Customer Reviews

What Would Jane Austen Do?

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Welcome to Regency England, Eleanor.. our heroine is having a bad day (despite the 12-pack on the cover) when she meets up with some ghosts during her stay at a hotel for a Jane Austen Conference. Sure, as a costume designer she wanted to learn all about the costumes and nuances of Jane Austen's England but she had no idea that she was going to wake up in 1814 and be left to fend for herself while on a mission sent from two (ghosts!) sisters who need her help. Eleanor tries not to stick out like a sore thumb as she is socializing with Dierdre and Mina whom she had first met as ghosts. Their brother Teddy had died, and it is Eleanor who is sent to prevent his duel with Lord Shermont, who is an agent for the crown investigating Napoleon's spies. Somehow in the middle of the romance and trying to conform to the mannerisms Eleanor needs to change history so that she can return to the present.

As luck would have it, Eleanor learns that she is being courted by Teddy, yet she immediately senses a strong attraction to the mysterious Lord Shermont, as of course all the ladies have.
Eleanor seems to enjoy herself in this fluffy romance and gets to meet Jane Austen and socializes with ladies and gents of the Regency Era.

I enjoyed discovering Regency England through Eleanor's eyes; it was written with a Regency flair with not a lot of major events until the novel picked up the pace towards the end with an unexpected twist which was fortuitous. There was a nice wrap-up at the ending, although a bit contrived and roses and rainbows.. but I was glad that we learn the outcomes of the supporting characters. If you are looking for something new specifically on Jane Austen, this is not it although she is referred to numerous times. The Napoleon intrigue was not very developed, if it had been, it may have been a little less confusing and made me more interested in that historical aspect. The book gives the impression of having glazed over its topics for the sake of expediency. This is specifically about what Eleanor does during her time travel experience and how the ghost sisters wind up. The character of Eleanor is not very dimensional as she was strictly focused on her mission. So if you are ready for more of a no-brainer chick-lit romantic beach read without any major expectations, this is it for you. The author did her research as far as inventions and the types of things that Eleanor missed, such as medicine, bathing and the bathroom necessities of our day. The time travel aspect is a fun idea, and the costumes, dances and supporting characters helped round this book out. Perfect for a summer weekend read while watching the kids play!

The author, Laurie Brown, was once asked "If time travel were possible, would you go and whom would you want to meet?" and voila... we have this book, which is not her first time travel book. Mrs. Brown has cleverly blended time travel and historical romance in her second novel. This is full of romance, a hunky guy, and even some Jane Austen to boot, which I think Regency romance fans would enjoy.

Heroine Eleanor Pottinger is a costume designer from Los Angeles who arrives in Hampshire, England for Regency Week jetlagged and downtrodden after being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend. She has booked her accommodations at Twixton Manor Inn, an eighteenth-century grand manor house converted into a hotel whose staff has lost her reservation and must put her up in the only room left available - the haunted one that they never use. Undaunted, Eleanor just wants sleep and does not care if she shares it with anyone, spectral or otherwise. When the two ghostly sisters Mina and Deirdre materialize to haunt her, she strikes a bargain with them to travel back to Regency times to thwart a deadly duel that kills their brother Teddy if they will in turn introduce her to their neighbor, her favorite author Jane Austen. Eleanor awakens in 1814 to meet the sisters and their family living at Twixton Manor with a house full of guests including hunky rake Lord Shermont, an agent for the crown who is secretly hunting for a Napoleonic spy among them. Eleanor quickly becomes his chief suspect. Motivated to meet Jane Austen, Eleanor engages in a week of social activities to discover which of the sister's honor will be compromised provoking Teddy into duel with Shermont. Somehow she must figure out how to alter history and avert the deed and save his life. As a twenty-first century woman, Eleanor struggles with the Regency lifestyle and often asks herself "what would Jane Austen do?" in the same situation which works beautifully until romance gets in the way as she is courted by Teddy and the known womanizer Lord Shermont. Questioning their motives may be the key to her unraveling the mystery and discovering if she has fallen in love with a spy or an Austen-esque hero.

