Author Guest Post with Rachel Brimble: Victoria & Violet

When Violet Parker is told she will be Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune.

Welcome to one of the November 17th stops on the blog tour for Victoria & Violet by Rachel Brimble with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Why I Love Writing Romance by Rachel Brimble

I am often asked by aspiring writers and readers alike why I chose to writing romance novels, or how I knew the romance genre was the genre for me. There was a time when I did not know why, or where I belonged in the sphere of thousands of romance writers, but now I do. The simple reason I love writing romance is I love…LOVE!

Of course, that is not enough of a foundation to enable me (or anyone!) to write romance story after romance story. A writer needs to find what it is that keeps pulling him or her back to the laptop or notepad and pen. My ‘pull’ sometimes come in the form of my penchant for crime TV, whether it be fictional or real-life. Now, you might be thinking ‘she just said she loves LOVE, what has crime got to do with it?’. Well, the romance in a romance novel is only part of what a reader wants – they also want a good, page-turning story and for that, I think a reader needs more than just the romance.

More often than not, I will write some form of crime into my stories – in some of my contemporary romances (What Belongs To Her/Ethan’s Daughter/If I Want You) and my historical romances (A Shop Girl’s Christmas/A Widow’s Vow), there has been an abduction, theft or murder. In other books, I leaned more toward the characters’ pasts and include a darker issue that affected them deeply enough that it remains a big part of who they are and why they do the things they do in adulthood.

It’s important to me that a reader picks up one of my books and knows by the end of the first chapter, the story will be about more than the couple’s growing love for one another. I enjoy having an extra thread (or threads) that pull the hero and heroine and the secondary characters together, often until they need one another in order to solve an element of the story outside of the romance before the romance can fully blossom and reached its inevitable happy ever after.

Of course, I am not saying it isn’t the romance that feeds my soul, because it is, ALWAYS – but writing is about creating an experience for your reader, hopefully an unforgettable one! The more elements of suspense, surprise, tension, and elation I can weave into my stories, the happier I am. That’s why, even with my latest book, Victoria & Violet where I included real people and events into one of my novels for the first time, I wanted to go a little further with certain aspects of the book.

Why?

I wanted to write a different view of Queen Victoria’s court when she was a young monarch in her earlier 20s – I wanted to make her a young woman with the same hopes, dreams, curiosities and disappointments as the rest of us. The earlier reviews have been fantastic, and it is the element of looking at Victoria through the eyes of her personal housemaid that readers are enjoying the most – they are more than happy to come along with me and see Victoria in an entirely different way.

I hope your visitors here today will, too – happy Reading!

About the Book

Victoria & Violet
The Royal Maids
by Rachel Brimble

Published 17 October 2022
Wild Rose Press

Genre: Historical Romance
Page Count: 342
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

When Violet Parker is told she will be Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune. She finally has the chance to escape her overbearing mother, a servant to the Duchess of Kent. Violet hopes to explore who she is and what the world has to offer without her mother’s schemes overshadowing her every thought and action.

Then she meets James Greene, assistant to the queen’s chief political adviser, Lord Melbourne. From entirely different backgrounds and social class, Violet and James should have neither need nor desire to speak to one another, yet through their service, their paths cross and their lives merge—as do their feelings.

Only Victoria’s court is not always the place for romance, but rather secrets, scandals, and conspiracies…

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Excerpt

“What awaits me is marriage,” he said. “But I am not a man any woman should want for a husband so it’s something I will avoid for as long as possible.”

The curiosity in her eyes made his confidence falter, and James lifted his fingers from her arm. No doubt she thought him pathetic for fearing something that so many longed for. But Violet did not know him or what he might be capable of. Of the nasty, volatile temperament passed down through the men in his family for generations.

“Better marriage than imprisonment with a mother who has controlled and belittled you your entire life.” She smiled wryly, her gaze sad. “Better a son who will one day marry than a daughter shackled to a mother who wishes her to scheme and spy upon the only person who has made her feel human, liked, and worthy of a modicum of respect for the first time in months.”

He stilled. “Do you speak of the queen?”

Mistress Parker swallowed before looking at Victoria where she stood a few feet away. “What would you like to do if not marry?” she asked quietly.

James stared at her profile, unsure of her thoughts or disposition. “Stay at court where I am happy. Work hard. Rise within the hierarchy as a single man.”

“I want to paint.”

Had he heard her correctly? “Paint?”

She softly smiled as she faced him. “Yes. I dream of my landscapes hanging in every gallery and every grand house in the country. If you think yourself an oddity in this mercenary world, whatever must you think of me? Good evening, Mr. Greene.”

James stared after her as Violet disappeared amongst the mass of finery, his heart heavy for the sadness that emanated from her, yet his inquisitiveness about her had only deepened. He looked at Victoria as she laughed with Melbourne and others in her circle. Could it be that the queen saw the same spark of something special in Violet Parker that he did?

About the Author

Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of 29 novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin). Her latest novel, Victoria & Violet is the first book in her new Royal Maids series with the Wild Rose Press and releases 17th October 2022.

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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Giveaway Alert!

Rachel Brimble will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.