Book Synopsis:
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…
A Very Modern Marriage is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
My Review:
I’m a huge fan of this author so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for this her latest book.
The story follows William, once a boy from the slums who’s managed to work himself up to be a respectable business man in Victorian society. To complete this image of respectability he wants a wife and has set his sights on Octavia, a local beauty. Octavia has a bit of a shady past but also wants to improve herself and learn more about business. She agrees to be Williams wife in return for for him teaching her about business, but things don’t go according to plan.
I really liked the main characters William and Octavia who haven’t had the best start in life but their determination to improve themselves has dragged them out of poverty. Their journey was wonderful to read about and very inspiring, especially Octavia who also had society’s prejudice against females to deal with. The banter between the two of them was brilliant and the air seemed to sizzle between them from the start.
Overall I loved this story and soon felt absorbed into the character’s world. The story seemed to move at a good pace and when it was a bit slower I found I didn’t care as I was just enjoying hanging out with the characters. The relationships in the book were fascinating to explore and I enjoyed learning more about them. The ladies of Carson Street were especially great to follow through the book and I enjoyed observing the closeness between them. I was a bit disappointed that they weren’t more supportive of Octavia and her dreams to make more of herself though. The ending was brilliant and it was great to see how far each of the characters had come, despite the many curve balls that had been thrown at them.
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Aria for my copy of this book via netgalley.
About The Author:
Rachel Brimble lives in Wiltshire with her husband of twenty years, two teenage daughters and her beloved chocolate Labrador, Tyler. Multi-published in the US, she is thrilled to have a new beginning writing for Aria in the UK. When Rachel isn’t writing, she enjoys reading across the genres, knitting and walking the English countryside with her family… often stopping off at a country pub for lunch and a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
Over The Rainbow Blog 