Of Silver and Secrets by Michelle Griep (Austenprose PR Tour)

 

Title:  Of Silver and Secrets

Author:  Michelle Griep

Narrated by:  Sarah Zimmerman

Publisher: Tantor Media

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 32 minutes

Source: Thank you, @michellegriep @bethanyhousefiction @austenprose for the physical book copy as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  I purchased an audiobook version on Audible.

Have you visited any archeological digs?  I’ve been to a few museums that have digs going on and I find it fascinating.  I also love museum displays that show things that were found when they dug through areas like the outhouse.  I took an Intro to Archaeology class while in college and I loved it. 

Eva Inman is in a pickle.  After her father’s death, she discovers that their family finances are in dire straits.  Her father’s last wish was that she keep their family estate.  She also has the care of young, blind sisters, Penelope.  She decides to plow up and plant in the “cursed fields”  on her estate to make more money.  Her employees find a strange silver specimen that appears to be Roman.  She goes to Cambridge to have the piece evaluated and runs into her childhood crush, Bram Webb who is now a Cambridge professor.  Bram is looking for a lost Roman Settlement with his history professor uncle, is this it?  Will Eva be able to save her estate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved all the characters, but especially Eva and Bram.  They have both had hard times in their youth and are trying to move beyond it.  Bram is trying to make his way as a professor while also helping his uncle who is starting to suffer from dementia.  Eva suffers from guilt that she thinks she killed her parents and caused Penelope’s blindness.  Guilt and forgiveness are major themes in this novel.  Bram’s deep faith was wonderful to read about, and he shares this faith to Eva.

·       The romance was sweet, and this was a clean read.  There was second chance romance, slow burn, and forced proximity.

·       I loved that the sister’s name was Penelope Rose.  That’s my daughter’s name!  Penny was a spunky character who wanted to explore and learn all that she could about the world, despite her blindness.

·       The archaeology was very interesting, and I wanted to know more about the Romans in Great Britain.

·       I also loved the mystery that was threaded throughout the novel.

·       This is the second novel in the Time’s Lost Treasures series.  I loved the first book too, but this can be read as a standalone novel.

·       There is a great historical notes section at the end of the novel that gives background details of the historical elements of the story.  There were also great discussion questions for a book club to use.

·       I am super excited that Michelle Griep’s next book available in the fall of 2026 is a Christmas Victorian novella.  I love Christmas historical fiction and historical romance!

·       I read part of this as the physical book and finished it up on audiobook.  The audiobook was interesting to listen to as well and the narrator had a great voice to listen to.

Great first paragraph, “The end of Eva’s world started with a window she never should have left open.  A small neglect, yet twelve years later, one that had culminated in a leaky roof, a ledger that refused to balance, and a blind sister.”

Overall, Of Silver and Secrets by Michelle Griep is a riveting Victorian historical romance and mystery.

Of Gold and Shadows by Michelle Griep (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

Have you ever seen any Egyptian artifacts?  I have seen them in museums in Chicago and Kalamazoo, and I find them fascinating.

Edmund Price has returned to England from India and is a very eligible bachelor.  He has acquired a collection from Egypt and has hired an Egyptologist to sort and catalogue the collection.  He is surprised when Ami Dalton, a beautiful female Egyptologist shows up to do the job.  She is a professor’s daughter and knows her stuff.  Within the collection is a cursed golden griffin.  When mysterious things start to happen around the estate, is it a curse or something else?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved the strong female lead, Ami Dalton, doing what is considered to be a man’s job, in a world where men do not value her mind.  I love that Edmund respected her for her mind.

·       Ami also spends her evenings as the “shadow broker” to rescue antiques from the black market and return them to museums.  She like a female Victorian Indiana Jones.

·       The chemistry between Ami and Edmund felt real and palpable.  I liked their banter.

·       This novel was full of mystery and intrigue.  It kept me interested and engaged with the plot.

·       The secondary characters were interesting.  I especially enjoyed Phineas, the gardener, and his sage wisdom.

·       This was a forced proximity romance and a clean read.

·       There are great historical notes at the end of the novel that explain in detail some of the terminology.  My favorite is that “excelsior” is a fancy word for using curly wood shavings for packing antiques.

·       There are great questions included that could be used for a book club.

·       The sneak peak of the next books was fantastic.  I can’t wait to read it!

Overall, Of Gold and Shadows by Michelle Griep is an engaging historical romance and suspense novel set in Victorian England.  I loved the Egyptian artifact angle of the story.

Book Source:  Review copy from Bethany House as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The shadows hold secrets darker than they ever imagined. . . .

In 1888 Victorian England, Ami Dalton navigates a clandestine dual life. By day, she strives to establish herself as a respected Egyptologist, overcoming the gender biases that permeate academia. But with a heart for saving black-market artifacts from falling into the wrong hands, she is most often disguised as her alter ego, the Shadow Broker.

After eight years in India, Oxford's most eligible bachelor, Edmund Price, has come out of the shadows to run for Parliament and is in search of an Egyptologist to value a newly acquired collection. Expecting a renowned Oxford professor, Edmund instead finds himself entangled with Ami, the professor's determined daughter. As they delve into the treasures, their connection deepens, but trouble emerges when a golden griffin--rumored to bear the curse of Amentuk--surfaces, and they're left to wonder if the curse really is at play, or if something more nefarious is hiding among the shadows. . . .

AUTHOR BIO

Michelle Griep has been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is a Christy Award-winning author of historical romances that both intrigue and evoke a smile. She's an Anglophile at heart, and you'll most often find her partaking of a proper cream tea while scheming up her next novel . . . but it's probably easier to find her at MichelleGriep.com.