It's Not Jane, But It's Really Good!

[Marlene]

Interesting. I use Libby, but didn't know about Hoopla......

[Renee]

Marlene wrote: "Interesting. I use Libby, but didn't know about Hoopla......"

I think they are basically the same, different libraries use different apps for their ebooks. You can check Hoopla and see if your library uses it, if you can get another app it gives you access to more books.

[Chelsea]

My library has Hoopla but I use it for eVideo's and eMusic from the library. Both my libraries also use Overdrive for eBooks and eAudio Books.

[writer...]

Final day for Donna Fletcher Crow's *Freebie
[Another jaff author I enjoy]
A Darkly Hidden Truth British series
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=A+darkly+h...

[Chelsea]

For any Bronte fans, NT Live is currently streaming a production of Jane Eyre for free on YouTube this week. It's definitely a unique and different version but I found myself in love with it and all the actors by the end. https://youtu.be/mO0CXV0zEAQ

[Chelsea]

Here is a Freebie I came across I thought I would share.

The Lost Letter

I don't know if it's good but it sounded interesting (sounded like it had some Beauty and the Beast elements to me) and 1 reviewer said it was reminiscent of Persuasion.

[Chelsea]

Tessa Dare has a few freebies available at the moment:
His Bride for the Taking
Once Upon a Winter's Eve
How to Catch a Wild Viscount

[Chelsea]

Caroline Linden has 3 Anthologies on sale for $0.99 today only.

At the Duke's Wedding
At the Christmas Wedding
At the Billionaire's Wedding

[Marlene]

From an author who has been on my TBR list forever:

For those of you who like audiobooks. I've recorded and posted the audiobook (video book?) of my first book, Just Ella

It's on YouTube, so it's FREE (Bonus!). And it IS complete. No switeroo where I try to get you hooked and then ask you to buy it. It's all there, no strings attached.

Each chapter is its own video, but I've put them all in a Playlist so that you can push go and they'll play in order:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

[Sophia]

I've been wanting to try Tessa Dare's books. Thanks, Chelsea!

[Chelsea]

Sophia wrote: "I've been wanting to try Tessa Dare's books. Thanks, Chelsea!"

I have only read a few but really enjoyed what I have read.

Stay Safe and Happy Reading!

[J. W.]

I saw this Georgette Heyer 3-book + a novella deal for $3.03

Georgette Heyer's Greatest Hits

[Sophia]

That is a fab deal. Thanks, Jeanne!

[Chelsea]

NetGalley Historical Romances Under Read Now:
A Duke Will Never Do: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/boo...
Lord of Chance (Also Free on Amazon): https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/boo... (Archive Date: May 15, 2020)

Historical Fiction Read Now: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/cat...

[Abigail]

Okay, if any of you ever respected me before, you won't after this. I'm recommending one of the silliest books I've read in forever: Storks in a Blue Sky by Carol Anne Dobson. Set in England and France the late eighteenth or maybe early nineteenth century, who can tell? A Cinderella romance too implausible but yet too delightful for words. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... Dunno what came over me.

[Marlene]

Abigail wrote: "Okay, if any of you ever respected me before, you won't after this. I'm recommending one of the silliest books I've read in forever: Storks in a Blue Sky by Carol Anne Dobson. Set i..."

HAHA! That's fantastic, Abagail. I'm going to go check out your review now. I'm wondering if it's clean. :-)

[Abigail]

It doesn't have explicit descriptions of sex, but there's a lot of kissing and desire and (view spoiler)[the principal couple do eventually have premarital sex, (hide spoiler)] which was squidgy for me. I accepted the more sensual stuff because I liked the main character, but (view spoiler)[the whole situation for the heroine was one of great vulnerability and compromise. (hide spoiler)]

[Sophia]

Abigail wrote: "Okay, if any of you ever respected me before, you won't after this. I'm recommending one of the silliest books I've read in forever: Storks in a Blue Sky by Carol Anne Dobson. Set i..."

Had to snicker over that caveat. :)

[Abigail]

For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and to laugh at them in our turn?

[Sophia]

And, be a good sport when said neighbors snicker. :)

[Abigail]

I try to snicker preemptively at myself!

[Sophia]

Good coping mechanism. :)

[Marlene]

Abigail wrote: "It doesn't have explicit descriptions of sex, but there's a lot of kissing and desire and [spoilers removed] which was squidgy for me. I accepted the more sensual stuff because I liked the main cha..."

Thank you for that, Abagail. I appreciate it. I actually decided to remove it from my list as a result of your comment, because it's not quite the type of book I look for. :-)

[Abigail]

Judging by what I know of your tastes, I think that's a good choice. That's why I gave you the spoiler details!

[Marlene]

Thanks. I'm reading a lovely clean Regency. Sigh! :-) Makes me happy.

