I am excited to have Rachel Brimble here to share her latest book in The Ladies of Carson Street and to have her share The Inspiration for her books..

The Inspiration Behind A Very Modern Marriage

By Rachel Brimble

My latest release, A Very Modern Marriage, is the third and final instalment in my Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, BUT I promise each book can be read as a stand-alone story. I love writing series, but I also want readers to be able to enjoy whichever book they find first!

The inspiration for the series from my reading of The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. It is a non-fiction book exploring the lives of Jack The Ripper’s victims. Now, you are probably wondering how such a book could possibly inspire an historical romance series. The answer is not quite as unfathomable as you might think. You see, I was so moved by these women’s stories, so sympathetic to their situations and could completely understand how women resorted to whatever that had to in order to survive in Victorian London.

It was this that brought my fingers to the keyboard and led me to create three women who come together to live and work in a brothel which they run on their own terms. Apart from explaining their plight and showing my reader just how complex and caring these women were, my other objective was to find Louisa, Nancy and Octavia their happy ever afters.

For Octavia, the heroine of A Very Modern Marriage, I started with presenting her with the realisation that something had to change in her life if she was to go on should the brothel come to end which, by the opening of this third and final book, is looking more and more likely.

Octavia is determined, intelligent and educated, her life should have been one of privilege and opportunity but that was cut short when her mother died, and her father spiralled into depression. In desperation, she fled her family home and circumstances led to her arriving alone, hungry and without money in the city of Bath, England. Her survival has meant doing things she never imagined, speaking to people from every walk of life leading her to become someone tougher, more worldly-wise and empathetic than she would have ever been had she led life she had thought herself destined.

But now she has the tools and the courage to take risks, ask questions and deal with whatever circumstances arise. So, when she meets visiting Manchester cotton mill owner, William Rose, she spots an opportunity to learn about business and maybe start a business of her own. She needs William’s help and soon discovers he’s willing to give it to her… if Octavia is willing to help him in return.

The two of them forge a deal that should benefit them both from a business standing. Yet, things never quite turn out as we expect, do they?

A Very Modern Marriage by Rachel Brimble

GENRE: Historical romance

BLURB

He needs a wife…

Manchester industrialist William Rose was a poor lad from the slums who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, but in order to achieve his greatest ambitions he must become the epitome of Victorian respectability: a family man.

She has a plan…

But the only woman who’s caught his eye is sophisticated beauty Octavia Marshall, one of the notorious ladies of Carson Street. Though she was once born to great wealth and privilege, she’s hardly respectable, but she’s determined to invest her hard-earned fortune in Mr Rose’s mills and forge a new life as an entirely proper businesswoman.

They strike a deal that promises them both what they desire the most, but William’s a fool if he thinks Octavia will be a conventional married woman, and she’s very much mistaken if she thinks the lives they once led won’t follow them wherever they go.

In the third instalment of Rachel Brimble’s exciting Victorian saga series, The Ladies of Carson Street will open the doors on a thoroughly modern marriage – and William is about to get a lot more than he bargained for…

EXCERPT

There was something beguiling about a woman who spoke so eloquently, who clearly knew much of the world and wasn’t afraid to challenge and speak with a gentleman of wealth and standing. She was feisty, certainly. But it was more than that. Octavia Marshall had clear control of her emotions and an aptitude for conversation that challenged and intrigued him, that made him want to be a better man, to impress her with his strengths and play down any weaknesses.

He had never met a woman so mysterious yet open, so tormenting yet serious. It was baffling, but entirely captivating and the combination made his body shift carnally.

Dangerous. That’s what she was… very, very dangerous.

And he had to put a stop to her enchantment.

‘Octavia.’ He reached out as she stopped outside a closed bedroom door, gently but firmly grasping her elbow. ‘We should talk.’

Her hand slipped from the door and concern darkened her eyes. ‘Are you all right?’

William looked deep into her eyes and felt as though he was teetering on the edge of something he couldn’t explain. He released her elbow and pushed his hand into his hair. ‘I didn’t come here to be alone with you this way.’

Her gaze drifted over his face before she slowly lifted her incredible lashes and pinned him to the floor with her brilliant blue gaze. ‘Do you want to be with me now?’

‘I can’t make love to you when—’

‘You won’t be making love to me.’ She lightly touched her fingers to his jaw. ‘This is a business arrangement. The same as any other.’

A spike of something that felt far too much like a blow hit the centre of his chest and he swallowed. What in God’s name was happening to him? Since when did he react so uncertainly to anything… anyone?

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of over 25 published novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin).

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association as well as the Historical Novel Society and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.

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