Caldwell-117bJack Caldwell, born and raised in the Bayou County of Louisiana, is an author, amateur historian, professional economic developer, playwright, and like many Cajuns, a darn good cook.

His nickname — The Cajun Cheesehead — came from his devotion to his two favorite NFL teams: the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers. (Every now and then, Jack has to play the DVD again to make sure the Saints really won in 2010.)

Always a history buff, Jack found and fell in love with Jane Austen in his twenties, struck by her innate understanding of the human condition. Jack uses his work to share his knowledge of history. Through his characters, he hopes the reader gains a better understanding of what went on before, developing an appreciation for our ancestors’ trials and tribulations.

When not writing or traveling with Barbara, Jack attempts to play golf. A devout convert to Roman Catholicism, Jack is married with three grown sons.

Learn more about Jack and his numerous Austen fiction writings at Ramblings of a Cajun in Exile.  Follow Jack on Facebook and on Twitter @JCaldwell25

~ Jack’s Novels ~

PemberleyRanch_Final_CVR_tnPemberley Ranch

When the smoke has cleared from the battlefields and the civil war has finally ended, fervent Union supporter Beth Bennet reluctantly moves with her family from their home in Meryton, Ohio, to the windswept plains of Rosings, Texas. Handsome, haughty Will Darcy, a Confederate officer back from the war, owns half the land around Rosings, and his even haughtier cousin, Cate Burroughs, owns the other half.

In a town as small as Rosings, Beth and Will inevitably cross paths. But as Will becomes enchanted with the fiery Yankee, Beth won’t allow herself to warm to the man who represents the one thing she hates most: the army that killed her only brother.

But when carpetbagger George Whitehead arrives in Rosings, all that Beth thought to be true is turned on its head, and the only man who can save her home is the one she swore she’d never trust…

MDCTD_coverMr. Darcy Came to Dinner

In this humorous re-imagining of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s pet cat causes an unfortunate accident to befall the haughty Mr. Darcy, forcing the injured gentleman to reluctantly take up residence at Longbourn — more specifically, in the parlor of Longbourn! In pain, forbidden to leave by his doctors, Mr. Darcy cannot escape the ridiculous antics of the Bennet clan. And when Georgiana Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh arrive to visit the invalid, chaos, confusion and hilarity ensue!

Inspired by the classics of comedy, author Jack Caldwell transforms Austen’s beloved novel into a tour de force of farce. The Regency will never be the same!

COHFL_cover_webThe Companion of His Future Life

One of the great “what-ifs” among Pride & Prejudice aficionados is: if Mr. Collins married Mary Bennet instead of Charlotte Lucas, how would that influence Mr. Darcy’s dogged pursuit of the elusive Elizabeth?

In this breezy and hilarious re-telling of Jane Austin’s classic novel, the author explores what would have changed — and what would have not — had two of literature’s most self-righteous characters found their way together. Jane goes with Elizabeth to Kent, and the fur flies! A wonderful, mad-cap romp!

~ JANE AUSTEN’S FIGHTING MEN SERIES ~

Three Colonels090111a_tnThe Three Colonels

Love reigns supreme for Colonels Buford, Fitzwilliam, and Brandon as our brave fighting men are enjoying their courtships and early married lives with three beloved Austen heroines. The couples lead tranquil lives — until Napoleon escapes from exile.

As the colonels set out to meet their destiny on the fields of Waterloo, Anne, Caroline, and Marianne defend their hearts against the fear of losing their loved ones forever.

From the serenity of Regency England to the scandal and intrigue of the Congress of Vienna, three gentlemen live, love, fight, and defend their country from Napoleon’s voracious ambition.

Book One of the Jane Austen’s Fighting Men.

Pimpernel cover_500x762The Last Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel

The worlds of Jane Austen and the Baroness Orczy combine in a swashbuckling tale from the author of The Three Colonels.

Captain Frederick Tilney, dashing cavalry officer and rakish heir to Northanger Abbey, is interested only in fencing and carousing. That is, until he meets the girl of his dreams, the lovely and intriguing Violet Blakeney.

However, her father is not convinced of Frederick’s pledge to reform and the officer is banished from Violet’s presence. The baronet has a will of iron, for he is none other than Sir Percy Blakeney—the retired Scarlet Pimpernel!

Now, during the Hundred Days Crisis, an evil from the Pimpernel’s past menaces the Blakeney family while Sir Percy is crippled by age. Frederick must convince the baronet to accept his assistance in accomplishing the impossible—take on an entire country to recuse the girl they both love.

Book Two of Jane Austen’s Fighting Men.

Persuaded to Sail

The long-awaited sequel to Jane Austen’s final novel, Persuasion.

After an eight-year separation and a tumultuous reunion, Anne Elliot marries the dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth. The pair looks forward to an uneventful honeymoon cruise aboard the HMS Laconia.

But the bride and groom find the seas of matrimony rough. Napoleon has escaped from Elba, the country is at war with France again, and the Admiralty imposes on Wentworth a mysterious passenger on a dangerous secret mission. The good captain is caught between duty to his country and love for his wife.

All eyes are trained for enemies without, but the greatest menace may already be on board…

Book Three of Jane Austen’s Fighting Men.

Brother of the Bride

A sequel to Pride and Prejudice and The Three Colonels.

In 1816, everyone thinks—with the Napoleonic wars over and done—that life in England will be peaceful. Not necessarily.

For four wonderful years, Fitzwilliam Darcy has joyfully lived at his beloved Pemberley with his adored wife, Elizabeth, precious young son, Bennet, and cherished sister, Georgiana, by his side. All this is about to change; Georgiana has fallen in love. In quick succession, the Darcys agree to take in the young and spirited daughter of the widowed Lydia Wickham and then learn that Elizabeth is expecting another child.

