Victoria & Violet
It should be a dream come true to serve the Queen of England…
When Violet Parker is told she will be Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune. She finally has the chance to escape her overbearing mother, a servant to the Duchess of Kent.
Violet hopes to explore who she is and what the world has to offer without her mother’s schemes overshadowing her every thought and action.
Then she meets James Greene, assistant to the queen’s chief political adviser, Lord Melbourne. From entirely different backgrounds and social class, Violet and James should have neither need nor desire to speak to one another, yet through their service, their paths cross and their lives merge—as do their feelings.
Only Victoria’s court is not always the place for romance, but rather secrets, scandals, and conspiracies…
Review
Were you obsessed with ITV’s ‘Victoria’ series? If so, then you will LOVE this book! As with all of Rachel’s writing, we’re immediately thrown into the heart of the story: Violet being sent to the inner circle of Queen Victoria, but not for her own advancement of course, no, instead, told to use her position to improve relations between the Queen and her mother, the Duchess of Kent. There is an immediate connection between the two young women, as they have far more in common than most of Victoria’s other ladies could ever understand; a difficult, hurtful and at times violent relationship with over-bearing mothers.
Those relationships, and others at court, are wonderfully portrayed here. I had watched documentaries on Victoria’s court long before reading or watching fictional accounts, but in this depiction, the two sides of the world (glamour and politics) are expertly captured. I liked that so many people were feeling trapped, in one way or another, in a world that, to the outside, only ever looked perfect.
James and Violet are likeable characters, and weaving them into existing, established relationships, such as those between Victoria and Lord Melbourne and Lehzen has been done effortlessly. Lehzen’s initial harshness to Violet is in character for a woman who was far closer to a genuine mother to the queen, and that comes through beautifully.
All in all, an excellent first book in the series, and I’m looking forward to where the series goes next!
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victoria-Violet-Royal-Maids-Book-ebook/dp/B0B6T47ZX5
US – https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Violet-Royal-Maids-Book-ebook/dp/B0B6T47ZX5
About Rachel
Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association as well as the Historical Novel Society and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.
Social Media Links
Website: https://bit.ly/3wH7HQs
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Jennifer C. Wilson 