The Dragons of Kellynch and Kellynch: Dragon Persuasion by Maria Grace - Excerpt and Giveaway

I’m happy to be welcoming Maria Grace back to the blog. As you may know, Maria has written some stories weaving Dragons in with Austen’s stories, and she has two books which cover Persuasion, The Dragons of Kellynch and Kellynch: Dragon Persuasion. The story picks up Anne and Wentworth’s stories from five years before the start of Jane Austen’s Persuasion and covers the entire Persuasion novel. The second of the two books release earlier this month and to celebrate Maria has been having a blog tour. She’s stopped by here for a guest post and giveaway. Let’s take a look at the blurbs for both books and then hand over to Maria Grace.

Book Descriptions

Dragons of Kellynch  

In order to secure her future, a young lady must marry well.

One would think Anne Elliot, a baronet’s daughter, would find the marriage mart far easier to navigate than a more ordinary woman. One would be wrong.

After refusing a poor, but otherwise perfect sailor, on the advice of her friend Lady Russell, Anne finds an unhappy choice before her: marry deathly dull Charles Musgrove or hope against hope that another suitable proposal might come her way before she becomes a spinster on the shelf.

Anne’s disgracefully independent choice to refuse Charles’ offer turns her world entirely arsey-varsey and not in the expected  turned upside down sort of way. She begins to see things … hear things … things like dragons.

And once one sees dragons, one talks to them. And when one talks to them, nothing is ever the same again.

Must a young lady marry well if she hears dragons?

https://books2read.com/DragonsofKellynch

Kellynch: Dragon Persuasion

Keeping a hibernating dragon should have been a simple thing.

Should have been, but it was not. Apparently, nothing involving dragons was ever simple, at least not for Anne Elliot, junior Keeper to dragon Kellynch.

With the estate in debt, Anne’s father in denial, and the dragon’s treasure missing, Kellynch’s awakening was shaping up to be nothing short of catastrophe. Not to mention there was the pesky matter of her own broken heart and resentment against the old friend who had caused it.

Captain Frederick Wentworth had spent his life making something of himself in the Navy. With the  war that kept him employed at an end and a small fortune in prize money, he found himself beached and at loose ends. What was he to do with himself now—take a wife like Laconia, his dragon Friend, insisted? Not when none compared to the woman who had broken his heart.

Working as an agent of the Blue Order, managing dragon matters across England, seemed a much better alternative. At least until investigating one such matter sent him directly in the path of Anne Elliot, the woman who had ruined him for all others.

Now a royal dragon rages, a sleeping dragon lurks, and too many treasures have gone missing. Can Anne and Wentworth lay aside resentment, pride, and heartbreak to prevent Kellynch’s awakening from ending in bloodshed—or worse?

Jane Austen meets Pern in a fantastical regency romp bound to delight readers of Jane Austen and Anne McCaffrey alike.

https://books2read.com/KellynchDragonPersuasion

Jane Austen's Ghost by Jennifer Kloester - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I'm welcoming a new visitor to Babblings of a Bookworm, Jennifer Kloester.  I've read Jennifer's work previously - she  has written books relating to my second favourite writer, Georgette Heyer, one of which I read in my pre-blogging days. Obviously, a person who admires Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer is a person of good taste, so I was very pleased to take part in the blog tour for her new book, Jane Austen's Ghost. Jennifer joins us today with a guest post and giveaway. So let's start with the blurb and then I'll hand over to Jennifer.

Book Description

A masterpiece of wit, ingenuity and impeccable style, Regency maven Jennifer Kloester brings the great Jane Austen into the modern world in this enchanting, exhilarating adventure of love, literature and life everlasting...

With her life a mess, Cassandra Austin seeks refuge in Winchester with her eccentric great-aunt – but Aunty B has problems of her own. Ghost problems.

Cassie doesn’t believe in ghosts but she’ll do anything to help the only person who’s ever loved her. Besides, a simple spell in the cathedral crypt couldn’t do any harm, could it? Well, except for the two-hundred-year-old curse on Jane Austen, that is.

Overnight, life is suddenly a whole lot weirder and it’s up to Cassie to save the day with the help of a dour Bishop, two literary geniuses, a couple of wise-cracking geriatrics and the enigmatic Oliver Carling.

Magic and mystery abound in this genre-bending contemporary-historical paranormal romance with a Regency twist.

ADVANCE REVIEWS,

“Jane Austen's Ghost is a fabulous, fun read full of fantastical twists - mind-candy for anyone who has heard of Jane Austen. Meticulously researched, this work is nevertheless a tour de force of the imagination. Although steeped in all things Austen, due to its imaginative presentation, this work will appeal to readers everywhere – from Austen scholars to the man in the street. This is a work that transcends genres, incorporating a contemporary-historical paranormal adventure, a sweet romance, and a female protagonist in a coming-of-age arc. A truly not-to-be-missed read destined to become a classic.”
-- STEPHANIE LAURENS

“Jennifer Kloester’s meticulous research frameworks an intriguing, complex fantasy, as well as a gorgeously intimate insight into a concept of the Jane Austen we’d love to have at our dinner table. The characters are marvelous, the friendships warm and deep, and the plot holds us spellbound until the end. A truly fabulous read.”
-- MARION LENNOX

