Laurel Ann Nattress

I have to rate the book on the average of how I felt about all the stories, though obviously some I really liked, some I didn't, and some I didn't really read due to supernatural content. Here are the stories I liked. The others, you can assume I found either dull, saccharine, or problematic in some way.

Jane Austen's Nightmare, entertaining enough story about Jane dreaming that her characters come to life and either reproach her or thank her for the way she made them.

Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss, a cute bit of Regency fluff just barely connected to Jane Austen.

When Only a Darcy Will Do, contemporary story about a university student trying to make some money by hosting her own Jane Austen walking tour. She only gets one customer, a guy dressed as Mr. Darcy. Cute little reveal about who he is.

"Letters to Lydia", letters from Maria Lucas to Lydia. If you ever wondered what Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship looked like from the outside, this is kind of fun, and fills in a couple of speculative gaps in the plot.

"What Would Jane Austen Do?" Surprisingly, best story in the book. A high school boy decides to take a country dancing class over the summer to please his mom, finds out it's English country dancing, and gradually realizes he's having an awesome time. When school starts, his parents get called to talk to the principal, who is worried that their son is headed for trouble or maybe is on drugs, since he's regularly wearing a necktie, holding the door for his teachers, and addressing everyone with polite civility. (It's a pretty funny scene.) The takeaway from the story is a refreshing commentary on not being embarrassed about the things you like even if no one else seems to understand.… (more)

Most short story collecitons end up being a bit of a mixed bag, this is more moxed than most. They are all short stories about, inspired by or generally riffin on the themes and narratives of Jane Austen's life and works. And while some of them are inventive and well constructed, others are, frankly, dire.
I fail to understand how an author can set a contemporary novel and still have a woman as being worthless without a man in her life. It's backward and outdated. I don't claim to see eye to eye with Austen, but I think she was a sufficiently shrewd observer of the world to not be stuck in an outdated attitude to marriage and a woman's place in society.
The other gripe is that there are too many that seem to think that just because she wrote Elizabeth as being able to move into Darcey's life and sphere that Janer, herself, hob nobbed with the nobility. I think it highly unlikely.
So, having got the grim out the way, onto the good. The best of the bunch was the one that had Jane meeting her own creations and finding out that what she'd intended wasn't always how the characters themselves felt about the role they had been alloted. There couple of Jane ghost stories were fun enough and the re-enactment of Persuassion had a lot of merit.
But for the few good ideas, I'm not sure it was worth ploughing through the rest of it.
I listened to this and one of the narrators had the most bizzarre accent. Avon being pronounced as Ah von, not Ay-von being just the easiest to type. I have no idea of her origin, but it was entirely offputting throiughout.
In short, unless you are a died in the wool Jane Austen devottee, give this lot a miss.… (more)