Publication Date: June 16, 2023
It’s a truth often acknowledged that when a journalist and Jane Austen fan girl ends up living next door to a cynical but handsome crime writer, romantic sparks will fly!
When Maddy Shaw is told her Dear Jane column has been cancelled she has no choice but to look outside of London’s rental market. That is until she’s left an idyllic country home by the black sheep of the family, long-not-so-lost Cousin Nigel.
But of course, there’s a stipulation… and not only is Maddy made chair of the committee for the annual village literary festival, she also has to put up with bestselling crime author –and romance sceptic – Cameron Massey as her new neighbor.
When Maddy challenges Cameron to write romantic fiction, which he claims is so easy to do, sparks fly both on and off the page…
If you could pick a novel you’d like to live in and be the main character, What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett would be my choice.
On Valentine’s Day, Madeleine (Maddy) Shaw lost her job as the “Dear Jane” advice column writer for UpClose Magazine. To add insult to injury for the day, she ends with a radio panel interview alongside international bestselling crime novelist Cameron Massey, who doesn’t believe in romance or romance novels. Maddy defends her belief in and love of the genre soundly during the interview, leaving an irritated crime writer in her wake.
Maddy soon discovers that an uncle she never met has left her Meadowside, a beautiful old home near the charming village of Cotlington, with the caveat that she must live there for a year or else forfeit the inheritance. Along with the house, Maddy discovers she has also inherited the responsibility of planning the annual village literary festival.
There has to be a fly in the ointment of this idyllic situation, and that fly turns out to be Cameron Massey. This highly successful crime writer, whose real name is Luke Hamilton’s home in Cotlington where he writes, is currently under renovation. The noise isn’t conducive to writing or to his dog Buster’s liking, so hearing Maddie is willing to take on a lodger in the large house she occupies alone, one of the village locals, puts Luke in touch with Maddy. Upon reluctant agreement, Luke and Buster move into one of Meadowside’s extra bedrooms.
From Luke’s writer’s block to Maddy’s surprise involvement in the annual literary festival, their defenses and resentments against the other begin to loosen until a full-blown friendship and possibly more seem a distinct possibility. Maddy also finds she has a desire to learn more about her mysterious benefactor’s uncle and his unknown story.
From the clever banter between Maddy and Luke, the charming setting, and the quirky but endearing village residents, Linda Corbett’s story comes alive with characters you can’t help but fall in love with, a house you’d love to explore, and an ending that’s hard fraught but worth the trip to attain. What Would Jane Austen Do? is a delightfully entertaining read. Appropriate chapter headings consisting of Jane Austen quotes, as well as oft-cited references throughout the book, lend an added layer of charming appeal.
What Would Jane Austen Do? is endearing, satisfying, and completely sigh-worthy, and where answering unusual questions can lead to even more surprising and delightful revelations.
Linda Corbett lives in Surrey with her husband Andrew and three permanently hungry guinea pigs. As well as being an author, Linda is treasurer and fundraiser for Shine Surrey – a volunteer-led charity that supports individuals and families living with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. For many years she also wrote a regular column for Link, a disability magazine, illustrating the humorous aspects of life with a complex disability and she is a passionate advocate of disability representation in fiction. Love You From A-Z is her first published novel.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful review – you really have made my day!