Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues

One has all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it. –Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s masterpieces are littered with unsuitable gentlemen–Willoughby, Wickham, Churchill, Crawford, Tilney, Elliot, et al.–adding color and depth to her plots but often barely sketched. Have you never wondered about the pasts of her rakes, rattles, and gentlemen rogues? Surely, there’s more than one side to their stories.

It is a universal truth, we are captivated by smoldering looks, daring charms … a happy-go-lucky, cool confidence. All the while, our loyal confidants are shouting on deaf ears: He is a cad–a brute–all wrong! But is that not how tender hearts are broken…by loving the undeserving? How did they become the men Jane Austen created? In this romance anthology, eleven Austenesque authors expose the histories of Austen’s anti-heroes.

Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues is a titillating collection of Georgian era short stories–a backstory or parallel tale off-stage of canon–whilst remaining steadfast to the characters we recognize in Austen’s great works.

What say you? Everyone may be attracted to a bad boy…even temporarily…but heaven help us if we marry one.