Celebrating 'Undressing Mr. Darcy' and a Great Giveaway!

UPDATE: Congrats to Edie Ramer who won the copy of Karen's book, Undressing Mr. Darcy!!

Today, it's my pleasure to have my friend and Austen Author pal Karen Doornebos as my special blog guest and to get to celebrate the launch of her latest release: UNDRESSING MR. DARCY, a new Austen-inspired story!! Just check out the very fun premise below:

Taking it off in the name of history…
Thirty-five-year-old American social media master Vanessa Roberts lives her thoroughly modern life with aplomb. So when her elderly Jane Austen–centric aunt needs her to take on the public relations for Julian Chancellor, a very private man from England who’s written a book called My Year as Mr. Darcy, Vanessa agrees. But she’s not “excessively diverted,” as Jane Austen would say.

Hardbound books, teacups, and quill pens fly in the face of her e-reader, coffee, and smartphone…

…Until she sees Julian take his tight breeches off for his Undressing Mr. Darcy show, an educational “striptease” down to his drawers to promote his book and help save his crumbling estate. The public relations expert suddenly realizes things have gotten…personal. But can this old-fashioned man claim her heart without so much as a GPS? It will take three festivals filled with Austen fans, a trip to England, an old frenemy, and a flirtatious pirate re-enactor to find out…

Karen is here to take us on an excursion to Twinings in London and to share with us some of her inspiration behind the writing of her second novel... Welcome, Karen!!

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Hello from Twinings Tea in London!

As an ice-breaker to each leg of my Blog Tour for UNDRESSING MR. DARCY, I’m taking you along for a ride to England, where I traveled during the summer of 2012 to do some research for the book.

Where am I on this stop? The fragrant tea shop on the Strand in London where Jane Austen herself shopped: Twinings. I set a scene in UNDRESSING MR. DARCY in this very shop! They have a tea bar in the back of the store where you can sample various teas and a “museum” set in among the shelves that brings to life not only the history of Twinings, but the history of tea itself. If you are ever in London it’s worth a visit!

Thank you, Marilyn, for hosting me…

I’d like to thank my fellow Austen Author, Marilyn, for having me visit today! You are one of my favorite authors and so inspiring! Not too long ago you revealed that your husband proposed to you on London Bridge—how romantic! How great that you and your family just went on a whim back to London and had a fabulous time. I’m sure that with your books ACCORDING TO JANE and PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, your readers need no introduction to Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy…

So, what’s up with this Undressing thing?

Imagine a history lesson where you watch a very handsome Regency gentleman lecture about his clothing as he proceeds to take it off—down to his drawers. This is the premise of UNDRESSING MR. DARCY!

As I was researching male clothing for my first novel, DEFINITELY NOT MR. DARCY, I stumbled across an English website called The History Wardrobe and they had a show called Undressing Mr. Darcy in which a man disrobed while a woman lectured about his clothing. The show is no longer staged, unfortunately, but I have learned that there is a Dressing Mr. Darcy show in Louisville at the Jane Austen Society of North America’s Jane Austen Festival in the summer.

It wasn’t long after learning about the show Undressing Mr. Darcy that I came up with:

He’s an old-fashioned, hardcover book reader who writes in quill pen and hails from England. She’s an American social media addict. Can he find his way to her heart without so much as a GPS?

The rest is…history! Well, fun history. I also tossed a pirate into the mix. Not a real pirate, but a modern guy who, in his spare time, does some pirate reenacting. Did I mention he looks a lot like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean?

You can read the first chapter here!

Buy now at Berkley Penguin – Indiebound - Amazon – B&N – Kobo – BAM - iTunes    

WIN!

Brant Flakes readers, comment below for your chance to win a copy of UNDRESSING MR. DARCY… If you’re stumped for what to say, you can tell me what appeals to you about UNDRESSING MR. DARCY! To increase your chances of winning you can share this post on your Facebook page or Twitter—let us know you’ve done that! You can also increase your odds by following me on Twitter or Facebook, or, if you’re not already, following Marilyn on her social media—don’t forget to let us know about it in your comment, thanks! Contest limited to US entrants only.

Mr. Darcy’s Stripping Off…

One of his stockings. Look at those shapely calves! At each blog stop Mr. Darcy will strip off another piece of clothing. Keep track of each item in chronological order and at then end of the tour you can enter to win a GRAND PRIZE of the book, “DO NOT DISTURB I’m Undressing Mr. Darcy” door hangers for you and your friends, tea, and a bottle of wine (assuming I can legally ship it to your state). US entries only, please.

Karen Doornebos is the author of UNDRESSING MR. DARCY published by Berkley, Penguin and available here or at your favorite bookstore. Her first novel, DEFINITELY NOT MR. DARCY, has been published in three countries and was granted a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly. Karen lived and worked in London for a short time, but is now happy just being a lifelong member of the Jane Austen Society of North America and living in the Chicagoland area with her husband, two teenagers and various pets—including a bird. Speaking of birds, follow her on Twitter and Facebook! She hopes to see you there, on her website www.karendoornebos.com and her group blog with Marilyn: Austen Authors.

JOIN THE BLOG TOUR:

12/3: The Penguin Blog

Launch! 12/3: Austenprose

12/4 Laura’s Review Bookshelf and JaneBlog

12/5 Chick Lit Plus - Review

12/6 Austen Authors

12/9 Fresh Fiction

12/10 Writings and Ramblings

12/11 Brant Flakes and Skipping Midnight

12/12 Risky Regencies Q&A

12/13 Books by Banister

Jane Austen’s 238^th Birthday! 12/16 Jane Austen in Vermont, My Jane Austen Book Club and Author Exposure Q&A

12/17 Literally Jen

12/18 Savvy Verse & Wit - Review

12/19 Kritters Ramblings

12/20 Booking with Manic- Review

12/23 BookNAround

12/26 My 5 Monkeys - Review

12/27 All Grown Up - Review

12/30 Silver’s Reviews

1/2 Dew on the Kudzu

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Karen, thank you again for visiting us, for the great giveaway opportunity, and for letting us know about all of the cool stops on your tour. HUGE CONGRATS on this new book!! You know I can't wait to read it ;). xox