Today I am handing over the reins to Rachel Brimble so she can talk about her Victorian Trilogy – The Ladies of Carson Street and the third and final book that is coming early next year.
Upcoming Release
Brothels, Boxers and Baddies…
The idea for my latest Victorian trilogy, The Ladies of Carson Street was inspired by a combination of the TV show Harlots and the brilliant book, The Five – the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold.
From that information you could be forgiven for assuming this trilogy is dark, possibly violent, and occasionally shocking. That is certainly true if you consider this series is actually historical romance and possibly darker than other books in the genre, but I must hasten to tell you that The Ladies of Carson Street also sparkles with romance, humour and, best of all, the delight and satisfaction found in true, unconditional friendship.
The trilogy opens with A Widow’s Vow which introduces the stars of the entire series. Brothel owner, Louisa Hill, her best friend Nancy Bloom, boxer Jacob Jackson and finally prostitute, Octavia Marshall. These are four of the most complex characters I have ever created and, after writing twenty five books and countless characters, that is saying quite a lot! Louisa, Nancy, Jacob and Octavia are very special for me purely for their tenacity, kindness and hope in a city steeped in vice, hardship and poverty.
Set in the Victorian city of Bath, this unlikely band of friends fight injustice, unlawful arrest, physical assaults and… each other. Yet, through their stories, each discovers parts of themselves they never knew existed and trust that they need more than each other to survive. They come to trust and believe in a better future, in other people and – in time – begin to believe in love and the happy ever after they deserve.
Book 2 in the trilogy, Trouble For The Leading Lady is also available now with the third and final book, A Very Modern Marriage coming in February 2022.
If you enjoy period dramas such as Bridgerton and Harlots with a hefty dose of humour and intrigue to boot, why not give The Ladies of Carson Street a try? I’d love to answer your questions if you are not yet convinced the series is for you!
Here’s the blurbs & buy links for books 1 & 2…
Book Blurb – A Widow’s Vow
1851. After her merchant husband saved her from a life of prostitution, Louisa Hill was briefly happy as a housewife in Bristol. But then a constable arrives at her door. Her husband has been found hanged in a Bath hotel room, a note and a key to a property in Bath the only things she has left of him. And now the debt collectors will come calling.
To a new life as a madam.
Forced to leave everything she knows behind, Louisa finds more painful betrayals waiting for her in the house in Bath. Left with no means of income, Louisa knows she has nothing to turn to but her old way of life. But this time, she’ll do it on her own terms – by turning her home into a brothel for upper class gentleman. And she’s determined to spare the girls she saves from the street the horrors she endured in the past.
Enlisting the help of Jacob Jackson, a quiet but feared boxer, to watch over the house, Louisa is about to embark on a life she never envisaged. Can she find the courage to forge this new path?
A Widow’s Vow is the first in a gripping and gritty new Victorian saga series from Rachel Brimble. You won’t be able to put it down.
Available to purchase here
Book Blurb – Trouble For The Leading Lady
Bath, 1852.
As a girl, Nancy Bloom would go to Bath’s Theatre Royal, sit on the hard wooden benches and stare in awe at the actresses playing men as much as the women dressed in finery. She longed to be a part of it all and when a man promised her parents he could find a role for Nancy in the theatre, they believed him.
His lie and betrayal led to her ruin.
Francis Carlyle is a theatre manager, an ambitious man always looking for the next big thing to take the country by storm. A self-made man, Francis has finally shed the skin of his painful past and is now rich, successful and in need of a new female star. Never in a million years did he think he’d find her standing on a table in one of Bath’s bawdiest pubs.
Nancy vowed never to trust a man again. Francis will do anything to make her his star. As they engage in a battle of wits and wills, can either survive with their hearts intact?
The second in Rachel Brimble’s thrilling new Victorian saga series, Trouble for the Leading Lady will whisk you away to the riotous, thriving underbelly of Victorian Bath.
Available to purchase here
Meet the Author
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.
To sign up for her newsletter (a guaranteed giveaway every month!), click here: https://bit.ly/3zyH7dt
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Massive thanks to Rachel for taking the time to pop by today and share with us the inspiration and take us behind the scenes for The Ladies of Carson Street.
Many thanks for popping by today and visiting our blog, we hope you have found some inspiration for your TBR pile.
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Have a great day!
Daisy & Kel x
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