Leenie Brown

The July 2026 Saturday Broadsheet

July 11, 2026

Summer is in full swing for us here in Nova Scotia. School is out. My husband and the rest of the caretaker team at his school are scrubbing desks, dusting vents, washing windows, doing floor care and the like to wash away the residue from the last school year and get the place ready for the next one.

My husband has also decided to try his hand (and mine) at gardening. This year is about learning. So overcrowding when planting or not knowing how to stake things properly and using make do items and solutions is part of the fun. It’s not supposed to be perfect. Mistakes are expected. And you know, so far, it has been fun.

Here’s an image of the container garden he’s created as it stands right now. The bug netting is not yet secured and we need one more length of it, but the hoops to hold it are in place. And yes, the potatoes (bottom left corner of pic) are being grown in cardboard boxes this year because he saw it on a YouTube video. 😀

Picture of a container garden covered with insect netting supported by a hoop house frame. Stands in a back yard next to a deck.

And his plans for future beds and more plants keep expanding. He’s definitely enjoying the activity. Personally, I’d love to see the grass in the backyard mostly replaced with various beds of flowers, vegetables, and even fruit. But for now, it’s just a WIP (work in progress).

Speaking of works in progress…

I am still working on Lydia’s story and it’s not going any faster than it was – which is frustrating but I am attempting to not be uptight about it. (I’m not really succeeding at not being uptight about it, but I am attempting to be. LOL) So, that’s my update there. Now, let’s move on to the other book news and then, I’ll share the next portion of Harriet and the Colonel’s story.

AUDIOBOOK NEWS

The full Marrying Elizabeth series of books is now available in the ElevenReader Library.

Cover image of Her Secret Beau with at QR code to find the story on ElevenReader

And I have started to add the Touches of Austen series to ElevenReader. This week, I added Her Secret Beau, which brings the number of stories I have on ElevenReader to 58, and drops the number left to upload to 11.

There are three more books in this series to upload. So, that should be done by the end of July.

On YOUTUBE, the epilogue for Discovering Mr. Darcy posted yesterday. I have the full audiobook video ready to proof and schedule. And I will be starting to get the book ready to distribute, first, to my Patreons and then, to Spotify and all the stores that will take it. It will be listed for an introductory price until sometime in August.

YouTube thumbnail for Discovering Mr. Darcy, Epilogue. Contains this statement on it: In which, we peek at the Darcys' in the future and learn Lady C is matchmaking again.

I will be taking a week off from posting on YouTube once the full audiobook is posted – to give me time to get the audiobook distributed to all the places – and then on July 31, I hope to begin sharing Not an Heiress as an Audiobook by the Chapter story on YouTube.

BOOK NEWS

Book Promotions:

This month’s series highlight is the Darcy Family Holidays series. This is the series that my current WIP is part of.

Cover images of all the books in the Darcy Family Holidays series. A Scandal in Springtime is marked $0.99. The rest of the series is $1 off this month. Darcy Family Holidays a kisses only Pride and Prejudice variation series made up of seasonal holiday stories

As you can see I’ve reduced prices across the series for the month of July. That’s on all retailers and all currencies have been reduced, although the $1 drop is referring to USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, as is the $0.99 for A Scandal in Springtime.

And the free read at Patreon is Two Days Before Christmas, which is also one of the two downloads for Patreon subscribers.

Cover images of A Scandal in Springtime and Two Days Before Christmas on a background that shows snowballs, snow covered conifer trees and Santa Claus. Reads Free to keep with your Patreon subscription this month.

If you’re a subscription reader, Patreon is just one of the subscription places where you can read my books. In addition to Patreon, my books, are included in the Kobo Plus and Everand subscription programs.

So, what exactly are the stories in my Darcy Family Holiday’s stories about? I’m so glad you asked. Here you go:

The Darcy Family Holidays is a Pride and Prejudice-inspired collection of seasonal holiday stories.

In Two Days Before Christmas, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet overcome past misunderstandings and the transgressions of a rogue to find a love that is the ultimate Christmas present.

One Winter’s Eve sees Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam look past Caroline Bingley’s sharp exterior, leading to a transformation of character and a romantic match before Twelfth Night.

