Author Interview: Rachel Brimble

This morning I'm delighted to welcome Rachel Brimble to my blog to talk about her latest book What Belongs to Her.

She's ready to take back what's hers

Since the moment a local crime boss claimed ownership of her family's fairground, Sasha Todd has dreamed of righting the wrong. Now it's time to act, and backing down from the man's estranged son is definitely not an option. After all, giving up her legacy to hot-blooded John Jordon means losing the chance to finally heal the wounds in her past. 

Stopping John in his tracks—and resisting the sizzle between them—is Sasha's best defense. But there's more to him than she thought, which changes everything. With what matters most at stake, she'll have to risk a brand-new future with John, or walk away from the man whose heart belongs to her.

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Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book?
What Belongs To Her is the third book in my Harlequin Superromance series, but can be read as a stand alone. I created my fictional UK seaside town for one book when I started but as I continued to write, I didn’t want to leave Templeton Cove. Luckily, my editor didn’t either!

This story is about Sasha Todd and her quest to get the town’s fairground back into her family after her grandfather sold it to the town’s crime lord – when he is sentenced to a long prison sentence, she sees this as her opportunity to get back what belongs to her…until the crime lord’s son arrives in town with entirely different plans for the fair.

Are you currently working on a new book? If so, are you able to tell us anything about it? 
I am currently writing book three in my other series! This is my third Victorian romance with eKensington which I am hoping to have done by May 1st. This is Monica’s story – Monica was a secondary character in book two (The Temptation of Laura) and the more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to give her the limelight! I am 60,000 words into the story and this is the easiest book I’ve had to write so far…I think it helps that Tom Hardy is the muse for my hero, Thomas Ashby! ;)

If you weren’t a writer, what career path would you have chosen to follow?
If I wasn’t a writer (which I can’t imagine), I would love to have worked with animals in some way. I am a huge animal lover and would have enjoyed working in a vets, rescue centre or even dog walking would suit me down to the ground :)

Would you say that any of your characters are like you? If so, which one(s)?
I think there is quite possibly a bit of me in ALL my characters, male and female. It’s very hard not to inject your issues, opinions and feelings into a story as you write. It’s what makes it real to you; what gets the passion burning and transposed onto the page. Of course, my characters often do and say things I wouldn’t have the courage to do myself…they also make mistakes I can see coming a mile off, lol!

Being a writer appears to be such a solitary lifestyle, especially when you’re in the midst of writing, so do you consider the influence of social Media, Facebook and Twitter, a blessing or a hinderance?
Oh, a blessing, definitely! I have made some fabulous friends both in the UK and across the pond in the US via social media. There are some writers I talk to daily via Twitter and would hate for that to disappear any time soon. The downside, of course, is concentrating on your work in progress instead of leaping in and out of Twitter and Facebook to see what your friends are up to! I also tend to use social media to vent whatever my kids are doing…which doesn’t go down too well with them!

If you could invite any three authors, alive or dead, to a dinner party who would you choose and why?
Stephen King, Margaret Mitchell and Nora Roberts – in order, influence and admiration for King, fascination and love of the Civil War period for Mitchell and what is her secret to writing so prolifically and coming up with such great stories and characters” for Roberts. (I suspect Roberts will get up and leave when I ask her that!)

What’s the last book you’ve read that has made you cry?
The ONLY book that has made me physically cry is The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. So, so emotionally charged and brilliantly written – of course, it doesn’t help that I have two daughters…

There are many other books that have made me incredibly emotional – anything by Nicholas Evans springs to mind and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes but I haven’t cried actual tears.

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. After having several novels published by small US presses, she secured agent representation in 2011. In 2012, she sold two books to Harlequin Superromance and a further three in 2013. She also writes Victorian romance for Kensington--her debut was released in April 2013 and she has since signed for three more.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family and beloved black Lab, Max. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

She likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you!

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