The regency romance that I didn't know I needed!!!
Bell has put time travel, 2 rival actors who cannot stand each other, the most sensitive heartfelt family, grief and an incredibly romantic slow burn romance all in one book.

Seriously binge-able, Madeline Bell introduces us to Tess Bright and Hugh Balfour when they are co-starring for a Jane Austen adaptation, when they accidentally time travel back 200 years, where they are completely caught in a dilemma, filled with everything that is to be loved about a regency romance.

There is a beauty in the message that Bell bring, time with loved ones will never compare, and love will happen at it's own time. There are beautiful, tear worthy, lovable, family filled moments in the story that not only every regency reader needs to read, but anyone who loves love. Madeline depicts so many of these topics extremely well in the book, to read The Austen Affair, is a treat.

There are contents of grief mentioned in the book that should be brought to a reader's attention.

Ever grateful to read this incredible story by Madeline Bell, the easiest 5 star read!!!

As you begin reading you find yourself on the set of a play where the actor and actress are not getting along. Hugh Balford is a well-known stage actor, ignoring the leading lady, Tess Bright They begin fighting, fall down, finding themselves lost in the Regency Era as a buggy with a man and woman appear. Hugh is recognized by Dr. Goddard and his wife as the son of Edward Balford where he is thought to have died during the 1719 -1820 Napoleonic Wars.
The Goddards are close friends of the Balfords and insist on taking them to Hugh’s ancestrial home. As they arrive, both Hugh and his Balford family, from his aging father to a young brother are stunned to be reunited.
Hugh introduces Mrs.Tess Bright as the widow of a friend who died in the war who has no family as they begin to pretend they are living in this time. As they enter the village, Tess whispers to Hugh:
“We are essentially astronauts for the past! One small step for woman, one gigantic leap for Austen aficionados.”
Imagine yourself stepping into Austen’s familiar world with this author’s
real-to-life, unusually descriptive characters. This is history that carries you over into the present using colorful, enchanting words and shocking events which you
will have to wait to read for yourself.
Will Hugh and Tess find an electric machine that will carry them back home?
This historical period that will inform you and touch you with many feelings.

I'm a huge Austen fan and this time-travelling romance novel was simply delightful! Classic enemies to lovers.

Tess and Hugh are set to star together in the newest release of Northanger Abbey. Tess is a lifelong Austen fan and set on playing the lead role as it helps her feel connected to her dearly departed mother; she will do anything to not mess up this chance. Hugh is a legit movie star who is broody and, frankly, not very nice. Quite unexpectedly, the two are transported back 200 years to the time of the great Jane Austen herself. From there, they must work together to find a way back home.



Thank you to NetGalley, author Madeline Bell and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for this digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC! I was really looking forward to The Austen Affair—a modern spin on Austen with a bookish twist sounded right up my alley.

Unfortunately, the story didn’t quite land for me. The writing style felt confused and uneven, which made it hard to stay engaged. The prose and dialogue often felt unbalanced, fluctuating between Regency-style language and contemporary slang randomly thrown in. Even though the main character is a modern-day actress from Southern California, her voice didn’t reflect that at all when she spoke (I don’t mean while pretending to be accurate to the era) which made her feel less authentic.

I did think the characters had good depth individually, and I appreciated some of the dynamics at play. But when it came to the romantic connection, there just wasn’t much emotional weight behind it. I didn’t really feel the bond developing, which made it hard to root for the relationship.

Overall, this had some interesting ideas and potential, but the inconsistent tone and lack of emotional depth made it a bit of a miss for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I love Jane Austen, so this novel was appealing to me based on the title alone! It really delivered on the Austen references and setting too - they were sprinkled throughout, and made it really fun to read.

This book involves time travel, which is a little harder for me to get behind. I wanted the relationship between the characters to really shine, and it felt like that became so much of the focus, but I likely should have expected that too, hahaha. I did enjoy how they fell in love, and how they worked together.