Author Laurie Brown has pulled together elements of several genres - historical romance, spy thriller, time travel, and Jane Austen - in an ambitious endeavour. The plot moved very quickly and was evenly paced. Contrary to scandalous rumor, I do enjoy historical romance novels, which What Would Jane Austen Do? would qualify. I have two requirements in my romance reading that this novel satisfied; -- that the characters are believable and the plot has substance. I enjoyed traveling back in time with Eleanor, meeting Lord Shermont and of course encountering Jane Austen. Who wouldn't? Brown obviously researched her Regency history and has read Austen's novels quoting characters and scenes (though I must correct her reference to Knightley criticizing Emma Woodhouse after the picnic at Boxhill where she had treated Jane so badly! It was Miss Bates who was abused not Jane Fairfax.). Taken as a fun and frothy summer read, I have very few quibbles. However, when an author chooses to use Jane Austen or her characters that ups the ante in my book, and the standards are raised. Unfortunately, the opportunity to distinguish the present and the past with language nuances was missed as modern words such as Tarzan, yummy, omigod leaked in to the Regency world, and misnomers such as Arabian thoroughbred was used to describe Lord Shermont's horse. Additionally, at times I would like to have rested and discovered more about characters and their motivations, which was Austen's forte. In the end, I knew very little about the heroine and hero's inner thinking and felt the plot skipped past moments to elaborate and reflect just a bit more. The author did however supply the requisite Austen-esque heroine transformation and happily-ever-after ending, which Jane would have chosen to wrap-up more swiftly with far less effusion. In the end, was I entrapped by Jane Austen's name into reading this novel? You betcha! Do I have any regrets? Like Austen's character Emma Woodhouse, in this instance "I would much rather have been merry than wise."

Laurel Ann, Austenprose

I just finished What Would Jane Austen Do. It was a fun read with a new twist on time travel. If you want pure entertainment for a few hours this is the book for you. I particularly liked how the author wrapped up all the loose ends at the end. The story conclusions made sense and didn't feel artificial. I will be looking for more of Laurie Brown's books to enjoy.

Recently dumped by her cheating fiance, Eleanor Pottinger is an expert on Regency aristocratic fashion. She is currently working as a designer for a Jane Austen festival during Regency Week. However, she is bit taken aback to find her room at the old inn is preoccupied.

Nonplussed Eleanor meets the ghosts of sisters Mina and Deirdre Cracklebury. The trio negotiates a deal in which Eleanor will go back to 1814 to prevent a deadly duel between their brother Teddy and Lord Shermont in exchange to them introducing her to Jane Austen. As she and Shermont flirt outrageously with one another, Eleanor must decide between sense and sensibility; she needs to choose either the active sex of a lifetime or a passive meeting with a writer even as she considers WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO?.

Though Jane is a minor player, Eleanor and Shermont are wonderful leads and the ghostly sisters great support as Laurie Brown provides a whimsical time travel romance. The story line is fast-paced and filled with twists. This is Eleanor's tale as she tries to make the right choices considers her mantra: WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO? In this situation.

Harriet Klausner

This is a very light, whimisical, and fun regency romance. The characters aren't deep or original, the plot takes several unlikely turns, and yet I was eagerly reading to the end to see how it would all be rolled together at the end. This novel is really a romance novel, or a paranormal novel, or a regency novel, but some mix of the three. And very enjoyable.

Book description:

She goes back in time to save a man's life...
Eleanor travels to England for a Jane Austen festival and is swept back in time to the glittering Regency era to help a pair of ghostly sisters prevent a deathly duel...

But she may have the wrong villain...
Lord Shermont, renowned rake and womanizer, has a Napoleonic spy to capture and a dastadly crime to untangle. The last thing he needs is a scandal too...

Thankfully, Jane Austen's sage advise prevents a fatal mistake...
With Jane Austen's guidance, Eleanor untangles the international intrigue going on before her eyes. But, which of the dueling gentlemen is the spy and which is the man of her dreams?


This book really surprised me in how much I ended up loving this story. I am not a big "Regency" period reader, but I do enjoy Jane Austen and thought I would give it a try. The story is full of ghosts, mystery, time travel and history, which keeps you involved with the characters until the very end! I won't give away some of the twists, but the character of Eleanor was refreshing to read. She was educated and had a passion that woman wish and hope we have in how we lead our lives. Eleanor is put in to a situation where she has to figure out what she needs to do to fix the past for the ghost/real sisters, but fate seems to guide her in a direction she may not be ready to accept. "Jane Austen" comes in to the story when Eleanor has a situation where she doesn't know what to do. So, she thinks about the books Austen wrote to draw on an answer! A variety of secondary characters are filled by the 'handsome' gentleman, the snooty older ladies, and family members that will have you laughing and intrigued by their lives.

