turned into a novel called Expectations and I fell in love with all things Jane Austen.  I loved her books, researching the time period and watching all of the movie and television adaptations.  I was then asked to write a murder mystery tea for our church and chose to do a Jane Austen murder mystery involving six characters from different books.  This led to an interest in Jane Fairfax from Emma which turned into Suspiciously Reserved: A Twist on Jane Austen’s Emma.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... LADY ELIZABETH: EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE BY P. O. DIXON + GIVEAWAY

I’m honored to be here at My Jane Austen Book Club to discuss my latest book. Thank you so much, Maria Grazia! I’ve been looking forward to sharing this story with Jane Austen fan fiction readers for quite a while. It’s very different from anything I have written thus far and that’s what makes it so near and dear to my heart.

Lady Elizabeth is a story full of twists and turns, the greatest being Elizabeth’s true identity. Heartrending at times, this Pride and Prejudice ‘what-if’ story has its fair share of heart-warming sentiments as well.

The first of two books in the Everything Will Change Series, Lady Elizabeth promises a happy for now ending. The second book in the series is titled So Far Away. It will be available in late winter 2015.

P. O. Dixon 

The Book

Lady Elizabeth: Everything Will Change (Book One)

Elizabeth lives a charmed life ... or so it seems. Despite her noble relations and all the wealth and privileges entailed, there's something missing.