How different lives can go, despite the same background

Synopsis

If you’re born with nothing you have to make your own luck.

When Jared Johnson first meets Clarice Connaught he saves her from the hands of her father, who is brutally beating her in the street. Never one to walk past someone in distress, Jared doesn’t hesitate to help. But who is this girl and what is her story?

Jared Johnson started with nothing. At just twelve-years-old he was orphaned and homeless, but eight years later, Jared is a success. Running McGuire’s Rag & Bone Yard and surrounded by friends, all Jared needs now is to find the perfect girl to settle down with.

Nothing has come easy for Clarice but still she has dreams of a grander life and the finer things. And if her father isn’t willing to provide them then Clarice will do anything to find someone who is.

Jared and Clarice have one thing in common – they are survivors – and in Queen Victoria’s Birmingham you need your wits about you to keep the wolf from the door. But Clarice isn’t everything she seems, and like a bad penny that always shows up, she brings more trouble for Jared and his friends than they could ever have imagined…

Lindsey Hutchinson, the top 10 bestseller, Queen of the Black Country Saga, is back with a page-turning and heart-warming story perfect fans of Katie Flynn, Val Wood and Lyn Andrews.

My review

Jared Johnson is the kind of man that never hesitates to help out when someone is in need. That is exactly how he met Clarice Connaught, when she is being beaten by her own father.
Jared is immediately intrigued by this young woman and wants to know more about her.
He learns that just like him, Clarice hasn’t has it easy, and she dreams of a better life, a life that her own father doesn’t help to provide.
But while Jared is being rather successful with running McGuire’s Rag & Bone Yard and has close friends around him. The only thing he is missing, is a woman by his side. And he hopes that Clarice may fill that spot.
However, not everything is what it seems with Clarice, as she is determined to go forward in life, and she won’t be stopped by anything or anyone…

Having read several books from this author, I know that I should be prepared for a story that will show us the hardship of life, but also how people in the most dire situations can make the best out of it.

From the start I had a kind of admiration for Jared. He hasn’t had it easy, yet he managed to change his life. From being orphaned and homeless, he has become a man where you can rely on. And the best bit is that he hasn’t lost his kind heart while getting where he is now.
As he has been helped out when needed, he is one that will always pay it forward.

And that brings him to meet Clarice, a woman that is in the same precarious situation Jared was once in. And of course as kind – hearted Jared is, he wants to help Clarice out.

At first, I truly pitied Clarice, as we see her as a struggling young woman, with an uncomprehending father.
But rather quickly I had to readjust my opinion over her. Because while normally I admire people who are ready to fight to get our their current situation, in Clarice’s case I couldn’t comprehend her behaviour at all as she is the kind of woman who would stop at nothing to gain more money and wealth.

She isn’t afraid of using her looks to have men wrapped around her little finger, using them for her purposes. She also has a lack of conscience, as shown even further along in the book.
So for once I wasn’t compassionate about the female main character and I even hoped she would get what she deserved.

We see here how different people handle a likewise situation, as we have Jared who is proud of what he has achieved and as he has truly worked hard for it.
But on the other hand we have Clarice that just wants everything handed over, and believes it’s her right.
I don’t know if ‘nice’ is the right word to use, but is was ‘nice’ to see how different lives can go by making one choice or another.

So while this perhaps wasn’t the kind of story I expected, and the characters surprised me, and not all in a good way, it still managed to show me that doing good will get you rewarded in one way or another. And that sometimes we can get a lucky escape and find even a bigger joy and happiness unexpectedly.