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Floating Solo by Shelley Wilson #Review

  Fancy taking a leisurely boat ride along a beautiful Warwickshire canal? Floating Solo by Shelley Wilson was published by Hillfield Publishing on November 5th. Are you single? Have you lost your confidence when it comes to travelling? Would you welcome a few weeks away to find that missing spark? Climb aboard the Creaky Cauldron for an adventure like no other! Budding entrepreneur Kat Sinclair wants to grow her quirky solo narrowboat holiday enterprise but faces rejection at every turn. Until a Hollywood film crew gets in touch with the potential to change her business, dreams, and love life forever. 'Enemies to lovers' 'Small town romance'   My Thoughts   You can't help but fall under the spell of life on the canals when you read this story. Kat has big dreams for her business but seems to lack confidence to put it into action. Her Floating Solo holidays are very successful for her clients and many use the experience to sort out their thoughts and plan their ...

Trouble for the Leading Lady by Rachel Brimble ~Review

 


Today's historical fiction takes us to Victorian England and Bath. Published by Aria, Trouble for the Leading Lady is the second in a new saga series by Rachel Brimble. You can read my review of the first in the series, A Widow's Vowhere

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.


 My Thoughts

Although I am sure that this can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading its predecessor, to really get a handle on the relationship between Nancy, Louisa and Octavia and how they have come to be running a high- class brothel in Bath. Having said this, I did thoroughly enjoy visiting them again and finding out more about Nancy's past. Nancy and Francis are the focus of this book and both have vulnerabilities caused through their traumatic childhoods. They have tried to cover over the scars of what happened to them, but at different points in the story, they have to face up to how they feel. The face they present to the world is a cover for how they feel inside.

    You certainly get a feel for Victorian Bath and the class system which existed. Francis is a self- made man and independence is important to all the characters. Inequalities in society and above all, the terrible conditions which were present in the Workhouse are shown. Most shocking is the blind eye turned by most people to the plight of its inmates who endured shocking conditions and who seemed to lack hope. This is an enjoyable read with plenty of historical details and some intriguing characters.

In short: Well written historical fiction 


About the Author


Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of over 20 published novels including the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin).

In 2019 she signed a new three book contract with Aria Fiction for a Victorian trilogy set in a Bath brothel. The first book, A Widowā€™s Vow was released in September 2020 followed by book 2 Trouble For The Leading Lady in March 2021 ā€“ it is expected that the final instalment will be released in the Autumn 2021.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.

To sign up for her newsletter (a guaranteed giveaway every month!), click here

You can follow Rachel here:|   Website  |  Blog   |  Twitter     |  Instagram  

Book links:  Amazon UK   |  Amazon US

 
Aria links: Website  |  Twitter   |  Fiction   |  Instagram 
  

Thanks to Rachel Brimble, Aria and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
 
 Be sure to check out the rest of the tour!
 
 

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