Rachel Brimble is the author of The Mistress of Pennington’s and A Rebel at Pennington’s. Her latest novel, Christmas at Pennington’s was published by Aria Fiction on 19 September 2019.

Today Rachel has kindly written a guest post discussing the book

It’s Christmas At Pennington’s!

I am so excited to be touring with my latest release, Christmas At Pennington’s… even if it is September!

For me, writing a Christmas book means I can create a British festive period that we would all love to experience. Snow, lights, joy and family –especially as Pennington’s is a romantic saga series. It’s important to me and you, I hope, that Christmas At Pennington’s isn’t just a great story, but has all the atmosphere of Christmas within its pages, too.

The theme of the Pennington’s series is female empowerment and so, with this is mind, the first thing I needed to do when I sat down to plot this book was come up with anempowerment plotline. I found that in having my heroine, Cornelia Parker awaiting her divorce trial. Set in 1911, divorce was taboo. Something that many women were berated and ostracised for from friends and family alike.

I wanted to show her internal battle through the shame and gossip, how she found the strength to hold her head high and forge forward with her two young sons. The Pennington’s series is about so much more than a department store. The series now has a cast of over sixty characters who work together to make Bath’s finest department store shine.

Transporting you back to Christmas 1911, I hope to immerse you in a world of drama, intrigue, family and romance… with a dose of crime thrown in for good measure.

When we think on Christmas in fiction, we tend to focus on the joy of the season; gifts, decorations, mulled wine and family gatherings. As much as I hope I’ve included all these things in the story, anyone who reads my books know I can’t resist the pull of something a little darker.

This is where the hero of the tale, Stephen Gower, comes into play –he is suspended from Scotland Yard and comes to Bath to escapes the ghosts that haunt him in London. Taking a temporary position as a security watchman at Pennington’s, Stephen soon becomes embroiled in the lives of his married employers, Elizabeth Pennington and Joseph Carter.

A faceless murderer remains undetected…

And, as much as Stephen resists involvement, he cannot turn away and then he meets Cornelia…

I took true delight in writing every page of Christmas At Pennington’s and I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

Let’s the Christmas season begin!

Rachel x

About the book

Christmas sees Pennington’s at its most glorious, thronged with shoppers, its grand staircase and balcony adorned with holly, mistletoe, tinsel and lights. It should be the happiest time, but dramas are seething beneath the surface.

For Cornelia Culford, in charge of jewellery, a divorce hearing looms, where she could lose custody of her young sons to her overbearing and unfaithful husband.

For Stephen Gower, being head of security at Pennington’s is the perfect refuge from a tragic past at Scotland Yard. But soon the past will call him back, asJoseph Carter and Elizabeth Pennington beg him to help solve the murder of Joseph’s first wife, now that it seems as if thekillerhas struck again.

For Joseph and Elizabeth, their marriage depends on exorcising the past. But can it ever be laid to rest?

About the author

Rachel Brimble lives in Wiltshire with her husband of twenty years, two teenage daughters and her beloved chocolate Labrador, Tyler. Multi-published in the US, she is thrilled to have a new beginning writing for Aria in the UK. When Rachel isn’t writing, she enjoys reading across the genres, knitting and walking the English countryside with her family…often stopping off at a country pub for lunch and a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

*I was asked to host this guest post to help promote Christmas at Pennington’s. I did not receive a copy of the book or any other payment for doing so.*