I started out really enjoying this book. Northanger Abbey is one of my favorite Jane Austen books and it gets so little attention so I was excited to see it get the spotlight here. But then there was actually hardly anything about the book in the book at all, so that was a little disappointing. In the modern times at the beginning of the novel I liked Tess, but almost the second she traveled back in time I found her insufferable. I had to step away from the book for about a week because I just could not stand her - she was whiny, passive aggressive, and self-absorbed. Her getting drunk at her first official dinner did not exactly endear her to me either. What I found most interesting about her was that she had this pathological need to be liked but all of her interactions with people actually felt a little manufactured, like she was not a genuine person. There is a part where Tess tells Hugh he should get counseling but I was left wondering if Tess ever considered getting therapy herself. It is so clear that she has not processed her mother's death and instead pushed everyone away Hugh's part in this entire story was way more interesting than Tess's but he existed more on the edges of this story and was ultimately only there as a romantic interest for Tess. The parts where we got to know more about him and why he tended to be so uptight and rigid were the best in the book. Which is why I found it frustrating that she never told Hugh everything she had come to love about him (we know as readers but she never actually says those things to him) but we had to sit through him telling her how amazing she was. My least favorite part of the novel was Tess trying to make Cecelia be her friend. All Tess needed to do was give a heartfelt apology for how everything that was happening was causing Cecelia pain, but instead she only thought of how the situation impacted her. I found myself going back and forth between liking and not liking this book. Overall, it was an okay read. It has some really enjoyable parts, but does not exactly break new ground narrative wise.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this arc of The Austen Affair.

When going into this, I was just excited to read something related to Jane Austen, since I’ve been meaning to dig more into her novels. This novel was beyond anything I had imagined. It was such a wonderful, deep,swoonworthy and fun experience.

This book had a very fun premise and made me want to rewatch Emma. It was lacking in plot with stakes once the time travel happened since you know it all isn’t going to matter anyway when they go home, but the writing was good and there was a lot of good dialogue and banter between the two main characters. The side characters varied, some were very strong and some weren’t as strong. Overall, the relationship wasn’t super interesting to me as honestly the two main characters were kind of boring. Their backstories weren’t that interesting and I think having dual POV would’ve helped.

Also I feel like this goes without saying but there are a LOT of Austen references so if you don’t know much about her books you probably won’t enjoy this.

Actors in the upcoming Northanger Abbey movie, Tess Bright & High Balfour, are enemies. Hugh is pompous, and Tess is a mess. When a sudden accident sends them two hundred years in the past, they must learn to depend on each other, and even fall in love!

I am a Jane Austen addict and will gladly read almost any adaptation and retelling. The Austen Affair was a cute premise that combined time travel with the challenge of fitting into a different world. Tess and Hugh are a classic enemies-to-lovers/grump v sunshine couple that will make romance readers delight.

Advanced reader copy provided by St Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

cue mr.darcy hand flex 😮‍💨

If you are a fan of regency romance, Jane Austen, The Austen Affair is the perfect novel for you.

Starting off in present day we have Tess Bright an up and coming actress who has had a long stint on a tv show but is looking to make her mark on Hollywood. We also have Hugh Balfour an established method actor who is grumpy and terrible to work with. After an accident on set they are transported 200 years in the past to regency era England. Where Hugh is recognized as his believed to be dead great -great-great-great uncle.

As Tess and Hugh navigate through the past in hopes of finding their way back home. They develop an undeniable connection that will hopefully test the planes of time and follow them home.

This book was so charming and cute. All the side characters were spectacular in their own way. Especially little Georgie.

This had a really cute concept, but by about the 50% mark I was bored with everything and just ready to be done!

Super fun book! I love Jane Austen and I was really intrigued when I read the synopsis for this book. It definitely took me a while to actually get into the story, but once I did it was really fun. I struggled a lot to actually believe that Tess and Hugh grew to like each other. Their hatred at the beginning of the book really made me wonder how they could both just stop hating the other. The reasons too were really deep-seeded, and I struggled to believe they just changed their opinions so quickly? Tess literally slapped him right before they were zapped to the past, and it was only sort of addressed before the time travel part started.

