What Would Jane Austen Do?

Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed myself when reading What Would Jane Austen Do? The summary on the back cover was nothing spectacular, but I was surprised at the charming answers to WWJAD as Eleanor attempted to fit into the different time period. She deftly thwarted two gentlemen about to challenge each other to a duel to protect her honor. She flirted quite wittily with Lord Shermont that might make Jane Austen proud. She calmly kept her cool around the snooty women and managed to keep the sisters - the real ones, not ghosts - in prim and proper line (though perhaps a wee independent and forward-thinking).

I believe any Austen fan will appreciate Eleanor's channeling of Austen - I mean, who hasn't dreamed of going back in time in order to show more rub elbows Austen-style, possibly find a Mr. Darcy to match wits with, and perhaps meeting the lady herself? show less

In college I knew a few girls who were part of the Jane Austen book club on campus and I would sometimes hear them muttering ‘What Would Jane Do?’ in certain situations. I was always amused by this since Jane lived a century and half before, how would she know what to do in our modern era? Oddly enough this book proved one thing to me--despite the superficial changes, society itself hasn’t really progressed.

Eleanor was a very likable character to me. As were the two ghost sisters, or even their not-so-ghostly living selves. Shermont…he’s described as being a womanizer and rake, but I really don’t think he was any worse then any other man. Despite his wariness where Eleanor is concerned (the timing is a little too perfect of show more her arrival, she would evade questions and always seemed to be hiding something, in other words she was acting very suspicious) I have to admit Shermont was surprisingly fair-minded with her.

The book has a lot of misunderstandings and misdirection. From the ghost sisters’ and their uncertainty about what happened the night of the duel to Shermont’s mission to find the Napoleonic spy events seem to spiral out of control quickly for poor Eleanor. I do find it very amusing later on when she has to choose between hot sex or Jane Austen (I truly don’t think I could have chosen).

The resolution was better then I thought it would be--too often it seems like time travel romances ignore changing history by uprooting a character to the past or present, but in this case it worked out wonderfully.

I really do enjoy Laurie Brown’s romances (I previously read One Hundred Years to Reform a Rake, which was another time travel romance, but the heroine had the terrible decision of loving the Ghost man or his live self and feeling like she betrayed both at once) and look forward to future books! show less

Another great vacation read. Eleanor travels back in time to prevent a duel so that two sisters don't end up as ghosts. While she has the right wardrobe thanks to her job as a costume maker, she lacks a lot of the social skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the regency time period and of course there is also Lord Shermont, who suspects her of being a spy....

I liked watching Eleanor try to navigate her way through the Regency period and I found her funny. I loved the fairy tale happy ending that Eleanor and the sisters got.

The only caveat is that Jane Austen does not appear nearly as much as she is expected to appear in the book. The book stands alone without it but I found the blurb a bit misleading.

Not only has her fiance dumped her, but when Eleanor Pottinger gets to her hotel in England for a Jane Austen festival, she has no reservation. She’s given a tower which is reputedly haunted. Much to Eleanor’s dismay, the tower deserves its reputation, and in the middle of the night she encounters sisters Deirdre and Mina, ghosts who send her back in time to ensure that one of them is not compromised so that their brother will not be killed in a duel. Not only must Eleanor contend with strange conversation, dancing, and dining, but she must figure out who is the villain, and then avoid falling in love with him. Her only solace? Asking herself what Jane Austen would do, and more so, meeting her idol!

I’m not sure I so much expected show more straight romance from this, but I didn’t mind that it was a major part of the book. This is especially so since I really liked the frame story. Eleanor is a fantastic, funny character who has had her confidence knocked out from under her. She spends a lot of the story getting it back, as well as falling in love with dastardly man who supposedly compromises one of the sisters. She learns pretty quickly that things are NOT what they seem. She only has a few interactions with Jane Austen, but the theme of Austen’s advice is woven through the story fairly effectively.

One thing I didn’t particularly like, and I feel a little nitpicky for this, as I always am, was Eleanor’s obviously 21st century thoughts mixed in with all the Regency stuff. Calling Sherborne “yummy” was slightly disconcerting! Clearly women call attractive men yummy in this day and age, but it felt weird in the parts which felt like they were from a historical romance. Honestly, I don’t even know if that should bother me, and I probably needed the reminder that Eleanor is from the future! I also felt there was a little too much physical expression of said love story for my taste, but again, that is just my taste. I didn’t find it unbelievable, which is usually the case with romances like that, since there is enough character going on here to make me feel they were drawn to each other, but could have done with a little less.

Regardless, this book is a lot of fun. It is very sweet. I loved watching Eleanor adjust and get her confidence back. I loved the interactions with Jane Austen and how the story of the necklace and the time traveling parts went full circle. The ending was adorable. I have to say, I’d really recommend this, although I’d probably warn a non-romance reader. It’s still so much fun and has a lot of appeal for those who like Jane Austen, chick lit, and really any quick, sweet read!

http://chikune.com/blog/?p=810 show less

At the library the other day my eye was caught by the title What Would Jane Austen Do?. The ripped manly torso on the cover confirmed that this would not be high art. And it's not, mostly just a bog standard Mills & Boon romance, with time travel and ghosts thrown in for confusion.

Eleanor is an American in England for a Jane Austen convention, hoping to kickstart her costume design business. Her first night in an old manor converted into a hotel, the ghosts of two sisters appear and persuade her to travel back in time to stop the dastardly Lord Shermont from seducing one of them and killing their beloved brother in a duel. In return, they will introduce her to Miss Jane Austen. But when Eleanor appears back in Regency England, she finds show more herself falling for the dashing and handsome Lord Shermont.

And vice versa, so it's all very transparent and obvious where it's going to go. (But I think most readers of Mills & Boon style romances don't particularly want to be surprised.) Ms Brown throws in some plot about espionage (selling England's secrets to Napolean; and because Eleanor is American, she comes in for some suspicion as America is also at war with Britain at this time), but it's all fairly haphazard and lackadaisical, and gets in the way of what most readers of romance want: lots of hot sex. And, because of the title of this book: Jane Austen, who barely gets a look-in.

I've dipped my toes in the waters of Regency romances a few times, and have often been pleasantly surprised by their charm (and the amount of sex some authors manage to squeeze into a period most people know through Jane Austen novels, where sex is hardly obvious). This one, however, wasn't the best of the crop, with its confusing and strange plot, and obvious romance.

But the title! The cover! Still giving me the giggles. show less

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 show more 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

Thank you to Danielle at Sourcebooks for the review copy!! show less

Another great vacation read. Eleanor travels back in time to prevent a duel so that two sisters don't end up as ghosts. While she has the right wardrobe thanks to her job as a costume maker, she lacks a lot of the social skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the regency time period and of course there is also Lord Shermont, who suspects her of being a spy....

I liked watching Eleanor try to navigate her way through the Regency period and I found her funny. I loved the fairy tale happy ending that Eleanor and the sisters got.

The only caveat is that Jane Austen does not appear nearly as much as she is expected to appear in the book. The book stands alone without it but I found the blurb a bit misleading.