THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN BY JULIE COOPER: BLOG TOUR LAUNCH & GIVEAWAY

Hello everyone and welcome to a new great event. The Perfect Gentleman Blog Tour starts here at My Jane Austen Book Club today. Author Julie Cooper introduces you to the world of her novel with a lovely excerpt and offers you the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card from Quills & Quartos Publishing!

By the way, it's time to reveal the winner of the giveaway of a $20 Amazon gift card from Quills & Quartos Publishing attached to our previous cover reveal post! 

BLOG TOUR - ELIZA SHEARER, MISS PRICE'S DECISION: AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Finding Inspiration in Jane Austen: Introducing Miss Price’s Decision

Thank you, Maria Grazia, for having me today! It is a pleasure to be amongst Janeites to present Miss Price’s Decision, my latest novel in the Austeniana series.

Jane Austen’s novels have accompanied me since my teens. To me, they are a source of solace, amusement and hope. But my favourite thing about Jane Austen is that, no matter how many times I re-read her novels, I always discover something new.

At times the finding is about me. Austen’s stories connect with my inner world in a way few other books do, and as a result, immersing myself in them is different every time, depending on my circumstances and what I am experiencing in life.

On other occasions, however, I notice elements in the novel that were always there, but I had not seen before. And sometimes, these nuggets of new information will develop into full-blown ideas for my own stories.

This is precisely what happened two summers ago, upon re-reading Mansfield Park, when I came across a particular sentence that inspired a great deal of Miss Price’s Decision.

NEW RELEASE! ELAINE JEREMIAH, BY TIME DIVIDED: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

 A year ago, in October 2018, Elaine Jeremiah was my guest here at My Jane Austen Book Club and we discussed time travel fiction, Jane Austen fanfiction and other Austen-related topics. The occasion was the release of her debut novel, Love Without Time. (Read the post HERE).

Today I'm thrilled to celebrate with you all the release of her second novel, By Time Divided, with a lovely excerpt and a double giveaway! 

COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY! THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN BY JULIE COOPER

Greetings to all My Jane Austen Book Club followers, and thanks to Maria Grazia for hosting my cover reveal for The Perfect Gentleman!

This cover was kismet, or at least it feels so to me. When cover discussions began, the excellent publishers at Quills and Quartos sent over some book cover sites to surf for ideas. A few evenings later, I was browsing one of those suggested sites, www.londonmontgomerycovers.com, when I found one I loved. It showed the hero (albeit of the wrong historic period) pictured with just enough specifics to pique the imagination. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care to have my cover heroes depicted in too much detail…they invariably have the wrong nose, eyes, or hair, are too young or too old, are Matthew Macfadyen when you prefer Colin Firth (or vice versa—I don’t judge!). And since this story starts out with a most unusual Regency Road Trip, the sample cover’s prominent speeding carriage seemed especially appropriate.

MARIA GRACE, FINE EYES AND PERT OPINIONS

Hello, Maria Grazia! It’s so good to visit with you again at My Jane Austen Book Club. I’m really excited to share with you my latest project, Fine Eyes and Pert Opinions. This has been an odd project for me—I started it, handwritten in 2014 and then set it aside when something shiny and urgent crossed my path. Recently I found the old notebooks and realized I had to finish to tale. I didn’t know how it ended and I just had to find out!

 In Fine Eyes and Pert Opinions Vicar’s daughter, Elizabeth has grown up in the shades of Pemberley, a great friend to Darcy and his sister Georgiana. A baronet’s elegant daughter distracts Darcy from his duties, leaving the Darcy family on the brink of disaster. Elizabeth holds the key to their restoration, but she has fled Pemberley, unable to tolerate another day there. Will Darcy relinquish his pride and prejudice to seek out a woman below his notice before his family is irreparably ruined?

BLOG TOUR - A CASE OF SOME DELICACY BY KC KAHLER: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

The plot of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice hinges on timing: when characters meet, when characters travel, when characters read letters. What if one small change occurs in the timing of events early in the novel?

“About a month ago I received this letter, and about a fortnight ago I answered it; for I thought it a case of some delicacy, and requiring early attention. It is from my cousin, Mr. Collins, who, when I am dead, may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases.”

~Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 13

In A Case of Some Delicacy, Mr. Collins offers his olive branch to Mr. Bennet a month earlier. When the heir of Longbourn visits with the aim of marrying one of its daughters, he precedes Mr. Bingley’s coming into Hertfordshire. Mrs. Bennet is nothing but encouraging for a match between Jane and Mr. Collins. Elizabeth cannot sit by while the happiness of her most beloved sister is sacrificed for the good of the family. But interfering in the fawning parson’s courtship is a full-time job. Elizabeth receives help from an unexpected ally: Mr. Darcy.

A Case of Some Delicacy is a fun romp with the characters you already love, and a few new ones you’ll come to love. All of the Bennet sisters play roles in the altered events in Hertfordshire, some of them in surprising ways. Eavesdropping abounds, secret partnerships are formed, matchmakers and matchbreakers run rampant, and general hijinks ensue.

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER IN PEMBERLEY WOODS - BLOG TOUR: AUTHOR GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Thank you, Maria Grazia, for hosting me today! I am honored to be visiting My Jane Austen Book Club. For my post today, I wanted to share some of what I learned while working on A Chance Encounter in Pemberley Woods.

I confess I never paid much attention to the travel times in my favorite author’s books. Working with the lovely folks at Meryton Press, however, has opened my eyes to the intricacy of travel during Regency England.

At one point in my novel, Mr. Darcy undertakes a journey from Pemberley to London. I thought it might be interesting to examine his travel options!

BLOG TOUR - KAY BEA, LETTERS FROM THE HEART: GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Geetings to Austen lovers everywhere and thank you for hosting me at My Jane Austen Book Club and allowing me to talk about my debut publication, Letters from the Heart!

I don’t think I can talk about this story without talking about the online Jane Austen experience. I am so incredibly thankful to the Jane Austen community. It has welcomed me, challenged me, and absolutely pushed me to do more than I thought I could. I still have a little trouble believing that a series of letters I wrote almost on a whim has grown into this!

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?

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

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:

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.