Review of BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN

BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN
Mary Balogh,Colleen Gleason, Susan Krinard, and Janet Mullany
Harlequin, September 2010
ISBN:  978-0-373-77501-9

BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN takes four of Jane Austen's books and gives them a paranormal twist.  From a reincarnation tale of lost love, to a vampire Darcy, and an Emma with witchy powers, BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN has a little bit of everything for the paranormal lover.

Mary Balogh takes the book PERSUASION and makes it a tale of reunited love in different lifetimes.  In "Northanger Castle" Ms. Gleason takes the Gothic feel of NORTHANGER ABBY and adds vampires to the mix and an over imaginative heroine, who likes to read Gothic novels.  "Blood and Prejudice" takes the beloved characters of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and puts them in modern day America, although Mr. Darcy, a more than 200 year old vampire, is probably more at home in a regency setting.  Finally, Ms. Mullany puts Emma in a modern setting and makes her the stand-in owner of a dating agency, who just happens to be a witch.

Of the four stories, "Northanger Castle" and " A Little to Hex Her" have a few chuckle-worthy moments, and although I found Emma a bit annoying at some points, I quite enjoyed both of these.  "Blood and Prejudice" takes my favorite book and reworks it quite well, although Ms. Krinard's Lizzy isn't exactly the same as I imagine a modern Lizzy to be.  While the only similarity between Ms. Balogh's story and the original is the setting and the theme of reunited love, it still makes for an enjoyable read.

All in all, reading BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN is a nice way to spend an afternoon.  I recommend it to the Jane Austen lovers, who enjoy paranormals.

NOTE:  I received this copy in return for an impartial review.