[amazon_link id=”1608196259″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Title : Midnight in Austenland
Author : Shannon Hale
Genre : Romance/Mystery
Publisher : Bloomsbury
Source : NetGalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3/5

I decided to read this book, because my daughter has read a number of Hale’s YA books and recommended her, when I asked her about the author. Also this book has an Austen-ian story-line, and that’s always a plus! I expected a light-hearted mystery-romance, and that’s pretty much what I got.

American Charlotte Kinder, a single, professionally successful mom of two, has booked herself into Pembrook Park which is a vacation retreat offering an immersive Jane Austen experience. This means that Charlotte and her co-vacationers live at the stately manor and dress, talk and eat in the style of the era. Each guest of Pembrook Park is assigned a persona, and actors help guests fulfill their Austenian fantasies.

When Charlotte reaches her destination in England, she discovers that she is to “be” widowed Mrs. Charlotte Cordial during her vacation. Pembrook Park is run by Mrs. Wattlesbrook, aided by male actors who play the characters of Colonel Andrews, Mr. Mallery and Mr. Edmund Grey. Charlotte is to be Edmunds’s sister and discovers with time that Mr. Malley is her Designated Love Interest. All three men are very handsome, and Charlotte finds herself “awash in an ocean of attractiveness”.

Apparently Mrs. Wattlesbrook only hired eye candy. While the colonel had a roguish appeal, Edmund was handsome in a cheery way. His slightest smile produced Death Star-size dimples in both cheeks, and his blue eyes sparkled in the candlelight. Not just metaphorically. Truly sparkled.

The other two guests at Pembrook Park are Miss. Elizabeth Charming, and Miss Lydia Gardensdale. Everything is going fairly well until an unexpected and unpleasant guest arrives. Soon after Charlotte discovers a body, which goes missing leading everyone (including Charlotte herself) to believe that the body might have been a product of her fertile imagination. However when things take a turn for the unpleasant, she must gird her loins corset and let loose the investigator within . . .

This is a simple mystery with elements of romance. I liked Charlotte’s character – it was strong, and funny and brave. Hale makes Charlotte a heroine easy to sympathize with, interspersing her time at Pembrook Park with details on her earlier marriage and divorce, and brings through Charlotte’s feelings on the subject quite nicely. Hale’s writing is infused with humor, and Charlotte thinks some very laugh-out-loud thoughts. sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Yes, Charlotte is quirky and flippant:

Charlotte had been to parties in some impressive mansions back home, but they were weak sauce compared with this big, old stone house.

The one problem I did have this book was that Charlotte’s character did seem a tad juvenile – curious and given to whimsy (and yes, amusing) but at times just not well-thought-out, something I was expecting from a successful business-woman. I might have enjoyed this book more had Charlotte’s character had more heft. Still, this was a quick and breezy read, and I would recommend this to people looking for a light-hearted romantic mystery.