Recent Reads - Into the Whirlwind

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Into the Whirlwind by Elizabeth Camden - I so loved the one previous novel I'd read by Elizabeth Camden that I figured she might earn a place among my favorite authors, so I was eager to read another of her novels to be sure. And yes, I loved this one as well!

The story opens with Mollie Knox and Zack Kazmarek trying to get to safety as the Great Chicago Fire rages behind them. Talk about an exciting first couple pages! Then we get the background, going back just six days earlier to find out that Mollie owns a watch company and Zack is a lawyer representing the prestigious Chicago department store that sells Mollie's creative masterpiece pocket watches. Zack has been doing business with Mollie for three years but has carefully hidden his attraction to her, and Mollie has no idea. Finally Zack has brought an offer to buy Mollie's company outright but allow her to continue managing it. Mollie is worried by the short deadline before she must give her decision, and her friend and lawyer is mistrustful of Zack. As they are going through the company's paperwork, they find a deed for property sold to the department store many years ago and suspect that this is what they really want from Mollie. So she goes to meet Zack to confront him about it, and that is when the fire breaks out and spreads, threatening Mollie's factory and apartment.

As Zack helps and protects Mollie and does his best to make sure she's looked after in the weeks following the fire, they develop a relationship, but later on Mollie realizes that Zack did know about the deed when he brought her the purchase offer and fears that she cannot trust him. Their relationship suffers even more when men that her father served with during the Civil War come to help her rebuild her watch factory and their young, handsome, and capable leader seems to have all of Mollie's admiration and attention.

I loved the complex characters and how they grew and coped with everything thrown at them during the tumultuous time of the fire and rebuilding. It was a fascinating setting for a story, and offered a lot of insight into what life was like for the thousands who were burned out of their homes and livelihoods and had to rebuild their lives.

By the same author: Until the Dawn

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