While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden
Genre : Historical Fiction
Katherine Schneider's workaday life as a dentist in 1913
New York is upended when a patient reveals details of a
deadly plot while under the influence of laughing gas.
As she is plunged into danger, she seeks help from the
dashing Lieutenant Jonathan Birch, a police officer she
has long admired from afar.
Jonathan has harbored powerful feelings toward Katherine
for years but never acted on them, knowing his dark
history is something she could never abide. Now, with
her safety on the line, he works alongside her through
the nights as they unravel the criminal conspiracy that
threatens her. And throughout it all, Jonathan fears
what will happen should Katherine ever learn his deepest
secrets.
Join award-winning author Elizabeth Camden for a
sweeping and romantic adventure of dangerous secrets and
wounded hearts fighting to overcome the darkness while
the rest of the city sleeps.
In the past, I've enjoyed Elizabeth Camden's novels mainly because
of the writing, the attention to historical details and the
plotlines, so I was expecting to see the same in this one and while
it was satisfying in some aspects, it fell short in some others.
Set in 1913 NYC, this one follows the story of Katherine Schneider,
a dentist from Ohio who has moved to this city for a fresh start and
has been enjoying her time here. But everything changes one evening
when one of her patients reveals some potentially dangerous stuff
while under the influence of laughing gas. Katherine decides to seek
the help of a police officer - Lieutenant Jonathan Birch on whom
she's had a crush on for a few years. And though Jonathan has been
escorting her from her office to the subway every day for two years,
he's not a very chatty person and refuses to reveal anything about
himself. Now that Katherine is in danger, Jonathan is determined to
protect her while working to find out the culprit behind the
explosions in the city. But this might also force him to confront
the past that he's been hiding away from.
This one started off well with an interesting premise and a mystery
that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. Both Katherine
and Jonathan were pretty cute with their mutual pining at first but
I wasn't too fond of the way their relationship progressed(or
stalled?) in the latter half. While Katherine was sweet and sunny I
found her a bit too nice and hypocritical at times - especially the
way she treated Jonathan in the second half😅 While I could
understand her feelings towards those who lie, I feel like the way
she reacted was a bit unfair towards Jonathan, though he's also at
fault for hiding things. Jonathan also made a stand for himself by
making it clear that he would apologize but he wouldn't beg her for
her forgiveness. And though that's great too, I felt like both of
them were putting their egos at front instead of just loving each
other as they are. And that made me feel like the romance and the
relationship between them was a bit shaky. But it was very realistic
in a way!
It was hard for me to completely root for either of these characters
though there wasn't a huge problem with them. Ironically I found the
side characters more interesting - especially Gallagher(wasn't a fan
of how things were handled with him). The plot and the mystery had
me engrossed though so I enjoyed that part! So, overall it was okay
but perhaps not my favorite Camden book.
You can also find this review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
Elizabeth Camden is a research librarian at a small college in central Florida. Her novels have won the coveted RITA and Christy Awards. She has published several articles for academic publications and is the author of four nonfiction history books. Her ongoing fascination with history and love of literature have led her to write inspirational fiction. Elizabeth lives with her husband near Orlando, Florida.
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