George James Drummond’s Room at Oxford, 1853

By George Pyne (1800 – 1884) Details on Google Art Project – UwEQxfU8YqFodA at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21907517

The scene below takes place in a sitting room that is for the private use of Charlotte and her sister Louisa. I thought this picture looked like it could be such a room. I also liked that this room is in Oxford since that is location around which His Sensible Heart takes place. The hero is still in school at Oxford. The heroine is at her father’s estate a few miles outside of Oxford.

This book is the sixth and final book (so far) in my Touches of Austen series. It’s an almost forced betrothal and marriage sort of story, a he falls first story, a she doesn’t like him (or so she says) story, and a story about how utterly sacrificial true love can be. There are nods to and mentions of Sense and Sensibility in this book, but it is a completely original story (as are all the stories in this series).

I’m including a full chapter of the story in this post to hopefully give you a good feel for who each of the main characters are.

Enjoy!

Continue reading George James Drummond’s Room at Oxford, 1853

The High Oxford (Myles Birket Foster)

A busy day on The High, Oxford with figures and a pony and trap near Queen’s College. Myles Birket Foster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t you just love the activity in the street in this painting? I can almost hear the sounds and smell the aromas. The painting gives us a lovely little glimpse of what the daily life in the town of Oxford might have been like years ago.

My book His Sensible Heart, which is book 6 in my Touches of Austen series, is set in the town of Oxford because our hero is attending school there. He’s not been a very diligent student before the book began, but things in his life have changed. His father is no longer pleased to just let him float along in life, doing as he pleases. In fact, his father has cast him aside — all because he chose the wrong lady to fall in love with.

That young lady (a very sensible young miss) and her father (a kindly gentleman) require Miles to prove himself. That will mean applying himself to his studies. His friend Tom, as we can see below, has offered to help Miles learn what needs to be learned to succeed in the challenge set before him.

I’m sharing this particular story excerpt today because I think, like the painting above, it gives a glimpse of who our hero is by showing us a piece of his life in action.

Continue reading The High Oxford (Myles Birket Foster)

April (Matthaus Merian)

Monatsbilder (labour of the months) c1622.
Matthäus Merian, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“What are you reading?” Mr. Wesley sat down next to his daughter on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the walled garden.

The sun was slowly climbing its way into the sky. Dew still clung to the plants in the beds that circled the fountain except for where they were interrupted by walkways.

Charlotte flipped her book open to the title page of the novel she was not presently reading but was, instead, using as a concealment device.

“I thought you had already finished this book?”

Charlotte could feel her cheeks warming under her father’s skeptical look. “I did, but I wished to read it again. There are so many different details that stand out when one reads a book a second or third time.”

“I will not deny that. In fact, I will say it is because you already know the path the story will take, and because of that, you can pay attention to the scenery along the way instead of just attempting to find the destination. However, it appeared to me as if you were not actually reading about the Dashwoods.”

She sighed and opened the book to where a letter was tucked between the pages. “It is silly,” she said.

Her father took the book from her and examined the letter. “Why is reading Mr. Chapman’s letter silly?”

[from His Sensible Heart by Leenie Brown]


Now Available.
Find it at your favourite retailer here.

Reel Around the Sun (Riverdance)

I just couldn’t let a month of Celtic music pass without including some Irish dancing. 🙂 It’s so fun to watch.

I decided to pair a line from a conversation that is had between Fritz and Miss Wesley at a ball. (Dancing is the connection here. 😉 ) This line also connects to a book that I have on preorder until Wednesday where Miss Wesley and the gentleman she is adamant she cannot like are the heroine and hero.



<<Fritz and Belle’s story where we first meet Charlotte and Miles (Belle’s little brother).

Charlotte and Miles’s story >>

His Irreplaceable Belle is an original sweet Regency romance that nods to Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Belle’s father did not approve of Fritz and schemed to separate the two of them. Years later, they are reunited in this story.

Similarly, Miles’s father (same father as above) does not approve of Charlotte and does his scheming best to separate the two young lovers. His Sensible Heart contains small touches of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, like a very sensible heroine with a less sensible sister.


Leenie B Books
Click to find all of Leenie’s books at your favourite retailer.

 MAILING LIST    PATREON


A Good Drop (Eduard Hermann Lotz)

Eduard Hermann Lotz (* 1818), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tom shook his head. “My apologies, but you will have to explain that.”

“It means she is not indifferent to me, and I have hope of succeeding if I stay my course.”

“I had no doubt you would succeed,” Tom replied.

“Yes, you did.” He lifted his mug. “To success,” he said before taking a large draught of his ale.

“To success,” Tom repeated. However, his mug was empty, so the toast was not so effective as it could have been.

[from His Sensible Heart, Touches of Austen book 6]


Coming soon! Preorder here.