A Very Modern Marriage is the third instalment of Rachel Brimble’s exciting Victorian saga series, The Ladies of Carson Street. .
A Very Modern Marriage
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.
William and Octavia are about to get a lot more than they bargained for…
Purchase Links
http://mybook.to/modernmarriage
My Review
Since I had not read the two earlier novels in this series, I really didn’t know what to expect.
Octavia has so far been alright with her life as a prostitute, Carson St House, a discreet brothel run by Louisa, a widow. She shares a deep bond of friendship with Louisa and Nancy, another prostitute. But when Louisa and Nancy, find love and seem to be moving on, Octavia is perturbed by the changes and wants to make a new life for herself.
When she meets William, a successful industrialist from Manchester, she is drawn to ask him to mentor her in learning about industry and how to run a business. He agrees and is drawn to her and offers to marry her. But given her terrible past with her controlling and cruel father, Octavia wishes to be independent. This does not keep her from being attracted to William though.
Moving to Manchester, as William’s fiancée, she leaves behind her friends who are very fearful that she may be making a bad decision. Octavia is determined to carve out a new future for herself.
Will she be accepted by William’s family and will she find that he is worthy of trust? Her past colours her behaviour. For his part, William is falling in love with Octavia and wonders if he can win her over and continue to be the hardworking industrialist he is.
This is not a light-hearted love story. Octavia and William must search within and do what’s best for themselves and the future.
There were many interesting themes in this story. The whole moral issue of brothels and the hypocrisy of those who considered themselves a superior class partronising these houses and yet treating the women with so much contempt. There was also the story of deep friendship and how difficult it is to let a friend go to follow their dreams.
Overall, it was an engrossing read and I hope that I can catch up with the backstory in the previous two novels soon.
Meet The Author
Rachel Brimble lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of over 25 published novels including the Ladies of Carson Street series, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin).
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.
Connect with Rachel
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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