A Scandal in Springtime follows Kitty Bennet to London in the spring, where a social blunder with the wealthy Trefor Linton sparks a surprising courtship.

Sketches and Secrets of Summer finds Mary Bennet in Derbyshire, where her unique perspective captures the heart of Stuart Alford as they care for his two young nieces

(Lydia’s story will find her at the seaside searching for love and finding it where she doesn’t expect to.)

Go to the Current Book Promotions page

Smashwords July Summer / Winter Sale graphic with beach and winter forest images in the background

The Smashword Summer/Winter Sale is happening this month. All my books are marked at 50% off for this sale. This means that the Darcy Family Holidays books will be 50% off the reduced price, except for A Scandal in Springtime, which is free.

Mary: To Protect Her Heart, free until July 15. Graphic reads: If you love stories about redemption and growth. Then, you've got to read this.

Remember that Mary: To Protect Her Heart is still FREE until July 15. (You may have already downloaded this during the JAFF Bonanza, but in case you missed it then, you still have a couple of days to get it.)

Go to the Current Book Promotions page

SOMETHING NEW TO READ

On the Way to a Wedding title graphic features the title and a picture of a young man and lady talking at the door to a garden

We’re continuing to set things up with our story this month. Harriet has been busy trying to discover the identity of the man Wickham fears.

Please remember that there are sections where previous chapters from all the Harriet and the Colonel stories can be read on whichever platform you subscribe to.

On my blog, look for Harriet and the Colonel in the menu options.
On Substack, look for the Harriet and the Colonel section on the home page.
On Patreon, look for On the Way to a Wedding in the collections tab.

Chapter 2 (Part 2)

For two days after their tete-a-tete in the garden, Harriet and Samantha made the trip to the village to see and be seen, but most importantly to talk and listen to those they met.

As far as the two ladies knew from these excursions, there were three men who were not at their country estates as would be their normal wont. One had gone to visit his brother who had suffered an accident while riding. Another had inherited a second small estate and was seeing to the setting up of things there. And the third was in London overseeing the remodeling of his townhouse.

All seemed perfectly reasonable reasons to stray from the normal pattern of things. However, that was the best way to cover one’s true intent when one did not wish for that intent to be discovered.

But was that not what she and Samantha had been doing, Harriet thought as the two of them settled into the drawing room at home for an afternoon of sewing. With any luck today would prove to be beneficial to ferret out which fellow was attempting to cover his nefarious business.

A carriage had been spotted in the driveway twenty minutes ago, so it was no surprise when guests were announced.

“Mrs. Cooper, Miss Cooper, it is lovely to see you. Did the ribbon you purchased match your dress as you wished it to do?” Harriet said in greeting as her guests took their seats.

Mrs. Cooper was known for her dedication to all things newsworthy, and so, Samantha, being the excellent sister that she was, had made certain to let the lady know that Harriet would soon be returning to town to finalize wedding preparations.

“Oh, it is perfection!” said Mrs. Cooper. “I dare say Audrey is going to be very sought after in town this season, for she will be well turned out.”

“That is excellent news,” Harriet replied, though she really was not interested in what sort of fashionable clothing Miss Cooper had procured for her wardrobe – or that is to say, she was not overly interested. She was a lady, after all, and did enjoy beautiful clothing. However, she had a mission to complete, and information that would aid her in the completion of her task was of more interest. Therefore, these mundane topics of conversation were necessary.

“I do hope she will be as successful as you have been,” Mrs. Cooper added with a smile before turning to Samantha, who was embellishing a baby bonnet. “I see the lace you purchased is being put to good use.”

Harriet made use of this turn in the conversation to request that lemonade and seed cakes be brought in.

“Yes, it is,” her sister replied. “And I do think that my husband will not mind it even if this child is a boy.” Samantha chuckled softly. “Julian loves a fine piece of lace on one of my dresses, but he has little tolerance for any such adornments on little boys’ gowns. He is the youngest of four you see, and his older siblings were all girls. He is just as handsome then as he is now, and resembles his sisters so greatly, that if you were to take away his mature features and build and replace it with something softer – as a young boy usually is – and allow his hair to grow and curl as it is most naturally wishes to do, you can likely understand his misgivings about his son being mistaken for a daughter.”

