By Elizabeth Camden
Published by Bethany House
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Annabelle Larkin needs to somehow turn her temporary position at the Smithsonian into a full-time position, so when she's assigned to contact Gray Delacroix, a successful businessman whose spice empire and the plant collection that supports it are legendary, to try to gain access to his plants, she pursues the assignment wholeheartedly.
Gray has no intention of letting the Smithsonian anywhere near his plants--but Annabelle turns out to be a different story. He's quickly enamored by her and beings courting her. Little does he know how letting her into his life will change everything--but not in the ways he anticipated.
Annabelle cares for Gray, but she's also a loyal American, and when she's approached by government officials who insist they need her help to keep her country safe, rooting out spies who could hurt their country in the delicate situation following the Spanish-American war, she can't say no--even if it means ruining her chance for love to do so.
This was a really unique piece of historical fiction. It was really interesting to see Gray's business pursuits and the development of spices that we take for granted in our day, particularly alongside the government aspect, with the Smithsonian wanting information and the Department of Agriculture wanting to start regulating the growing business. Saying a book talks about the beginning of the fight for food safety and ingredient labels, that might not make it sound very appealing, but it was really fascinating, which I think shows Camden's talent for taking a unique part of history and making it engaging so that readers find themselves totally caught up in something that they didn't think they'd ever find that interesting. (I expected the "spice" aspect of the book to be the thing I liked least, but I really enjoyed it!) The political setting, with the brief look at the aftermath of the Spanish-American war, was also something Camden made me want to know more about. The plot was good, with suspense and action and family dynamics, and moved along well. I definitely want to read the next book in the series to see how things play out for certain characters.
What didn't work quite as well for me was the romance, particularly on Annabelle's side. I just didn't see her feelings being developed enough. Gray's feelings were shown more than hers were, but I just didn't ever get a good sense of chemistry between them. They worked well on projects--sometimes because they antagonized each other!--but I would have liked a stronger romantic feel.
The other thing that fell a little short for me was the Christian aspect. There was very little that came through about Christian beliefs (and the biggest part of that was very close to the end of the book), to the point that I actually double-checked to make sure this really was being put out by Bethany House.
So, with that said, if you're mainly interested in historical fiction, this an excellent choice. If you're looking for a great romance or a book with overt Christianity, this might not be the best choice. For me, it's interesting enough that I'll give it 3.5 stars and I want to continue with the series.
I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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