Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
As you might have inferred by how regularly I’ve featured #HistRom novelists and their stories on Jorie Loves A Story – this is a niche of Historical Romance I personally LOVE to read and discovering new voices of the craft is a wicked sweet delight of joy for me as a reader. Whilst I also like to feature these authors through my monthly (semi-weekly) chat @SatBookChat!
I have spent hours of wicked sweet readerly joy tucked inside Regencies over the years whilst Historical Romances are now at a record equal bit of consumption for me as a reader as Contemporary Romances! The latter was a harder sell to find the writers who are penning the stories I want to be reading in those realms of enquiry whereas with #HistRom – if I tuck into the Regency, Victorian or Edwardian eras of British LIt I am nearly going to have a #mustread on my hands! I simply love those eras of interest – love the instincts the writers have to tell those stories and I get lost inside the propriety of how society directed social interests & the art of courtship. There were a lot of hidden rules to courting and a lot of it weighed against your station in life as well.
Aside from my passion for Historical Romances – I heartily love interviewing authors as it gives me a chance to get to know their writerly style, peer into their process as fellow writers and give my readers & the visitors of my blog a front row seat into finding out if the story I’m highlighting is one which might be a wicked good fit in their own readerly lives. I love bringing readers and authors together – to help others find stories which will be wicked good #nextreads for them and to champion the joy of being a book blogger who loves chatting about the stories popping up on her bookish radar!
I am a champion of Self-Published & Indie Publishers/Press novelists – I’ve maintained this for the last seven years I’ve been blogging and am thankful I can continue to seek out and showcase the authors who might not get as much attention as others who are with Major Trade publishers. A lot of my favourite reads over the years have been from this group of authors – they take risks and they are writing stories I am wicked thrilled about having in my hands. Remember to give them a chance at giving you an unputdownable read as much as they have continued to give me every year.
And, now I give you a wonderful conversation with Holly Bush about her Historical Romance set in the Victorian era with a Scottish perspective – may this conversation give you a better overall bit of insight into her writing style and the kind of story you’ll find in this new release! Be sure to brew yourself a cuppa of your favourite drink!
The Bachelor Bride
Subtitle: The Thompsons of Locust Street : One
by Holly Bush
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Jenny Quinlan (JennyQ)
Meet the Thompsons of Locust Street, an unconventional family taking Philadelphia high society by storm…
1868 Elspeth Thompson is the middle daughter in a family with tightly held secrets. While she loves her family, she longs to break out from their overprotective hold, to find herself, to be noticed for who she is rather than as chaperone to her beautiful younger sister, Kirsty, or underling to her elder sister, Muireall. A chance meeting under scandalous circumstances offers her the opportunity to be seen for herself, but the repercussions could lead to the downfall of her family.
Confirmed bachelor Alexander Pendergast enjoys his position as the right-hand man of one of the most influential and powerful politicians in Philadelphia. Heir to the largest textile mill on the east coast, Alexander is handsome, charming, and the ultimate catch on high society’s matrimonial market. But he has no interest in settling down with a pampered debutante. He doubts the perfect woman for him actually exists…until he meets Elspeth Thompson.
But the Thompsons and Pendergasts move in different circles, and Elspeth has no desire to be judged and found wanting by Philadelphia’s first families. Though she tries to resist Alexander’s charms, when he comes to her family’s rescue, she knows there’s more to him than she’d first thought. But Alexander realizes that his ambitions may have placed Elspeth and her family in grave danger. With an unseen enemy determined to uncover the Thompson family’s secrets, Alexander grapples with secrets of his own, secrets that could cost him the only woman he’s ever truly cared about.
When Elspeth finds herself in terrible danger, can she muster the inner strength of her ancestors to save herself and her family and find the courage to meet love head on?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-0578238104
Published by Holly Bush Books
on 13th November, 2020
Converse via: #HistoricalRomance or #HistRom
+ #TheBachelorBride and #HFVBTBlogTours
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
How did you develop and create your new series The Thompsons of Locust Street and will this be a quartet as your previous series have been quartets as well? I was curious what inspired the series.
Bush responds: I’ve always been drawn to the history of Philadelphia, with its Quaker roots, its mix of immigrants, and for the innovations that were developed in the city and I’ve been wanting to set a series there for quite some time. As is usual for me, I have a vision of a person, and in this case, I imagined a young woman in the opening scene, eavesdropping on an argument and being rousted by an older woman. I wanted to know who the young woman was, who was she listening to, and why did it matter to her what was said.
As I write, I begin to answer those questions for myself and the scenes begins to coalesce. The story that follows begins in backstory long before the first scene of this book, when the Thompson children arrive in the US after their parents die during the passage and are buried at sea. The oldest daughter, Muriel, just twelve when they landed in New York harbor, begins the task of keeping the family together and safe with the help of a great aunt who made the journey with them. In The Bachelor’s Bride, Elspeth, the middle child in a family of strong personalities, is quiet and reserved, until her mettle is tested in a serious and dangerous way.
