The Mistress of Pennington’s by Rachel Brimble

Today I am so pleased to be part of the blog tour for The Mistress of Pennington’s by Rachel Brimble.  Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for oganising the tour and providing me with a copy.

The Mistress of Pennington’s

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?

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My Review

The book is set in the early 1900s in Bath. Elizabeth Pennington is running part of her father’s department store but she has aspirations to control everything when her father retires. Unfortunately, Edward Pennington has very strict beliefs about the role of women in business. He is far from happy about his daughter’s ambition. He thinks that a women’s purpose is solely to marry a rich husband and produce heirs for the family.

Elizabeth meets glove maker Joseph Carter who both see that for their businesses to succeed, they need to make changes. Joseph is everything her father isn’t and Elizabeth finds herself attracted to him. However, a relationship would be deeply frowned upon. The character of Joseph is honest and ambitious. His sad backstory explains why he is so desperate to move with the times.

The Mistress of Pennington’s is an inspiring look into how women were perceived in Edwardian Times. This book portrays a strong woman in a prejudiced society who is determined to succeed.

I loved Rachel Brimble’s writing, it isn’t overly descriptive like some historical romances. The characters and location spring to life and the romance is sweet and endearing.

It would be perfect for fans of Mr. Selfridge or lovers of social history.

Thank you to the author and publishers for a copy of the book, which I have reviewed honestly.

Author Bio –

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.