“Jane Austen meets Bridget Jones meets Harry Potter in this fast-paced romp from Georgette Heyer expert Jennifer Kloester. There are laugh out loud moments but genuinely scary moments, too, in this diverting tale. Supernatural elements mix with Regency manners as Jane Austen finds herself grappling with the twenty-first century in Jane Austen’s Ghost.”
-- AMANDA GRANGE

Dearest Bloodiest Elizabeth by Colette Saucier - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I have the pleasure of bringing you something that you might well be in the mood for in the run up to Halloween. Author Colette Saucier has dropped by to share a guest post with us relating to her series of books that imagines Mr Darcy as a vampire. The first book, 'Pulse and Prejudice' imagines that Austen's Darcy was actually a vampire, and hiding it. 'Dearest Bloodiest Elizabeth' is the sequel, and sees the Darcys settling into married life. I'll share the book blurb with you, and then I'll hand over to Colette for her guest post. There is a giveaway as part of this book tour too, details below!

The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Beau North and Brooke West - Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

Today the blog tour for ‘The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy’ by Beau North and Brooke West drops by for my review of the story and a wonderful giveaway opportunity for you - Four ebooks and four paperbacks are up for grabs, so read on for more details!

Darcy By Any Other Name by Laura Hile - My review

Recently I was joined by author Laura Hile for a guest post and excerpt of her new book, 'Darcy By Any Other Name'. I was also lucky enough to read the book, so here's what I thought of it.

* * *

The Darcy Madness by S J Nixon

I originally read 'The Darcy Madness' as it was being posted on the Jane Austen fanfiction site A Happy Assembly. I signed up for notifications to the post so I'd receive an email telling me when a new chapter was posted so I could read each update as soon as possible. When I saw that the story was available to buy on Amazon I was really pleased because I'd enjoyed it so much, it's always nice to see JAFF that you’ve enjoyed reading available to a wider audience.

The madness in question is a curse, which is the affliction of all male Darcys, though the exact nature of the curse isn’t clear at first. This story is from Darcy’s point of view so we are privy to his private thoughts, hearing just how he’s affected by the curse. Darcy appears to be battling with himself all the time, against the curse within him that has led to so many of his forefathers descending into madness and killing their own wives. With such a frightening future in prospect, Darcy has decided never to marry and therefore let the curse die out. But then he accompanies Bingley to Hertfordshire and meets the alluring Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Darcy quickly recognises the danger she poses to his feelings, and bearing in mind the danger she would be in if they married, he goes out of his way to repel her, making sure she hears him comment that she’s not handsome enough to tempt him. However, fate takes a hand, and during the Netherfield Ball, a faulty library door leaves Elizabeth and Darcy trapped together and in the eyes of society, they must marry.

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

The Canterville Ghost is a short story by Oscar Wilde, full of his trademark wit with moments of underlying pathos and tragedy. The story begins with an American, Mr Hiram B. Otis, buying a house that the previous owner warns him is haunted. Sir Simon de Canterville murdered his wife around three hundred years ago, and since his death, his ghost has haunted the house. Mr Otis doesn’t heed the warning, stating:

“I reckon that if there was such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we’d have it at home in a very short time in one of our public museums, or on the road as a show.”

Mr Otis lives with his wife and four children. The eldest child is a young man:

“... christened Washington by his parents in a moment of patriotism, which he never ceased to regret.”

He is followed by a sister, Virginia, who is very sweet and kind, and the youngest members of the family are tearaway twin boys.

The Ghost is extremely proud of his track record. The servants are all terrified of him and he has literally scared people to death, driven them mad or caused them to commit suicide. So when this new family moves in he anticipates their fear. The first evidence the family sees of the ghost’s existence is a bloodstain in the spot where he killed his wife. They are told by their housekeeper that if cleaned away the bloodstain returns, but they react to this differently than he’d expected:

“The blood stain has been much admired by tourists and others, and cannot be removed.”
“That is all nonsense,” cried Washington Otis. “Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent will clean it up in no time.”

Undaunted, the Ghost decides to scare Mr Otis, by clanking his chains in the middle of the night:

“My dear sir,” said Mr Otis. “I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and have bought you for that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to be completely efficacious upon one application, and there are several testimonials to that effect on the wrapper from some of our most eminent native divines.”

The Ghost then attempts to scare the twins and has the indignity of having a pillow thrown at him, which deeply offends him!

“Never, in a brilliant and uninterrupted career of three hundred years, had he been so grossly insulted”

He begins to plot his revenge on the family, but gets increasingly frustrated when they refuse to be frightened by him. But then the mood of the story changes, and we find that the ghost has been unable to rest since his death.

“Death must be so beautiful... To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace.”

I had read quite a few of the works of Oscar Wilde but this one had passed me by until recently when it was part of an online course I’ve been doing. I really enjoy Wilde’s facetious humour, and this was no exception, I was chortling away, regardless of the fact that I was reading it in public! I was surprised when the mood of the piece changed, it completely changes tone within a few paragraphs, and becomes almost spiritual, it gave me shivers and almost wrung a tear or two out of me, but as I said I was in public, so any tears were sternly repressed. It’s a pretty short read, took less than 30 minutes, and I’d recommend it, I really enjoyed it. Another bonus is that you can download it free!