Winner - Christmas at Darcy House by Victoria Kincaid

Recently I was joined by Victoria Kincaid, who brought us a guest post, excerpt and giveaway of her latest book, Christmas at Darcy House. You can read the post here. The winner was chosen using a random number generator, and that winner is...

Jo's Daughter

Congratulations to you! I will be in touch.

Thank you to everybody who enjoyed the post, and commented, and of course, huge thanks to Victoria for the guest post and giveaway. If you weren't lucky but want to prolong the Christmas period, you can buy the book at Amazon US, Amazon UK and others. you can also add it to your Goodreads shelf.

Pick of the Year - 2017

I hope you've enjoyed the last few weeks, whether you've been celebrating or not. I found 2017 a hard year for lots of reasons. It has been a struggle for me to read this year, which in turn makes everything harder. One area of my reading that has flourished is audio reading. I've really enjoyed listening to audio books while commuting, taking a lunchtime walk or while carrying out housework. This is something I mean to continue in 2018.

Being a stupidly optimistic person I always like to make New Year resolutions :) 2018 is a year when I want to focus on three areas - my physical health, mental health and financial health, so aside from eating more healthily, losing weight and sleeping more I also need to prioritise some reading time for myself. That's the aim and I really need to achieve it. Being a list-maker, I have lists and lists of books I need to read, such as review copies that kind people have provided me with, books I have bought or received as gifts and some freebies that I'd really like to read, so I have plenty to choose from for my upcoming reads. I hope to mix up my reading between those lists and at least make a dent in them.

The flipside of having had such a poor reading year in terms of numbers of books read means that I haven't had to narrow down my picks of the year much! Luckily, although I haven't read much, the books I've read have been corkers! Let's jump right in, shall we!

Christmas at Darcy House by Victoria Kincaid - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I'm welcoming Victoria Kincaid back to the blog. Victoria has a new book out which spends Christmas at Darcy House and she's come here with a guest post and international giveaway. Let's look at the blurb and then hand over to Victoria for a guest post.

Winner - Pride, Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar by Regina Jeffers

Recently I was joined by Regina Jeffers, who brought us a factual post about the Militia in Jane Austen's time, and an excerpt of her latest book, Pride, Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar. This is a forced marriage scenario, where Darcy and Elizabeth have to marry early on without really knowing each other, and without any trust having built up between them. You can read the post here.

Regina was giving away an ebook of Pride, Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar to a commenter on the post. The winner was chosen using a random number generator, and that person was...

J W Garrett

Congratulations to you! I will be in touch.

Thank you so much to Regina for her informative and interesting post, and for the giveaway. All the best with this latest story!

Winners' Post - A Very Austen Christmas and Elizabeth Adams Book Bundle

I have a huge apology to make to you, I have been very late in posting the winners of A Very Austen Christmas and the Elizabeth Adams book bundle. This has been due to some sad news; I had a bereavement which was quite unexpected and so my mind and energies were directed towards that. But now I'm back in work and picking up the usual threads. Please forgive my neglect of you.

I can bring you a double winners' post today. Firstly, I was visited by the authors of the anthology A Very Austen Christmas. We had an excerpt from Laura Hiles' story in the collection, and a giveaway of an ebook of the stories was offered. The winner, chosen at random was...

DarcyBennett!

Congratulations!

Next, Elizabeth Adams came by with an excerpt of the re-released Green Card. I read the original version and enjoyed it very much, but I haven't read the new one yet. Elizabeth was offering a giveaway of all 5 of her ebooks, Green Card, The Houseguest, Unwilling, Meryton Vignettes and On Equal Grounds.

The winner, chosen at random, was...

Eva!

Congratulations to you both. I will be in touch.

Thank you so much to everybody who commented, the authors for the giveaways, and everybody for their patience.

Pride, Prejudice and the Shakespearean Scholar by Regina Jeffers - Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

Today I'm welcoming Regina Jeffers back to the blog with a factual post about the militia. She's also bringing an excerpt and giveaway of her new book, Pride, Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar! Let's hand over to Regina.

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All the Things I Know by Audrey Ryan - Blog Tour ,Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I'm happy to be welcoming Audrey Ryan here with a character interview from her new book, All the Things I Know. This is a young adult book which transports Pride & Prejudice to modern-day Seattle. I'll share the book description and then hand over to Audrey.

Collide by Melanie Stanford - Blog Tour - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I'm joined by Melanie Stanford. Melanie is the writer of Sway and Clash, which are both nods to Austen's Persuasion, the first book being a modernisation of Anne and Captain Wentworth's story, and the second being a follow on focusing on the Elizabeth Eliot character. Melanie's latest book, Collide is a modernised version of North and South. These are pretty rare; in fact, I don't think that I've ever read one.

If you haven't read Mrs Gaskell's North and South I would heartily recommend that you do so. It's a wonderful book, looking at people across class divides and differences between the North and South of Victorian England. There is also a bit of a Pride & Prejudice-ish style romance and arguably the most delicious hero ever. John Thornton is an amazing man - both in terms of business and as a person. He runs a successful business from humble beginnings but what is more admirable than this are his personal qualities - he is hardworking, honourable and fair. He isn't perfect, and by the end of the novel has become a bit of a philanthropist, in addition to being a wonderful son and a loyal man ...... thump.... just swooned! You can see why something this complex, looking at Victorian issues might well be hard to translate to a modern day story and that is just what Melanie is here to discuss today. She's also brought a giveaway! Read on for more details.

Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues Anthology Edited by Christina Boyd - Blog Tour and Giveaway

The blog tour for Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues stops by here today. This is an anthology focusing on the 'bad boys' in Austen's works rather than her heroes, written by some fantastic authors: Karen M Cox, J Marie Croft, Amy D'Orazio, Jenetta James, Lona Manning, Christina Morland, Beau North, Kate Oliver, Sophia Rose, Joana Starnes and Brooke West, brought together by editor Christina Boyd. The tour joins us for a closer look at one of the stories in the book, written by Joana Starnes, who is one of my favourite Austenesque authors. Joana's story focuses on the breaker of Marianne Dashwood's heart, John Willoughby. I have an excerpt of this story to share with you. Also, if you've been following the blog tour you will know that there are two fantastic prizes up for grabs, details of which are below. Let's read the blurb first:

Interview with a Janeite at Austen Variations

I don't know if you saw it, but this month's Interview with a Janeite at the Austen Variations site features... me! I am very honoured to feature on their site, as many of my favourite JAFF authors are part of the Austen Variations group.

I also got to pose some questions of my own, to Caitlin Williams, author of Ardently, The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet and When We Are Married. Caitlin is offering a giveaway of a paperback of Ardently to a commenter on the post over at Austen Variations.

Please pop over to learn more about me, read the answers to my questions for Caitlin and perhaps win a paperback of Ardently. You can read the post here.