Thursday, August 18, 2022

The Bride of Blackfriars Lane, Blackfriars Lane #2 by Michelle Griep


Book description:

 The Continuing Adventure of Jackson and Kit!

Detective Jackson Forge can hardly wait to marry the street-sly swindler who’s turned his life upside down. Kit Turner is equally excited to wed the handsome detective, and what better way to show her love than providing him with a gift any man of the law would love? She determines to bring to justice the men who years ago maimed his brother—despite Jackson’s warning to leave the past in the past. As she digs into the mystery of what happened, she unwittingly tumbles into her own history and endangers her future happiness with Jackson.

My review:

    I reviewed a book by this author that was described as "Regency-Gothic", and no offense to the author...did not care for it much. I heard rave reviews for The Thief of Blackfriars Lane, and when I had a chance to review this, the sequel, I requested this one, bought and devoured the first one.

  The Bride of Blackfriars Lane showed up this morning in my mailbox, and I immediately started reading it. When it begins, Jackson and Kit are now engaged to be married in just a few short days, and if the readers expect everything to go without a hitch, they will be extremely disappointed.

  Sequels can be dangerous things. A reader may love a book, and the sequel is a letdown. In this case, book #1 was a total delight to read, and book #2 continues in that same vein, just as good or better than #1.

  The Bride of Blackfriars Lane is full of mischief, mystery, romance, and things happening to the hero and heroine that show how different they are, but how suited for each other they are. I read a lot of suspense novels, which is my favorite genre'. Solving crimes and mysteries in the late 1800's is a total different ballgame, and the author does a great job of describing what that might entail and involve. There is a murder to solve, and a thieving racket to stop and find the perpetrators, and that adds to the excitement of the book.

   Jackson again makes a great hero, doing his best to keep his bride to be out of trouble as she gets into trouble and pulls him along. I enjoyed the read, and it was truly a delight to read. I am a fast reader, and I found myself wishing I could read even faster to see what was going to befall the couple next, and if they would ever to to the point of tying the knot. The book ended in a great way with a few surprises and a few things I saw coming.

 I read a lot of books. This book makes #380 for the year. (My goal was 200). I can very easily say that this book and the one that came before it are among the best I have read this year. I am so glad I gave this author another chance. I highly recommend these books, and they defitely should be read in order. My hat is off to the author for again penning a book that deserves the description of "awesome", and deserves more than the allotted 5 stars.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.


About the author:

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She seeks to glorify God in all that she writes—except for that graffiti phase she went through as a teenager. She resides in the frozen tundra of Minnesota, where she teaches history and writing classes for a local high school co-op. An Anglophile at heart, she runs away to England every chance she gets, under the guise of research. Really, though, she’s eating excessive amounts of scones while rambling around a castle. Michelle is a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and MCWG (Minnesota Christian Writers Guild).

Visit her website for more: MichelleGriep.com

The Bride of Blackfriars Lane will be available September 1 from Barbour Publishing. Thanks to Barbour for the review copy.

#1 The Thief of Blackfriars Lane, is available from Barbour Publishing.