Hi friends! Happy 2020!! Are you excited about the new year and the new decade? 🎉
I am! I’ve been thinking and formulating some goals and intentions for myself in my personal life, business, and my blog! It is always fun and motivating to have a fresh start of the year to do that, don’t you think? 🙌🏼
As you might have seen, earlier this week we shared our 2019 Summary and Stats post. And it was a lot of fun to reflect and analyze what took place in 2019. 🤔
And today’s post is the second half, where we share and recognize some remarkable and inspiring books that we enjoyed reading for the first time in 2019! 💕
I had 23 books that I rated 5 stars in 2019. However, of those 23, 7 were rereads! Some of which, were recognized as previous years’ favorites. So I thought I’d not include them in today’s list of recognized books, even though they are continued favorites. 🥰
I hope you enjoy this list I put together of my favorites!
Here are my 12 (ahem! technically 14) Austenesque Reviews’ Favorites for 2019!
~(drumroll)~
…and the honors go to…
for Favorite Pride and Prejudice Variation
(4 books)
A Lady’s Reputation by A. D’Orazio
Thank you, Amy! This variation shines as brightly as your others!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
Letters from the Heart by Kay Bea
Thank you, Kay! I am so glad you shared this impressive and moving story with us!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment by Abigail Reynolds
Thank you, Abigail! I will follow you anywhere, even into the world of Fae Folk and Faerie!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
Nefarious by Nicole Clarkston
Thank you, Nicole! What a spectacular story you executed from Jeanne’s brilliant idea!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
for Favorite Austenesque Modern Adaptation
(2 books)
In Good Conscience by Cat Gardiner
Thank you, Cat! This powerful and passionate conclusion to your fantastic trilogy was perfect in every way!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
Thank you, Sonali! I adored and appreciated so much about this perceptive and vibrant modern P&P!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
for Favorite Austen-Inspired Story
(1 book)
The Colonel by Beau North
Thank you, Beau! This story pierced my soul. I am so glad you shared it with us.
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
for Favorite Austenesque Secondary Character Story
(1 book)
The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley
Thank you, Molly! I’m so glad you shined a spotlight on Charlotte Collins and women like her.
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
for Favorite Austenesque Prequel
(5 books)
Mrs. Bates of Highbury by Allie Cresswell
The Other Miss Bates by Allie Cresswell
Dear Jane by Allie Cresswell
Thank you, Allie! Your perception, your thoughtful planning, and all the little details you implemented in this amazing trilogy are worthy of the highest praise!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
The Assistant by Riana Everly
Thank you, Riana! I loved this creative and adventureous fleshing out of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
The Courtship of Edward Gardiner by Nicole Clarkston
Thank you, Nicole! How lovely to encounter such a beloved couple (and their young friends) prior to Pride and Prejudice!
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
for Favorite Austenesque Nonfiction/Reference Work
Jane Austen’s Sanditon by Janet Todd
Thank you, Janet! I so appreciated your insight to this unfinished work and the interesting correlations to Jane Austen’s life.
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
~~~
And now time to share the Austenesque Reviews Readers’ Choice Favorites!
Thank you to all who voted, I loved learning your favorite reads of the year!! It felt like seeing a list of recommendations from dear friends! I am so appreciative of your help!
There were 68 different Austenesque books nominated in total for this award!!! But there definitely some that were a lot of readers’ favorites!
The top 4 that received the most votes and are specially recognized as Austenesque Reviews Readers’ Choice Favorites are…
The Journey Home to Pemberley by Joana Starnes
Buy the Book I Add to Goodreads
A Lady’s Reputation by A. D’Orazio
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
Nefarious by Nicole Clarkston
Buy the Book I Read My Review I Add to Goodreads
Speechless by Jessie Lewis
Buy the Book I Add to Goodreads
Congrats to these 4 very special and very loved works!
I’ve read 2 and loved them already, and now I’m even more excited about reading the other 2!!
~~~
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
I’m so thankful all these wonderful stories and I’m really glad they were part of my 2019! I’d like to offer one of you lovely readers a chance to own one of my favorites for 2019 (1 book, winner’s choice from any of the books listed above, paperback or ebook)
All you need to do is comment below and share with us one (or some) of your favorite reads of 2019!
- This giveaway is open internationally.
- This giveaway will end January 8th.
So excited to see so many of my favorites on your “Best of” list, especially Beau North’s THE COLONEL. I have read that countless times, and it’s still haunts me. Happy for other favorites by Joana Starnes, Amy D’Orazio, Nicole Clarkston, Kay Bea, and Jessie Lewis! The rest I will add to my TBR list. Congrats to all! #ILoveBestOfListSeason
Mmm, I agree! It is such a powerful and haunting read!
