A Girl Like You
Fiction
She Writes Press
April 19, 2016
Paperback and Ebook
290
Publisher via BookSparks
Henrietta Von Harmon works as a 26 girl at a corner bar on Chicago's northwest side. It s 1935, but things still aren't looking up since the big crash and her father's subsequent suicide, leaving Henrietta to care for her antagonistic mother and younger siblings. Henrietta is eventually persuaded to take a job as a taxi dancer at a local dance hall and just when she's beginning to enjoy herself, the floor matron turns up dead. When aloof Inspector Clive Howard appears on the scene, Henrietta agrees to go undercover for him and is plunged into Chicago s grittier underworld. Meanwhile, she's still busy playing mother hen to her younger siblings, as well as to pesky neighborhood boy Stanley, who believes himself in love with her and keeps popping up in the most unlikely places, determined to keep Henrietta safe even from the Inspector, if need be. Despite his efforts, however, and his penchant for messing up the Inspector's investigation, the lovely Henrietta and the impenetrable Inspector find themselves drawn to each other in most unsuitable ways.
My review:
An enjoyable read overall, but not without some things I could have done without. First, the cover is lovely. I loved the old-timey sepia tinted picture. I loved the mystery aspect of the story. It was fun to try and figure it out given the various clues along the way. I thought the author captured the feel of the times, and was interested in learning about the show halls that were plentiful during that era. The characters were interesting, and I enjoyed their relationships, except the one between Henrietta and Inspector Howard. Which brings me to what I didn't particularly like about this book. I'm not big on insta-love, or when an author forces a romance upon the reader. I wasn't crazy about the relationship between the two main characters, and felt like I was just rolling my eyes and wanting to get back to the mystery during their romance phases.
A good book with a interesting plot, and a great time period to get engrossed in. If you like romance along with your mysteries, you will enjoy this more than if you do not.
Thanks to BookSparks It's Raining Books spring promotion for the chance to read and review this title. As always, my opinions are my own.
I love that cover, too! I like romantic suspense, but the romance isn't usually forced. I'm not an insta-love fan and have only read one book in which it was done really well because the details were enough that it didn't seem like insta-love. I'm not sure about this one, but I can see myself picking up based on the cover and synopsis.
I really did like the mystery aspect of it. Maybe if the romance doesn't work for you, you can skim through those parts since it is not really crucial to the plot.