Author: Leenie Brown

Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).

Bei der Tanzprobe (at the Dance Recital) by Leopold Schmutzler

Bei der Tanzprobe (at the Dance Recital), signiert Leopold Schmutzler, Öl auf Leinwand. Leopold Schmutzler, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

If you would like to listen to this post, you can do so on YouTube at this link.

Today, I’ve a Story Connections post that is a bit different than most, because I’ve got some book news to share before I get to the picture and a story excerpt part of the post.

You see, I have a new book available for pre-order, but there is a short window of time, during which you can get the book early and for free. All you have to do is be subscribed to one of my reader communities, whether on Patreon, Substack, or my blog.

If you are already a subscriber to one of those places, you should have received an email, or a notification via an app, on either Friday or Saturday with a link to where you could download a copy of None So Accomplished as Mary. It’s the sequel to How to Marry an Accomplished Lady, and it is part of my Sweet Extras collection.

Sweet Extras are always offered as free downloads to my reader community for a period of time before the release of the book. This time, you have until March 31 to download your copy.

So, if you missed that email, or if you’d like to subscribe to one of my reader communities, you can find that post here: on my blog under the Subscribers Only Post menu option, on Substack in the Substack chat, or on Patreon in the eBook Downloads Collection. You have just over half a week left before the download link expires.

If you prefer to purchase your books from a favourite eBook retailer, you can pre-order None So Accomplished as Mary here. Release day is April 4, 2025.

If you’ve already read the book and are the book rating and reviewing sort, early reviews/ratings can be placed on the book’s Bookbub page here or on Goodreads here.

Just one more thing before we get to the picture and excerpt part.

None So Accomplished as Mary is best enjoyed when read AFTER you’ve read How to Marry an Accomplished Lady, which is in my Sweet Possibilities collection. And that story is best enjoyed AFTER you’ve read An Accomplished Lady (of the best sort), which is a Teatime Tale.

In case you need to pick up either of those previous books, I’ve added a 50% off coupon on them at Smashwords until April 5, 2025. The coupon will be applied automatically at checkout. You can find How to Marry… here, and An Accomplished Lady… here.

Are you still with me? 🙂 I know. That’s a lot of info, but now, let’s look at that painting.

I selected this image because, as you will see, None So Accomplished as Mary begins at a ball, and the ladies in the painting are preparing for a ball and having a fabulously fun time. That attitude matches with this book perfectly, since it continues the light-hearted, feel-good romance mood established in the two preceding books in this trio.

In this story, Colonel Fitzwilliam is dead set against knowingly falling prey to a matchmakers scheme. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t unknowingly be captured by a bit of cunning and a tantalizing riddle to solve.

The chapter below takes place just as such an entertaining journey to happily ever after for Mary and the colonel is about to begin.

Enjoy!

A copy of None So Accomplished as Mary (to keep)

Ebooks to Keep, Part 1: Patreon

Recently, there was a kerfuffle about Amazon, when the way they allowed people to download ebooks was altered just slightly. (You can no longer download and transfer books via USB.) This led to an Amazon boycott by some, which came on top of a couple other boycotts of Amazon for various reasons.

(And candidly, those boycotts hurt small sellers on Amazon a whole lot more than they do Amazon itself. But I don’t want to get depressing here, so I’ll leave it at that for now.)

Today, I’m sharing both a way to help support me and my work, and a way to get copies of my ebooks to keep — and transfer to other devices via USB if you so choose. 🙂

There are actually two ways to get my books in such a fashion, but I’m starting with how to download them from Patreon if you’re a paid member.

I use Bookfunnel to distribute advance reader copies of books, too, so this how-to would be the same for those.

Enjoy!

The March 2025 Saturday Broadsheet

March 8, 2025

Sometimes, you sit down to write a newsletter, and it flows so well. Things just fall into place. And then, other times, it’s like walking through mud trying to even begin. Today, as I sit down to update you on all the things, I’m finding myself in the muddy scenario. I’m tired. And tired brains do not fire as quickly or easily as well-rested ones.

I feel like that kind of describes the season right now, too, to some degree. Like this meme says, “Spring is just around the corner.” Winter is almost over. And I tend to feel a bit tired at the end of winter. There’s definitely a “I’m ready for a change” feeling in the air.

I hope your final days of winter (if you live where it is winter) are going well, and that spring weather will settle in for you soon.

I’ve been busy. Though at times it feels like I’m moving forward three steps only to slide backwards two. Progress is a struggle. But progress has been made. So, let’s get on with the updates and then get to the book deals and finally another installment in Harriet and the Colonel’s story.

Enjoy!

Leenie

Harriet and the Colonel, Ch. 4 (part 2)

Find previous posts here.

A/N: This scene and the one that begins chapter 5 appears in Oxford Cottage as that is where this story and that one cross over. However, here, this scene is told from Harriet’s point of view and has new details added because of that.

Harriet crept softly to the door of the small library that was connected by a secret door to her brother’s study. She stood at the door for a moment taking in the dusty clothes the colonel wore along with his mussed hair and unshaven jaw. If weariness were a person, this is what it would look like. It made her heart hurt for him.

“Colonel Fitzwilliam?” she said softly. His eyes were closed, and if he were napping while he waited for her brother, she did not truly wish to be the cause of waking him. No matter how much she wished to speak to him.

“I am not sleeping Miss Phillips. I am thinking.”

“Has something happened?” As if she did not already know that it had. His legs were stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His hands were clasped at his waist with his elbows resting on the arm of the chair. His head rested on the back of the chair, but, as she stepped into the room, she could see that his face was not relaxed. Lines of worry hung around his eyes and spanned his forehead. It was enough to confirm her suspicions even before he answered with a simple, “yes.”

Subscribe to continue reading