Thanks so much for checking out this list!
My favorite from 2019 was “Speechless.”
Love hearing that because it on my TBR list for this month!
My favourite Austenesque read 2019 was When Mary Met The Colonel by Victoria Kincaid and Lizzy Brandons Recognizing Love.
I´m very much looking forward to Pride, Prejudice and other Flavors – I love a good modern adaption and haven´t must have missed your review of it! This is definitly going on my 2020 tbr pile.
Great choices! I read both of those in 2019 too!
I hope you love that one…I sure did!! And I am so excited that the author has a second book coming out this May!
So many favourites! Especially The Journey Home to Pemberley . In fact I really enjoyed all the reader’s choice books!
I haven’t read all your favourites but I loved the ones I have read! A special mention to In Good Conscience which I sobbed my way through and along with the rest of the series is on my ‘absolutely have to re read again and again’ list!
I have Letters From the Heart waiting to be read.
Thank you Meredith!
Oh I cannot wait to read that one!!
Prequels and secondary characters seem to be great favorites with me this year!
And I so love IGC and I am with you about the emotions and rereading them again and again!
Thanks for sharing your favorites. One of my favorites for 2019 was Undeceived.
Excellent choice!! I’m looking forward to Karen’s upcoming rereleases!
My favorite was “The Journey Home to Pemberley” by Joana Starnes. I love everything she writes. ❤️
Same!! I’m so excited to read this one!
2019 was truly a banner year for memorable and tantalizing Austen pastiche. The Journey Home to Pemberley, The Colonel, The Clergyman’s Wife, Letters from the Heart – these and other books I did not so much read as LIVED, and they are now part of me. My thanks to you for bringing them to my attention and to the authors for giving them birth. <3
I agree!! Definitely incredible!! And yes…what a great way to put it!! So happy to help you discover these reads that we both loved!
We are so excited to see A Lady’s Reputation, Speechless and Letters from the Heart on this list! Looking forward to more great reading in 2020!
They all are so deserving of recognition and praise!!
My goodness, what an amazing assortment of Austen books we had this year! Thank you, Meredith, for all your work in reviewing and sharing books. I loved your choices and there were so many more I loved from this year as well. Honored and thrilled to have Nefarious and Edward Gardiner show up in such company. <3
So true! I am so thankful to all the authors like yourself that shared their stories and do so much for this genre!
Nefarious and The Journey Home to Pemberley ae 2 of my faves. Can’t wait to read the others!
Excellent choices! Looks like you might need to try Speechless and A Lady’s Reputation! 😉
My favorite read of the year was The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. We saw it being filmed on Staten Island a couple years, and I finally got around to reading it this year. Any and all of the your list are intriguing. I will be checking them out.
How fun! And that is great that you got to read the book this year!
Thanks so much for checking out our list!
SPEECHLESS was a favorite of mine.
All on my reading list.
LOVED “A Lady’s Reputation” and “Speechless” off your list! They were sooo good. I have actually read a lot of the ones on the list and will be checking out the rest!
Great!! I cannot wait to read Speechless!
So great to hear both!!
If you also like non-Austen HR, you might enjoy Anabelle Bryant’s Midnight Secrets series or Janna MacGregor’s The Cavensham Heiresses series.
denise
Thank you for the recommendations!! I do like non-Austen HR. Julie Klassen is one of my favorite authors of that genre!
I am glad to see The Clergyman’s WIfe on your list Meredith. I always enjoy your annual roundups. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Laurel Ann! It was tough to narrow it down, but I really loved what this book shared about Charlotte and women of her time.
Thank you for this opportunity. Every September through December, I reread all of Jane Austen’s books. These are my all time favorites.
What a fantastic tradition! I usually read just one Jane Austen novel in December each year, but how great to read them all!
I love love loved Speechless! Hooked from the start and couldn’t put it down!
Ooohh! So much praise for this one! I cannot wait!
I loved Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment especially; it’s in my Top Five Austenesque Faves of all time. I re-read it again this year, and I loved it even more the second time. I also adore Paisley James’ novels To Save and Protect and To Love and Cherish which I first read on fanfiction.net years ago and still return to re-read annually; Lord Paisley is my favorite original character in all of the hundreds of Austenesque literature I’ve read.
Thanks for sharing your favorites, Meredith! I’ve posted my 2019 reading list to my blog, but my post focuses on historical mysteries although there are dozens of Austenesque novels listed as well.
Happy Reading in 2020, everyone!!
