When a country-set dance at the Basingstoke Assembly Rooms
is enlivened by a visit from the Damned of London,
unflappable Jane Austin allows herself to be seduced by
clever conversation into lingering too long over a glass of
punch. When next she comes to herself she has changed.
Although a stout cup of tea is still refreshing, all the tea
cakes and kippers of England cannot slake her hunger for blood.
Her Reverend father immediately knows the only chance for
cure lies in taking the waters at Bath. Although Jane is
more than eager to give up immortality in exchange for
reclaiming her soul, the cost may be her life.
Before she can take the first sip, the French invade and it
becomes clear her strengths may lie more in her supernatural
speed than her acerbic tongue. Rather than complete the cure
the waters offer, she joins a Vampiric guerrilla underground
and learns her new way of 'life' provides intriguing
opportunities closed to the daughter of a Vicar, including
the lessons provided by the ancient but handsome Luke, who
promises to teach her more than how to keep her teeth from
popping out in polite company. The lust for blood is not the
only desire her new form brings.
JANE AND THE DAMNED is an amusing farce, poking fun at many
of the elements found in Regency romance. The setting of an
alternate past wherein France invades Britain bringing along
Madame Guillotine provides a sturdy and exciting framework
for Mullany's witty and entertaining look at what might have
been. Highly recommended for light reading.
Jane Austen Novelist . . . gentlewoman . . . Damned,
Fanged, and Dangerous to know.
Aspiring writer Jane Austen knows that respectable young
ladies like herself are supposed to shun the Damned—the
beautiful, fashionable, exquisitely seductive vampires who
are all the rage in Georgian England in 1797. So when an
innocent (she believes) flirtation results in her being
turned—by an absolute cad of a bloodsucker—she acquiesces to
her family’s wishes and departs for Bath to take the waters,
the only known cure.
But what she encounters there is completely unexpected:
perilous jealousies and further betrayals, a new friendship
and a possible love. Yet all that must be put aside when the
warring French invade unsuspecting Bath—and the streets run
red with good English blood. Suddenly only the staunchly
British Damned can defend the nation they love . . . with
Jane Austen leading the charge at the battle’s forefront.
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