Author: Karen Doornebos

Karen Doornebos combines fiction writing with an award-winning advertising career, drawing her novels from an interest in Jane Austen and experience living in London. A life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, she has written about Regency culture while setting her stories in contemporary circumstances. Definitely Not Mr. Darcy, published by Berkley in 2011, follows divorced Chicago business owner Chloe Parker into a reality program staged as an immersive Regency house party. Chloe expects period manners and possible prize money, but the production's rules, rivalries, and concealed cameras complicate both ambition and romance. The novel combines contemporary romantic comedy with Austen-inspired social observation rather than retelling a single Austen plot. Doornebos later published Undressing Mr. Darcy, extending her playful engagement with literary fandom and modern media. Definitely Not Mr. Darcy established her book-length fiction career and reflects the contrast at the center of her work: affection for historical detail placed against the pressures, performances, and practical concerns of present-day life.