Warmly,
Susanne
Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that you loved that one! It is definitely a gem! I definitely want to read Paisley James’s books!! I read a couple chapters of the first book awhile back and need to get myself a copy!
Thanks so much for checking out our list!
So many of my favorites are on your list this year but also some that are still on my TBR list! The list keeps getting longer and I’m slowly chipping away. Love your list & stats blogs as always.
Goodreads has a new stats that also shows you the number of books you read a month. Pretty fascinating. Cheers to a new year/decade of reading!
Yay! So glad to hear that we are in agreement on a lot of these books! Thanks so much for checking out my list and stats!
Ooh! I can’t wait to see the new GR stats!
Wishing you a great year of reads!
I was glad that the books I enjoyed the most corresponded with others who read this blog with their favorites. The only ones I haven’t read yet are Speechless and the Assistant, both sitting in my TBR pile. Thank you for introducing Allie Cresswell’s books to us, I loved those, what a great storyteller. And I think most of the above will be, if not already, favorite rereads. Just looking at the titles makes me want to go read them right now.
This is a fun post each year, although yes, it is tough to vote for just three. I think it’s just as well you keep the number small. More choice means more angst over which ones to eliminate. Ha. You go to a lot of work on these each year, for our enjoyment. We all benefit from the hard work. Thank you. I really look forward to seeing any changes you choose to make with the blog.
Happy New Year to you and Mr Bingley. 😀
Oh wonderful!! It is great to see how loved these books are!
I’m so happy that you read and loved Allie Cresswell’s books as much as I did!
I honestly am not sure what to do about the vote…it may need to be revamped some how. Thanks so much for your lovely encouragement!!
Wishing you all wonderful things for 2020!
Thank you for these recommendations.
Happy 2020 reading to all!
Thanks for checking out my list!
Hope you enjoy a year full of wonderful reads!
I love your chosen books. there had been so many P & P variation books this year. I am tryin gto keep up to read them all. So far th eones i read – my heart broke for the Colonel, & I was so engaged in Nefarious. There are a lot more but they are all too many to mention.
I have your other r ecommendations on my TBR list. Thank you.
Happy new year to all!!!
Yes, we are in good supply when it comes to P&P variations!! So glad to hear you loved The Colonel and Nefarious!!!
Speechless, Duel at Netherfield, and A Perfect Gentleman
All three I haven’t read yet! Thanks for sharing!
Oh. My. Gosh!!!! Thank you Meredith. I am Sooooo honored to be included in your 2019 list. These are all outstanding books. <3 Congratulations to everyone and a very special thank you for all you do for the JAFF community. You work so hard and we greatly appreciate it!! Best wishes to you and Mr. Bingley for a wonderful 2020 and best of luck to everyone in the Giveaway! <3
Thank YOU for taking us on such an exceptionally stirring and exhilarating adventure with Iceman and Lakmé!
Wishing you and you hubby a terrific and happy 2020!
I loved many of the same books as you. Speechless and Journey Home to Pemberley were among my favorites, as was Nefarious. My most recent favorite was Dear Nameless Stranger–captured my attention from the beginning.
So glad to hear all of those were such great favorites of yours!! And Jeannie Peneaux is a new author for me – that’s great that her book was captivating!
What wonderful books. So captivating and memorable. Speechless s my favorite.
Thanks so much for sharing!!
I have not ready many Austenesque books this year, sadly. However, of those I have read, I thoroughly enjoyed The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen, The Heir’s Disgrace and Darcy by Any Other Name.
I always love reading your lists, Meredith. Happy New Year!
Oh yes! I love The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen and Darcy By Any Other Name! I’ll have to check out The Heir’s Disgrace!
What a great list, Meredith! I’m so honored that you included Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment among your Favorite Reads. Thanks for all your work in reviewing and promoting Austenesque novels!
Thank YOU for writing such a fantastic fantasy inspired story and for sharing it with us!
Wow, how wonderful to see Speechless included in a list with so many other wonderful JAFF books! I’m thrilled so many of your readers enjoyed it. Congratulations to all the authors on this list and huge thanks to you, Meredith for your round up, reviews and this wonderful blog that keeps us JAFF lovers so happy!
It has lot of fans, Jessie, and I’m not surprised!!
Thank you for your kind words!!
Yay! So glad to hear that you started reading JAFF! (Best decision ever, just saying!) Oh what brilliant choices!! Those are definitely memorable stories that were some of my favorites too!
This post is so generous, both to your readers and to the hardworking authors who wrote books we loved. I have none to add to your excellent list; I thoroughly enjoyed all the books on it that I have read, especially Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.
