Marilyn Brant

         Marilyn Brant has been told she writes with honesty, liveliness, and wit (descriptors she’s grown terribly fond of) about complex, intelligent women — like her friends — and their significant personal relationships. Although her favorite pursuits undoubtedly involve books, she proves she’s not just a literary snob by confessing her lifelong fascination (read: obsession) with popular music, especially from the ’70s & ’80s, most flavors of ice cream, and a variety of sensuous body lotions/oils.

         Marilyn is the New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning women’s fiction author of ACCORDING TO JANE, FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, and A SUMMER IN EUROPE, all originally from Kensington Books. These stories have been featured in the Doubleday Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Rhapsody Book Club, and the Literary Guild. She’s also a #1 Kindle & #1 Nook Bestseller and writes contemporary romantic comedies. Her books, ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE and  PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH were Amazon Top 100 Bestsellers and B&N Top 20 Bestsellers. Her novel, THE ROAD TO YOU, was chosen by B&N General Fiction Book Club Moderator and Reading Frenzy Reviewer Deb Haupt as one of her Best Novels of 2013. PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT BET (the sequel to ‘PERFECT MATCH’) and the books in the now completed “Mirabelle Harbor” series are some of her more recent romances. Her latest Austenesque story is a sweet, Emma-inspired holiday novel called THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and her newest release is THE SECRET LIFE OF MAGGIE BLAKE (2022) — a modern reimagining of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

          As a former teacher, library staff member, freelance magazine writer and national book reviewer, Marilyn has spent much of her life lost in literature. She’s been told — and not always with the intent to flatter — that she’s “insatiably curious” and “a travel addict.” She admits to combining these two passions by taking classes in foreign countries whenever possible and, consequently, she’s been able to learn lots of fascinating things in Australia, in England, in Italy and in universities across the United States. She received her M.A. in educational psychology from Loyola University Chicago, dabbled in both fiction and art at Northwestern University, studied the works of Austen at Oxford University and is a lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her debut novel featuring “Jane” won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Award, and she was honored when the Illinois Association of Teachers of English chose her as their “Author of the Year.”

           Marilyn has traveled to 46 states and over 30 countries (so far — she’s not done yet!), but she now lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family. When she isn’t rereading Jane’s books or enjoying the latest releases by her writer friends, she’s working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry.

***See all Austen Variations posts by Marilyn HERE***

Visit Marilyn’s website:  Marilyn Brant ~ New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author

Her personal blog: Brant Flakes

Find her on Facebook – Twitter @marilynbrant – Goodreads – and Pinterest

According to Jane

In Marilyn Brant’s smart, wildly inventive debut, one woman in search of herself receives advice from the ultimate expert in matters of the heart… It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett’s teacher is assigning Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. From nowhere comes a quiet “tsk” of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who’s teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author’s ghost has taken up residence in Ellie’s mind, and seems determined to stay there.

Jane’s wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the trauma of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go, but Jane’s counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham. Still, everyone has something to learn about love–perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie’s head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond all she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending…

 

 

Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match

 

Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet 

The course of true love doesn’t always run smooth…

Everyone though Beth Ann Bennet and Dr. Will Darcy had an unexpected romance in Perfect Match. Well, Jane Henderson (Beth’s best friend) and Bingley McNamara (Will’s first cousin) begin their own unlikely love story in Perfect Bet, which starts at the Darcy/Bennet wedding, when they find themselves in the roles of maid of honor and best man for the happy couple.

Jane is an interning school psychologist and a woman who wears an angelic mask in public, but she’s not as sweet tempered as she’d like everyone to believe. Turns out, she may have just crossed paths with the one person who’ll unnerve her enough to get her to reveal her true self.

As for Bingley, he’s a wealthy, flirtatious and compulsively social financial guru, who likes to wager on stocks and, let’s face it, on just about anything that strikes his fancy. But this dedicated ladies’ man may have finally met the woman who’ll challenge his bachelor ways!

Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet…where life’s biggest gamble is the game of love.

 

The Perfect Pair

Get both ebooks of Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match *and* Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet together in this 2-book digital boxed set — now available!!

“Marilyn Brant is a master at the fast paced modern romance.” ~Jen Red

” ‘but for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.’ – Jane Austen
This is exactly how I feel about a Marilyn Brant book, I always want more!” ~Margie Longoria

The Knight Before Christmas

When successful building contractor Austin Knightley returns to his hometown of Crystal Corners, Minnesota after a decade away, he vows to avoid pampered and popular types like his old high-school crush Emma Westwood—the town’s biggest queen bee and self-appointed matchmaker—only to get swept into a community Christmas project she’s now organizing.

With nods to Jane Austen’s classic novel EMMA, this modern heroine may be a little “clueless” in the Midwest, but she’s got gifts to share and plenty to learn from the boy next door, who’s all grown up and handsomer than ever. Even when a snowstorm threatens to derail her plans, she’s determined to figure out how to set things right and save THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

This sweet and heartwarming holiday romance is a story that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

The Mirabelle Harbor Series — all of the standalone stories in this contemporary romance series feature plot and character references to Austen. Take a Chance on Me (book 1) and The One That I Want (book 2) have nods to Pride & Prejudice, You Give Love a Bad Name (book 3) involves a heroine who is an avid reader of JAFF, Stranger on the Shore (book 4) highlights the lives of two very different sisters like those in Sense & Sensibility, One Night Love Affair (book 5) features a junior high English teacher who loves Jane Austen, and Coming Home (book 6) is inspired by Persuasion. Check out the series page on her website HERE!!

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