“Did that happen to him often when he was young?” Miss Cooper asked.

“Until he was breeched, and even after that, he often heard comments about how he was just as pretty as his sisters – who, by the by, are beautiful.”

“Well, then, it is very understandable that he would stress that there is a difference in some fashion, whether it be colour or the number of ruffles and amount of lace,” Mrs. Cooper said. “My husband has never concerned himself with anything our children wear. He leaves that entirely up to me. Indeed, I am often asked to recommend colours to him when he is ordering a suit of clothes.” She smiled softly. “He does not see colour as we do.”

“Oh, indeed!” her daughter cried. “But then, my brother is the same. At one time, I thought all boys saw things wrong when I was a girl, but that is not true. I know that now.” She paused as the refreshments were brought in. “You know, Mother, it was a maid who first heard me say that boys do not see things right and corrected me.”

“No, you never mentioned that to me. Was it one of our maids?”

Miss Cooper nodded. “Her name was Muriel.”

Mrs. Cooper gasped. “I remember her.” She looked at Harriet and Samantha and lowered her voice. “She was not with us long. She was a little too friendly with some of my son Ambrose’s friends.” She shook her head. “She was quite pretty so her attentions were not easily turned away by some young men.”

“Did you dismiss her?” Samantha whispered.

“We did. I will not tolerate such things in my home.”

“That is understandable.” And commendable, Harriet added to herself. “Do you know if she found another position?” She asked this as she made certain that everyone had both lemonade and a seed cake.

Mrs. Cooper sighed. “I heard she eventually went to London with the (family name). Why they would hire a maid who was known to cavort with the gentlemen of the house, I do not know. But then, their son and that one friend of Ambrose’s were known philanderers, so I should not be surprised. Oh, what was his name?”

That was interesting as Mr. (name) was the fellow who was, presently, in town and not at his estate. But that could be a coincidence.

“Was it the dangerously charming fellow?” her daughter asked.

“It was indeed,” her mother replied.

“I was only twelve at the time,” she explained to her hosts. “But even at that age, I could tell that he was far too charming, but my, he was handsome. I dare say I have never seen any other gentleman who was as handsome as he was.” She sighed. “He was quite the dandy. A dandy named George something or other. I remember thinking his name was rather regal and fit him as the king of the charmers.” She laughed lightly.

“You do not remember his surname?” Harriet pressed.

She shook her head. “I do not. I think it started with a W or V maybe? I really could not say with any certainty, however. I just remember scribbling his initials on a scrap of paper and the last letter was one of the pointy ones. I never liked how I formed them, you see.”

And with that, Harriet knew she had found the piece of information she needed, but she could not let on to that fact, now, could she? So instead of smiling broadly and looking pointedly at her sister as she wished to do, she said, “It is not really important what his name is. I do not need to worry about whether or not to accept a dance from him this season, and you would know him to see him, so you are safe as well.”

“Oh, indeed, I would avoid him if I saw him,” Miss Cooper assured Harriet.

“That is excellent to know. When will you be making the trip to town?” Samantha said, deftly steering the conversation in a less exciting and more mundane direction.

Thank you so much for being my readers! Have a lovely weekend!

<3 Leenie

On the Way to a Wedding, Ch 2 (part 1)

(There’s a new part of this story dropping Saturday in the Broadsheet, so it’s time to give last month’s part it’s own post so it can be found more easily.)

Find previous chapters (to previous Harriet and the Colonel stories) here.

Edmund was gone. He had been gone for two days now. By now, he had likely met Richard along the way and was soon going to discover the information that Wickham thought he possessed.

Harriet had never met this Wickham fellow. Truth be told, she was not certain she cared to meet him. Although…

“What are you planning?” Samantha asked when Harriet accidentally gave away the fact that she was pondering with a small “hmm.”

Harriet directed the two of them to the right of the pool with the fountain, since the path along which they had been strolling along required them to turn one direction or another.

“I am not planning anything other than a wedding,” she replied.

Next to her, her sister laughed knowingly. “I believe all you have left to do on that front is make sure your dress fits when you return to town.”

