(4.5 stars) - excellent... and thought-provoking

Elizabeth Camden's new book is a really well done story with thoroughly engaging characters that also poses some challenging questions.

It contains all the fascinating historical insights we've come to expect; this one covering some of the major contributions to the development of food labeling laws (as well as touching on aspects of the development of the Agricultural Agency, President McKinley's presidency and our relationship with Cuba at the time).

The romance between Gray and Annabelle is fun and warm and sweet. Then comes the conflict. And it's a doozy.

While I thought the story was told fairly plausibly, and wanted to see them back together, I suspect the resolution of the story is going to be controversial with readers. I loved the book and am eagerly looking forward to the next, but confess to struggling a bit with the resolution myself.

SPOILERS
I think the one part that would have made it easier for me to believe they could reconcile would have been if, once Annabelle knew it wasn't Gray, she had arranged to meet him somewhere publicly like a park or outdoor café & let him know what she had been more or less forced to do, rather than trying to continue on with him as if she knew nothing & hope that Gray never found out.

That she did try to hide it was very human & understandable, but still less than upright & made her own actions look far more suspicious, devious even. Had she been completely open with him as soon as she was able, though, it would have made it easier for me to see Gray's eventual willingness to accept her, to view her as a woman of integrity and want to be with her again.
END SPOILERS

Clean romance level: sweet kisses
Religion: fairly generic Christianity, completely organic to the story, not preachy

Elizabeth Camden is one of my favorite authors and I eagerly look forward to each of her latest releases. The Spice King is the beginning of a new series and it is set in America's capitol, Washington. I found the cover to be both attractive and intriguing, and it definitely caught the eye of this occasional "judge a book by its cover" reader.

While the story started out a little slow for me, I highly recommend that if you feel the same...keep reading! The Spice King takes place before there were laws against adding fillers, untested preservatives and undisclosed ingredients to canned foods. Can you imagine eating food laced with formaldehyde?!!! That was shocking to me! The characters are diverse and the plot is interesting with twists and turns to keep things interesting. Themes of betrayal, forgiveness and impossible choices make this novel well worth reading.

Thank you Bethany House and Net Galley for the free advanced reader copy of The Spice King. The opinions expressed here are my own.

The Spice King is an absolutely delightful historical romance novel. It tells the story of two sisters from Kansas who move to Washington DC together. There, one sister works while the other sister volunteers. Each sister finds romance in the most unexpected places. Meanwhile, the "Spice King" and his family are caught up in politics and business @ the turn of the 20th century as they discover the strengths and weaknesses among the siblings and fight for each other. The book is full of unexpected twists and turns with believable characters. Very difficult to put down - & I'm really hoping for a book 2 to tell "what happens next" in each of the main characters' lives!

THE SPICE KING by ELIZABETH CAMDEN is a romantic historical novel, with quite a bit of intrigue and politics, and a really good Christian message. The story is based on true history, and takes place in 1900, at a time when unscrupulous businessmen were making money by putting untested and potentially dangerous ingredients into tinned and bottled food, which they were passing off as the real thing.
Annabelle Larkin and her blind sister, Elaine, leave the family farm in Kansas, which is in financial trouble, and move to Washington where Elaine has found a position with the braille library, and Annabelle has a temporary job at the Smithsonian. Annabelle is a botanist and is passionate about plants. In fact she is passionate about life in general and is friendly, optimistic and loving. She is also patriotic and determined, and makes up for her short stature by not being afraid to speak her mind.
She has been told by Dr Norwood, her superior, that in order to obtain a permanent position in Washington, she needs to find a very rare Vanilla orchid, which may be in Gray Delacroix' possession.
Gray is a businessman who has built up Global Spice, travelling the world to find rare plants and increase his business holdings. Gray is a grumpy man, all business and no social graces. He does not trust the government, because of what happened in the past, nor does he want to help them in any way, let alone in their botanical research.
I will not tell you any more about the story, as I do not want to spoil the read for you, excepting to say that it is an interesting and exciting book, with great characters that are very well portrayed, and I can highly recommend it.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.