A Regency-Era Time Travel Rom-Com
The Austen Affair
Time Travel Romances, Regency Romances, Women's Literature & Fiction
St. Martin's Griffin
September 16, 2025
Ebook, Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook
336
Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut.
Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It's not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way―well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.
A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry―and Tess’s career depends on it.
Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.
A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum.
Time Travel & Regency-Era Romance? Yes, Please!
The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell surprised me with its warmth and emotional depth. I expected a fun, Austen-inspired rom-com with a time-travel twist; instead, I found a tender story about two people navigating grief, love, and the unexpected future they discover in each other.
Tess Bright and Hugh Balfour deliver a classic grumpy/sunshine dynamic—messy vs. meticulous, open-hearted vs. reserved. Their chemistry feels authentically Austen-esque yet refreshingly modern, and I loved watching their slow-burn connection unfold.
When Tess returns to acting for the first time since her mother’s death, she lands the role of Catherine Morland in a new Northanger Abbey adaptation. Stepping back into the spotlight becomes a tribute to her mother, a lifelong Austen fan. Grief—Tess’s and later Hugh’s—quietly threads through the narrative, grounding the romance with real emotional stakes.
After Tess and Hugh are suddenly transported to the Regency era, Tess sees the experience as a gift from the universe, a chance to honor her mother in the world she adored. But even across centuries, hearts still need mending. In tentative and tender steps, she and Hugh begin to find healing in one another.
One passage captures this arc beautifully:
“A ripple of grief and despair runs through me, like a fever laying waste to my body. I am flung back into a Thousand Oaks bedroom with the lights out, curtains drawn. I have had a love, but not the kind she means. And I realize, suddenly, that to be thrown back into that room…at some point I had to have left it. I believe I only truly left that room when I turned a corner with Hugh. So slowly I was not conscious of it.”
As a devoted Austen fan, I came for the world—wandering Regency gardens, dancing at candlelit balls—but I stayed for the heart. Bell delivers a swoony, heartfelt romance that honors Austen while carving out something unique.
I’d recommend Madeline Bell’s The Austen Affair as your next time travel rom-com!
Celeste is a woman who is unwavering about certain things in life; three of those being books, cats, and cold brew coffee. If she can enjoy all three at the same time, it’s going to be a good day. Her favorite genres are fantasy or sci-fi romance, historical romance, and historical fiction but every few books she likes to mix it up with contemporary fiction, a good psychological thriller, or an inspiring memoir. She has a busy schedule working full-time for an online university but she makes sure to unwind each day with stories, either by reading to her elementary school-aged daughter or tucking herself in bed with her Kindle or the latest book she picked up at a local book store.