Yes, well, that was true. There was very little left to be done. She knew the menu for, as well as the songs which she wished to have played at, her wedding breakfast. She had contracted with the appropriate people to have flowers sent and arranged, and she had written up all the schedules for what needed preparation and when.

“I have not packed all my things.”

“And for that, you have servants,” Samantha replied. “So, allow me to repeat myself: What are you planning?”

Harriet sighed. “I truly am not planning anything. I am merely pondering a certain situation.” It was a situation that had taken over much of her quiet time – frustrating her with its seemingly unanswerable questions.

“Does this certain situation include a particularly awful man who kidnapped the colonel’s cousin?” her sister asked. Of course, Samantha would know what Harriet was thinking about. She had nearly always been able to decipher what Harriet was thinking.

“Yes. Something just does not feel right, and there is no way for me to feel less unsettled when questions have not been answered. Or at least, when those answers have not been shared with me.” She huffed. This was all too similar to how she had felt after Andrew’s death.

“You found Andrew’s watch,” Samantha said quietly as if, once again, she knew what her sister was thinking. “Remember that,” she added firmly. “Edmund and his men did not find it. You did. And they gave you no information about it. You did it on your own.” She bumped Harriet’s shoulder with her own. “Do you really need their answers?”

Harriet could not help smiling at that. “It would make it easier.” But was it necessary? Was there truly a way for her to discover useful information from here? And not town? With only the bits she knew? And not with the full scope of information her brother had?

“So what are we planning?” Samantha whispered conspiratorially as they entered the cool shade of the folly, which had been their objective when setting out on their garden stroll.

“We are not planning anything,” Harriet said with a laugh as she took a seat on the settee that was tucked in the back of the folly where it would be sheltered from the weather. “You are far too pregnant to be taking part in schemes.”

Samantha placed her hands on her hips – or the side of her belly, it was rather hard to tell these days where Samantha’s every growing baby began and ended – and scowled down at her younger sister before taking a seat, none too gracefully, next to her. “I will have you know that I am not going to let you carry out whatever plan you concoct without my help. Edmund expects me to see to your care while he is gone.”

“I do not need a nursemaid,” Harriet protested. She pulled her feet up under her and turned sideways on the bench so she could look at her sister while they spoke.

“Perhaps not, but I do need the practise being a mother hen.”

Harriet rolled her eyes. “I think you are well prepared for motherhood on that front. I have made certain of it for you for years now.”

“So then, do not push me aside now. Please.” Samantha sighed. “Our lives are going to change so much in a few months. I will be a mother, and you will be a wife. Let us attempt to enjoy a few weeks this summer of just being sisters.” She patted her belly. “Even if I must bring this little one along on our adventures.”

“Julian would kill me if he knew I allowed you to take part in anything that might in some way be remotely dangerous, and Edmund would assist him.”

“Then, we will not do anything dangerous.” She bit her lip the way she had always done when they were young and she had an idea that she thought was clever. “I am quite certain that taking tea, making calls, and doing a bit of shopping are not overly dangerous.”

A furrow formed between Harriet’s eyebrows. “How will that help me figure out what I need to know?”

“And Edmund thinks you are the clever one,” Samantha teased. “What do we women do best when taking tea and making calls and shopping? We talk and listen.”

Harriet sucked in a quick breath as a smile spread across her face. Why yes! That was how she had finally discovered Andrew’s watch, was it not?

“And what we hear is not the same as what a group of men would hear in a tavern or over a game of cards, now is it?” her sister continued.

A thrilling shiver raced up Harriet’s spine and down her arms. It was brilliant. How had she not considered that? Of course, what women talked about was different from what men did. It was entirely possible that someone might have a story about some fellow who was not at his home during the summer as he normally was or some such thing, would they not?

“In fact,” Samantha said, “I believe we have spent enough days at home as of late. I find a change of scenery would be most beneficial, and I would love to procure a few embellishments for some of my motherly projects, as well as for the dress I plan to wear to your wedding. And I am certain there must be some items left for you to add to your trousseau. If there are not, we can invent a project or two.”

Harriet clapped her hands in delight. “I do love how clever you are.”

“I dare say I am nearly as clever as you,” she said with a laugh. “Now tell me, what information do we hope to discover?”

