A Meeting by the Stile (Heywood Hardy)

A Meeting by the Stile, Heywood Hardy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Isn’t this a beautiful picture. I love this artist’s painting of horses and people. I could sit and look at them, admiring the details and dreaming up stories, for quite some time. 🙂

I thought that the name of this painting made it perfect to pair with the first chapter of Two Days in November since there is a gentleman on horseback and a meeting at a stile.

Two Days in November is a story that takes place over two days in November. They are the days after Jane and Elizabeth have left Netherfield, when Collins comes to Longbourn, and when Darcy and Elizabeth meet on the street in Meryton.

But it is Darcy’s discovering Elizabeth at the stile and hearing her sister’s tragic story of a love that was lost which turns his mind in a better direction than it was set upon going. I hope you enjoy reading about how this meeting at the stile begins. (It doesn’t finish until the end of chapter 2. 🙂 )

Enjoy!

PS. If you wish to read the full novelette, you can purchase a copy of it at your favourite retailer, or you can follow me on reamstories.com/leeniebrown or patreon.com/LeenieBrown and read it for free this month.

Continue reading A Meeting by the Stile (Heywood Hardy)

The February 2024 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 note about more frequent emails
  • which books have been put on limited time promotions (There are many!)
  • and an original sweet Regency story vignette

(It might not look like much is included, but I promise this is no short read as far as newsletters go. LOL)

Have a great weekend!


Interior of the billiard room at Lupton House, Devonshire


Interior of the billiard room at Lupton House, Devonshire, designed by George Wrightwick for Sir J.B.Y. Buller. Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ah, the billiard room. How many scenes I have I written that take place in such a room? I’m sure I don’t know. It is a favourite place to set a part of a story when a couple of characters – usually gentlemen – need to have a discussion.

Chapter 7 from Listen to Your Heart takes place, in part, in a billiard room. But it isn’t just gentlemen who are playing and having a discussion. Nope! The ladies get in on it, too. And it’s a scene were a very important discussion takes place between a gentleman and lady.

This book has a lot of games and schemes in it – some present time, some from the past, some friendly (like this game of billiards), some deadly, and all designed to share secrets and either push forward a happy ending or prevent it from happening.

Enjoy!

FYI, this book is currently available in Kindle Unlimited, and therefore, can only be purchased on Amazon.

Continue reading Interior of the billiard room at Lupton House, Devonshire

She is tolerable… (C.E. Brock Illustration)

C. E. Brock, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Isn’t this a lovely book illustration? I thought it would go well with the story excerpt I want to share today…

Have you ever wondered what was going through Mr. Darcy’s head when he made his infamous slighting remark at the Meryton assembly? Have you ever wondered how things might have changed if he had been turned around and forced to say what he said while looking directly at Elizabeth while he said it?

Well, I have. 🙂 And that is exactly the questions that sparked From Tolerable to Lovely in my mind. It’s a short tale with only four chapters, and it’s free for followers to read on Ream this month. (And if I get it up there before Wednesday, on Patreon as well.)

Below is how the story begins – with Darcy’s thoughts and then his getting turned about. I’ll let you read the rest of the tale to see how he proceeds once he’s facing her. I’ve put links to both Ream and Patreon at the end of the story.

Enjoy!

Continue reading She is tolerable… (C.E. Brock Illustration)

Peonies (Charles Courtney Curran)

Peonies (1915). CC Curran, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I think I’ve discovered another painter to add to my list of favourites! This gentleman’s work is beautiful! It’s full of life and movement.

This painting made me think of Master of Longbourn because peonies are mentioned in that story. In fact, I find the scene in which they are mentioned to be quite as lovely as the flowers in the painting above – but then, I’m partial. I’ll let you judge for yourself as I am including the full chapter below. (It’s chapter 8 which is about 3/4 of the way through the book.)

Master of Longbourn is a sequel to Mr. Darcy’s Comfort and is the tale of how Mr. Collins becomes the master of Longbourn and finds not just his happily ever after but who he is and where he belongs. I found myself growing to love this version of Mr. Collins as I wrote this story. I hope you will find him to your liking as well.

Enjoy!

Continue reading Peonies (Charles Courtney Curran)