BJ Sikes has a new sapphic historical steampunk romance out: Her Runaway Lady.
Solange doesn’t have time for love. She’s too busy working her way up in the Parisian millinery trade. Her goal: to become rich and lift her family out of poverty. So when a beautiful aristo whirls into the millinery fascinated by hat making, Solange isn’t interested. Or so she tells herself.
Louise-Marie hates the fancy parties she’s dragged to at Versailles, hates the idea of marrying anyone, but loves hat-making. Running away from home to become a milliner seemed like a good idea but the life of a working-class shop girl is harder than she imagined. And her new coworker doesn’t seem to like her much.
Thrown together in the cramped backroom of a millinery shop and a shared garret room, their tensions fray, tangle, then bind.
But ambition doesn’t leave room for longing. And love was never part of Solange’s plan. When she exposes Louise-Marie’s secret in her pursuit of prosperity, will she lose everything?
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Immerse yourself in a reimagined Paris of the 1880s, a Belle Epoque That Never Was, the steampunk-flavoured world of the Roboticist of Versailles. All three books are on sale during the OWI tour for $.99 each – 75% off! You do not need to read the other two books before reading Her Runaway Lady.
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This scene doesn’t appear in the final manuscript of Her Runaway Lady !
Louise-Marie, the runaway lady of the title, is instructed by her coworker and love interest Solange in the fine art of laundry the 19th century Parisian way at a washhouse (the lavoir).
The lavoir was larger than Louise-Marie had expected, the room full of steaming tubs of water and women talking as they scrubbed and rinsed their laundry. The steamy heat flushed her face immediately. She breathed in the smell of lye, then coughed at its acrid fumes.
Solange tugged her over to the person in charge. “We need to pay for our time. It’ll take us a few hours to wash and dry everything.”
The milliners handed over their coins and hung up their hats and cloaks before claiming tubs already full of warm water. Solange dumped her linens into one, gesturing to Louise-Marie to do the same. Louise-Marie watched Solange scrub, then copied her movements. They scrubbed the clothing with soap, then dumped buckets of boiling water into the tubs. Steam rose, making Louise-Marie feel faint. The exertion of the lifting and scrubbing was more effort that she could ever remember making. She glanced over at Solange who stood next to her, frowning while she scrubbed at her clothes. Damp curls clung to her face.
Louise-Marie itched to brush Solange’s curls back but kept her hands to herself. “You make it look so easy.”
Solange looked up, the frown dropping from her face and a cheeky grin taking its place. “I’ve done this a lot more than you have, little aristo.”
Louise-Marie plunged her hands into the water and squeezed out the clothing. “I’ve never washed my own clothing. I had no idea it was such hard work.”
Solange turned to her with one hand on her hip. “And yet here you are. Is your freedom worth all this toil? What I wouldn’t give to have someone else take care of my clothing.”
Louise-Marie lowered the clothing back into the water. She shook her head, sadness stealing across her. “It’s hard work but yes, it is worth it. I know I sound like an entitled whiny brat but that life was stifling. You would hate it, I promise. Your every move, word, even your expressions noted and criticised. You have to be conscious of how you appear in every moment or you are condemned as being inferior or unladylike or ill-bred.” Her voice had risen and the other women nearby stared at her. She ducked her head, her face flushing even brighter, and resumed scrubbing.
BJ Sikes is a 5’6″ ape descendant who is inordinately fond of a good strong cup of tea, Doc Marten boots, and fancy dress. I live with one large cat, two sweet teenagers, and one editor-author, plus an array of chickens in a place very unlike my homeland. My favorite thing to write is historical fantasy with themes of a woman’s struggle for agency and queer characters living their lives.
After writing a dissertation on avocado root rot, I was drawn back to my first love, fiction. I have published several novels, novellas, and short stories in a variety of genres.
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