Hi friends! Guess who is back to celebrate the release of the FINAL installment in their Austen Echoes series? Riana Everly!! 🙌🏼

And of the many reasons to celebrate this occasion – new Modern JAFF, a Persuasion-inspired read, it’s a book by Riana Everly – the extra special reason to celebrate is because TODAY is the release day for The Second Ending!! 🎉🎉

Happy release day, Riana! I’m so happy to have you hear to talk about Persuasion, Anne and Wentworth, and your new book! 📖

Why I Love Persuasion

Thank you so much for hosting me today on this fabulous blog to talk about my brand-new, hot-off-the-press release, The Second Ending. Today is release day, so it’s an extra-special day to be here.

The Second Ending is the third of three sh

 

ort novels in my Austen Echoes series, which follows the romances of members of a Canadian concert choir. The first book is influenced by Pride and Prejudice, the second by Emma, and this one by my favourite of Austen’s novels, Persuasion.

Why is Persuasion my favourite? It’s hard to explain why exactly, but here are some thoughts.

I love P&P, don’t get me wrong. Elizabeth and Darcy are just a fabulous couple, with amazing character arcs that complement an amazing storyline. Austen’s magic in this novel is beyond comprehension, and I could reread it again and again without ever feeling, “Been there, done that.”

But I’m drawn to the maturity in Persuasion. Not only was Austen older when she wrote it (although she never had the luxury of actually getting old), but her characters are older. They’ve loved and lost, and changed from the experience. They’ve been around the block—or the world, in Wentworth’s case—and have learned what they really want, what they really find valuable. Anne Elliot is no twenty-year-old impertinent ingenue like Lizzy Bennet, and certainly not a seventeen-year-old starry-eyed Romantic like Marianne Dashwood. At twenty-seven, while hardly ancient, she’s gained that extra understanding of the world, and sees things through clear, if tired, eyes.

Wentworth is, in many ways, a more complicated character than Darcy. He’s a self-made man, partly through luck and partly through sheer ability. He’s had to literally fight for his wealth and probably understands the value of a pound more than someone who was born to wealth. He has not handled rejection well (in a disadvantageous contrast to Darcy, who turned himself into a better man for it), but we see him grow and shed his bitterness as he comes to realise what he’s lost and what he needs to do to regain the woman he still loves. Wentworth has more faults, but he seems more real because of them.

I could go on, but I won’t. This is all a long ramble about how I identify with these characters more strongly than with Lizzy and Darcy. Just a couple (ahem) of years past the first bloom of youth myself, I enjoy reading about characters with some miles behind them.

My characters in The Second Ending have additional miles as well. Ashleigh Lynch, my modern Anne, is in her early 30s, and Marcus Fredericks is nearly 40. Ash is still fighting to get out from the shadow of her toxic family, and Marcus has worked hard to build a thriving business. They’ve lived, travelled, launched careers. They’ve done stuff and lived their lives.

I’ve also put more of my own life into this novel. Ashleigh’s time in Chile was inspired by my son’s experience there as a law student. He also learned Spanish as a consequence of his time in Chile, and he uses the language in his current work. Further, as most of you know, I’m a musician as well. Unlike Ashleigh, no one wants to hear me sing, but I absolutely understand how she steps into a different persona when she’s on stage. Ask me to speak in public and I crawl behind the closest couch. Ask me to play, and I’m in my element. That’s Ash as well. She’s terribly camera shy, but she’ll sing in front of the masses!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Persuasion and having a slightly older couple as the main characters.

To get you in the mood, here’s a short excerpt from The Second Ending: A Modern Persuasion Improvisation.

***

Ashleigh Lynch did not like surprises.

Surprises never ended well. Someone got insulted, or hurt, or all sorts of bad memories were formed or resurrected. Far better to know in advance, to be prepared. To be able to run away.

The man sitting across the table from her right now was just such a surprise, and all she wanted to do was run.

It hadn’t seemed like it would be bad when she started on this case. Her friend and fellow-choir member had asked for her assistance with a community project, and as a lawyer who dedicated her life to helping the little guy, she had agreed at once.

Her friend, Masako, had four young children who enjoyed playing on the fields behind their school, where it met the parkland by the small ravine that ran through that part of Toronto. Then, overnight, fencing had appeared around the area with large signs announcing that the land was being developed into a condominium complex with three large towers.

