Blog Tour of “Dangerous To Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues” edited by Christina Boyd

This time it is the “bad boys” who fill the pages, the ones that you actually hate or despise but at the same time you could have a soft spot for them because maybe they redeem themselves or maybe because they are actually not so bad… (wait until you know more).

ABOUT DANGEROUS TO KNOW: JANES AUSTEN’S RAKES & GENTLEMEN ROGUES

“One has all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.” —Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s masterpieces are littered with unsuitable gentlemen—Willoughby, Wickham, Churchill, Crawford, Tilney, Elliot, et al.—adding color and depth to her plots but often barely sketched. Have you never wondered about the pasts of her rakes, rattles, and gentlemen rogues? Surely, there’s more than one side to their stories.

It is a universal truth, we are captivated by smoldering looks, daring charms … a happy-go-lucky, cool confidence. All the while, our loyal confidants are shouting on deaf ears: “He is a cad—a brute—all wrong!” But is that not how tender hearts are broken…by loving the undeserving? How did they become the men Jane Austen created? In this romance anthology, eleven Austenesque authors expose the histories of Austen’s anti-heroes.

Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues is a titillating collection of Georgian era short stories—a backstory or parallel tale off-stage of canon—whilst remaining steadfast to the characters we recognize in Austen’s great works.

What say you? Everyone may be attracted to a bad boy…even temporarily…but heaven help us if we marry one.

In Dangerous To Know we have eleven stories about eleven rakes or rogues who were created by Jane Austen. However, their differences cannot be greater, on one hand we have Willoughby and  Crawford, who I cannot stand, and on the other hand we can see Colonel Fitzwilliam and Thomas Bertram, who I like. There are other characters as well, as you have read above, but I can tell you already that these stories could make you like them or at least understand the reason why they turned out as they did. Although, I am going to be very mean and I have to say that I still do not like, for instance Willoughby even if Joana’s story is really good.

Redemption is a difficult word for characters that you have already “judged” but some of these stories are going to be difficult to ignore… I am mainly thinking about Wickham (you will have to read it!).

I have dearly enjoyed Dangerous to Know but I believe that I will always like The Darcy Monologues a bit better 🙂

I got an ARC copy and asked if I wanted to do a review and I was glad to do it but you can always buy your copy and super enjoy these stories with the baddies from Jane Austen’s dear novels.

Amazon UK      Amazon US      Amazon CA       Amazon DE

 

I highly recommend you to check the authors, who are superb and have great stories for you to read and enjoy: Karen M Cox, J. Marie Croft, Amy D’Orazio, Jenetta James, Lona Manning, Christina Morland, Beau North, Katie Oliver, Sophia Rose, Joana Starnes and Brooke West. Their work is amazing but I cannot forget another key person in creating Dangerous To Know, the editor Christina Boyd.

Apart from reading it, listen to songs that connect with the stories, check the Spotify list here.