The Thompsons of Locust Street will be a five-book series, one for each of the siblings. The next book in the series is James’ story in The Bareknuckle Groom, which will come out in the spring of 2021.
What can you share about your heroine Elspeth’s courage and spirit to be seen independent of her sisters and family? She is a wholly independent woman for her era and she wants to be taken on her own terms. What do you hope readers see in her journey?
Bush responds: Elspeth meets Alexander Pendergast in unusual circumstances and takes an immediate dislike to him. He contrives to meet her again and she finds him snobbish and does not hide her feelings towards him. But on the occasion of their third meeting, Elspeth starts to thaw towards Alexander as she becomes more acquainted with him. He is interested in what she says and is patient.
Elspeth is not loud and rarely the center of attention but firm in her beliefs and her actions show her to be intelligent and energetic. She is a modern woman for her time and like her family, sets high expectations for herself and others. I hope readers see her quiet courage and adherence to duty even without all of the facts of their family’s exodus from Scotland.
Alexander stood out to me due to his tenacity for not allowing himself to fall prey to what society expects of him but rather to carve his own path even if in doing so he’s putting others in jeopardy by proxy. What was your favourite scene with Alexander and why did it stand out to you as you wrote it?
Bush responds: My favorite scene with Alexander was his recovery at the Thompson Locust Street home after the boxing match where he stood his ground to make sure that Elspeth and her sister were safe. I loved his first prolonged interactions with the Thompson family!
Historical Romances are some of my favourites to read as I oft tuck into the past whenever I am reading a Romance; what has caught your heart inside the era you write your Historical Roms and why is this a century of interest for you as a writer?
Bush responds: I like to write romances set in the US in the years following the Civil War until the turn of the century. The country was changing rapidly, and I imagine it was a very exciting time to be alive. By necessity, the war brought women into nontraditional roles and they stayed and began the long journey for the right to vote. They were in business and fighting for their place in academia and medicine.
Innovations like the sewing machine, gas lighting in homes, indoor plumbing, wide-ranging train travel, and mandatory public education began across the northern part of the country. Eddison, Morse, Goodyear, Howe, Singer, Pasteur, Otis, Nobel, Bell, Eastman, Whitney to name a few, were changing the landscape and the lifestyle of Americans. And yet there were still remote areas of our country. Changes like these make for dramatic stories!
About Holly Bush
“Love always has something to say. Sometimes it shouts from the highest hill, and sometimes it whispers so softly one must listen closely to hear. Do not turn away. It is a rare and precious commodity. Treasure it.” The Gentrys of Paradise
Holly Bush’s historical romances are set during the turbulent and transformative years of the late 1800’s. The first two books in her newest series, The Gentrys of Paradise, released in the spring of 2017 and began with the novella Into the Evermore where readers meet Virginia horse breeders, Eleanor and Beauregard Gentry. The following books feature their children, Adam, Matthew, and Olivia. For the Brave is Matthew’s story and is the first full length book of the series. Olivia’s book, For This Moment, released in the spring of 2018. The final book, For Her Honor, is now available.
The Crawford Family Series following the fortunes of the three Boston born Crawford sisters and includes Train Station Bride, Contract to Wed, Her Safe Harbor, and companion novella, The Maid’s Quarters. Cross the Ocean and Charming the Duke are both British set Victorian romances. Fan favorites stand-alone historical romance novels include Romancing Olive and Reconstructing Jackson. Holly’s books are described as ‘emotional, with heartfelt, sexy romance.’
She also writes General Fiction under the name of Hollis Bush.
Holly makes her home with her husband, one happy Labrador Retriever and a clever Jack Russell rescued from the pound, and two difficult cats in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Connect with Holly at the links provided on this biography. Follow Holly on her Amazon author page to receive new release updates and on BookBub to check out her reviews and get sale information.
This book blast is courtesy of:
Follow the Virtual Road Map
as you visit others participating:
As this particular one has a bookaway along the route:
NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Book cover for “The Bachelor Bride”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Holly Bush, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Conversations with the Bookish banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
👏I didn't get the chance to comment on the design of this lovely #HistFic whilst I interviewed the author on my blog for the #blogtour; however, I loved the contrast in colours and font on the cover!! You always do such a wonderful service for #HistoricalFiction novelists!!🧡 https://t.co/GNiRendGyY
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) November 20, 2020
Thanks for having me!
The pleasure was mine, Ms Bush! :) I was thankful I could put together this Q&A for you and I learnt quite a bit about what inspires your stories and what makes you excited about writing the stories you’re publishing. I thought the convo turnt out brilliant!
That was a great interview, thank you Jorie!
Amy
HF Virtual Book Tours