Spotlight & Giveaway: The Mistress of Pennington’s by Rachel Brimble

Posted July 26th, 2018 by in Blog, Spotlight / 50 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Rachel Brimble to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Rachel and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Mistress of Pennington’s!

 
It’s so great to be here today! Hope you enjoy finding out more about my latest release 🙂
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Mistress of Pennington’s is the first book in my brand new Edwardian series set in Bath’s finest department store. The series theme is female empowerment and in the first book you will meet Elizabeth Pennington whose father owns Pennington’s department store. The story opens in January 1910 and Elizabeth is determined to convince her father it’s imperative the store is brought into the new decade with a bang too big for the public to ignore. Frustrated, Elizabeth constantly battles with Edward Pennington in her endeavours…until the arrival of master glove-maker, Joseph Carter. Is he the answer she’s been looking for?
 

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

He turned. An immediate startle lit his bright blue eyes before they darkened with interest and then changed again with what looked to be sorrow. As though he constantly carried an invisible pain. Yet, despite her concern, something indiscernible struck Elizabeth about this man. She couldn’t let him leave without finding out who he was and where he’d come from.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • Mistress of Pennington’s is inspired by the TV series The Paradise and Mr Selfridge.
  • Female empowerment is one of my biggest motivators…especially when it comes to my two daughters.
  • Pennington’s is set in Bath but the store is inspired by Le Bon Marche in Paris
  • Joseph Carter came to me in a dream – he told me he was a master glove maker with a passion for equal rights. I knew I’d found my new hero!

 

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

At first, for both Elizabeth and Joseph, it is physical interest but all too soon they are attracted to each other’s ambition, drive and want for a better, fairer future.

 

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

The following scene would be good for an audition as it is the turning point when Elizabeth and Joseph are beginning to feel excitement for the future. The sexual tension between them is heating up, but so is the anticipation of what they might come to mean to each other and Pennington’s….

‘Mr. Carter?’
He blinked and smiled as he faced Elizabeth Pennington.
She raised her eyebrows. ‘You were miles away. Is everything all right?’
‘Of course.’
‘Only you were not wearing the expression of a man eager to work with us. Quite the opposite. Is there something in the department you don’t like?’
Joseph’s weighed up his options. Miss Pennington’s demeanour towards him hadn’t strayed from the professional for the entire time he’d been there and her assertion of one month’s trial had been reiterated several times.
He cleared his throat. ‘Can I be candid?’
Her dark green gaze wandered over his face before she nodded.
Walking past her, Joseph inhaled the soft scent of her perfume before he could consider the impairment of its effect. Flowers in spring time. Soft summer days and heady, tempting evenings. He swallowed hard and laid his hand upon the glass-topped counter. Concentrate, you fool.
‘Your gloves and hats are displayed way back here. Might you consider setting up a display at the entrance? Position them close enough that customers might touch them? Try them on? Maybe add a full-length mirror to the side here.’ He gestured with his hand, visions forming in his mind. ‘That way, the women could see how they look and the shop girls and Mrs. Woolden could can tell the customers how they look, suggest colours and materials that might suit their colouring and figures.’
Her brow creased as she considered him, the dark green of her tailored jacket emphasising the beautiful hue of her eyes. ‘That’s quite a suggestion, Mr. Carter. But one I like very much.’
Encouraged by her confidence in his proposals, Joseph stood a little taller and smiled. ‘I’m glad .’
‘But before we make any changes to the layout of the department, we need to concentrate on your designs. Won’t you join me in my office?’
He followed her through the department and into her office , his optimism heightened, and any previous nervousness quashed. If she was prepared to listen to his ideas at such an early stage in their association, who knew what she might agree to with regards to his products in the future?

 

Readers should read this book….

If you love period drama, excitement, romance and intrigue. The Mistress of Pennington’s has already received several 5 star reviews from both readers and reviewers and I’m thrilled!

