Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
This marks my second time hosting with Austenprose – although, I have been a long time admirer of her blog and it is an honour to start a new journey in hosting her blog tours! Ms Laurel reached out to me initially to host her authors for my bookish chat known for showcasing Romance & Women’s Fiction as well as stories of Feminist Lit – @SatBookChat meets on Saturdays January-November annually. Through conversing with her I had the pleasure of joy of becoming better acquainted with two authors I have been itching to start reading over the years – Ms Sarah M. Eden of whom I spotlighted yesterday ahead of my review at the end of the blog tour and Ms Mimi Matthews of whom I am spotlighting today.
I have been seeing a lot of my fellow book bloggers speak highly in praise & admiration for Ms Matthews stories over the past several years in the book blogosphere. I’ve been wanting to start reading them myself – however, either the blog tours fill too quickly to join or the stories are not available in print to request for review. This Christmas, part of my #blogmas selections is “Holiday in Gaslight” which made the rounds through a lot of my friends’ blogs a few years ago now becomes the first Matthews story I will be able to read courtesy of my library accepting my purchase request.
Historical Romance is one of my favourite subgenres of Historical Fiction – so much so, I have the tendency to read more of it than I do Contemporary Fiction – though I would suspect in the past years since 2016 I might have had a better balance between the modern world and the historic past courtesy of finding authors & publishers who are producing the kind of stories I love to read the most. With Historical Romance you get to jettison off into a different timescape and era – to see how life could have been lived and a reflection of where we were in the world at the same time. Both on a note of societal perspectives and of the political spheres as well.
This particular story was an interesting one for me to find – as generally, I try to avoid reading stories about revenge – until of course, I realised earlier this Spring sometimes a good story of revenge if told well can become an intriguing read of its own. What changed my mind was one of the Dolly Parton movies via NetFlix – the ones based round her songs? I’ve been a *huge!* appreciator of Ms Parton since I was a kid and to see her songs transformed into stories and films was quite the feat of joy for me! The mini series overall was called “Heartstrings” but the historical revenge plot was featured in “JJ Sneed”. Quite literally the best revenge Westerns I’ve seen or read in quite a long time!
Ergo, when it came time to consider hosting this blog tour – based on what I loved in Parton’s film, I thought perhaps I ought to try reading more stories of #HistFic which deal with this particular topic of interest and see where those stories take me. Thereby, I decided to be on the tour and in lieu of a print copy available to request I am happily spotlighting this title to help other Historical readers like me see if this might be their cuppa tea, too!
This marks my final tour to host for Austenprose before 2021 – however, I am keenly excited about what the New Year might bring and I look forward to continuing to host for Ms Laurel as it has been such a wonderful experience this Autumn.
Gentleman Jim
Subtitle: A tale of Romance and Revenge
by Ms Mimi Matthews, Mimi Matthews
Source: Publisher via Austenprose
She Couldn't Forget...
Wealthy squire's daughter Margaret Honeywell was always meant to marry her neighbor, Frederick Burton-Smythe, but it's bastard-born Nicholas Seaton who has her heart. Raised alongside her on her father's estate, Nick is the rumored son of notorious highwayman Gentleman Jim. When Fred frames him for theft, Nick escapes into the night, vowing to find his legendary sire. But Nick never returns. A decade later, he's long been presumed dead.
He Wouldn't Forgive...
After years spent on the continent, John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare has finally come home to England. Tall, blond, and dangerous, he's on a mission to restore his family's honor. If he can mete out a bit of revenge along the way, so much the better. But he hasn't reckoned for Maggie Honeywell. She's bold and beautiful--and entirely convinced he's someone else.
As danger closes in, St. Clare is torn between love and vengeance. Will he sacrifice one to gain other? Or, with a little daring, will he find a way to have them both?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1733056991
Also by this author: A Modest Independence
Published by Perfectly Proper Press
on 10th November, 2020
The stories on Jorie’s radar by Ms Matthews:
Holiday by Gaslight (2018)
A Modest Independence (2019) (see also post)
Gentleman Jim (2020)
Converse via: #HistoricalRomance or #HistRom
+ #GentlemanJim, #HistoricalFiction and #Austenprose
Available Formats: Trade paperback, Audiobook and Ebook