I would love to enter the giveaway, with special interest in the edition of Sanditon by Janet Todd and the first of the trilogy, Mrs. Bates of Highbury. I do love stories about how gentlewomen in straitened or constrained circumstances conduct their lives.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for saying so, Abigail!! I’m so glad you agree with my choices and that these fabulous stories earned your praise!
Excellent choices…both are so fantastic!! It was so interesting to see more of Mrs. Bates in her younger years…talk about an admirable character!
I have found amazing books through your blog thank you so much. I adored Jessie Lewis this year along with the fabulous Joana Starnes & Nicole Clarkston. Amy D’orazio is also on my list of authors I always preorder, her books are beautiful. One of my favourites this year was one you recommended previously, The Watson’s by Rose Servitova/Jane Austen. It’s so lovely to see this (and Sanditon also) earning recognition. Emma Watson is a very fine heroine and this was an exciting read! Really looking forward to your blog in 2020 Meredith, happy new year!
You have no idea how that thrills me, Roseanne! Definitely excellent authors to follow!! Oh I loved Rose’s book too, and I agree I loved seeing a spotlight on these minor works!!
Happy New Year to you!
2019 was my first year really getting into variations and discovering the amazing world there! I read and loved Ardently, by Caitlyn Williams, and Longbourn’s Songbird by Beau North. Both were really amazing! I have so many others on my to-read list. Thanks for compiling your favorites, i can’t wait to read them.
Yay! So glad you discovered variations this year!! And what fantastic choices…both are exceptional!! You must follow up Longbourn’s Songbird with The Colonel!
Thanks so much for checking out my list!
I really enjoyed reading ‘A Matter of Honour’ by Abigail Reynolds. I hadn’t read any of hers before and it was a lot of fun. I would definitely read more by her. 🙂
That is on my TBR pile! I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it! She has so many fantastic stories…definitely try some of her older ones…my favorite will always be The Last Man in the World.
I absolutely love these posts Meredith 🙂
This year we only have Nefarious in common, but you do have The Courtship of Edward Gardiner which was on my 2016 Favourites list and several that I haven’t read yet, but that I really want to get my hands on in 2020 such as Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment and The Colonel.
I’ve also loved Letters from the Heart, but it wasn’t amongst my top 10, and I’m still reading A Lady’s Reputation, so lets see how it ends
Thanks for sharing your favourites with us!!
Same here, Rita! I enjoyed checking out yours!! I hope you get to read Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment and The Colonel soon…both are incredible!
Hope you have a wonderful year of reading!
What a wonderful list! Every one of these I have either read and loved, purchased to read soon or on my TBR list. What fun!!
That’s terrific!! I’m glad you like the list and I hope you like all the books you haven’t read yet as much as I did!
Amazing!! Thank you, Meredith for sharing this fabulous post with us. Every year I look forward to seeing what books the bloggers choose for their favorites lists. You know, of course, that Nefarious is my ALL-TIME favorite.
Congratulations to all the authors chosen as Meredith’s favorites and the Readers’s favorite. I was surprised at how many of those books I already own. I would love to have The Assistant. Blessings to everyone in this new year. Happy New Year, Meredith and to your Mr. Bingley. Y’all are the cutest couple.
I definitely do know that, Jeanne! And look how many people agree about this story! We are so thankful to you and Nicole for it!!
Excellent choice, my friend!
Thank you…I do adore him!
Following your “favorites” as they are formed throughout the year is the greatest fun so keep doing what you’re doing. Have a beautiful 2020!
Thank you so much for saying that! I appreciate you following along!
My favourite Austen themed books that I read in 2019 was the Heartstone trilogy by Elle Katharine White
That series looks really interesting!! Thanks for sharing!
Oh yes, there were some stellar books published last year. I didn’t read all of these, but those I read/listened to would have made my top Austenesque reads, too. I have a few and will gather up more from this list.
Congrats to those on the list and wishing Meredith a 2020 full of more great reads.
Thanks so much for checking out my favorites, Sophia, and I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed some of the books on this list!
Oh wow! I am thrilled and so honoured to be on the list. Thank you, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the book.
Thank YOU for writing such a fun adventure for Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner!! I can’t get enough of this couple!
I just started reading JAFF in 2019 and I find it really difficult to choose as I loved almost everything I’ve read. An Arranged Marriage, The Last Man in the World, His Choice of a Wife, The Bad Miss Bennet, A Lady’s Reputation and Snowbound at Hartfield, which I read once a month, because I need a frequent dose of my beloved Colonel Fitzwilliam!
Yay! So glad to hear that you started reading JAFF! (Best decision ever, just saying!) Oh what brilliant choices!! Those are definitely memorable stories that were some of my favorites too!
Hi Meredith!
