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).

Man Leading a Horse in Front of a Stable (John West Giles)

This picture seemed perfect to match with Her Heart’s Choice (book 4 in my Choices series). You see, the hero of that story, Alex, works with horses because they are his passion. He’s quite good at his job, and the stables which he oversees are some very, very fine stables.

He is also quite stubborn, which will serve him well since he insists on persuading Anne deBourgh to accept his offer of marriage this time around. (She refused it six years before this book starts.)

Anne, in this book, is her mother’s daughter (aka, determined to have her own way), somewhat immature due to her lack of socialization outside of Rosings Park, fearful of a marriage of unequal status (for her own very real reasons), and even somewhat petulant at times.

I fear she may be one of those characters “which no one but myself will much like” (as Austen says of Emma 😉 ). And I know that to be somewhat true as a few Booksprout reviewers withdrew from reviewing the book because they didn’t much like her.

For me, I knew her secrets. I knew why she was acting as she was. I hope that comes through in the story, but Anne is not going to reveal all very quickly. She hints at it though, and eventually, Alex picks up on it, but will it be in time to see his campaign to win the lady he loves succeed?

Below, is Chapter 5 which introduces Alex to Anne’s aunt, who is one of the guardians put in place to approve or disapprove of any gentleman who wishes to present an offer of marriage to Anne. (You’ll have to read book 3 in the series to understand why that is.)

Enjoy!

The December 2023 Saturday Broadsheet

This month’s Saturday Broadsheet, with all my writing life updates, is now available at the link below.

In this issue of the Broadsheet you will find:

an update on my current writing projects
which books have been put on limited time promotions
a series highlight
and a Pride and Prejudice and Oxford Cottage inspired story vignette

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS MONTH’S SATURDAY BROADSHEET

Have a great weekend!

Le Bon Genre, 1817, No. 28 Atelier de Modistes

If you have read No Other Choice (book 2 in the Choices series) you know that Colonel Fitzwilliam met Miss Kitty Bennet outside a milliner’s shop in Meryton. You’d also know that Kitty draws dress designs and occasionally sells them to Mrs. Havelston, who is a friend of Aunt Gardiner and a sought-after dressmaker.

That fact plays heavily into book 3, His Inconvenient Choice, and today, I’m plucking chapter 7 out of the book and sharing it here because it takes place outside of Mrs. Havelston’s shop and because it does a fine job (IMO lol) of both showing the desperate place the colonel is in and sharing the tone of the story.

For the curious (like me): There are twenty-three chapters in this book, so this is about a third of the way into the story.

Enjoy!

Evening Dress, 1815 (Rudolph Ackermann)

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Just before the excerpt from No Other Choice that I am sharing below, Mary was struggling to pick out the patterns she needed to have selected by her appointment time with Mrs. Havelston the following day. Lord Rycroft, Darcy’s cousin, took it upon himself to help her make her selections. Perhaps this gown in similar to one he selected. He did say that green would suit her.

So why didn’t I pair this image with the part right before it? Because I think this one, which does mention the book of patterns and is the first part of chapter four, shows how Lord Rycroft’s opinion of Miss Mary is shifting to something less like a friend and more towards a lady he loves. Not that he is aware of that just yet, and not that she has even stopped to consider him as an option. Perhaps if he could keep from insulting her, it might help?

Enjoy.

The November 2023 Saturday Broadsheet

This month’s Saturday Broadsheet, with all my writing life updates, is now available at the link below.

In this issue of the Broadsheet you will find:

a giveaway for a holiday sweatshirt that you can enter
an update on my current writing projects
which books have been put on limited time promotions
a series highlight
and an original sweet Regency vignette

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS MONTH’S SATURDAY BROADSHEET