Touches of Austen – Page 2

Sweet Solitude (Edmund Blair Leighton)

Sweet Solitude. Edmund Leighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

When I saw this painting I thought of the heroine in His Beautiful Bea. She likes quiet escapes and books. So, I chose an excerpt from that book to share today, but it’s not from her perspective. It’s from the hero’s point of view.

This is the hero:

For those who don’t know:

His Beautiful Bea is book 1 in my Touches of Austen series of original sweet Regency romances with deliberate nods to Jane’s novels. This book pairs long-time friends and neighbors as the romantic interests. The heroine lost her father in the war, and his friend, the hero’s father, has promised to care for the heroine’s family.

Those sound like they could be things that nod to possibly Sense and Sensibility or Emma, but in fact, when I wrote this story, the nods I had in mind were to Mansfield Park. After all, our quiet and bookish heroine is infatuated with the younger son of her neighbour’s two sons, but he doesn’t see her as anything other than a friend. Does that sound a bit like a Fanny/Edmund situation?

There are other nods as well, but as you can see from the details that I have given, this is not a retelling or a variation. This story, while inspired by various bits of Austen stories, is completely original — characters, setting, and plot.

The High Oxford (Myles Birket Foster)

*A busy day on The High, Oxford with figures and a pony and trap near Queen’s College*. Myles Birket Foster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t you just love the activity in the street in this painting? I can almost hear the sounds and smell the aromas. The painting gives us a lovely little glimpse of what the daily life in the town of Oxford might have been like years ago.

My book His Sensible Heart, which is book 6 in my Touches of Austen series, is set in the town of Oxford because our hero is attending school there. He’s not been a very diligent student before the book began, but things in his life have changed. His father is no longer pleased to just let him float along in life, doing as he pleases. In fact, his father has cast him aside — all because he chose the wrong lady to fall in love with.

That young lady (a very sensible young miss) and her father (a kindly gentleman) require Miles to prove himself. That will mean applying himself to his studies. His friend Tom, as we can see below, has offered to help Miles learn what needs to be learned to succeed in the challenge set before him.

I’m sharing this particular story excerpt today because I think, like the painting above, it gives a glimpse of who our hero is by showing us a piece of his life in action.

The September 2022 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 llama
a chamber horse
my writing news
and a few books that are on sale

CLICK HERE TO READ THis Month’s SATURDAY BROADSHEET

Have a great weekend!

I hope you have time to read a book.

I’ll be back on Wednesday (hopefully) with a Story Connection, and then again, on Thursday with the final chapter of His Inconvenient Choice.

The March 2022 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. (As if you didn’t know, right? LOL)
Info about my writing and publishing news.
Info about any book promotions. (Want to get So Very Unexpected for $0.99? You can do that this week.)
And a story and art connection (It’s a Music Monday sort of connection for those who remember Music Mondays. 🙂 )

CLICK HERE TO READ THE March 2022 SATURDAY BROADSHEET

Have a great weekend!

I hope you have time to read a book.

I’ll be back on Thursday with a new chapter of The Beginning of Prudence.

The October 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 (both as Leenie and as Annilee). I have a newsletter for Annilee now! There’s a link to sign up in the email.
The books that I have on sale this month.
And a question about Thanksgiving traditions and when you celebrate it (if you do). We’re celebrating it this weekend in Canada, so Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!

Click here to read the October 2021 Saturday Broadsheet

Have a great weekend!

I hope you have time to read a book. I’ll be back on Thursday with two more chapters of No Other Choice.