Rachel Gates
Author
Rachel Gates is a writer, entrepreneur, and life-long Francophile. She spends her time writing historical fiction set in France and England, planning trips to Europe (both real and aspirational), and curating vintage fashion. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband, two boys, and Murphy the big red dog. You can find her online at:
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The Perils of Poison and Former Husbands Convergence
Historical Romance
Adventure/Thriller
Scapegrace. Rogue. Reprobate. Cad. Winifred Osbourne has spent the last ten years avoiding Benjamin Hadleigh, scum of the earth, at all costs. Yet by some strange twist of fate, she finds herself snowed in with him – and a murderer – for Christmas.
It’s 1890, and twenty-seven year old British spinster Winifred Osbourne has built a successful career and life as an artist in Paris. Reeling from the loss of her beloved grandfather, the man who raised her and showed her the world, she returns to England for her first Christmas in ten years. Her dreams of a cozy house party with just a few close friends are shattered, however, by the appearance of Lord Benjamin Hadleigh: her former neighbor, disastrous first love, and – most shockingly – ex-husband.
Their quickly-annulled marriage has been kept a secret for nearly a decade, and Winnie has managed to avoid him for just as long. Hadleigh is at the house party in his role as a government operative, on the hunt for a man suspected of blackmailing a member of the royal family. Winifred vows to ignore Hadleigh until she can flee back to Paris – until a guest at the house party is killed and only Winnie knows what poisoned him. Someone they’re snowed in with is a murderer, and Winnie is forced to work together with Hadleigh to find the killer before they strike again. It’s a race against time to find evidence of murder and blackmail, and every guest at the party seems to have secrets of their own – secrets that someone is willing to kill again to protect.
Also by Rachel Gates
A Brilliant Convergence
Historical Romance
Adventure/Thriller
“I love you the more, in that I believe you had liked me for my own sake, and for nothing else.”
This quote by John Keats nicely reflects some of the main characters’ struggles in A Brilliant Convergence. Set against the introduction of the Fresnel lens is a mystery involving shipwrecks and smugglers in 1825, and era that has much in common with our own society right now. It was a time of great technological advancement and innovation, but also great inequality and instability.
As each of the main characters attempt to live up to other’s expectations or dreams, trying to fit into the role society expects of them, they ultimately, learn they are worthy and valuable just as they are.