 

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

I’m currently plotting a new contemporary romance while I wait for the first round of edits from my editor for Pennington’s book 2. This book is titled The Suffragette At Pennington’s and is due for release January 2019.
I also have a new romantic suspense under consideration so I’m excited for it to be accepted – watch this space!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: I am giving away a £20/$20 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky winner – open internationally.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is your favourite period drama (whether movie or TV)? Your favourite era and why?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from The Mistress of Pennington’s:

Soft footsteps approached the workroom door and Joseph strained his hearing towards the corridor beyond.
A gentle knock ensued.
Elizabeth Pennington stood on the other side of the door. He was certain of it.
Every muscle in his body tensed.
He quickly shoved his sketchbook beneath a pile of wrapped and ready gloves before drawing an unstitched pair towards him. Plucking a needle from a nearby box, he bent his head over the bench, suddenly aware of the silence, the darkness and lack of other people. ‘Come in.’
The door brushed open.
His heart picked up speed and Joseph pressed his fingertips harder on the needle as the soft scent of floral perfume preceded her.
‘Mr. Carter? Might I interrupt you?’
To his shame, his entire body trembled, aware of her close proximity and the fact she had closed the door with a soft, yet firm click. They were alone, with only the faint glow of his candle and the dormant machinery standing guard. He wasn’t stupid enough to think this situation anything but wholly unusual. Unease rang alarm bells loud and clear.
He raised his head. Her eyes shone like emeralds in the subdued light, shooting two dangerous and unwanted arrows straight to his groin. ‘Is there something I can help you with, Miss Pennington?’
‘There is.’ Her gaze lingered on his before she looked at the gloves on the workbench and lightly fingered them. ‘I thought our conversation upstairs unfinished.’
Surprised but cautious, Joseph leaned back. ‘And here I was thinking we both might have said too much.’
‘On the contrary.’
He raised an eyebrow at her challenging tone. Was she nothing more than a rich girl rebelling against her father? Or was she the epitome of a woman who knew her own mind and to hell with anyone else? His attraction to her heightened.
‘My father interrupted us earlier. I wanted to talk with you further.’ A flash of doubt, or maybe insecurity, flickered in her eyes before she blinked and dropped her gaze to the workbench. She smiled. ‘Tell me more about your gloves. When you explained how you work with women in mind as you create, it interested me.’
She had asked him about his work, but the hushed hitch of her words made him suspect she had yet to dismiss their conversation about their personal situations too. He couldn’t help wondering what their relationship would be if they’d met on the street, rather than being thrust together as supplier and buyer.
The tension in the room was tangible, simmering dangerously between them as though one foolish movement on his part and his arms would be around her, his lips on hers. Would she want that? Slap him? Demand he leave and never come back? Or would she hold him closer? Kiss him deeper?
He cleared his throat and concentrated on the glove in his hands. ‘I imagine my gloves on the hands of every woman in the city. Every woman is beautiful in her own right. Beautiful, powerful…’ He lifted his gaze to hers, his heart giving another infernal blip at the unmistakable passion in her eyes. ‘Intelligent and caring. If my gloves make them prouder, stand taller, I can think of no better calling.’
She held his gaze. ‘And what of love, Mr. Carter ?’
Joseph stilled. ‘Love?’
She tilted her head, her gaze soft. ‘Is love not a calling?’
He swallowed, looked to his work once more. ‘To some, maybe.’
‘But not you?’
‘No. Not me.’
The strength of her study bored into his temple and Joseph’s heart thundered. Why did he suddenly feel the need to tell her of Lillian? To warn her that his drive and ambition held the power to make him forget his role as a protector, as a man a woman could rely on?
‘Mr. Carter?’
Slowly, Joseph raised his eyes to hers.
Her gentle study drifted to his mouth and back again. ‘Did you love her? The woman you once worked with?’
Joseph stared, as disquiet whispered through him. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘I find it implausible that a man who holds women in such high regard has not known what it means to love one. You have been in love. I see it your eyes. Unfortunately for you, they’re very revealing.’
He ran his gaze over her face and hair. Every sound muted. The amber glow of the few lit candles danced over her skin, turning it pearlescent. ‘I was married. To a wonderful, caring woman. A woman who worked beside my father and I every day after we were married.’
Her voice softened. ‘What happened to her?’
‘She died.’ He would tell her no more, the shame of his failure burned like acid in his chest and he quickly stood, wanting the intensity to ease, her justified scrutiny to end. ‘Will you try on a pair of gloves?’

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

1910 – A compelling tale of female empowerment in Bath’s leading department store. Perfect for the fans of the TV series Mr Selfridge and The Paradise.

Elizabeth Pennington should be the rightful heir of Bath’s premier department store through her enterprising schemes and dogged hard work. Her father, Edward Pennington, believes his daughter lacks the business acumen to run his empire and is resolute a man will succeed him.

