Happy Jane Austen’s Birthday to you, friends! What are you doing to celebrate? 🎂🎉

I am happy to be celebrating this day with the lovely Marilyn Brant! I have been an ardent admirer of Marilyn Brant’s stories – her Austenesque tales – According to Jane and The Perfect Pair series, and her non-Austenesque tales – A Summer in Europe and Fridays Morning at Nine. I am thrilled that Marilyn has a new Austenesque release that is 1. Emma-inspired and 2. a holiday read! YES! Just what I wanted this holiday season! 🙌🏼🎄

Thank you so much, Meredith, for inviting me here—on Jane Austen’s birthday, no less!!—to celebrate the release of my newest novel, The Knight Before Christmas. It’s such an honor to get to spend December 16th with you and your readers!

A little background on the book:

I’d gotten the idea for this story about a year and a half ago, in the middle of a broiling August afternoon. I must have been dreaming of a white Christmas, LOL, but it sure didn’t feel anywhere close to December in the Midwest on that day! The thing was, the timing to write anything at all just then was awful. We had all kinds of family stuff going on, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit down and draft the book with the kind of concentration it needed for months… However, I also knew that this was the romance I knew I wanted to write next. It had a modern Emma. It had Knightley—and I’ve always had a soft spot for Knightley! And it had a quirky little Midwestern town that I couldn’t seem to get out of my head.

My husband and I had visited the real town of Stillwater, Minnesota that summer, and I’d seen a beautiful old copy of Austen’s EMMA in their gorgeous downtown bookshop. (See attached pictures of the shop and the novel.) Looking back, that might have been when the seed of inspiration was first planted… But all I remember for sure is that I wanted to play with these contemporary characters in a fictional place—one that made me feel like I did when we were walking through that cute town.

So, on that very hot August afternoon, I took a crazy amount of notes and actually plotted out all of the story beats in one sitting. Then, I put them all in a special folder and didn’t touch them again until January of this year. Maybe it was because I’d had five full months to mull over the storyline in my mind—or maybe it was because it was an absolutely freezing winter day when I reopened the folder!—but, once I started writing, I immediately fell into the world of the story, into the lives of Emma Westwood & Austin Knightley, and into the fictional town of Crystal Corners. I truly hope you’ll have as much fun visiting it with me as I did creating it.

Do you have a favorite small town you love to visit? Is there a season where you most enjoy going there? I’d love to know! Wishing Happy Holidays to all of you, and here’s to raising a glass in honor of our beloved JA’s 244th!

xox, Marilyn

~ Book Description ~

THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS is a light contemporary romance by bestselling author Marilyn Brant, who also penned the award-winning and Jane Austen-inspired novels ACCORDING TO JANE and PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH.

When successful building contractor Austin Knightley returns to his hometown of Crystal Corners, Minnesota after a decade away, he vows to avoid pampered and popular types like his old high-school crush Emma Westwood—the town’s biggest queen bee and self-appointed matchmaker—only to get swept into a community Christmas project she’s now organizing.

With nods to Jane Austen’s classic novel EMMA, this modern heroine may be a little “clueless” in the Midwest, but she’s got gifts to share and plenty to learn from the boy next door, who’s all grown up and handsomer than ever. Even when a snowstorm threatens to derail her plans, she’s determined to figure out how to set things right and save THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS .

This sweet and heartwarming holiday romance is a story that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Exclusive Excerpt  from THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Marilyn Brant:

“Okay, okay. We get it, kiddo. You need the display case you want, and you need it just the way you’d ordered it. Let me think,” Kent said, his lean, chiseled face getting all scrunchy as he concentrated. “Hey, have you talked with Austin Knightley yet about a donation to the community gift chest? Because the guy runs a construction company. He probably knows a good builder, or he might even be able to make it himself.”

Absolutely not, Emma wanted to shout, but she knew her friend was just trying to help. So, she just shook her head and said, “I haven’t yet asked him about a donation, but I really don’t think he’s the guy to help build this cabinet. He constructs big things, like ramps and sheds and stuff. Plus, I’m sure he’s got his hands full with his parents and family and business and all. I don’t want to bother him.”

Jason raised one thin dark blond eyebrow in obvious disbelief. “Seriously? I mean, I love ya like a sister, Em, but since when do you not want to ‘bother’ someone if they can help you get what you want?”

Kent smothered a laugh. “What he means to say—and far more tactfully—is just think about it, Emma. Only if you run out of other options, of course,” he added quickly. “But don’t rule out any viable paths just yet, all right? You might be surprised by, um, what’s possible.”

“I supposed if I’m desperate,” she conceded, but she didn’t think she’d ever reach that point.

She was wrong.

