Novelette – Leenie Brown

From Tolerable to Lovely|A Teatime Tales Novelette (Full Audiobook)

Good news! I have completed my accessibility project of adding all my books (that’s 69 titles) to ElevenReader.

So today, I am starting a new audiobook sharing project.

I have shared links to full audiobooks on YouTube a couple of times here already, but I didn’t think to share them here until I had already added several books to YouTube. I want to fix that and get all the YouTube audiobook links added here on my website.

They will be located in the menu option called Audiobooks on YouTube, and there is a dropdown menu under that where you can click on specific series. The plan right now is to add one YouTube link per week until they are all here and easy to access without having to click out to any other place.

This book is available to listen to on YouTube. It is also available as a download with a paid Patreon subscription and is available in some other places as well (see the Audiobooks page on my website at this link).

If you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube channel yet, I’d love it if you would (to help me get monetized) even if you only plan on listening to these stories here.

The description of this book and how the audiobook was made are below.

Happy Listening!

<3 Leenie

About the Book:

He’s not looking for a wife, but she just might be too irresistible to let go.

It never fails. No matter where Fitzwilliam Darcy goes, there are always whispers passed from matching-making matron to hopeful debutante about who he is and what fortune he holds. And then, the prowling and scheming to snare him begins. He knows that eventually, he’ll have to marry, but, at present, after the summer he’s had, he’s just not ready.

Therefore, when his friend presses him to dance at the Meryton Assembly, Darcy is desperate to refuse as adamantly as is necessary to avoid partnering any young lady. But then, fate steps in, and Darcy’s disparagement of the dance partner his friend has suggested dies on his lips.

She’s captivating and fascinatingly unusual. In fact, she just might be enchanting enough for him to long to make her what he wasn’t looking for — his wife.

About the Audiobook:

This story is read by Christopher, an authorized voice replica made available by the voice actor, through the Elevenlabs library. While this is a digital narration, the voice actor does receive compensation whenever his voice is used. In other words, offering authorized voice replicas on Elevenlabs is one way that some voice actors have chosen to diversify their income. And I am so glad that Christopher has chosen this option because I quite enjoy listening to him read me my stories. I hope you enjoy his performance as much as I did while getting it ready to share.

Editing of the audio to produce this performance was completed by me, using the Elevenlabs program.

Wintery Night in the Park

Wintertime night scene in the park. Author: psychoshadow. Image sourced from Depositphotos

This image that I found on Depositphotos feels like the story that I’m sharing from today in this post. It’s lonely and quiet. It’s rimmed with shadows that hide many things. And yet, it’s got that light which is chasing away those shadows and making the scene feel a little welcoming.

I’d say this story, Frosted Windowpanes, is like that. There’s a welcome to the scene in which the main character finds himself, but is it a lasting welcome or will the shadows of the past and circumstances of the present snuff out the glimmer of home? I can’t tell you how it happens because that would be spoiling the story. But, this is a Leenie Brown story and touched with inspiration from Persuasion, so you know the ending cannot be bleak, right?

Below is the first chapter of this four-chapter novelette from my Nature’s Fury and Delights Collection. For those who are familiar with my Willow Hall series, you’ll see a few names that should be familiar since Mr. Mullins’s estate is located in Derbyshire near Willow Hall and Kympton.

One more note before I let you read the beginning of the story: Frosted Windowpanes is the free Ream and Patreon read this month, so at the end of the chapter, I will include links to find it on those platforms (you do have to sign up as a free follower to access it there) and links to where the story is available in stores and such.

Enjoy!

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!

Pride and Prejudice Illustration by C.E. Brock

Charles Edmund Brock (1870-1938), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On Friday, I have a new Teatime Tales story publishing called An Accomplished Lady (of the Best Sort). So I thought I’d share a little teaser from the story with you today.

You should know that it is a story that is told completely from Bingley’s point of view as he attempts to make his best friend realize that Miss Elizabeth is his friend’s perfect match. And, I’m sure when you read the excerpt, you will know both the setting place and time (as it relates to the timeline of P&P) and why I chose the above image for today’s post.

Enjoy!

A Summer Shower (Charles Edward Perugini)

Three young women standing under a tree to stay out of the rain. — FER96213 A Summer Shower, 1888 (oil on canvas) by Perugini, Charles Edward (1839-1918); 115.6×76.5 cm; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Museums, UK; English, out of copyright. via Charles Edward Perugini, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

When I was scrolling through pictures on Wikimedia today, I came across this one and my mind immediately went to the scene below for Morning Mist — even if in that scene there are only two young ladies standing under a tree during a rain shower. 🙂

Morning Mist is one of my Nature’s Fury and Delights novelettes. This one, as you will see, is a variation on Sense and Sensibility. In this short, six-chapter variation, which tells how Marianne falls in love with the colonel, Marianne meets Colonel Brandon before she meets Mr. Willoughby, and she meets him in just the sort of setting to make her imagine him as a brave and noble knight. So, by the time she and her younger sister Margaret meet Mr. Willoughby, the colonel has already taken up a place of admiration in Marianne’s mind.