Much can be accomplished with the proper strategy and the right incentive -- a quote from Oxford Cottage written over the blurred image of chess pieces on a chess board — All the Harriet and the Colonel stories such as On the Way to a Wedding are Oxford Cottage companion stories.

Today’s the day for FREE JAFF books!

I hope your clicking finger is ready! Because it’s JAFF Bonanza Day!!

Today, you can visit this link and find nearly four dozen JAFF titles that are FREE to download. There are moderns and historicals, steamy and sweet, Pride and Prejudice Variations and maybe stories inspired by other Austen books. Hopefully, there will be several that will intrigue and delight you.

One thing to note if you are not in the US:

If you click a link and it takes you to the Amazon.com store, you may see a message telling you that the book is currently not available.

Go to the address bar, and change that .com to dot whatever your store is. For me, it is .ca.

Check the price (because, for me, sometimes a book that is free in the .com store is not in the .ca store – which is excessively frustrating and not always the fault of the author. So please don’t yell at us. 🙂 Amazon is known to change prices at times).

Then, click download, and enjoy.

HERE’S THAT LINK ONE MORE TIME.

Happy Reading!

<3 Leenie

PS. Remember to thank the authors with a review or rating if you enjoy their books. 😉 And please share this event with all your reading friends.

Watch this space — There’s a JAFF Bonanza on its way!(Details below)

Next Wednesday, July 1, you will see a post in your inbox or notifications about a large giveaway of JAFF books. But today, I’m letting you know about one of the books that will be included with the other 40 or so next week.

That book is my book, Mary: To Protect Her Heart (Other Pens, book 3).

I’m letting you know about my freebie early because I’m what we call a “wide” author, meaning I am not exclusive to Kindle Unlimited/Amazon. I make my books available widely — at a number of stores and in non-exclusive subscription programs like Kobo Plus and Everand.

Because I’m not a Kindle Unlimited author, I don’t have access to the handy tools to create free days or countdown deals. Amazon reserves that for their exclusive authors. So, for me to get my book listed as free, I need to make it free on all the other stores and then petition Amazon to price match it on their stores. Sometimes, that takes a bit of time to work through the process, and that means I need to start early to make sure it’s done on time.

Today, my book was price matched! Yay! It should now be free on Amazon as well as Kobo, Nook, Apple, Smashwords, etc.

And you can get it early. Just click the graphic below and you’ll find a list of all the places where you can get this book.

Please be sure to check the price before you click buy just in case. Sometimes retailers (Amazon in particular) might revert the price to regular price.

And on more thing…

If you click through to Amazon.com — you shouldn’t, the link I have here should redirect you to the right region, but if it by some chance happens — and you’re not in the US, the page will tell you that the eBook is not available for purchase. Just change the .com to whatever the extension is for you in your country (for me it would be .ca), and that should fix it.

Have a great last weekend of June! I’ll be back with the link to find more JAFF freebies (40 of them!) next Wednesday.

<3 Leenie

Graphic of the book cover for Mary: To Protect Her Heart with the caption, "If you love stories about redemption and growth, then you've got to read this!" Free until July 15 — Click this image to find all the places where this book can be downloaded for FREE.

Mary: To Protect Her Heart is a sweet Regency romance and Mansfield Park sequel featuring class-difference dynamics and a healing journey from past trauma. Some secrets build walls. He’ll risk everything to prove she is safe with him.

The June 2026 Saturday Broadsheet

June 13, 2026

What have I been up to in the past month?

Well, delivering Uber Eats orders, producing audiobook chapters, and trying to get my creativity unstuck so that I can write what needs writing. If you’d like more information about those things, including some research tidbits that I found interesting during my attempt to get unstuck, then, I would suggest that you pop over to the Sigh-worthy Romance Tearoom and read the post I made there on June 1 (which can be found here) .

Since that post was made, I’ve managed to write the next story installment for Harriet and the Colonel, which you will find at the end of this newsletter, and I’ve gotten a half chapter of Lydia’s story done. I know that’s not much, but it’s a start in the right direction, and I’m hopefully optimistic that the worst of being stuck is behind me. In fact, I hope to get that half chapter turned into a full chapter before you read this on Saturday. (I’m writing this on Thursday.) [Friday evening update: I did it! That chapter is complete!]