Have you ever thought about if you were able to go back to a time period that you enjoy and had a life there...would you return back to your own time? The writing style of the story gives such vivid details of the Regency time period and customs that you feel like your living there with Eleanor. Just when I thought I had the ending figured out, it turned out better! I would tell anyone that enjoys a good book to take a look at this one. The book is like a looking glass to a time period through the eyes of someone who treasures the history of our world's past.

Rating: 4.5/5 (Amazon doesn't give halves..but I do!)

This was a pretentious and cheap romance novel trying to elevate its stature by connecting itself very loosely to Jane Austen. Anyone who has seen any movie set in the Regency era could have written this story. There was no research or relevancy to Jane Austen herself. She would be embarrassed to have her name connected to such a story. While the overall plot was actually very clever, the heroine is only a crass immoral modern girl with none of the wit, elegance, or depth of a Jane Austen character. This is a huge disappointment to lovers of the elegant, chaste, romantic characters of Austen fame. The sex is graphic and lustful. The use of foul language throughout distracts from the story.

This was an enjoyable, fluffy romance novel with a twist. A Regency period clothing expert is taken back in time by two ghosts who want her to help avert a disaster in their youth, which happens to be in the Regency period. Eleanor finds herself in the middle of the period she studied, with an opportunity to meet Jane Austen in person. Along the way, she uncovers an espionage plot and meets a handsome stranger....I'm sure you can figure out the rest. This was a light, fun weekend read.

This is a historical romance with a twist , since the reader and the main character are from modern times. Eleanor Pottinger is in England to do a seminar on Regency fashion when 2 ghosts (Mina and Deirdre Cracklebury) ask her to go back in past and stop a duel. Eleanor goes to bed thinking that she is just jet-legged but in reality she is back in the past. Once she is in the past she imbraces the era and who find yourself in a house party trying to keep Mina and Deirdre Cracklebury from being seduced by Lord Shermont. It was funny and smart and over all a great read!!!

If you enjoy this genre I would also suggest; Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, Spirited Away, The Wedding Ghost (Zebra Regency Romance) and a classic The Mirror

WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO?
LAURIE BROWN
Historical Romance
Sourcebooks Casablanca

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

When Eleanor Pottinger goes to England for a regency convention, hopeful on getting a start on her costume making business she could never imagine that the hotel losing her reservation would start her on an unforgettable journey back through time. But when she wakes up to find the ghosts of two dead sisters who want to send her back to Jane Austen's time to save themselves Eleanor thinks it's all a joke, or better yet a dream, until she finds herself surrounded by either the best regency actors or she's really traveled through time.

WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO? is an entertaining and light historical read. I loved the two sisters, Deirdre and Mina, both in ghost form and physical form in the 1800s. With Eleanor banishing the ghost forms almost the moment she awakes, it's solely up to her to figure out just what it will take to send her back to her own time. There was so much I liked about this book. Eleanor is a great character, and watching her struggle with fitting in without the guidance or assistance of the ghosts is truly enjoyable. The banter between the characters was especially well done and I loved the mystery of not only who Shermont truly was, a man who was found by the side of the road with a bump on his head, but just how Eleanor was going to get back to her own time, if that was even possible.

One of my absolute favorite scenes in the book takes place about a third of the way through, when Eleanor awakes in the middle of the night. Unused to the absolute silence of the estate, she goes in search of a servant and possibly some warm milk to help her fall back asleep, but instead finds herself alone in the library with the mysterious Shermont. I loved the chemistry between the two in the scene and how they ended up sharing a sandwich. My only real issue with WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO was the ending did seem a little rushed to me, but it didn't detract from a great story.

Laurie Brown teaches writing classes at the college level, has presented seminars at conferences all over the country, and has three published romance novels. She has been a Golden Heart finalist twice and has received the Service Award from the Chicago-North Chapter of RWA. She resides in Illinois.

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
January 2009