This 2019 I followed so well your recommendations that I have most of your favs in my TBR pile as birthday and christmas gifts! LOL
In fact, “The Assistant” was supposed to be a christmas gift but there has been some delay in the delivery and hasn’t arrived home yet (maybe Mr and Mrs Gardiner run another adventures in the meanwhile) 😉
It’s so exciting to have such amount of interest readings to enjoy with this 2020!. It’s almost impossible to catch up with so many releases but it would be far worse not to have any good book waiting for you in the coffe table, don’t you think so?
Thank you so much for your generous giveaway, it’s a pleasure to begin the year with such good news 😉
I wish you a great time of reading and reviewing this 2020!.
Good luck to the readers in the giveaway and let’s enjoy austenesque novels!
You did!! I am excited to hear that you will be reading these lovely books and I hope you love them as much as I did!!
LOL! I hope the Gardiners finish some of their adventures and make their way to you soon!
I know….so impossible to keep up and read all I want to. I really need reading to become my full-time job!!
Thank you, my friend! I hope your 2020 reads are all wonderful!! Thanks for all the love and support!
out o f your list, the Courtship of Edward Gardiner was my favorite! (hadnt read alot of the others though)
Excellent choice! I hope you get the chance to read them soon!
I liked Sanditon best because I had never read it!
Oh wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that!
Thank you for compiling this list and reminding me that there are seemingly endless great reads for Austen fans! My favorite Austenesque novel of 2019 is Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment by Abigail Reynolds. It was an unique, magical Pride and Prejudice re-imagining and like you, I would pick up a Reynolds book any day of the year. I look forward to devouring many of the other titles you reviewed. Cheers for an equally engaging reading list in 2020~!
What a wonderful choice, Beth! I’ve been a longtime fan of Abigail Reynolds and it has been so great to see the evolution of her writing!
I hope you love these stories as much as I did!
Speechless was my favorite! Thank you for this opportunity!
So great to hear this story receive so much praise!
So many great books on this list and also a few I have yet to read. Like the Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley 🙂 Would love to read that one!
Great choice! I hope you get to read that one soon!!
I loved The Colonel! Though I see there’s more for me to pick up…
Yes! I so agree! I hope you love them as much as I did!
I really enjoyed Joana’s book! Her writing is beautiful and she is a favorite author of mine. Thanks for a chance to win!
It is so beautiful! I just started her book today and I’m completely captivated in how she describes the interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth!
Huge thanks to you and your readers, Meredith! I’m thrilled and honoured to see ‘The Journey Home to Pemberley’ among the 2019 favourites and in such wonderful company! Congrats, Amy D’Orazio, Nicole Clarkston, Jessie Lewis, Kay Bea, Abigail Reynolds, Cat Gardiner, Sonali Dev, Beau North, Molly Greeley, Allie Cresswell, Riana Everly and Janet Todd!
Have a great 2020 full of love, laughter and joy!
Congrats, Joana! I’m only 100 pages in The Journey Home to Pemberley, but I can easily see why it received so many lovely votes!! Although, I wasn’t really surprised! 😉
Wishing you a very happy 2020!
My favorite of the year was “Speechless.” It was beyond good.
So excited to hear this!!
I have missed out on a lot of reading in 2019. But I hope to make up for it this year!! So many great stories…. I need more spare time to read! Am currently rereading The Darcy Legacy & its still a lot of fun. But something new, yes that would be greatly appreciated.
I hope you get to enjoy more reading this year! The Darcy Legacy is such a wonderful book, glad to hear you are rereading that one!
Great seeing more informative lists, Meredith. Thank you for all your hard work. I have read many of these…but not all. The ones I did read were also great favorites and worth rereading sometime.
So glad to hear, Sheila! Thanks for checking out our list!
Thank you for the generous giveaway, Meredith. Good to see that last year’s releases gets your vote as I’ve heard great things from all the books mentioned. I haven’t had the time to read them since I’ve started my new job.
Congrats on your new job, Sylvia! That is exciting! I hope you enjoy more reading time in 2020!
I wasn’t able to read much this year, I’m afraid, but I have several of these books on my list and I hope to get to some of them this month!
What a great way to start your year! I hope you get the chance to read and enjoy these stories soon!
Well, I’ve read seven of those and would definitely rank them as personal favourites, even if I didn’t actually read all of them during 2019. The remainder are certainly on my Austenesque radar screen. I read the unpublished version of Letters from the Heart that was posted online and very much look forward to reading the published version, despite its challenging underlying theme.
That’s a good amount and I’m so excited to hear that they are your personal favorites soon! Thanks so much for sharing, Anji!!