I also couldn't get on board with the time travel aspect, meaning SOMETHING more serious should've happened in the future because Hugh interacted with his direct ancestors! That was insane and there's no way he didn't absolutely upset the space time continuum because of that. The time travel overall was very messily worked with, and there should've been more consequences, or they should've worked harder to not screw it all up. Hugh (the old Hugh) literally died in Waterloo and you're telling me Hugh (present day) pretending to be him DOESN'T mess up the timeline??? Yeah okay. Either way, it was a fun read, but I could've believe the timeline wasn't irreparably damaged because of Tess and Hugh.

4.75 stars
i’m a sucker for austen themed books and i absolutely loved this one! them being actors for northhanger abbey and then getting sent back in time was amazing and i loved the romance and the plot!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell follows quarreling co-stars of a new adaptation of Northanger Abbey Tess Bright and Hugh Balfour, who after an on-set accident end up back in Regency England in the town of Hugh’s ancestors. Will they be able to blend in and work together to get back to the present day or will their actions alter the future?

There is no other way to say this except that I loved this book. I loved Tess and Hugh and the hints of Lost in Austen. I wanted to read faster to find out what happened but also wanted to slow down to savour the story as much as possible. There is a fair amount of character growth for both of our leads and the secondary characters are lovely. This book has all the hallmarks of forced proximity and enemies to lovers, but it is so much more than that. It is clever, and funny and deals with different forms of grief in heartfelt ways. It’s a definite reread for me!

Thanks to NetGalley, Madeline Bell, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. This was a fun, light read filled with plenty of Austen Easter eggs. Hugh Balfour and Tess Bright meet on the set of Northanger Abbey, and it’s definitely not love at first sight. When an electrical accident sends them back in time to Jane Austen’s era, they have to put their differences aside and work together to find their way back. I really enjoyed all the references to Austen and the Regency era. It’s perfect for anyone who’s watched all the Pride & Prejudice adaptations and wishes they could step into those dresses. My only wish is that there was a bit more romance, since it sometimes took a backseat to the historical fun. Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable and charming story.

This was kinda wild and out there but pretty fun. I found it slow to get into. Maybe because I’ve met some method actors in my time and they give me the ick, I found Hugh a hurdle to jump over more than an interesting contribution to the story, but once I just accepted it for what it was and rolled with the insanity I had a good time.

The Austen Affair is an absolutely delightful time travel enemies to lovers romance. It made me smile and was perfect summer reading. The romance takes place in Jane Austen’s day, but the main characters are from the present, so it’s more modern romance than historical. The book does have a sprinkling of curse words and one sex scene, which I skipped.
I loved these characters and how they had to become vulnerable to understand each other. Watching them fall in love was charming and heartwarming. I highly recommend this one!
Thanks to @stmartinspress for the advance digital copy.

I've seen a few books with the time travel to the Regency period trope (is it a trope?) and I'm here for it.

The Austen Affair sucked me in right away. Tess was likeable and sympathetic at the beginning of the story while Hugh was appropriately Darcy-esque. The stakes for Tess in present day felt important and urgent and the time travel setup made sense--as much as it can.

I found myself giggling through the first third or so, delighted by the silliness of the antics. I really loved Hugh's (and Tess's) relationships with the people in the past, which developed even more as the story progressed. The middle slowed down for me; there were several instances where the pacing felt off, as though scenes were missing, and times when character motivations didn't make sense. One moment, Tess is infuriated at Hugh for assuming she's sexually involved with a man just because they appeared to be overly friendly. The next minute, she's assuming the same thing of him! That irked me and felt contrived, just to heighten the romantic tension between Tess and Hugh. However, I got sucked back in towards the end and finished on a positive note.

Tess's foray into the literal past as a metaphor for her unwillingness to let go of her past with her mother was poignant and surprisingly powerful. The time-travel added a fun element to what is otherwise a contemporary romance. Overall, this book was charming with hidden depth.

Love me a good Jane Austen-adjacent story, and one that comes with time travel?? Yes, please.

I started The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell while in active labor (truly), and it was the perfect escape. Two bickering co-stars filming a Jane Austen adaptation somehow end up in the Regency era, and chaos ensues. Sure, the premise is wild, but I loved how MFC Tess navigates both 19th-century society and practical things like how to brush her teeth.

This was cute! As a love of Jane Austen, I was very excited to dive into this and while a cute, wholesome read, I am not as obsessed as I had expected. Still a solid read and good time