by Michelle Griep
My rating: ★★★★☆
Here I am... it's been 2 days since I finished reading this book, but I wanted to think carefully before writing a review ( well, I warn you that I'm Italian and I write in a foreign language, so forgive me if you find errors in the text).
There’s Often a Fine Line Between a Criminal and a Saint
Constable Jackson Forge intends to make the world safer, or at least the streets of Victorian London. But that’s Kit Turner’s domain, a swindler who runs a crew that acquires money the old-fashioned way—conning the rich to give to the poor. When a local cab driver goes missing, Jackson is tasked with finding the man, and the only way to do that is by enlisting Kit’s help. If Jackson doesn’t find the cabby, he’ll be fired. If Kit doesn’t help Jackson, he’ll arrest her for thievery. Yet neither of them realize those are the least of their problems.
Overall the plot is compelling and captivating, I was looking for a story where there was a mystery to be solved, where there were adventure and action and where there was a good love story.
I hate love stories for their own sake, I need something else to tease the mind, that's why I usually read mysteries, but usually the romantic part is barely mentioned and even if it's nice to stay warm in winter armchair, too much "armchair" gets boring, so I need action.
I can truly say that I found everything I was looking for in this book!
The descriptions are very detailed and I was able to imagine every place and every person as if I had seen it on the screen.
The action is fabulous, in my opinion Michelle Griep could write scripts for TV series or movies and she would be successful!
The romantic part has a pinch of spiciness without falling into the vulgar, but it is a constant presence that makes you dream of falling in love again and living a beautiful love story.
Why didn't I give 5 stars then?
Great question.
1st __ I found it a little difficult to read this book (as well as another beautiful story by Michelle Griep).
I state that I'm Italian, English is not my mother tongue, but I've been used to reading books written in English for a couple of years now and some novels I read them all in one go without problems, while I find it difficult to understand the jargon used by this author and often not even Google Translate can translate certain words and expressions into my language. I often found myself rereading the speech 2 or 3 times....it's nice that the author puts in a Victorian-style way of speaking...but too much is really annoying.
2nd__ there are too many too many names.
I'm used to reading Mysteries with different characters, but here there are just too many names, which maybe appear briefly and then reappear after many pages...it's really hard to remember who's who and what's in the story, even a couple are named of characters who have nothing to do with the story, but have had to do in the past with some of the characters in the book ... this thing together with the difficulty of language did not allow me to fully enjoy reading.
3rd __ maybe this is the thing that bothered me about it all : chapters 25 to 30 are a little bit boring.
A solution plan is assumed by the protagonists, but everything takes place in too long a time, which never leads to something concrete if not after 5 unbearable chapters.
I adore the story of physical and emotional attraction between the two protagonists who feel a feeling growing inside themselves that they had never known before, but the description of every thought, every look and every word is too long and repetitive and for a moment ( but just for a moment ) I also found the two characters unbearable.
I'll read the sequel to this book too, because the central part of the book is really amazing and made me want to live in that world with the two characters and share their adventures, (except a little bit boring 5 chapters, I read almost the whole book in few days), but being the book finished well and without any cliffhanger (thankfully) I think I will read it not immediately but later (even if I already have the book, ) and sure I'll read other books by Michelle Griep.
__ I also want to add that although this book appears in Christian readings and I'm a Christian, in Italy we don't usually be so fanatical about religion, I didn't choose the novel based on that tag. In Italy we are not scandalized by a passionate kiss or by physical attraction or by the desire to have sex with a person ... it is clear that in this book, between the lines, this desire also appears and some reviews made me laugh where some girls were annoyed by the constant flirting... I found those reviews ridiculous.
I really liked the flirting and it gave the novel that part where we girls ( even 51 years old like me ) are able to dream which I miss in usual cozy mysteries.
Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts
