Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Victoria & Violet (Royal Maids #1) by Rachel Brimble

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Victoria & Violet by Rachel Brimble. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a great guest post by the author explaining her love for the historical romance genre. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Victoria & Violet

Series: Royal Maids #1

Author: Rachel Brimble

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Publication Date: October 17th 2022

Print Length: 305 pages

Genre: Historical Romance

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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:

“She…” Violet hesitated, feeling foolish carrying out the queen’s instructions when James was quite clearly busy and not at all happy. “She suggested we take a picnic.”

“A pic…” His eyes widened before his cheeks mottled. “It’s December!”

“I can pack some hot soup and bread. It will be…fun.”

“Fun? I can’t take myself off for a picnic when there is so much to do. What on earth will the workers think of me?”

His mood made her decidedly uneasy, but she could not defer on the queen’s request. She lifted her chin. “I’m sorry, James, but if the queen commands it, we cannot refuse. Besides, it will be last time you will see me for a while.”

He dropped his hand from his hair, his dark eyes boring into hers. “What are you talking about?”

“I have to go home. My mother claims my father is ill. Not that I believe a word of it, of course. But still, I must go.”

“Your mother is exerting her power again?”

“I have little doubt.”

He exhaled heavily, his gaze softening. “Give me an hour and I will come. Where shall we meet?”

“In the folly.”

“Very well.” His gaze dropped to her lips before he reached around her toward the door and opened it. “You should go.”

He stood so close, Violet could see flecks of blue in his eyes, smell the subtle maleness of him. Her treacherous heart swelled with silly, dangerous love. She forced a smile and ducked under his arm and through the open doorway.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rachel Brimble 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 released 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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GUEST POST:

What I Love Most About

Historical Romance & Why

by Rachel Brimble

My first novel was published in 2007 and was a contemporary romantic suspense. Since then, I have written numerous contemporary romances, including an eight-book series for Harlequin Superromance set in small UK seaside town (The Templeton Cove Stories). It wasn’t until 2009 that I found the courage to write my first historical romance and I was thrilled when The Arrival of Lily Curtis was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2010.

I’ve always been an absolute history geek since about the age of eleven or twelve and it was my goal to move into historical romance when I actually started writing, but I was too scared to even try for the first two years of my career. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I was capable of telling an historical story, it was the fear that I would get the details wrong, and readers would send me email after email pointing out any inaccuracies.

And then I had a simple realization…
Storytelling – or romance writing, in particular – is all about the characters’ emotions. Readers want to live through and feel every moment of the characters’ joy, sadness, triumphs and failure. That is why romance readers devour this genre and why they become so attached to a particular book, series or author and have a bulging ‘keeper shelf’ bulging with heroes and heroines who affected them in such a way that they became unforgettable. That is what I love about writing historical romance (and contemporary romance to a degree, but historical is my true love)!

There is nothing better for me as a reader, or writer, than being swept away to a different era or period in time and becoming entirely immersed in the setting and societal expectancies of that time. Then, of course, add in a fabulous hero and heroine, a supporting cast of equally strong secondary characters, maybe a child or a dog or two and I am lost in a book until I struggle to come out again and face the real world again.

Historical romance is my passion and I hope that comes across in my novels, especially this latest book because with Victoria & Violet I have realized my long-held ambition of writing a book that includes real people and events. I pray I have managed to re-create Queen Victoria’s court to such a degree that it becomes as memorable for you as it has for me! Happy reading…

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GIVEAWAY:

Rachel Brimble will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions and the author assume all responsibility over this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway