Friday 26 July 2019

His Choice of a Wife by Heather Moll - Blog Tour - Excerpt and Giveaway

Blog Tour - His Choice of a Wife by Heather Moll
Today I'm welcoming debut author Heather Moll to Babblings of a Bookworm as part of her blog tour. Heather has written a Pride & Prejudice variation, His Choice of a Wife, and she has come here to share an excerpt with us, and give us the opportunity to enter the blog tour giveaway. Let's take a look at the blurb and then hand over to Heather.

Book Description

Book cover - His Choice of a Wife by Heather MollWhen 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?

Jane and Bingley’s possible reconciliation and Lydia’s ill-conceived trip to Brighton pose their own challenges for two people struggling to find their way to love. When scandalous news threatens their chance at happiness, will Darcy and Elizabeth’s new bond be shattered, or will their growing affection hold steadfast?

Saturday 20 July 2019

Re-release of Undeceived by Karen M Cox

Book cover: Undeceived by Karen M Cox
Today I'm welcoming Karen M Cox back to the blog. Long time visitors will know that I'm a big admirer of Karen's work. I've been right through time with her - from the US depression in the Pride & Prejudice-inspired 1932, through to 1970s Kentucky with the Emma story I Could Write a Book through to 1980s and a spy story in Undeceived. Karen is re-releasing this latest story and has stopped in to tell us all about it. Let's take a look at the blurb and then hand over to Karen to tell us a bit more :)

Description

...if I endeavor to undeceive people as to the rest of his conduct, who will believe me? 
-Pride & Prejudice, Chapter 40

Elizabeth Bennet, a rookie counterintelligence officer, lands an intriguing first assignment—investigating the CIA's legendary William Darcy, who is suspected of being a double agent.

Darcy’s charmed existence seems at an end as he fights for his career and struggles against his love for the young woman he doesn’t know is watching his every move.

Elizabeth’s confidence dissolves as nothing is like she planned—and the more she discovers about Darcy, the more she finds herself in an ever-tightening web of danger.

Unexpected twists abound in this suspenseful Cold War era romance inspired by Jane Austen’s classic tale.

* * *
Guest Post from Karen M Cox

Hello Readers and Fans of Jane!

And thank you so much to Ceri for hosting me this morning to tell you about my re-release of Undeceived: Pride and Prejudice in the Spy Game. It comes out July 23rd on various ebook platforms, but you can preorder it even as we speak. The print version will follow shortly after that, if you prefer paperback (nothing like a print book, is there?)

One of the things that inspires my muse is music. For each work, I make a play list—maybe not at the very beginning, but somewhere during that first draft stage, I start one. I refine it as I go along. Not to play while I’m writing, I’m way too distractable for that, but to ease me back into the story, or to think about plot and characters when I’m away from the computer. The playlist is like an anchor to the story, a touchstone that takes me into the world of my characters.

Join me in that world while you read Undeceived.


Undeceived will be 0.99 cents for the first 30 days after release (until August 22nd) so snag it before then if you’re interested.
* * *

This is what I thought of the first edition of Undeceived:

Book cover: Undeceived by Karen M Cox
Undeceived is a ‘Pride & Prejudice’-inspired story which, unusually, is neither Regency nor contemporary – instead it’s set in the early 1980s. Darcy is an established CIA agent and Elizabeth is new to the Agency. The CIA believes it has a mole in its Eastern European area of operation and Elizabeth has been tasked with surveilling Darcy, under cover of being his interpreter, to work out whether he is the mole. Unfortunately, she and Darcy do not get off to the best start. Before she is even given the assignment she has come to the conclusion that he’s not an agent she’d like to work with, after he is condescending to new recruits in a guest lecture that he delivers. Elizabeth sums up the ‘lesson’ thus:
“I have learned that there are some fatal flaws that even extreme hotness can’t erase.”
However, they are thrown together in each other’s company. Although Elizabeth finds Darcy frustrating, she is fascinated by him in equal measure. At first she is somewhat prejudiced against him, but as a fair minded person, she is willing to put that to one side to discover the truth and over time she comes to her own conclusions.