By the nightfall on Sunday, Emma had to admit that desperate was exactly what she felt.

She’d reached out to so many residents in town. And almost all of them had tried their best to come to her aid. Her failure thus far was wasn’t for lack of effort or friendliness or desire on their parts, it was simply that what she needed right now wasn’t readily available. And neither her charm nor her money could get it—at least not in the limited timeframe she had to work with.

It was dispiriting, but if she had no other choice, she’d do what she must.

So, as early on Monday morning as was reasonable, Emma showed up at the Knightley family residence and knocked at the door.

Austin’s mom answered. “Why, hello, Emma. How nice to see you,” Pam Knightley said, ushering her inside the house and out of the cold. “What brings you over today?”

“I—um, I had a question for Austin.” She glanced around the quiet front room, featuring a beautiful fresh-cut Christmas tree adorned only with a string of colored lights, but she did not immediately spot the person she came to see. “Is he, uh, here? If not, that’s totally fine.” She took a few steps in the direction of the door, her courage starting to flag, which was highly unusual for her. “I can visit later or, maybe, call—”

“Don’t be silly, dear,” Mrs. Knightley said with a laugh. “He’s just bringing in some firewood from the garage. He’ll be back in a moment. Here, let me take your coat. Would you like some hot coffee? Tea? Cocoa?”

“Oh, no, thank you. That’s very kind. I’m fine, though. Really, I’m not planning to stay long, I just needed to ask him—”

“Hey, Mom, I saw a car in the drive. Who’s—” Austin appeared in the doorway and stopped abruptly. The friendly expression fled from his face and Emma felt a shudder of trepidation. She may have been desperate, but she wasn’t stupid. Austin Knightley disapproved of her. She wasn’t quite sure why, but his reaction to seeing her standing there was as clear as a beacon, and it wasn’t positive.

Immediately, she regretted coming over. If it were only about her, she would’ve snatched up her cloak and sped out of the house without a backwards glance.

But it wasn’t only about her. And, apparently, this was something she had to keep reminding herself of when she was in Austin’s judgmental presence.

She cleared her throat. “Hello, Austin.”

He blinked at her and then walked to the stone fireplace in the corner of the room and set down an armful of logs. When he straightened up again, he nodded at her slowly. “Hi there, Emma.”

And then…silence.

“She came here to talk to you,” his mother said brightly. She turned toward Emma. “Are you sure I can’t get you something hot to drink? It’s so cold out there. I’m making myself a butter-rum latte. Hot milk, a little coffee, this delicious sweet creamer. It’s my new favorite winter drink.”

That did sound good, but Emma wasn’t sure she could swallow anything at this point. Being around Austin and having to speak in coherent sentences was challenging enough without managing a beverage, too. She didn’t remember having had this difficulty when they were in school together. Why was it happening now?

But to his mom, she just said, “No, but thanks again.”

“How about you, honey?” Mrs. Knightley asked her son. “Some coffee? Tea?”

He shook his head mutely, not taking his suspicious gaze off of Emma.

“Okey-dokey, then,” his mom chirped. “I’ll just be going into the kitchen now to clean up. You two call out if you need anything, you hear?” And, with that, the only smiling face in the room spun on her heels and walked away, leaving Emma with an inhospitable Austin.

“So, what brings you here, Emma?” he asked.

I love how this story came to you, Marilyn!! Thanks so much for sharing! And I love that you went to a bookstore while on vacation and it was a memorable experience! 📚💕

~~~

It’s available now both digitally and in paperback! So, if you need a last-minute Christmas gift… 🙂

Amazon   I   Barnes & Noble   I   iBooks   I   Kobo   I   Goodreads

~ Connect with Marilyn ~

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~ About Marilyn ~

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of over 20 books in the genres of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. Her debut novel about Jane Austen won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award® (2007), and she was named Author of the Year (2013) by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She’s a travel addict, a music junkie, and an insatiable book collector, who loves to discuss story structure and periodically contributes novel beat sheets to the popular screenwriting website, SaveTheCat.com. Marilyn’s family believes she’s lost unquantifiable hours to the allure of “Tasty” videos on Facebook, but she refuses to substantiate this claim. For more about her writing, visit Marilyn’s website: www.marilynbrant.com

~ GIVEAWAY TIME!! ~

Marilyn has a nifty and unique giveaway to she is generously offering today! An 8GB custom-designed flash drive (perfect for storing vacation photos and documents!) with an Austen-themed flip-card covering which will include a PDF copy of THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

To enter this giveaway leave a comment, a question, or some love for Marilyn!!

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Marilyn!
• This giveaway ends December 21st!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Jane Austen Day!

Thank you for being a part of this blog and for helping me celebrate Jane Austen every day! 🥰🥳