The Depth of Beauty: not as good as the first book in the Golden City series

The Depth of Beauty is the second book in A.B. Michaels’ The Golden City series. It is 1903, San Francisco and Chinatown is teeming with a vice just blocks away from the city’s elties. But Will Firestone sees the district as a potential business market for his shipping enterprise. Dazzled by the exotic young widow from Canton, Will is drawn into the area with a decision that will rock his foundation and lead him down a treacherous path. Country girl, Maddy Culpepper is only fifteen when she’s orphaned and becomes a ward of the Firestone family. Grateful for her new privilege status, she is determined to give back. She decides to help the Chinese immigrant girls in jeopardy, even if it means her own safety and puts her at odds with her guardians and other elites. The tensions are rising between the city's powerful and the evil foreigners but an horrifying disease will bring them together in ways no one imagined and thrust them together for a fight for their very lives. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the Golden City, The Art of Love, and I looked forward to continuing the series. However, The Depth of Beauty did not have the same impact as the first book. It was slow and dragged the tensions between the city elites and the Chinese immigrants for far too long. The epidemic which plagues the city seems to be an afterthought, although historical, and wasn’t fully flushed out. It was hard to get invested in any of the characters and I was intrigued that the book would focus on San Francisco’s growing Chinese immigrant population, but I felt I wasn’t truly getting a picture of the widespread racism and discriminations against the Chinese immigrants at the time. The relationship between Will and Maddy seemed forced and far-fetched, although the age difference would have been common for the time. There was so much potential that the book presents but couldn’t fulfill all of it. The Depth of Beauty was a disappointment after The Art of Love. I do not recommend The Depth of Beauty. 

The Depth of Beauty is available in paperback and eBook. 

The Art of Love: a wonderful love story

The Art of Love is the first book in The Golden City series by A.B. Michaels. The story opens in May 1896 as August “Gus” Wolff works a claim in the Klondike. His wife, Mattie, has decided that life in the Klondike is not want she wanted and decides to return to Seattle with their one-year old daughter, Annabelle. Against all odds, he does strike gold and he travels to join them in Seattle, only to find out they are no longer there. No one seems to know where they have gone and despite his best efforts, Mattie and Annabelle have vanished. Around the same time, Amelia “Lia” Bennett faces an unwanted marriage in New York City. Her only joy is painting and when her new husband forbids her to paint, she devises a plan to leave him and New York behind. Gus and Lia’s stories converge in San Francisco in 1902. Gus is now a wealthy shipping tycoon and Lia, a well sort after artist. When the two meet, sparks fly, but Gus is known as the local playboy, so Lia keeps him at arm’s length. Or so she tries.

The Art of Love was an enjoyable, fast paced historical romance. The story is exciting and thrilling until the very end. The banter and teasing between Gus and Lia is funny as well as romantic. The friends in their lives are equally interesting and I look forward to seeing them get their own stories or make appearances in the other books. I enjoyed every bit of the story and eagerly turned each page to see if the questions swirling around them would be answered. Even the aspects of the story that seemed out of place, it fit. It also shows that despite that most of the society of the day may have accepted or played by the social conventions of the time, doesn’t mean everyone did. Overall, it was a great story, a great start to a series. I look forward to continuing the series. I highly recommend The Art of Love.

The Art of Love

is available in paperback and eBook