Blue Jeans And Teacups: Dandelion Chai plus The White City

My chest cold has turned into a head cold thanks to ALL the daycare Littles being sick. Well, that's caused more tea drinking and more book reading... so, not all bad, eh?

My local Sprout's was having a two-fer sale on Traditional Medicinals brand tea, so I decided to give this Dandelion Chai a whirl.

Ingredients: Organic: dandelion
leaf & root, ginger, rhizome,
cardamon seed, cinnamon bark
Bacillus coagulans

It's warm and comforting, plus caffeine free, which is great when you are sick and just want rest! I am generally not a fan of chai, but this has no added milk products so it's very pleasant.

For added fun, the tea tags contain quotes!

And now an exciting book!

Image borrowed from Author's Instagram Page - check her out and consider following this up-and-comer!

The White City – by Grace Hitchcock

•°o•:*:•. Danger and Murder, Faith, Intrigue and Romance.•:*:• o°•

This is completely outside my preferred reading genre, but somebody on Instagram had great things to say about it and so I requested an eVersion. I could not put this book down and stayed up well past bedtime to finish it! I had no idea it was based on an actual serial killer! Yikes! There are details on that at the end of the book.

The story is well-written and told through the eyes of fictional characters who happen to be Christian. I really enjoyed that aspect. There are also fun quotes from authors of days-gone-by at the beginning of the chapters.

“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey.

Art and Handicraft in the Woman's Building
of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago,
1893 edited by Maud Howe Elliott.
Paris, New York: Boussod, Valadon & Co.,
1893

Chicago, July 1893 during the World’s Fair

Winnifred Wylde is and inspector’s daughter and has an eye for detail, thanks in part to her dad’s training and her love of dime novels, particularly those of Percival Valentine. Her wealthy aunt would see her married off to a proper gentleman before she becomes an old maid (ahem, she’s 19), but she has other ideas. “I cannot believe Aunt Lillian made me set aside my novel for this. She promised me a day at the world’s fair, not a never-ending monologue.”

When she tells her father of yet another crime she has observed he dismisses her, but just in case assigns newly transferred Detective Jude Thorpe to follow her and make sure she is kept safe.

Jude has requested a transfer from New York to secretly investigate his brother-in-law’s death, but now he has become tied up babysitting. Perhaps it will simply be a good way to impress his new boss. That is until he discovers the lovely Miss Wylde’s hunches tend to be correct and danger seems impossible to avoid.

Tea Quote: “Clutching the gold-rimmed china teacup, she averted her gaze to the front entrance of the Ceylon Teahouse…”

Spiritual Moment: “Oh, well then, I’m all ears after we pray, he said, taking his seat and reaching for his dinner napkin before bowing his head.” I appreciated how these moments were natural and easily woven into the story as a way of life. Not forced.

There is no gore in this story, but the danger does set the heart to beating faster at times. The romance is a nice balance so you are not always focusing on the danger. This book is part of 6 in a new series by 3 authors. Go to True Colors Crime dot com to read more. And seriously, with a last name like Hitchcock, it really is the perfect story!

I downloaded a copy of this book through Net Galley via the publisher with no fee and no compensation in the hopes of an honest review.

Connect with the author at Grace Hitchcock Books dot com.