Brentwood's Ward by Michelle Griep

Nicholas Brentwood is a Bow Street Runner who is desperate to earn enough money to get proper medical treatment for his sick sister.  It is only for this reason that he accepts a job as a guardian for a spoiled debutant, Emily Payne, while her father makes a hasty trip to the Americas.  Brentwood thinks the most difficult part of the job will be putting up with the pampered girl and her equally pampered pug dog, but he soon starts to realize there is more intrigue in his job than he had suspected.  When Emily's father's partner is found dead, Brentwood goes on high alert.  Emily, has her own secrets, and as she struggles to keep up appearances and right the wrongs of her past she puts herself and Brentwood in even deeper peril. Could the danger surrounding them bring two people together who come from such different worlds?

Here is a new clean romance writer one of my patrons recommended.  Actually this is the second book I have read by Griep, but the other was a Christmas one so it will show up on my blog next November.  Griep takes a slightly different approach to the genre of Victorian romance.  Instead of focusing on the ladies and gentlemen of the ton, her protagonists are from the middle class. There is much more in her books about the underbelly of Victorian England, a kind of Dickensian view. I liked the book, but it is a little more gritty than some I have read.  For example, at one point Emily is accosted by a villain and the description of the attack, though not "R" rated, is PG-13.  Also, I didn't think the writing in this book was a good as the Christmas one I read earlier.  This is a Christian romance, and the religious element is a little heavy handed. Still, I enjoyed it and will be willing to try Ms Griep again. (320 p, 2015)