REVIEW: When Stars Light the Sky (The Women of Midtown) by Elizabeth Camden

Must read

Gold prices hit all-time high

The surge has...

Public Citizen accuses Trump of ‘soliciting’ gifts with memecoin posts

Though Donald Trump launched his memecoin before taking office, he has called on his social media followers to buy it after Jan. 20....

Cryptocurrencies record largest ever single-day fall

Global cryptocurrency markets suffered a record single-day drop overnight into Monday, according to Coinglass, a service tracking transactions on major crypto exchanges. The total...

US prosecutors must rethink DeFi stance — a16z

DEXs like Uniswap should not be held liable for user actions they can’t control, the venture capital firm said. The US Department of...

JayneB+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsBerlin-Germany / diplomat / Germany / Historical / inspirational romance / marriage-of-convenience / opposites attract / The Women of Midtown series / World War I2 Comments

In a world on the brink of war, two hearts must navigate shadows of uncertainty.

Inga Klein’s carefree life in New York takes a dramatic turn when she sails for Berlin, Germany, to serve as the secretary for America’s ambassador. Amid the glamour of life at the embassy, she continually finds herself at odds with the straitlaced and imposing Benedict Kincaid, the diplomatic chief of staff who harbors deep misgivings toward the German-born Inga.

As Europe hurtles toward World War I, Benedict’s determination to keep America out of the conflict adds to the already tense atmosphere. Despite their relentless sparring, Inga and Benedict succeed in keeping the embassy afloat through one crisis after another. But when they run out of diplomatic options, a marriage of convenience may be Inga’s only hope of escape from the impending war.

Dear Ms. Camden,

At this point I just trust that you’re going to provide a well researched and unique historical novel And let me just say that this one was almost an A grade from me. So close, so close … Readers should be aware that while this is part of The Women of Midtown series, the first book doesn’t have to be read before this one.

There’s a good reason why Inga Klein agrees to accompany the US ambassador to Germany back to Berlin even though she’s got several more good reasons why she wants to stay in her beloved New York City. Inga knows she owes Mr. Gerard and if he says he needs her on his side, she’ll give up her job, her lovely apartment and friends, and head to Germany. Once there, it takes all her sunny attitude to stand up to stuffed shirt Benedict Kincaid.

Benedict is a career diplomat and lately he’s been doing little but trying to put out the fires that the belligerent man who was assigned the plum job of ambassador has created. Gerard spreads chaos in the uptight capital of Germany and seems to have no clue or no care that he’s reading the room wrong. The little ray of sunshine that Gerard has brought back with him as his new secretary is another example of this. Inga’s being German (the US citizenship test costs $4 and she’s just never seen a reason to spend that much money when she can’t vote) could be seen as the neutral US taking sides in the War that has almost broken out. But Inga proves her worth and her happy attitude soon wins friends. When it appears that the US will be dragged into this European war and the diplomatic staff will need to evacuate, will the Germans let Inga, with no US passport, leave? And when the means to avoid this is put to the test, will Inga (with an eighth grade education) choose to stay with Benedict, a man looking at a possibly glittering career as an ambassador?

I enjoyed chatty, friendly, upbeat Inga. So many heroines in inspirational books – or maybe it’s just in the ones I’ve read – are quiet and not as flirty but Inga draws men like bees to honey and enjoys it. She’s not ready to be married at all! Inga is intelligent although her father denigrated education for her (the family needed another money earner) and she grabs any opportunity to learn and advance in a new profession with a future as she saw what happened to her shoemaker father in a dying one. Yay that it is a friend urging her to take this job in Berlin because it’s hard and will challenge her that gets her to finally agree.

Benedict is a taskmaster because that’s what is needed to run an embassy, especially now that things are heating up, and because it’s what he knows how to do. Raised without siblings and to travel with his widowed father, Benedict thrives in diplomatic circles. He can see upcoming issues and smooth them over, can talk to other diplomats in tense situations without raising hackles – watching Gerard stick his foot in his mouth and stomp all over niceties with a nation the US doesn’t want to go to war with, makes Benedict seethe.

So of course Benedict and Inga get tossed together a lot. Things are not smooth sailing for them as Inga has never been in a situation like this and needs to have some things explained to her (such as what a passport is – no one diss her as a lot of people didn’t have one or really need one then). As Benedict wants the US diplomatic corps to remain neutral, he has to spell out to her what she can and can’t do when even the littlest thing could upset the diplomatic apple cart. The tension of their situation, as they represent US interests and also try to attend to those of some of the warring nations who obviously have no representatives in Berlin, is there – simmering under the surface. They even have to be wary of their fellow neutral nations as Inga discovers. It’s this incident that shows Inga that Benedict can be kind in the face of a mistake for Reasons.

Still it takes a bit more time for these two to get to know each other and for a while Inga remains “aggressively cheerful” when Benedict enters a room while he continues to sometimes nitpick her actions. The reason for the marriage of convenience is an unusual one – no sus wills or inheritance issues here. Instead Inga – without a US passport or citizenship – needs an ironclad way out of Germany after the Lusitania is sunk. When war doesn’t break out, it’s due to Benedict needing to preserve his diplomatic “face” because of the way his first marriage tanked that causes them to stay together. Benedict realizes, when he finds Inga trying to salvage something meaningful to him, that she sees him. When he gives her a “gift” later on, she tells him it’s one of the best things anyone has done for her. This is definitely a slow burn romance with no insta-love. Rather it’s one with two people truly getting to know, admire, and love each other.

What brings down my grade is how wishy-washy Inga is about will they-won’t they. Benedict flat out tells her – several times – how he wants their relationship to go and Inga admits that she has deep feelings for Benedict. She does have genuine reasons why she thinks that their marriage won’t work in the long term. But then she dithers and dithers and dithers in making up her mind. Go or get off the pot, Inga. Things are somewhat buoyed back up almost to A level by how things ultimately end up. It is refreshing to see how things are worked out. As for the inspirational aspects of the story, Benedict and Inga are believers but not preachy at all. They see religion in their lives and the way things play out but it’s not heavy handed. This is a fascinating setting in an unsettled time and I literally inhaled this book. Can’t wait for the next one. B+

~Jayne

AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle

Related

Jayne

Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.

→ Jayne

More articles

Latest article

Gold prices hit all-time high

The surge has...

Public Citizen accuses Trump of ‘soliciting’ gifts with memecoin posts

Though Donald Trump launched his memecoin before taking office, he has called on his social media followers to buy it after Jan. 20....

Cryptocurrencies record largest ever single-day fall

Global cryptocurrency markets suffered a record single-day drop overnight into Monday, according to Coinglass, a service tracking transactions on major crypto exchanges. The total...

US prosecutors must rethink DeFi stance — a16z

DEXs like Uniswap should not be held liable for user actions they can’t control, the venture capital firm said. The US Department of...