I thought this was a really exciting and compelling read. From the very first, you are drawn in, as the book begins with quite a dramatic scene before flashing back to previous events. I enjoyed the fact that the setting was quite different – the spy world, by its very nature, is not your run of the mill setting. There is also an element of mystery to this, as there are parts written from the point of view of the mole; and it’s not clear who the mole is. There are some clues, some red herrings and some twists. I enjoyed a little bit of speculation regarding the identity of the mole, and indeed speculation regarding other characters. In general I was quite successful in my conclusions, although there was one person who I didn’t suspect of being different to their initial presentation.

I enjoyed this different reason for Elizabeth’s prejudice. Not only do she and Darcy get off on the wrong foot, but this is compounded by further arrogance when she actually meets him one on one, and then she is asked to investigate him. I will be fair to her though, despite having a poor view of his personality, she is fairly unbiased from the first as regards his patriotism, though of course she is on the lookout for any sign of it.

I also liked that the author had chosen a timeframe for the story that I’m not used to seeing (as she did in her book “1932”), as most Austenesque reads are either Regency or contemporary, although I am not familiar with the nuances of the cold war so I might have missed some of the references there.

The story isn’t a direct ‘Pride & Prejudice’ re-telling, but there are moments from the canon story that are recognisable. For example, there’s a mirroring of the Netherfield stay, a Hunsford, a meeting at Pemberley and some re-adapted lines that you’ll recognise, such as:
‘He had never been as betwitched by any woman as he was by her, and if it were not for the fact that she worked for him, he really believed he might be in danger of falling for her.’
We get quite a bit of time in Darcy's head, and the description of his feelings towards Elizabeth are good to see. He also takes actions which put him in danger so that she isn't put in danger... sigh! All of this helps build your goodwill towards him, and helps you forgive his initial attitude.

For those of you who like to know these things, this book has some sex scenes but they aren't detailed at all and would be easy to skip.

I would certainly recommend this book. It was exciting, perilous, romantic and a very satisfying read. I was hoping for a wonderful reading experience from this author and I feel she really delivered. I would rate this as a 5 star read.

5 star read

Author Karen M Cox
About the Author

Karen M Cox is an award-winning author of five novels accented with history and romance, a novella, and several short stories.

Karen was born in Everett WA, the daughter of a United States Air Force Officer. She had a nomadic childhood, with stints in North Dakota, Tennessee, and New York State before settling in her family’s home state of Kentucky at age eleven. She lives in a quiet town with her husband and works as a pediatric speech pathologist.


Book cover: Undeceived by Karen M CoxBuy Links

Undeceived is available to pre-order now - Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Add to Goodreads shelf

Re-Launch Party

Karen is hosting a book re-launch party over at the Mr Darcy's Extensive Readers Facebook group starting at 8.30pm US Eastern time on Tuesday 23 July. If you can't join in at the time why not stop in later?

Monday 15 July 2019

Winner - Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid

Book cover: Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid
Recently I was joined by Victoria Kincaid with her latest Pride & Prejudice-inspired story, Darcy in Hollywood, which as the name suggests, transplants Mr Darcy to the life of a modern-day movie star. Victoria joined us for a guest post and excerpt.

Victoria was also giving away an ebook of Darcy in Hollywood to a commenter on the post. I selected a winner using a random number generator and that winner was...

RS

Congratulations! I think I have contact details for you, so I'll drop you an email now :)

If you weren't lucky enough to win but would still like to read the book I can offer you two solutions - firstly you could try following the blog tour - some will have chosen a winner, but the later ones particularly might still be open.

July 2  – Savvy Verse and Wit
July 10 – Diary of an Eccentric
July 15 – Austenesque Reviews
Secondly, you could just buy it for yourself, you definitely deserve the treat.

Darcy in Hollywood is available to buy now for kindle - Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Add to Goodreads Shelf

Thank you so much to Victoria Kincaid for the post and giveaway. I wish you all the very best with Darcy in Hollywood!

Friday 12 July 2019

The Colonel by Beau North - Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveaway

Book Cover: The Colonel by Beau North
Today we're welcoming Beau North to Babblings of a Bookworm with her new book, The Colonel. This is a sequel to Longbourn's Songbird, a post-WWII Pride & Prejudice-inspired story. I loved that book and you can see my review of it here.

Beau has also contributed to a number of Austenesque anthologies in addition to the Groundhog-day themed The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy, co-written with Brooke West. I enjoyed that one too!

Book Cover: Longbourn's Songbird by Beau North
I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to share an excerpt of The Colonel with you. First we'll have a look at the blurb and then hand over to Beau for the excerpt. There's also a giveaway opportunity for you at the end :) Be warned, though, that this is a sequel, therefore there may be spoilers for Longbourn's Songbird in the book description and excerpt.

Monday 1 July 2019

Winners of Taking Another Chance by Brenda Webb

Book cover: Taking Another Chance by Brenda WebbRecently I was joined by Brenda Webb, who has just released her latest Pride & Prejudice variation, Taking Another Chance, which sees Darcy and Elizabeth not meeting after Lambton until 14 years have passed, gaaaaaaah! You can read the excerpt here, and don't worry too much, because Brenda guarantees us a happy ever after.

Brenda was very kindly giving away 4 ebooks of Taking Another Chance to commenters on the blog post. I chose the winners using a random number generator, and the winners are:

Annacrispeta

J W Garrett

Lis

Sophia Rose

Congratulations to all of you! I have contact details for J W Garrett and Sophia Rose and will email you, but I don't think I have contact details for the other winners. Therefore, please contact me to claim your prize. My contact details are available on the contact me page. If I don't hear from you by the end of the day on Thursday I will have to choose other winners, so please get in contact!

Edited to add - We've had to choose 2 further winners, via random number generator again. These are:

Venita

Dung

I have contact details for Dung, but not for Venita. Therefore please can you contact me.

Thank you so much to Brenda for the giveaway. If you weren't lucky this time, don't worry. You can still buy the book, you deserve the treat :)

Buy Links

Taking Another Chance is available to buy now, both in ebook and paperback - Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon Canada / Add to Goodreads Shelf

Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid - Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

Book cover: Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid
Today we're welcoming Victoria Kincaid back to the blog with her latest book. As you can infer from the title, Darcy in Hollywood is a modern Pride & Prejudice variation which sees Mr Darcy as a Hollywood film star. Victoria has brought us an excerpt of the book and has also shared her thought processes in transporting Austen's characters to modern-day Hollywood while keeping them true to the characters the readers know and love. Victoria is also kindly offering a giveaway of an ebook of Darcy in Hollywood to one of you. Read on for more details!

Book Description

Rich and arrogant movie star, William Darcy, was a Hollywood heartthrob until a scandalous incident derailed his career.  Now he can only hope that Tom Bennet’s prestigious but low budget indie film will restore his reputation.  However, on the first day of filming, he nearly hits Bennet’s daughter, Elizabeth, with his Ferrari, and life will never be the same.  Okay, she’s a little sarcastic, but he’s certain she’s concealing a massive crush on him—and it’s growing harder to fight his own attraction….

Elizabeth Bennet has a lot on her plate.  She’s applying to medical school and running the studio’s charity project—while hoping her family won’t embarrass her too much.  Being Darcy’s on-set personal assistant is infuriating; he’s rude, proud, and difficult.  If there’s one thing she dislikes, it’s people who only think about themselves.  But then Elizabeth discovers Darcy has been doing a lot of thinking about her.

She might be willing to concede a mutual attraction, but events are conspiring against them and Darcy subject to constant public scrutiny.  Do Darcy and Elizabeth have any hope of achieving Hollywood’s elusive happy ending?