My Love for Jane Austen

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★ The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy is Mary Lydon Simonsen's second published novel for Sourcebooks. It was a joy to read her debut novel, Searching for Pemberley , so I know any novels penned by Mary will be in the same vein as the first: pure delight and entertaining with historical nuggets inserted in between. With this in mind, I dive into the world of Mr Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet and her family, the Bingleys and the Fitzilliams to relive their lives in this alternative path to Pride and Prejudice . Those who had the pleasure of reading Jane Austen's masterpiece will be pleased to know that Mary summarises certain key points with a course running parallel to the original story. However not all of the important plots unfold according to Jane Austen's brilliant plan and certain scenes are omitted but alluded to. This occurred early on when Elizabeth and Jane travelled together to London and stayed with the Gardiners after the Netherfield ball and b...

Have you heard of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries which debuted on the web a couple of months ago? I think you should check it out as it is a relatively new concept that has not been fully explored on any Jane Austen's novels. I append part of the press release from the official website for your perusal. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is an innovative, original episodic video and social media series produced for the web. Adapting Pride and Prejudice to the modern era, Lizzie Bennet tells the classic Jane Austen tale from the point-of-view of an Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Bennet who grew up in a world of cell phones, video cameras and social media. The series was created by popular YouTube personality Hank Green and Streamy Award-winning web video writer Bernie Su. Combining web video and social media in a way never before seen for a literary adaptation, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries takes the characters of Pride and Prejudice and tells their stories across a network of different plat...

The Austenesque scout is delighted to share some wonderful news regarding Austenesque book giveaways for this week. Rebecca Fleming has reviewed My Particular Friend: A Charlotte House Affair by Jennifer Petkus on Indie Jane . The blog is also hosting a giveaway for two copies of this book for readers interested in reading this Sherlock Holmes meets Jane Austen mystery novel. US and Canadian residents will play for a paperback copy while e-book version is open worldwide . As usual, there are several ways to enter this contest so do visit the post before the contest closes next Monday, 2 July 2012 at 11.59 PST . Next up Meredith of Austenesque Reviews has read and reviewed the second edition of Lory Lilian's Rainy Days . One lucky international reader will receive a paperback copy of Rainy Days provided by Meryton Press, the publisher of this novel, if you comment on the review . The giveaway is open until next Tuesday, 3 July 2012 . Candy Morton is organising one...

Delve into the world of Jane Austen's novels by playing a new Facebook game specially designed for Janeites and Austen lovers around the world. BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment in collaboration with Legacy Games and Cerebral Fix brings Jane Austen and her famously social world to Facebook for the first time with Jane Austen's Rogues and Romance . What is this game about? A hidden-object and find-the-difference games where Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy have escaped from the pages of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . Players must find the newly married couple and convince them back into Austen's most popular book. Set in the world of Jane Austen's six literary creations, discover your place in Regency society and also create an Austen-inspired manor. How do you proceed once you venture into the world of Jane Austen game? Master new levels and unlock new scenes from the novels. Share your favourite quotes from Austen at the successful conclusio...

A new week brings some fresh giveaways which the Austenesque scout would like to impart to her readers. First up, Vera Nazarian is launching her third book in her Supernatural Jane Austen series at Austen Authors . Take a look at her post where she will be giving away a signed , gold-seal embossed trade paperback copy of Pride and Platypus: Mr. Darcy's Dreadful Secret to one winner who leave a comment there. Following in the footsteps of Vera, Mary Lydon Simonsen is releasing her detective mystery novella titled Three's a Crowd on her blog . Read an excerpt of the novella and enter for the chance to win a Kindle digital copy of her novella by leaving a comment and email address here . This giveaway ends next Monday, 25 June 2012 . Besides this there is another opportunity to win an e-book copy of Three's a Crowd at Leatherbound Reviews . Blog mistress, Jakki, has posted her review of Three's a Crowd so just fill up the Rafflecopter form to enter. ...

The Austenesque scout is proud to present a weekly round-up of Austen-themed book giveaways which might interest her readers. Maria Grazia has interviewed author Karalynne Mackrory at My Jane Austen Book Club . A paperback copy of the just released Falling for Mr. Darcy is offered to an international reader who leave a comment and email address on the post . Deadline to enter is next Wednesday, 20 June 2012 . It is Regina Jeffers' turn to launch the second edition of her Pride and Prejudice contemporary work, Honor and Hope , at Austen Authors . If you comment on her post , a signed copy of Honor and Hope could be yours. There are also more ways to increase your chances of winning by making connections through social network and filling up the Rafflecopter form . Robin Helm has just released Legacy , the third and final volume in The Guardian Trilogy . To celebrate this joyous occasion, she is hosting a giveaway for two complete sets of The Guardian Trilogy at Ja...

A new week brings another new edition of Jane Austen fan-fiction which the Austenesque scout is proud to provide for the benefit of her readers. Darcyholic Diversions has a guest post by Rebecca Thumann in which she interviews Mrs Bennet of Pride and Prejudice fame. Becky also brought along a copy of Longbourn State of Mind for US or Canadian resident who leave a comment . This giveaway ends early next month when winners of June contest on Darcyholic Diversions will be also selected. Austen Authors 's Marsha Altman is celebrating her book launch there for this week. Her fifth book in The Darcys and the Bingleys series called The Knights of Derbyshire was just released late last month. A copy of The Knights of Derbyshire will be awarded to a reader US or Canada and three e-books are given to other participants who comment on her post . Be sure to include your email address as well. Since there are quite a lot of errors found in The Knights of Derbyshire , n...