Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I thought this book was an interesting take on the Regency era and how it would affect a modern day girl.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “This was interesting to read (a bit too racy for me) but I was disappointed by the ending. I kept turning pages hoping to find more...but this story just doesn't really go anywhere.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“Laurie Viera Rigler’s novel Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict begins with an interesting premise for any Jane Austen fan: what if you woke up one morning and found yourself in the middle of the Regency, with folks who act and look like characters right out a Jane Austen novel? Courtney Stone, Rigler’s protagonist, is a huge Jane Austen fan. Her love life is unfulfilled. She has recently broken up with her fiancé Frank after catching him with another woman, and she has severed ties with her best friend Wes after discovering he has been complicit in helping Frank hide his dalliance. All of a sudden, she is Jane Mansfield, she’s apparently suffered a bad fall, and a doctor wants to bleed her in the hopes it will cure her.
Dana Huff wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict explores the question of how a women with 21st century attitudes might fare in early nineteenth century England. Courtney makes several missteps and finds it difficult to accept her more constrained position in Regency society. It’s a fun, light read. It’s clear Rigler has read and enjoyed Austen’s novels. The danger in associating oneself so closely with Austen is that one cannot possibly compare, and Rigler’s prose certainly suffers from the comparison. However, there are passages to admire. Rigler manages to capture Bath and London well. I found Rigler’s heroine wearing and perhaps not as sympathetic as Rigler intended. The characters in general do not sparkle with life in the same way that Austen’s characters do. Few of us, however, are up to Aunt Jane’s standard.”
“Girl wakes up in Jane Austen times...blah blah blah...there's this English guy she likes...blah blah blah. Not an original story.”
1stStreet wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Being a Jane Austen fan, the title of this book caught my attention. It is a time-travel story about a young woman from Los Angeles named Courtney Stone who wakes up Jane Austen's England and finds herself living the life of a 19th century woman named Jane Mansfield. Peppered with quotes from Austen's novels, it is an entertaining read. The follow-up book is called Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict and tells the tale of Jane Mansfield living Courtney Stone's life in mondern day LA.
Goochland Branch Library wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Read-alike: Austenland by Shannon Hale”
“I love this book! It's a perfect Jane Austen romance with a twist. The characters were well written & there is a perfect mix of humor, suspense and romance. I'm glad most of the book happened in Austen's time instead of the modern world. Her descriptions were very vivid & I love that she talked about the things left out of Austen's books (chamber pots, body odor). It felt very real & now I'm ready for some tea and a stroll through the gardens!”
pkeefe wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Courtney Stone - sassy, smart and suddenly single - has always felt she might have been better suited to life in Jane Austen's England. She senses that she would have found soul mates in Emma and Elinor, and through good times and bad S&S and P&P have been her secret under-the-duvet pleasures. One evening, having drifted off to sleep after self-medicating with pizza, Absolut, and Elizabeth and Darcy, Courtney wakes up in nineteenth-century England, in the bed (not to mention the slim and svelte body) of a girl called Jane Mansfield. At first she thinks this has to be some sort of weird dream, but slowly she becomes used to the absence of toothpaste and fat-free food, and finds herself actually enjoying Jane's life. Perhaps she could do without her wicked new 'mother' who wants to marry Jane off as soon as possible to the nearest wealthy man although this may not be such a bad thing, as the nearest wealthy man just happens to be the very dishy Charles Edgeworth. But, in becoming Jane, Courtney has left some important unfinished business behind, and she soon realises that in order to return to the present day she needs not only to solve the riddle of Jane and Charles but to get to grips with her own twenty-first-century relationship phobias along the way. A laugh-out-loud romp with a Regency heart, this delightful debut is a truly modern comedy of manners.
Janneke H wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
NBD|Biblion recensie
De Amerikaanse Courtney Stone (30), verslaafd aan de romans van Jane Austen, helemaal nu ze de man met wie ze binnenkort zou trouwen heeft betrapt met een andere vrouw, wordt wakker in een omgeving die ze niet kent. Het blijkt augustus 1813 te zijn en ze heeft de gestalte aangenomen van Jane Mansfield, dochter van rijke ouders in Zuid-Engeland, en moet nu leven als de heldinnen in de boeken van Austen. Haar moeder zet alles op alles om een man voor haar te vinden en probeert rijke weduwnaar Charles Edgeworth aan haar te koppelen. Onverwacht vindt Jane de man aantrekkelijk en treft hem ook als ze met haar nichtje in Bath logeert. Als ze na veel misverstanden de ware liefde vindt, komen heden en verleden samen. De Amerikaanse Austen-liefhebster, lid van de Jane Austen Society of North America, debuteert met deze zeer onderhoudende roman, die een goed en geestig antwoord geeft op de vraag die lezers van de romans van Austen zich vaak stellen: hoe zou het zijn om als Emma of Elizabeth te leven in 1813?”
“Almost everyone who has read Pride and Prejudice, or any of the other Jane Austen books has dreamt of being in the story of their favorite characters. That's what happens in this story when one day Courtney, a modern-day Austen addict, suddenly wakes up to find herself in Jane Austen's England, in the body of a young English woman named Jane Mansfield.
tokihasegara wrote this review Saturday, November 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Courtney finds herself confused in her new world, especially after hearing from "her" friends and family that she had fallen from her horse and had probably temporarily lost her memory. She knows she doesn't belong in that time, and can clearly remember herself living as a modern American citizen, yet memories of the girl whose body she's suppose to be claiming, arises every now and then which makes her Courtney wonder who she really is. Is she Courtney, or is she becoming Jane Mansfield? Throughout the story, the main character struggles with who she really is, and how she is suppose to act in her present England.
In the story, Courtney meets Charles Edgeworth, the man courting Jane and whom Jane had declined. Courtney becomes close to Charles as the story progresses, but later on, memories from Jane begin to confuse her and her feelings. Courtney knows Jane feels something for Charles, but at the same time, she knows that Jane is telling her to keep away from him. Eventually, Courtney finds a diary of Jane's that reveals a lot about Jane and why things are happening the way they are.
An interesting read, I was thoroughly amused with the story of the book. Like all time traveling stories go, it is always a plus to include into the book, the lifestyles of the present time into which the character is thrown. I was very glad to read Courtney's modern-day reactions to her mother, friends, and environment, as she struggled to fit into a society she was clearly not born into. It was also quite comical to see how Courtney seemed aloof at times, especially towards Charles.
What made the story interesting too was how Courtney reacted to Charles, in a way that reflected that she was both one and two personalities in one.
The thing I found most lacking in the story though was a stronger presence of other characters. Also, the ending, felt very lacking. Indeed, the epilogue was a nice read, but as to how the ending eventually moved into it, was something that the ending did not meet. Also, I wish I could have seen more conflict between Courtney's present-day needs and Jane's time. But then again, that's just me.
A very interesting read. A good way to while away the time~”
“really good so far”
Chelsea S wrote this review Tuesday, October 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great idea - wasn't executed as well as I would have liked it. Was entertaining at times, but boring at others. Will read the next book. (But definitely not buying it at 32 dollars Canadian!)”
Cheryl F wrote this review Saturday, October 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I actually enjoyed "Rude Awakenings" better. I read them out of order. I found this book to be too similar to the dozens of others about 20th century people visiting the time of Jane Austen. ”
Kari T wrote this review Tuesday, October 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
