The Earl and the Austenite

by Miranda Markwell

Josie's romantic relationships seem to always follow the same storyline: The guy is initially interested in her quirky, literary sensibilities, but right when things start to get serious with a gentleman caller, Josie has to take the risk of disclosing her nerdiest secret: She's a Regency era reenactor, complete with the gowns, the country dancing, the teatime spectacle, and the Complete Works of Jane Austen lovingly displayed on her mantelpiece. Once they see her spare room — dedicated entirely to sewing dresses modeled after Austen's heroines — they inevitably stop texting back.

But when Josie befriends an awkward history professor who joins her reenactors' group to bolster his own research on the Napoleonic Wars, she starts to wonder why it is that Sam seems to be so natural at playing the part of the Regency gentleman. (It could just be his British accent.) Her suspicions only increase when Sam offers to use a "research grant" to bring a few friends on a trip to an historic estate in the English countryside. But Josie can't get over how friendly everyone who works at the estate seems to be with Sam, as if they've known him all his life.

What secret is he hiding from her? And why does he seem so unbothered by her own Austen-loving quirks? Is it possible that Josie's life-long fascination with Austen's stories of human frailty and affection have prepared her to fall in love with… an earl?

Also an audiobook.

84 pages, ebook

First published September 22, 2020

Reviews

[Cat Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the surface it a fun book and audiobook. Quick - 84 pages or 2 hours. It just made me mad that people (men?) made her embarrassed about her hobby of regency re-enactments when men do war re-enactments all the time and everybody loves the Renaissance festivals. But wait - look closer and deeper into the character. The “3rd party voice” of the book kind of describes her as high functioning autism spectrum disorder, probably Aspergers. Maybe Josie’s embarrassment instead of standing up for herself might have been easier for the reader to accept if the “voice” had been a bit more explicit about the relationship between the social isolation of the disorder with the embarrassment issue. It would have been easier to take and thus the reader may be less irritated with Josie for allowing others (men) to make her feel embarrassed rather than speaking up for herself. Also a good treatment of how persons with varying levels of autism can make a fulfilling and independent life. And also their right to a fulfilling sexuality.

[Whitney Sivill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet romance that had an interesting twist. Since I'm always on the lookout for good romances that feature characters with disabilities, I was very excited to discover that the MC and LI both are on the autism spectrum. It was refreshing to read about characters who not only live their lives amongst the neurotypical but the unique challenges that come with being neurodivergent when it comes not only to life but love as well. The story was fairly engaging but the ending was a bit contrived, almost Hallmark-y but it was still good anyway.

[Christy Peterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost didn’t finish it. I should have stopped right at the beginning. It was a quick listen, so I thought it wouldn’t get worse. It did. The last 30 min disgusted me so much I put it on double speed just to get it over with.

[Maria do Socorro Baptista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para mim, é uma narrativa absolutamente inverossímil, embora eu goste das constantes referências aos textos de Jane Austen. Mas algumas coisas simplesmente não me parecem corretas, não sei, muitos fios soltos. De qualquer forma, foi gostoso de ler.

[Emily Combs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet, innocent Jane Austen inspired romance novel. It was too short, but I enjoyed the moment I spent in it.

[Cas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The audiobook voice is horrid, but the story is fine.

[Anne Wrightwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novella but had a few reservations. I liked that Josie and Simon were socially awkward and probably on the spectrum. However, I found it hard to swallow that her previous boyfriends would be so put off by her being a Regency re-enactor. Also, I thought the author took so long building up the story, there wasn’t enough time left to develop their relationship and the ending was abrupt.

I also thought the cover was pretty poor since the man and woman are in Victorian costumes not Regency.