Now—with a wedding to plan, a baby on the way, interfering relations invading Pemberley, and a new ward turning the place upside down—the question becomes: How will Mr. Darcy maintain his sanity?

Book Four of Jane Austin’s Fighting Men.

Rosings Park – A Story of Jane Austen’s Fighting Men

A decade ago, groundbreaking novel THE THREE COLONELS began the epic Jane Austen’s Fighting Men series and transformed Austenesque literature with its blend of Regency romance and historical fiction.

ROSINGS PARK is its long-awaited conclusion!

The Napoleonic Wars are finally over, and Britain seeks to rebuild after a generation of war. Gone is the “green and pleasant land” of the early Regency. In its place, a natural disaster on the other side of the world exacerbates the country’s woes: economic depression, widespread hunger, industrialization, and civil unrest. Great Britain faces ruin and revolution.

Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy agree to take in the young and spirited daughter of Lydia Wickham, and all the while, their beloved Pemberley is being endangered by riotous Luddites.

Colonel Sir Richard Fitzwilliam marries Anne de Bourgh but finds the management of Rosings Park no easy matter, especially with Lady Catherine de Bourgh ready and eager to offer advice.

Haunted by despair and gravely wounded in body and spirit, a bitter Colonel Sir John Buford returns to England to be nursed by his wife, the former Caroline Bingley.

Then, an evil out of the past returns to wreak vengeance on Rosings Park, and the Darcys, Fitzwilliams, Bufords, and their friends face a devastating truth:

HAPPILY EVER AFTER MUST BE EARNED.

Book Five of Jane Austen’s Fighting Men.

~ CRESCENT CITY SERIES ~

Plains_cover_500x762The Plains of Chalmette: a Story of Crescent City

It is 1814, and America’s second war against Great Britain is going badly. Now the enemy is ready for its knock-out punch. They seek to take New Orleans, and by doing so, control the Mississippi River and North America forever.

Major Matthew Darcy of Baltimore is dispatched to help defend the beleaguered city, and discovers an alien place that does not trust its new countrymen. He also finds forbidden love with a lovely Cajun-Creole lady.

Now, with a devastating invader at the city’s door, Darcy joins General Andrew Jackson’s rag-tag army of backwoodsmen, Creoles, free blacks, and buccaneers in the face of overwhelming odds.

B.R.A.G. Medallion Winner.

BSN_cover_500x762Bourbon Street Nights: Volume One of Crescent City

1998. Elizabeth Boudreaux is a daughter of the owner of a small oilfield service company in Chackbay, a small hamlet in the swaps of Louisiana. She is studying journalism at Loyola University in New Orleans. Her roommate is vocal music major Marianne Dashwood, whose divorced mother lives in Jackson, Mississippi. Mari’s friend is Tulane fine arts student Emma Weinberg, who lives in the Uptown neighborhood with her widowed father.

They will meet the men who love them and the men who will break their hearts. Elizabeth is both attracted to and repelled by overconfident graduate student William Darcy, heir to a vast shipping fortune. Marianne is caught in a triangle between the charming John Waguespack and the quiet Chris Breaux. Emma is so busy running other people’s lives she overlooks her life-long friend, Dr. George Katz. Chuck Bingley, from Baton Rouge, is bedeviled by his needy sister, Carrie, and harassed by his dominating mother, Catherine.

Meanwhile, Darcy’s cousin, NOPD Lt. Richard Fitzwilliam is searching the city for his nemesis, drug dealer Greg “G-Daddy” Wickham. All these lives, and many more, will collide in a year of love and friendship, trials and tribulations, tragedy and murder.

But it is also about a fourth lady, one that is known by many names. Isle d’Orleans. The Paris of the Americas. Queen City of the South. The City that Care Forgot. Birthplace of Jazz. The Big Easy. Crescent City. New Orleans—what she was, and what she may be again.

isbn9780989108041_cover_500x762Elysian Dreams: Volume Two of Crescent City

2004. Emma has married George, but the workaholic surgeon is neglecting his young wife. When she meets the smooth-talking Frank Church, her marriage is endangered. Marianne finds love with Chris and begins a singing career, but a figure out of her past is doing everything in his power to crush her dreams. Elizabeth is successful in business but not in love, and her job puts her face-to-face with William for the first time in five years; the man she almost destroyed, and who still owns her heart.

Meanwhile, NOPD captain Richard Fitzwilliam continues his crusade to bring down the one felon that has eluded him: the drug dealing murderer Greg “G-Daddy” Wickham, now more dangerous than ever.

Everyone is reaching for their own Elysian dream, but for those who dare live on the Gulf Coast, there is a price to pay. The life-giving waters can also be the birthplace of monsters…

isbn9780989108058_cover_500x762Ruin and Renewal: Volume Three of Crescent City

August 2005. The greatest natural disaster in American history is fast approaching New Orleans. The lives of Elizabeth and William, Marianne and Chris, and Emma and George are turned upside down. Friend, family, stranger, and foe alike will meet their fates as a killer named Katrina tries to drown the Gulf Coast.

From a storm ravaged Gulfport to the miserable Superdome and a desperate Tulane Medical Center, the reader is shown a fuller picture of a story they thought they knew. While First Responders work against time to save the trapped, NOPD captain Richard Fitzwilliam’s quest to apprehend drug-dealer Greg “G-Daddy” Wickham comes to a shocking end.

The survivors must pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Will bureaucratic bumbling by government officials prove too much for the kindness of strangers to overcome? Will those left in the Crescent City ever find normalcy again?