Author: Leenie Brown

Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).

Fortepiano: Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)

I thoroughly enjoyed last week’s video about recorders and Van Eyck, so this week, we’re going to do something similar. 🙂 I have two videos for you today. The first one is an informational video about the fortepiano, and then the second one is a musical selection that Miss Darcy might have played on her fortepiano.

And the music in the video is actually being played on the fortepiano, which means the piece of music sounds as it would have when Beethoven first composed it. Surely, I can’t be the only one who finds that cool, can I be? 🙂

I’ve paired the above musical videos with an excerpt from a book where Georgiana plays a key role in bringing her brother and Elizabeth together. This excerpt is from a scene where Georgiana and Darcy are about to have a disagreement.

Two Days Before Christmas is the first book in my Darcy Family Holidays series. Darcy has returned home from Netherfield sooner than expected, and he’s in quite the state. Georgiana thinks she knows what his trouble is and determines that she is going to give him the best Christmas present — an unbroken heart.

MAILING LIST PATREON

Walking Dress (1814)

Fashion Plate (Walking Dress). Rudolph Ackermann. England, London, August 1814. Hand-colored engraving on paper. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“I had thought her father would bring something for her to wear.”

“If she wakes before he arrives, she cannot get out of bed.” He intentionally looked away from Bingley as he said it. He could feel his face and ears growing warmer as he thought of why she could not get out of bed. His shirt was plenty large and hung to her knees or nearly so, but the way it draped around her body and its ability to only mask what lay beneath made it far from decent. “She is not exactly dressed for company.” He pulled his hat down as Bingley chuckled softly. “I will rinse her clothes in the rain as best I can and then wash them in the water you prepare.” He opened the door and stepped outside.

Darcy placed a bucket of rainwater inside the door and waited while Bingley found a basin and then emptied the water into a large pot for heating before returning the bucket to Darcy.

Darcy tugged the door shut and returned the bucket to where it could collect water and be reached without venturing too far into the rain to retrieve it. Then, he placed Elizabeth’s clothing on the portion of the woodpile that was exposed to the wind and rain where the roof of the structure built to keep the wood dry was broken and partially missing. Bingley would need to fix that as soon as possible if he wished to have a place to escape his sister and enough wood to keep him warm and fed while hiding.

Darcy rubbed the fabric of Elizabeth’s stockings, trying to help the rain remove the stains of mud and blood. Then, setting them aside, he attended to her chemise and petticoat before working on her dress. Try as he might, he could not keep his mind from wandering to the wearer of the garments.

from Waking to Mr. Darcy

*Waking to Mr. Darcy* is one of the five novellas in this Cottage Collection.

MAILING LIST PATREON

Intro to Van Eyck (Sarah Jeffrey)

We are starting a new month of Mondays and a new theme for these posts. This month I will be sharing music that could have been played by Georgiana, and I’ll be pairing every song selection with a quote from some book in which Georgiana has either been the heroine or has been more than just a walk on.

Today, the video is different than any I have shared before. While this video contains music, it is really a music lesson. I thought it might be fun to learn about a composer from well before Georgiana’s time period. If you choose to listen to the video, you can do as I did pretend you are Georgiana sitting under the tutelage of a music master that Darcy has hired for her. 😉 (We know she played the piano, but she might have played more instruments than that. I can see a recorder showing up in some story of mine in the future. 🙂 )

The following excerpt is from Enticing Miss Darcy in which Georgiana is nervously entering her first season.

While most of the books in my Dash of Darcy and Companions collection of Pride and Prejudice inspired stories have one companion story, Unravelling Mr. Darcy has two companions. Enticing Miss Darcy is the second companion story. (Becoming Entangled is the first companion story.)

Georgiana is the heroine in this story, and Jack Ralston (a character I created) is the hero who has found himself relegated to the position of good friend. However, with a little help from various friends and relations, Jack might be able to move out of the friend zone, and Georgiana just might learn to trust her heart.

MAILING LIST PATREON

The May 2021 Saturday Broadsheet

The Saturday Broadsheet, with all my writing life updates, is now available at the link at the bottom of this short post. In this issue of the Broadsheet you will find:

Info about what is posting on my blog — which you probably already know. 🙂
My progress on my writing and publishing projects (Yes! I have made progress!)
For Leenie’s Book News subscribers there is a sneak peek at the project I have started
Two multi-author promotions that offer two of my books at a reduced price and lots more options for budget-friendly Regency reads
A video of reviews for Two Days in November. (Thank you, Katzanne, wosedwew, S.L. Majczan, and KipperCat for leaving reviews!)
A video about medicine in the 1700s that made me think about Mr. Norman from His Irreplaceable Belle.

Hopefully, you will find something of interest and perhaps a book to add to your TBR (to be read) pile. 🙂

CLick here to read the May 2021 Saturday Broadsheet

Have a great weekend!

I’ll be back on Monday with a story and song pairing. (This month’s theme is Georgiana Darcy’s Music Folder, and we’re starting with a lesson from a music master.)

Bonchurch Old Church (A. Heaton Cooper)

“Bonchurch Old Church, Near Ventor” (From the book *Isle of Wight*), painted by A. Heaton Cooper. 1908. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“Lucy, I am here to offer comfort to you, not garner your praise.” He (Philip) chuckled.

“Passing on my father’s praise gives me comfort. It makes it seem less like he is gone.”

“Then, I shall attempt to receive his compliments graciously.” He leaned back and looked toward the grave next to which she had been kneeling. “You said you were sharing news with your father. Is it anything with which I could be of assistance?”

She tilted her head and gave him a searching look. She had promised her father that she would speak to each of the men on his list. However, she had intended to do so with her Aunt Tess present, not while alone in a churchyard.

[from And Then Love]