Once Upon a Dickens Christmas by Michelle Griep

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

Three Delightful Christmas Tales from Beloved Storyteller Michelle Griep
 
Pour yourself a cuppa, get lost in the merriment of the season, and enjoy a Dickensian Christmas in three stories from fan favorite Michelle Griep:
 
12 Days at Bleakly Manor

Brought together under mysterious circumstances, Clara and Ben discover that what they’ve been striving for isn’t what ultimately matters. What matters most is what Christmas is all about . . . love.
 
A Tale of Two Hearts

Pleasure seeker William Barlow needs a wife immediately to gain his uncle’s inheritance, and Mina Scott is just the girl to make him look respectable—too bad she turns him down. Ought he give her a second chance?
 
The Old Lace Shop

Recently widowed Bella White is finally freed from the domination of the overbearing men in her life, but when she enters into a business partnership with the handsome Edmund Archer, she begins to wonder if marriage is worth a second chance.

My Review

I enjoyed reading these three stories that have a strong Dickens vibe of Victorian England, focusing on individuals who are struggling, especially of the middle and lower classes. The plots were engaging and the characters interesting. I didn't quite connect with their emotions, but was interested in how each story would turn out. The settings are easy to envision with the author's descriptions and the historical details. A trio of holiday tales that complement each other well.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

Review: Ladies of Intrigue by Michelle Griep

My rating: 3 stars / I liked it

Synopsis

Can truth and love prevail when no one is as they appear?
 
The Gentleman Smuggler’s Lady
Cornish Coast, 1815
When a prim and proper governess returns to England from abroad, she expects to comfort her dying father—not fall in love with a smuggler. Will Helen Fletcher keep Isaac Seaton’s unusual secret?

(originally in The Regency Brides Collection: 7 Romances Set in England during the Early Nineteenth Century)
 
The Doctor’s Woman (A Carol Award Winner!)
Dakota Territory, 1862
Emmy Nelson, daughter of a missionary doctor, and Dr. James Clark, city doctor aspiring to teach, find themselves working side by side at Fort Snelling during the Dakota Uprising. That is when the real clash of ideals begins.
(originally in The Courageous Brides Collection)

 
A House of Secrets
St. Paul, Minnesota, 1890
Ladies Aide Chairman, Amanda Carston resolves to clean up St. Paul’s ramshackle housing, starting with the worst of the worst: a “haunted” house that’s secretly owned by her beau—a home that’s his only means of helping brothel girls escape from the hands of the city’s most infamous madam.

(originally in Of Rags and Riches Romance Collection)

My Review

This collection of novellas is a bit like a mash-up of unrelated stories, I wasn't sensing a common theme among the three. The first one is what I would expect from the title of the collection, with secrets and smuggling, although Helen was a witness of Isaac's plot, not a participant. Her natural inclination is to dissuade him from what she perceives as thievery and crime- but thing are not always what they seem. The second story didn't have a whiff of intrigue- it took us to the western US with a doctor and volunteer nurse serving the local Native Americans being held at the fort. The last story I admittedly didn't finish. The language and thoughts of the main characters were too sickly sweet which I found unrealistic, and difficult to engage with the plot.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

Review: Brentwood's Ward by Michelle Griep

My rating: 3 stars / I liked it

Synopsis

“I suppose I can’t expect to keep you under lock and key. You’re hardly a criminal.  .  . are you?”   

It takes a criminal to catch one, and Nicholas Brentwood is just the man for the job. Reformed in more ways than one, the rough-around-the-edges Brentwood is a member of the Bow Street Runners, London’s early nineteenth-century fledgling police force. There’s none better than Brentwood at catching the felons who ravage the city’s streets, and there’s nothing he loves more than seeing justice served.  Beautiful and beguiling, Miss Emily Payne is not the sort of miscreant Brentwood usually hunts down. When he is assigned as her bodyguard, he vows to protect her from her father’s enemies, who will stop at nothing to carry out their mission fueled by greed and revenge.
       
All her life, Emily has longed for love, but it remains beyond her grasp. This season she’s determined to find a husband, which is quite the undertaking with a hound-dog guardian like Brentwood watching her every step. If he would just give her some measure of freedom, she is sure she could win the heart of society’s most eligible bachelor.

Emily’s headstrong persistence challenges Nicholas in ways he doesn’t expect but of one thing he’s certain—of all the cunning criminals he’s dealt with in the past, this time he’s met his match.

My Review

An exciting story with two characters who drive each other crazy... until they don't ;) I had a difficult time with Emily in the beginning because of her attitude, but as her past was slowly revealed, I grew to understand her a bit more. I enjoy stories set during the Regency era but delve into the lives of those not placed high in Society. It's always a little more gritty, but also interesting and eye-opening to the way of life back then.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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Don't miss the following books in the Bow Street Runners series . . .

Review: The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep

Book Three in the Daughters of the Mayflower series

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

Synopsis

A War-Torn Countryside Is No Place for a Lady
 
Mercy Lytton is a lady like none other. Raised amongst the Mohawks, she straddles two cultures, yet each are united in one cause. . . to defeat the French. Born with a rare gift of unusually keen eyesight, she is chosen as a scout to accompany a team of men on a dangerous mission. Yet it is not her life that is threatened. It is her heart.  

Condemned as a traitor, Elias Dubois faces the gallows. At the last minute, he is offered his freedom if he consents to accompany a stolen shipment of French gold to a nearby fort—but he is the one they stole it from in the first place. It turns out that the real thief is the beguiling woman, Mercy Lytton, for she steals his every waking thought. Can love survive divided loyalties in a backcountry wilderness?

My Review

This book held me captive as I read with its frontier wilderness setting and vivid characters. There is tension throughout the story with the dangers from the French and Indian tribes who are warring with the English. There is the sense that things are not as they seem, and the suspense is heightened as loyalties, motivations, and backgrounds are slowly revealed. The travel and action kept a swift pace, yet there was a good balance with showing the personalities and emotions of Mercy and Elias so I felt connected to them and invested in their story. They had a strong connection to each other and their chemistry only grew as they bonded through the trials they endure together. I loved the spiritual journey Mercy also takes as she grieves for her family and seeks to understand the faith of her mother. Fans of A Moonbow Night by Laura Frantz won't want to miss this one!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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Check out the other books in the Daughters of the Mayflower series . . .

Book One

The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1620 Atlantic Ocean

Read my 3 star review here

Book Two

The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo - set 1725 New Orleans
 Read my 4 star review here

Book Four

The Patriot Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1774 Philadelphia 
(coming August 2018)

Book Five

The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear – set 1794 on the Wilderness Road 
(coming October 2018)

Book Six

The Liberty Bride by MaryLu Tyndall – set 1814 Baltimore 
(coming December 2018)