Against the Tide

I should have read more reviews before opening this one... I didn't know I was in for a basic romance novel with anachronistic and shallow characters, a plot that makes absolutely no sense, and a horribly stereotyped and intolerant religiosity... Ugh. Better luck next time (hopefully). But I sure won't be reading this author again...

How to break into a new-ish-to-me genre, Christian romance? Venn diagram book bloggers' recommendations and my library's catalogue.
Interesting! I'll seek out more by this author.
I loved the sense of rich historical research that went into tiny details and big plot points. (And I'm picky about the history and world-building; Camden got things right.) Living in a tiny apartment with no kitchen! The cost of poverty! Sexism in that historical moment! Legal opium addiction in the USA! Development of the US Naval programme and intelligence gathering!! All these features felt well-judged and satisfyingly complex. (No detected anachronisms, and–I'm an historian–I do so value that. My list could go on: non-anachronistic medical treatment, government offices, local transportation, social networks, immigrant experiences and migration patterns, rabies scares, etc.)

The fortress-of-solitude-drug-lord plot was a little over the top as I reflect on it from a week's remove, but the sense of peril I felt by 50% through as the heroine and a kid were in genuine danger–yup, well-written enough to creep me out and the danger and believable conflict and evil.

The push-pull of the slow-burn romance was interesting and believable in most parts; some beats felt out of sync with reality with me and I wish there had been a wee bit more character development about WHY the characters reacted as they did, especially the heroine when she decided to pursue the hero, then to pause for months.

In Christian genre fiction, the role of faith has to feel authentic to my lived experience as well as supporting critical plot and characterization developments, and Camden did pretty well. It felt a little bit contrived, like, the story won't be over till everyone prays the prayer we know is coming; however, the plot thread of an orphan finding family through struggle and having a unique and personal doubt-filled dark night of the soul on the road to faith–that worked for me.