Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen by Sally Smith O’Rourke

Posted on by Wendi Sotis

I was very happy to find out what happened to Eliza Knight and Fitzwilliam Darcy in Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, the delightful sequel to The Man Who Loved Jane Austen. Again, Sally Smith O’Rourke makes the whole idea of time travel believable. In the beginning, I was a little worried that Sally would have Jane pass through the portal and into the future and then relieved when instead it was her brother’s stable hand, Simmons. Simmons’ reactions to many changes in the future were fun to read. Yes, poor Eliza spends quite a bit of time worrying about whether Darcy could actually be in love with her, but who wouldn’t be jealous of his relationship with Jane? Almost as fun to read as the first, I definitely recommend Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen.

Blurb: Was Mr. Darcy real? Is time travel really possible? For pragmatic Manhattan artist Eliza Knight the answer to both questions is absolutely, Yes! And Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley Farms, Virginia is the reason why!

His tale of love and romance in Regency England leaves Eliza in no doubt that Fitz Darcy is the embodiment of Jane Austen’s legendary hero. And she’s falling in love with him. But can the man who loved the inimitable Jane Austen ever love average, ordinary Eliza Knight?

Eliza’s doubts grow, perhaps out of proportion, when things start to happen in the quiet hamlet of Chawton, England; events that could change everything. Will the beloved author become the wedge that divides Fitz and Eliza or the tie that binds them?

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I won this book as part of a promotion for AustenAdmirers.com – a smartphone application designed to bring together authors, bloggers and fans of Austen in one

easy-to-use RSS application.

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This review is part of my commitment towards

The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge

hosted by AustenProse.com.

None But You and For You Alone: Frederick Wentworth, Captain

Posted on by Wendi Sotis

As a Jane Austen and sequel fan, I enjoyed both None But You and For You Alone by Susan Kaye immensely. Both volumes are quick reads, and I loved seeing Persuasion‘s experiences through Wentworth’s eyes. I highly recommend this two-volume story.

Hooking me right from the very start, the beginning follows Wentworth’s life before canon, and I found it to establish his character solidly. We truly get to know the Captain, and how he has lived his life since he had last seen Anne Elliot, in a way I have never read before. It made all of his reactions after it (during canon happenings) much more understandable.

(Originally reviewed at Amazon.com on June 9, 2011)

None But You (Frederick Wentworth, Captain: Book 1)

by Susan Kaye

Blurb for None But You: Eight years ago, when he had nothing but his future to offer, Frederick Wentworth fell in love with Anne Elliot, the gentle daughter of a haughty, supercilious baronet. Sir Walter Elliot refused to countenance a marriage and Anne’s godmother, Lady Russell, strongly advised Anne against him. Persuaded by those nearest to her, Anne had given him up and he had taken his broken heart to sea. When Jane Austen’s Persuasion opens in the year 1814, Frederick Wentworth, now a famous and wealthy captain in His Majesty’s Navy, finds himself back in England and, as fate would have it, residing as a guest in Anne’s former home. Now, it is the baronet who is in financial difficulties, and Anne exists only at her family’s beck and call. For eight long years, Frederick had steeled his heart against her. Should he allow Anne into his heart again, or should he look for love with younger, prettier woman in the neighbourhood who regard him as a hero?

For You Alone (Frederick Wentworth, Captain: Book 2)

by Susan Kaye

Blurb for For You Alone: How could he have failed to know himself so completely? Captain Frederick Wentworth, lately returned to England from a distinguished naval career fighting Napoleon, had re-visited the scene of his romantic defeat of eight years previous at the hands of Miss Anne Elliot to find his former love a pale, worn shadow of herself. Attracted by the lively young ladies in the area who regarded him as a hero, he had ignored Anne and entangled himself with Louisa Musgrove, a headstrong young woman who seemed all that Anne was not. Now, because of his careless behavior and Louisa’s heedlessness, his future appeared tied to her just at the moment when it had become painfully clear that Anne was still everything he truly wanted. In honour, he belonged to Louisa, but his heart was full of Anne. What was he to do?

New story! The Gypsy Blessing Chapter 1

Posted on by Wendi Sotis

I’m posting the first draft of a new story,

The Gypsy Blessing

at BeyondAusten.com!

Please stop by and take a look. Here is the blurb:

Blurb: Whilst taking a solitary ramble on her father’s estate, Elizabeth Bennet finds an injured woman, cares for her, and helps her return to her gypsy camp. Impressed that a gentlewoman would come to his wife’s aid, the king of the gypsies promises that she will find happiness through his wife’s special blessing. Forgetting the incident, Elizabeth thinks it merely odd when she begins to receive drawings in the mail with no return address—until she begins to recognize the scenes depicted in the sketches as they become true events in her life.