Also ..... drum roll .... after a VERY long time of listening to no audio books (except for #1 in the Wardrobe series) for reasons, I decided today that I would get back into them. My present lifestyle - school at home with five elementary school aged kids - doesn't really allow for the wardrobe #2, unfortunately, but I am listening to a nice fluffy .... again ... clean Regency-- that I've read before. :-)

[Abigail]

Yay!

[J. W.]

Summer Hansford has a $0.99 discount on one of her books in the Marriage Maker series that can be read as a standalone. Or you can try for her giveaway at the following link.

https://summerhanford.com/?ks_giveawa...

[Sophia]

Sale $3.99 for The Barbara Pym Collection Volume One: A Glass of Blessings, Some Tame Gazelle, and Jane and Prudence. I have no idea what her writing is like, but another author's blurb for the books definitely caught my attention: Often characterized as the twentieth-century literary heiress to Jane Austen, and heralded by Phillip Larkin as “the most underrated novelist of the century,” Barbara Pym explored female friendship and the quiet yearnings of British middle-class life—not the least of which, unrequited love—with sharp wit and deep compassion for her characters. No wonder Eudora Welty called her work “sheer delight” and the New York Times raved, “her entire canon is a treat.”



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMFP4VT/...

[Abigail]

Her books are good but I don't know that I'd call them comedies particularly. The ones I've read have sharp social observation but are rather sad.

[Sophia]

I had heard her name in passing, but never tried her books and then I saw this set with that blurb and wondered.

Which ones did you read, Abigail?

[Abigail]

Oh, it was so long ago! When they first came out. I can recall reading Excellent Women and Quartet in Autumn, maybe No Fond Return of Love and The Sweet Dove Died?

[Sophia]

LOL, sorry to squeeze your brain like that. I was just curious b/c I think I'm going to try one and was curious if you had a recommend.

[Abigail]

I'm afraid I don't recall the details well enough! Sigh.

[Sophia]

No worries! I'll hit up the library.

[Chelsea]

Erica Ridley has some freebies avaliable: https://books.bookfunnel.com/histroms...

[Kirk]

Sophia wrote: "I had heard her name in passing, but never tried her books and then I saw this set with that blurb and wondered.

Which ones did you read, Abigail?"

I read Excellent Women....toast without butter for me. But....Dr Paula Byrne is coming out with a bio of Pym sometime soonish.

[Sophia]

Oh, yeah that sounds so-so. Good to know before going in. Thanks, Kirk!

Oh neat! I love reading the bios of authors to get a feel for who they are beyond their writing.

[Kirk]

Sophia wrote: "Oh, yeah that sounds so-so. Good to know before going in. Thanks, Kirk!

Oh neat! I love reading the bios of authors to get a feel for who they are beyond their writing."
Apparently it is scheduled for April 2021. And another of my favorite Austen rock star scholars, Devoney Looser, is working on a dual bio of the Porter sisters. That one is also scheduled for 2021.

[Sophia]

I feel badly that I never read any of Devoney Looser's until she did the intro on Rational Creatures and I read more to find I enjoyed her style.

[Marlene]

We just watched the movie Christopher Robin with Ewan McGregor, and I absolutely loved it. It's live action, and the characters all look like stuffed animals, which at first threw me off, but I got used to it very quickly - and very soon impressed with them. It's a very sweet story. If you're familiar with Winnie the Pooh - and like the Pooh stories - I think you'd like this movie. It was very sweet, and Ewan McGregor's acting was right on, I thought.

[J. W.]

$0.99 deal on a non-Austen Regency Anthology that includes our very own Summer Hanford and Regina Jeffers among others:

Regency Summer: Secrets and Soirees

It launched yesterday so this new baby has no reviews at this time.

[Sophia]

Marlene wrote: "We just watched the movie Christopher Robin with Ewan McGregor, and I absolutely loved it. It's live action, and the characters all look like stuffed animals, which at first threw me off, but I got..."

I adored that movie. :)

[J. W.]

$0.99 deal from Mimi Matthews in her 'Parish Orphans of Devon' series: book 4/4:

The Winter Companion

194 reviews: 79% 5-stars & 17% 4-stars

[Marlene]

J. W. wrote: "$0.99 deal from Mimi Matthews in her 'Parish Orphans of Devon' series: book 4/4:

The Winter Companion"


Thanks! Audible for another $1.99! :-D

[Abigail]

This is not from the Regency era but a nice retro romance: Vittoria Cottage by D. E. Stevenson, published and set about 1949.

[Sophia]

I've heard good things about this author and even have some books on my Kindle. I need to get busy and read them. :)

[Abigail]

She's lovely, and very prolific too, so if you cotton to her you have scads of enjoyment in store! This one was a particular favorite for me, and it has been reprinted in a modern edition so I didn't have to read a crumbling paperback with browned acid paper.

[Sophia]

Good to know. And, my poor eyes wouldn't survive an old yellowed paperback these days. :)

[Abigail]

There are doubtless ebooks as well of the republished books.

[Sophia]

For sure. I've got a couple. I just need to read them. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction. Haha!