Tea with Jane Austen – A Book Review by Mary Simonsen

Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson In Flagstaff, Arizona, where I live, some of the leaves are starting to turn, and the temperatures at night are dropping into the forties. All during the summer, I drink iced tea, but when signs of autumn are in the air, I put away the iced-tea pitcher in …

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Books Through the Years

Before we get to my post for today, I want to announce the winners of “Mr. Darcy’s Magpie.” They are… drumroll, please… Rose and Ginna! Congratulations! I will be contacting you by email soon! Thanks to everyone who commented. I greatly appreciate all your encouraging words! And now… today’s post! Oh, the pleasures of a …

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A Chance Meeting pt 2

Sir William Lucas makes an introduction, but is it a favor? Part 2 What atrocious manners he had! Though it would certainly be deemed improper, Mary met the man’s stare with one of her own. He blinked and shook his head. That was satisfying. She gathered her book to her chest and strode toward the …

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The Captain’s Ghostly Gamble Release Day

It’s release day for my brand new short story, The Captain’s Ghostly Gamble. Co-written with Eleanor Harkstead, this is a comedy of spooks, silk, and second chances. Blurb: When a ghostly dandy and his roguish companion try their hand at matchmaking, things definitely go bump in the night. For centuries, foppish Captain Cornelius Sheridan and brooding John Rookwood …

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Book Launch Details

Sorry, there is no excerpt from the book today, but there is a giveaway! (Details at the bottom of the post.) This is more of an announcement of the pre-release of the kindle version of the book, accompanied by the cover reveal and the book’s title. The kindle pre-order has gone live, and the link …

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Nowhere But North Release

My latest project has been live out there in the world for a little over a week now (although it seems much longer–I even had to check my calendar to be sure that was right!). While Nowhere But North does not qualify as JAFF, prevailing sentiment suggests that its source material, North and South, might …

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A Chance Meeting pt 1

Mary takes refuge at the library and finds more than she expected. Part 1 Mama trundled into the parlor in another one of her flurries. Mary slipped a ribbon into her book and set it aside without sighing. That was an accomplishment all told, considering the regularity of Mama’s flurries. There was really no point …

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Pleasure in a Good Novel, with Reader’s Poll

This month, we will be sharing some scattered posts on the theme The Pleasure of a Good Book, which hearkens back to this quote from Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey: “The person … who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid. I have read Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with …

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Site Updates Underway

Just a quick note to let you know that Austen Variations site is undergoing some updating and maintenance right now.  The site may look a bit wonky for a bit, but no to worry, it shouldn’t last for very long and none of the content you’ve come to know and love should be changing n …

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Falling at Pemberley Chapter 15

As I mentioned last week, this is the last chapter I am going to post. Next week I will give more information about the book. For starters, there is a different title than what I’ve been using here, mainly because this is just what I called it when I began writing it. I will also …

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