Oh, the things we do for love. Gretchen doesn’t think twice when she decides to return to Germany to help Daniel who has suddenly returned there to seek out the individuals’ responsibility for his cousin’s death. She was ready to put Germany behind her and move forward in her life but this sudden turn of events has everything she hoped for on pause, for now.   This twist wouldn’t be so dramatic if: it wasn’t March of 1933, if Hitler wasn’t trying to gain power, if Gretchen wasn’t Hitler’s former pet and she hadn’t just escaped from under his strict restraints, if Gretchen’s face wasn’t publicly known and if Hitler rise to power wasn’t causing havoc among the citizens right now. It’s not long before the two are united and Daniel informs Gretchen about his cousin. Things are never simple as word gets out the Daniel is back and he’s blamed for a murder. Being a reporter, Daniel wants to investigate the murder so he can clear his name. Traveling together, the book picks up speed and there’s talk of the Ringvereine, the Enabling Act and the National Socialists. It is believed by some, that the National Socialists are causing chaos and blaming or planting evidence on other individuals/groups to help their cause. The Ringvereine, they reminded me of a band of people who come together to stop corrupt activities. Not all they do is legal but they have a common enemy and they are a united group. The time table in this book is the Enabling Act, as Daniel and Gretchen want to get their tasks completed before this Act becomes a reality. This is the second book in the series and I thought the first book was much better. The first half of this book did not capture my attention and I really had a hard time staying awake reading it. There seemed to be a lot of words without a lot of action or adventure being played out. In the second half of the book, the main characters took a more active role and their journey had more to offer than what I struggled with in the beginning of the novel.

I really liked the story, the setting, the atmosphere, the mystery, the intrigue, the betrayals, the friendships and the bravery exhibited by our main characters throughout it all. The blend of fact and fiction is very impressive and must be commended. Probably my favorite part of the book was the Author's Note, where Blankman explains what's real and what isn't. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I didn't connect with the characters emotionally this time around like I should have, and my opinion of the book suffered for it.

So it's a good book, excellently written and impeccably researched, but it simply wasn't doing anything for me.

The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and fled Munich, she lives with a kindly English family, posing as an ordinary German immigrant, and is preparing to graduate from high school. Her love, Daniel Cohen, is a reporter in town. For the first time in her life, Gretchen is content.

But then, Daniel gets a telegram that sends him back to Germany, and Gretchen’s world turns upside-down. And when she receives word that Daniel is wanted for murder, she has to face the danger she thought she’d escaped-and return to her homeland.

Gretchen must do everything she can to avoid capture and recognition, even though saving Daniel will mean consorting with her former friends, the Nazi elite. And as they work to clear Daniel’s name, Gretchen and Daniel discover a deadly conspiracy stretching from the slums of Berlin to the Reichstag itself. Can they dig up the explosive truth and get out in time-or will Hitler discover them first?

This book got me in the feels!

It took me so long to finally get ahold of this book after reading the amazingness that was Prisoner of Night and Fog by a DEBUT author. Anne Blankman is a genius in historical fiction. I seriously don’t understand how this book isn’t a New York Times bestseller yet, because the combination of fiction and non-fiction is so good!

“I don’t know much about psychoanalysis, but I don’t believe that we can blame our actions on our upbringings. If we could, then nobody would be responsible for anything they do.”   

We have Gretchen Whitestone, who doesn’t let anything get in her way. The loyalty and passion that Gretchen and Daniel share for each other is so beautiful, that at some points, I was just stumped. When was the last time we read about a love story that had mutual respect, love, and patience between two characters without constant fighting?!

“His voice caught. I choose you, Gretchen.Every time, I'll choose you.”   

And let’s not forget the way that Blankman, as I’ve mentioned a thousand times, has the unforgettable ability to combine fact and fiction into a story that makes you care more about the characters in the story than the characters that are real?!

The murder mystery in this book was quite unexpected, but once again, in her amazing Author’s Note, Blankman explains how the Reichstag Fire was probably one of the most unsolved mysteries of Nazi Germany! And this book is placed partly on that. GREAT BOOK.

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke is one of the best sequels to this trilogy that I’ve ever read! If you want to read a great historical fiction novel with amazing characters, the best love story, and a great thriller, than you should pick up the first and second book in this trilogy! :D Unfortunately, I have not heard anything about the next book, but I am excited!

Thanks for reading my review guys! Hope you have a great day and until the next one! :D

I was really excited for this sequel,but when I started reading it I was like…

There’s no reason why a sequel was needed.

Seriously, everything was wrapped up nice enough, and when the catalyst was moved forward for this book I was just kind of like you stupid people.

It reminded me a lot of the whole Natalie and Aaron situation on The Winds of War, which if you haven’t seen it is this eighteen or so hour miniseries that takes place prior to World War II.  Just like this book.  And just like this book there are character that could’ve gotten out of danger  but they still our dumb enough put themselves in danger time after time again until they almost get killed.

To be fair, I should’ve known as much when I opened the book.  But I was really hoping that Blankman would’ve had a better explanation for these characters heading back to Hitler’s viper nest than they did. Prisoner of Night and Fog was really my favorite dark horse read of 2014.  This not so much.

It doesn’t mean that the writing suffered.  It was quite good.  The book was also well researched and I did feel like I learned a lot from it. The thing is, it wasn’t necessary.

Plus, I just grew tired of the relationship.

I’ve honestly never shipped these two together.

But the romance was tolerable in the first one.  Here it might be a little too on the innocent side.  I get that people weren’t as open with PDA and that there would less likely be anything beyond (if they even got there) second base with these two before marriage, but I didn’t even feel like these too emotionally were connected.

Or for that matter felt really any chemistry.  Their relationship, if anything was a plot point.  Which is a shame because I wanted to love this ship.

I just didn’t though.

I think in the end Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke isn’t a bad book, but it just didn’t do it for me. I blame it partially on how much it’s predecessor wowed me.  It’s not a book, the core elements are there, but it was just sort of a meh.

Overall Rating: A solid B.