Mailbox Monday — October 3

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books (formerly The Printed Page) where book lovers share the titles they received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the past week. Mailbox Monday currently is on tour, and this month’s host is Savvy Verse & Wit.

Here’s what I received:

Persuade Me by Juliet Archer (Amazon), from the author for review on AustenBlog

**This is where I get to tell you some exciting news!  I am now a reviewer for AustenBlog!  I’ll let you know when my Austenesque reviews appear on the site, and I hope you’ll check them out!**

When it comes to love, Anna Elliot is stuck in the past.  No one can compare to Rick Wentworth, the man she gave up ten years ago at the insistence of her disapproving family.  What if she’s missed her only chance for real happiness?

Since Anna broke his heart, Rick has moved on — or so he thinks.  Out in Australia, he’s worked hard to build a successful career — and a solid wall around his feelings.

The words ‘forgive and forget’ aren’t in Rick’s vocabulary.  The word ‘regret’ is definitely in Anna’s.  So, when they meet again on his book tour of England, it’s an opportunity for closure.

But memories intrude — the pure sensuality of what they once shared, the pain of parting…  And she has to deal with another man from her past, while his celebrity status makes him the focus of unwanted attention.

With Anna’s image-obsessed family still ready to interfere and Rick poised to return to Australia, can she persuade him to risk his heart again?  (publisher’s summary)

Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature’s Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart edited by Laurel Ann Nattress (IndieBound/Amazon), from Laurel Ann Nattress and Ballantine Books/Random House for review

“My feelings will not be repressed.  You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

If you just heaved a contented sigh at Mr. Darcy’s heartfelt words, then you, dear reader, are in good company.  Here is a delightful collection of never-before-published stories inspired by Jane Austen — her novels, her life, her wit, her world.

In Lauren Willig’s “A Night at Northanger,” a young woman who doesn’t believe in ghosts meets a familiar specter at the infamous abbey; Jane Odiwe’s “Waiting” captures the exquisite uncertainty of Persuasion‘s Wentworth and Anne as they await her family’s approval of their betrothal; Adriana Trigiani’s “Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane” imagines a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice upon her engagement; Laurie Viera Rigler’s “Intolerable Stupidity” finds Mr. Darcy bringing charges against all the writers of Pride and Prejudice sequels and spin-offs; in Janet Mullany’s “Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!” a teacher at an all-girls school invokes the Beatles to help her students understand Sense and Sensibility; and in Jo Beverley’s “Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss,” a widow doesn’t believe she’ll have a second chance at love . . . until a Miss Austen suggests otherwise.

Regency or contemporary, romantic or fantastical, each of these marvelous stories reaffirms the incomparable influence of one of history’s most cherished authors.  (publisher’s summary)

What books did you add to your shelves recently?

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© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.