Jane Austen State of Mind

What's better than a new Jayne Bamber book? That's easy! A new Jayne Bamber book narrated by the incomparable Stevie Zimmerman. Jayne visited the Jane Austen State of Mind blog back in March 2021 when  Five Daughters Out at Once was first released. Check out that post here  for additional information and an excerpt. At the time I wrote that post, I had not yet read the entire book. Since then, I've been so busy with hands-on pursuits (mostly arts and crafts) that traditional reading has been time prohibitive.  As such, I've had trouble finishing books as of late. That's where the hands-free experience afforded by audiobooks has saved me and helped maintain my Jane Austen State of Mind!  As you read this new excerpt, I challenge to imagine it read by the amazing Stevie Zimmerman. She never cases to amaze me! This book, in particular, features so many characters from across the Austen universe, and she does not skip a beat in bringing each one to life. Darcy wand...

There is a special place in my heart for authors publishing their first books. I think part of it stems from my personal goal to one day write a superb (or at least solid) work of Austenesque fiction. Putting myself in the shoes of these new authors, I realize that while it's a highly enviable position, it's also fraught with vulneratibity. I greatly respect those of you who have shared your literary babies with the world! Today's blog post features one such author, Mr. Ridge Kennedy. After you read his guest post, I think you'll agree that his energy is infectious. I picked up on this from the very first email I received from him. In addition to his cool vibe, the book description struck me as a very original take on the Austenesque world that goes a step further by bringing it to life with music. Then again, after reading Ridge's bio, I'm not surprised that his tapestry of life experiences would yield a singular story through which his love and respect for Jan...