“We thought it was public land,” Masako had exclaimed the first time they met about the issue, shaking her head in disbelief. “We didn’t know if it was part of the school or the park, but we never had the first indication it was private. And now someone’s buying it. Can you help us? It’s where all the neighbourhood kids play.”

The whole situation had seemed odd. If the land was privately owned, it was almost unthinkable that it had been open for kids to play on for who knew how many years. The liability issues alone would have given Ashleigh cold sweats. What sort of negligent owner would allow that? He must be mad.

“I’ll look into it,” Ashleigh had assured her friend. “There might be some irregularities somewhere. But I’m not sure there’s a lot I can do if it’s a legal sale.”

“Can we at least go public with our concerns? Take it to the papers, or hold a press conference? ‘Big Bad Developer Threatens Innocent Children’, or something like that. The media would eat it up.”

A press conference. Oh, God, no.

“Er, I’ll help with the legal stuff, as much as I can,” Ashleigh had hedged, “but I can’t go in front of a microphone. I’ll crumble and ruin everything for you.”

Masako had stared at her. This diminutive woman had the energy and determination of a divinely-inspired army. She would, Ashleigh considered, have made a phenomenal suffragette, had she been born a century earlier. She managed her young and busy family with a flair that made it look easy, had a small but growing line of clothing designed for non-standard sizes, ran a boutique in Yorkville, one of Toronto’s most elite shopping areas, and was one of the strongest singers in the Eglinton Echoes, a first-rate concert choir. Ashleigh’s dread of speaking in public must seem unfathomable to someone like her.

“But you’re in front of an audience every time we perform,” Masako had replied after a moment. “The thought of singing in public is what gives most people nightmares, and you manage that beautifully. Just talking to a bunch of reporters is easy—”

“Please, no. I really can’t. I did once, but not anymore. I’ll stay in the background and help from there. Okay?”

“Uh, sure. If that’s what you want, although you’d be way better than you think. You just need more confidence.”

Ashleigh had sighed. “No. I can’t think on my feet. It’s really not my strength.” She’d had confidence once. Her family had dealt with that pretty quickly. But this was no time to sink into old regrets. The kids needed her. She’d do this for the kids.

That had been several weeks ago. In the interim, Ashleigh had carved out time from her main job at a small law firm to dedicate to Masako’s Field, as she had mentally termed this new case. There was little enough to go on. The sale to the developer, it seemed, was not yet finalised, which made the fencing and signs a bit premature. Still, if the land was owned by someone, they could do what they wanted with it, in this regard at least. The identity of the owner was also a bit of a puzzle, because while it seemed that everything was all above board and in order, the land was registered to a shell company, and even with her connections, Ashleigh couldn’t find exactly who held the current title to the plot in question.

That left her with two options to present to Masako. The first was to take it to City Hall as a zoning issue. With a school and a city park abutting the property on two sides, surely putting up three large condo towers would be problematic, at best. There might be something she could do here, especially if she found the right people. Presumably the buyer already had assurances that they could go ahead with their plans, but the media fuss might change that.

The second option was to approach the developer and try to convince them to give up the project for… reasons. She would think of some. She hoped. The media storm that Masako hoped to stir up might be the key to making them think of other locations. It was a possibility.

Masako leapt at both options.

And that was how Ashleigh came to be sitting in a small meeting room at Laconia Development Corporation’s rather swanky offices just east of Yonge Street when the worst mistake of her life walked through the door.

I’m with you, Riana, on appreciating the “older and wiser” types of heroes and heroines. I’m excited to spend more time with Ashleigh and Marcus and learn about their past. I like Ashleigh’s determination and spirit in this excerpt!

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~ Connect with Riana ~

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~ About Riana ~

Born in South Africa, award-winning author Riana Everly has called Canada home since she was eight years old. She proudly boasts one husband, two grown(ish) children, three degrees, four recordings, five instruments (of varying proficiencies), six languages (also of varying proficiencies), and ten novels (and growing). She also can’t count very well.

When not indulging her passion for Jane Austen, Riana loves cooking, travel, and photography. She’s a historian and trained classical musician, specialising in viola, and is delighted to be able to combine her love of writing and music in her novels.

She now lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband, a secret stash of chocolate, and far too many books.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In conjunction with her visit, Riana is giving away an ebook copy of The Second Ending to 1️⃣ lucky reader!

 

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

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Riana!
• This giveaway ends January 29th!