Smoke and Sterling
(2026)(The first book in the Children of Scandal series)
A novel by Violet Sinclair
Their parents broke the rules. They'll rewrite them.
From the award-winning author of the American Heiresses series comes a bold new Victorian romance about the woman who controls everything — and the man who makes her want to surrender.
Rose Sterling has never met a problem she couldn't organize into submission. The eldest daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, she's traded ballrooms for factory floors, leveraging her father's name and her mother's American nerve to fight for reform in Parliament. She doesn't need a husband. She needs the Ten Hours Act to pass — and she needs the testimony of one infuriatingly stubborn mill owner to make it happen.
Samuel Holt built his cotton mill from nothing. A former child worker with a scarred hand and a stubborn streak to match, he runs the only factory in Manchester where children learn to read and workers leave before dark. He doesn't need an earl's daughter marching through his mill, rearranging his ledgers, and telling him his best isn't good enough. He especially doesn't need her to be right.
But when a dangerous mill owner threatens everything they've built — and a devastating fire changes everything — Rose and Samuel must choose between the causes that define them and the love neither of them planned.
Set against the smoke and ambition of 1847 Manchester, Smoke and Sterling is an enemies-to-lovers romance about two people who'd rather fight for a better world than admit they're falling for each other.
Children of Scandal follows the sons and daughters of the American Heiresses couples into the Victorian era — where inherited courage meets industrial revolution, and love is the most dangerous reform of all. Each book is a standalone romance with a complete happily ever after.
Content note: Sensual romance (open door). Features themes of child labor reform, class divide, and industrial working conditions.
Perfect for fans of Lisa Kleypas, Sarah MacLean, and Courtney Milan.
Genre: Historical Romance
From the award-winning author of the American Heiresses series comes a bold new Victorian romance about the woman who controls everything — and the man who makes her want to surrender.
Rose Sterling has never met a problem she couldn't organize into submission. The eldest daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, she's traded ballrooms for factory floors, leveraging her father's name and her mother's American nerve to fight for reform in Parliament. She doesn't need a husband. She needs the Ten Hours Act to pass — and she needs the testimony of one infuriatingly stubborn mill owner to make it happen.
Samuel Holt built his cotton mill from nothing. A former child worker with a scarred hand and a stubborn streak to match, he runs the only factory in Manchester where children learn to read and workers leave before dark. He doesn't need an earl's daughter marching through his mill, rearranging his ledgers, and telling him his best isn't good enough. He especially doesn't need her to be right.
But when a dangerous mill owner threatens everything they've built — and a devastating fire changes everything — Rose and Samuel must choose between the causes that define them and the love neither of them planned.
Set against the smoke and ambition of 1847 Manchester, Smoke and Sterling is an enemies-to-lovers romance about two people who'd rather fight for a better world than admit they're falling for each other.
Children of Scandal follows the sons and daughters of the American Heiresses couples into the Victorian era — where inherited courage meets industrial revolution, and love is the most dangerous reform of all. Each book is a standalone romance with a complete happily ever after.
Content note: Sensual romance (open door). Features themes of child labor reform, class divide, and industrial working conditions.
Perfect for fans of Lisa Kleypas, Sarah MacLean, and Courtney Milan.
Genre: Historical Romance
Used availability for Violet Sinclair's Smoke and Sterling