Spotlight & Giveaway: Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Mimi Matthews to HJ!

Hi Mimi and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Rules for Ruin!

Hi! Thank you so much for having me.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Newly returned from France, with her intrepid French poodle Franc in tow, Crinoline Academy graduate Euphemia “Effie” Flite is tasked with a mission to topple a powerful and misogynistic politician. There’s only one problem. Rookery villain Gabriel Royce is currently using that same politician for his own (surprisingly noble) ends. To complete her assignment, Effie will first have to deal with Gabriel.

What follows is a fast-paced, rivals-to-lovers, cat-and-mouse romance that stretches from the rookeries of St. Giles to the ballrooms of Mayfair. Soon Effie realizes it’s not a failed mission she should worry about . . . It’s the danger to her heart.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“A finishing school in Paris, was it?” Gabriel inquired.
“That’s correct.” Miss Flite returned her attention to the others.
“And were you?” he asked.
She glanced back at him again, distracted. “Was I what, sir?”
“Finished?”
Her mouth curved into a slow, feline smile. “On the contrary,” she said. “I’m just getting started.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Miss Corvus and her charity school for girls (known as the Crinoline Academy) was inspired by the character of Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations.
• The concept of The Crinoline Academy was heavily influenced by the Victorian fashion for wire cage crinolines. In the early 1860s, when Rules for Ruin takes place, crinolines were sometimes as much as 10-15 feet in circumference. Women who wore them took up space–demanded space–in a society where they were often diminished or ignored.
• The graduates of the Crinoline Academy send messages to each other via coded Victorian sewing samplers.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

When Gabriel and Effie first meet, Gabriel suspects she’s up to something. That’s what first prompts him to pursue her. But soon after, he begins to see her for who she really–a clever and courageous woman, with an unerring sense of self confidence. Gabriel is drawn to those qualities, and to the rare flashes of vulnerability Effie begins to show as she lets down her guard with him.

Effie is equally drawn to Gabriel. She’s fascinated by his dangerous reputation, and takes great pleasure in verbally sparring with him. It doesn’t hurt that mere proximity to him causes her pulse to race or that his kisses make her melt.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I thought Effie and Gabriel’s first kiss was deeply romantic. It’s also incredibly tender, coming as it does when Effie is facing a crisis over her fear of heights. Gabriel is obliged to stage a rescue and kisses her to distract her. Here’s a snippet:

“Neither of us is going to fall.” He bent his head to hers, still holding her face in his hands. “Do you want to know the secret to it? Don’t think of how high up you are.”
She gave him a pained look. A tear spilled from her brimming eyes to slide down her cheek. “I can concentrate on nothing else.”
Gabriel brushed the hot tear away with the pad of his thumb. His face was inches from hers. He felt her sweet breath puffing softly against his lips. She smelled of honey and black currants. Of everything he’d ever wanted in life but never received. Never deserved. He bent his head closer, his voice deepening to a husky scrape. “Concentrate on this,” he said.
And his mouth captured hers.

Readers should read this book….

Readers should read Rules for Ruin if they love Victorian atmosphere, smoldering romance, witty banter, mysterious charity schools, dark academia vibes, and powerful women fighting the patriarchy within the true context of the times.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m currently finishing pass pages for my novel The Marriage Method. It’s Book 2 in my Crinoline Academy series, out this November from Berkley / Penguin Random House!
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A print copy of RULES FOR RUIN by Mimi Matthews

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Book Info:

Most Anticipated Romance for Paste Magazine · The Nerd Daily · BookBub · Marie Claire · Book Riot · Bookish · Fangirlish

No one betrays the Academy. But now Euphemia must decide: break the rules for her enemy, or let the rules break her heart.

On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim—train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful lord’s systematic attack on women’s rights in Parliament, the Academy summons its brightest—and most bitter—pupil to infiltrate the odious man’s inner circle. A deal is struck: bring down the viscount, and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom.

But betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has other plans. The viscount is the perfect pawn to insulate Gabriel’s underworld empire from government interference. He’s not about to let some crinoline-clad miss destroy his carefully constructed enterprise—no matter how captivating he finds her threats.

From the rookeries of St. Giles to the ballrooms of Mayfair, Euphemia and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills that’s complicated by a blossoming desire. Soon Euphemia realizes it’s not the broken promises to her Academy sisters she should fear. . . . It’s the danger to her heart.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, and Shelf Awareness, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes an Andalusian dressage horse, a miniature poodle, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats.
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