#Regency – Bookmarks and Stages by Lou

Austenella
By Janey Jones

Review by Louise Cannon

At the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen, what better year to reacquaint yourselves with her books and get acquainted with those authors whom she has inspired. This latest creation, Austenella, is also inspired by her writing. Janey Jones, many of you may know as Janey Louise Jones from her days of writing Princess Poppy books. Having now hung up her tiara, she now writes books for adults like The Edinburgh Seven and books about her character, Lucy Lovecake.
Thanks to Janey Jones, I have a copy of Austenella for review, which you’ll see after the blurb. I will add here, that the sharp-intake of breath I often take when such books are put my way, was found to be not required as it was genuinely a very well-though out, concept and one that feels respectful to Jane Austen.
As you float down, you’ll find the cover, blurb and my full review.

Blurb

‘Made in Chelsea meets Pride & Prejudice’
Country house capers – an escapist modern fairy-tale with Jane Austen main character energy. Austenella hen weekends? Book now to avoid disappointment!
Daisy Delaney (pen-name Lucy Lovecake) buys a run-down stately home in Perthshire for Austen-themed hen weekends. She devises a reality TV show ‘AUSTENELLA’ to fund the elaborate conversion. Local characters are recruited for the show: the influencer, the actress, the Brigadier, the disinherited step-mother, the wallflower. Romantic chaos ensues. TikTok is crazy for the show!
And of course, there’s a local Mr Darcy. Jonny Abernethy. Who had to sell his big house. To a girl.
Will ‘Mr Darcy’ accept that ‘Lucy Lovecake’ now owns his stately home? The patriarchal property power just shifted! Jane would be proud.
A whirl of a book about what Lizzie Bennet describes as ‘the inconsistency of all human characters.’ And the ‘little dependence that can be placed on sense!’

Review

Austenella is a rather surprising and fun take, inspired by Jane Austen’s creations.

Daisy Delaney, who some of you may have read about before in other Lucy Lovecake books, is back and this time she’s devising a tv show and a Perthshire stately home. The Regency/Georgian period hen weekends are entertaining, and are very much Jane Austen themed.

The characters are interesting as there is a Mr Darcy, but the positive is, it isn’t a re-writing of her novels set in modern day, it very much feels original, with the universal themes Austen also used when she wrote, but with a modern twist. Respectfully, there appears to be plenty of nods to Jane Austen and her desires for women. It feels like a novel she may have liked and to have seen how far things have moved on.

Like Jane Austen’s writing, Austenella, is very well-observed of human life and it’s all there to see, including its quirks.

For an entertaining modern read about strong women and fun, Austenella is one I recommend to continue your celebrations of Jane Austen’s anniversary, perhaps even alongside or sandwiched with some of Jane Austen’s books.

Interview/Q&A with Kathy L. Wheeler about her and Amanda Cabe’s book Gaming Hell Christmas (vol.2)
Conducted by Louise Cannon (Lou) – Bookmarks and Stages

Recently I had the great pleasure of conducting an interview/Q&A session with Kathy L. Wheeler, an author of Gaming Hell Christmas, volume two. There are 2 mysteries set in fashionable Regency, London, one by Amanda Cabe, the other by Kathy L. Wheeler.
Readers, after discovering the blurb, can find out from Kathy herself, what to expect from the book, her inspiration and find out whether she would live in the regency period or not, rule breaking and Christmas, all in 6 questions and answers. Her answers are illuminating and there’s no holding back…
Thanks first to Kathy L. Wheeler for taking part and allowing me to interview you for my blog and as part of Rachel’s Random Resources blog tour, to whom I thank for inviting me on to close the blog tour.
Without further ado, onto discover the delights of the book and what was said by the author…

GAMING HELL CHRISTMAS – VOLUME 2: Mysteries abound at London’s most fashionable Hell.

The Thief Who Stole Christmas – Amanda McCabe
A man who has never broken the rules, and a woman who just might break his heart! But Christmas is always a time for second chances…

As one of Miss Greensley’s Girls, a member of the exclusive club la Sous Rose, and famous author Lady L, Victoria Lanford moves easily through Society ballrooms. Few people know how her unhappy childhood and anxiety led her to pickpocketing (yet, she did return the jewels)! When she comes face-to-face with old flame Rhys Neville, Earl of Hammond, she knows the kind-hearted, straight-laced, devilishly handsome lord is not for her—especially once the past comes back to haunt them. Why, then, can’t she stop thinking about their kisses?

The Kerse Who Saved Christmas – Kathy L Wheeler
Kerse: He, of the no nonsense approach, is stymied by She, a woman considered long past prime marriageability who needs a keeper more than he requires a wife. Yet the dreamy-eyed, impractical, and much too optimistic Philomena still manages to steal his heart despite her unrealistic beliefs and trust in fortune tellers.

What can readers expect from your book?

Readers can expect a fun group of characters who attended school together from a young age.
Each young woman is her own person and craves their own independence and love story, which Amanda and I strive to provide.

You have a man who has never broken the rules before. If you were to break a rule, what would it be and why?
This is an easy question for us in the twenty-first century compared to the 18^th and 19^th centuries where things were much more stringent for women. Even men were held to a higher standard. I think those of us who write historical romance are always having our characters “break the rules”. It’s just a matter of degree and what they do when they get caught.

Your book is historical romance? What is your favourite time period to write about it and would you want to live in it yourself?
I love writing the Regency era romance. Would I want to live in that period? Hell, no. Not without a ton of money and great resources to good water and decent medical care.

Who inspired you to write?
I think I was mostly inspired to write by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I’m a huge NFL fan and she wrote the Chicago Stars series. I once met her and asked if she watched (like me). Her answer was a resounding no! I was shocked! And thought, yeah, I could write. Of course, she is miles beyond me, above me, etc. etc.

5. What research into historical exclusive clubs did you need to do and have you ever been to one in present times?

Mostly, it comes from reading the period. It was a fun idea we came up with. Nothing about La Sous Rose would be legit in the period, but it was still fun.

6. How do you like to celebrate Christmas?

My husband and I moved to Western Washington about six years ago. We would spend Christmas at his family’s, but they were real big on my family attending when they were in town—sad but true. Since we’ve moved to Washington, we spend the holidays with my family where there are always extra people to be found.