In a word, delightful. That Michael Thomas Ford can weave a great story should be no surprise to anyone who has read his work, but the ability to mix vampires, romance conferences, and an undead Jane Austen into something this joyfully fun will likely take you aback. Jane Fairfax (the vampiric Jane Austen's current nom de plume) is in a rut at the beginning of the tale - her last manuscript has been rejected by publishers for centuries, her bookstore is selling puppets, her previous works are flying off the shelves - and earning her no royalties, and the only fellow in her life is her cat, Tom. It's enough to make a lady wonder if she still has anything to live - or unlive - for. Success, fame, old flames and new flames, and jealous rivals are just the thing needed to get the blood pumping. Now all Jane has to do is survive. The cleverness of this plot had me laughing out loud - something that garnered me a lot of odd looks as I was listening to this as an unabridged audiobook - often on the bus rides to and from work. The narrator was phenomenal, carrying Austen's voice with a natural aplomb. I can't wait for more.

Absolutely fantastic. Ford weaves a wonderful tale that will leave you waiting for the sequel.

What if Jane Austen was still alive and a vampire! Thus is the premise of this imaginative novel by Michael Thomas Ford. Jane Austen, now a vampire for the past 232 years and living by the name Jane Fairfax, lives in a small town in upstate New York and owns a book store. Frustrated by her inability to get her last novel published, Jane is content to spend her days anonymously and quiet. That is until an interest in her book thrusts her into the spotlight again. But along with fame comes a little danger for someone like Jane Austen, when something threatens to ruin her new found fame. Hopping on the bandwagon of vampire fiction, this is a somewhat humorous and unique story of what it would be like if someone as famous as Jane Austen were still living as a vampire. One of the first things that struck me was the easy and fluid nature of the dialogue and writing. It shows that Ford is very good at writing for his characters. The characters were drawn very realistically and vividly, at times feeling like they could be real people and it was interesting to see a famous, classic author presented so realistically. It was funny to see Austen having to hide her identity among the throng of Jane Austen fans and being embarrassed by the huge popularity of the Austen culture. I was totally immersed in this book, however at times the story seemed a little weak, *(spoiler) like when Jane leaves her friends at the sushi restaurant after getting a call that there has been a fire at her book store and arriving at the book store to find that her friends are already there. But I couldn’t put this book down. Aside from the title of this book, which I think was a very bad choice; I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and recommend it to all the vampire fiction and Jane Austen fans out there. Story **** Characters **** Readability ***** Overall rating ****