Determined to break from her father’s iron-clad hold and prove she is worthy of inheriting the store, Elizabeth forms an unlikely alliance with ambitious and charismatic master glove-maker Joseph Carter. United they forge forward to bring Pennington’s into a new decade, embracing woman’s equality and progression whilst trying not to mix business and pleasure.

Can this dream team thwart Edward Pennington’s plans for the store? Or will Edward prove himself an unshakeable force who will ultimately ruin both Elizabeth and Joseph?
Book Links: Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Rachel lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. Since 2007, she has had several novels published by small US presses, eight books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical.
In January 2018, she signed a four-book deal with Aria Fiction for a brand new Edwardian series set in Bath’s finest department store. The first book, The Mistress of Pennington’s released July 2018.
Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, and was selected to mentor the Superromance finalist of So You Think You Can Write 2014 contest. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |
 
 
 

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50 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The Mistress of Pennington’s by Rachel Brimble”

  1. Mary Preston

    Right now it is VIKINGS on TV.

    No absolute favorite era. Happy to travel across time and the planet.

  5. Monique D

    Upstairs, Downstairs. My favourite era is the 1920s because everything was changing: revolutionary fashion, music art, talking pictures.

  8. Karen Markuson

    Some of my favorite period dramas are Outlander and Downton Abbey. I like a lot of eras. The 70’s for the music and medieval when reading.

  9. Janie McGaugh

    Outlander is my favorite period drama. My favorite era is the Regency period in England. I love the manners and dress of that period.

  13. Karina Angeles

    Regency. I love the clothes, balls, Bond Street, and Rotten Row.

  14. kermitsgirl

    Pride & Prejudice – pretty much any iteration. I like the Regency era, but Ancient eras really get me going! I’ve always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome – then fell in love with Ancient China in college!

  16. laurieg72l

    My favorite book and miniseries is SHOGUN- I read the book by James Clavell after I saw the miniseries featuring Richard Chamberlain. An epic novel of greed, political intrigue and the quest for power, feudal (1600’s) Japan with it’s history of honor and samurai tradition also it featured the story of an Englishman Pilot John Blackthorne his role in Toranaga’s quest to become Shogun and his love for a Japanese woman, Mariko. I couldn’t put it down it was fascinating so much detail in the book.

    ERA – Medieval time period between 1000 -1300 I was always fascinated with the story of Camelot and King Arthur and his beliefs, the pageantry of royal castle life, the balls, the romance, the treachery and intrigue . The honor, glory and idealism of the The Knights of the Round Table. The Knights going off to fight The Crusades to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. Their search for the Holy Grail.
    The markets and fairs and jousting tournaments, life was simple, short and people lived each day to the fullest. The possibility of a Robin Hood who would steal form the rich and give to the poor.

  17. Joye I

    I like to read books and view programs about the Early Romans. I really enjoyed watching
    I, Claudius

    Here are 2 authors who have written interesting series about the Romans- Conn Iggulden and Ben Kane. I really enjoyed reading their books.

  19. diannekc

    Downton Abbey is my favorite period drama. I like seeing how people lived and the inventions that changed their way of life.

  25. Melanie B

    Don’t have a favorite period drama. My favorite era is the 80’s because of the movies and music

  32. Summer

    Mad Men is my favorite, I loved the writing, the fashion, and seeing Peggy persist in her male dominated career.

  37. Mood Reader

    Pride & Prejudice!! ( the Colin Firth one, of course) <333
    Downton Abbey too 🙂

  38. bunnyclem

    The ’80’s! I loved Dallas and Dynasty when I was a kid! Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway

  39. Glenda

    No favorite. I read a lot of historical periods more often than I watch period TV.

  41. Banana cake

    I don’t have a favorite I mostly read contemporary books so,present time. I do occasionally like reading a book set in the 1800s.

  44. Shay Alford

    I’m not big into TV, more movies unless it can keep my attention! Right now Im watching The Originals & The Vikings! There haven’t been very many good movies out lately, so I would rather just be reading a good back with a glass of wine or whiskey on the rocks!

  45. Anita H.

    Outlander is my favorite, love the different eras they’ve set the show in so far. And reading-wise, I love the Regency period, the teas, balls, fashion is just fascinating!

  46. Sue C.

    I used to love Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman starring Jane Seymour. It was a western set in the 1860’s. It showed how tough it was to live in the wild west but was very heartwarming and included a great romance.