Book Review Genre: Historical romance

Disclaimer: Reading is all about exploring new worlds, but this Book Review does not shy away from spoiling specific scenes as this is more of a look inside the good and bad of a book.

The Analysis:

So, I said I would give Beverly Jenkins another try and this is what it looks like. This pick was part of my TBR Bingo. It was originally, book 3, and I ended up moving on to read 2 instead. Yes, you can read them out of order. I’m going to be doing lots of readathons and TBR prompts to help myself get through my backlog of ebooks on my kindle and google play. So, let’s book review it. But first, follow me on Goodreads.

Here’s The Blurb:

The child he didn’t know he had . . .

Andrew Yates has come to a decision: it’s time to stop sowing those oats and start a family. But searching for a bride isn’t as simple as he’d hoped, and many of the respectable women of his acquaintance feel . . . lacking. Then beautiful, feisty Wilhelmina “Billie” Wells arrives at the family ranch with a toddler in her arms, claiming Drew is the father!

The woman he didn’t know he loved . . .

Billie had no choice but to show up at Destiny in search of Drew. For the sake of their child, she’s willing to leave him with his father so the boy can have a better life, but then, before she can blink, she’s saying “I do” in front of a preacher in a marriage of convenience. All Billie and Drew have in common is the heat that brought them together, but can their sizzling passion lead to an everlasting love?

Cover Critique:

I love it. The models definitely fit the description as described. At least, I had no trouble imagining the pair as our couple and they look historically accurate.

Now The Story:

Book Info:
Pages: 384
Author: Beverly Jenkins
Available: Google Play

I DNF’d the third book in this series because it was enemies to lovers and I’m learning quickly that might be my kryptonite. But this book showed some promise. And frankly, one could classify this as lovers to enemies back to lovers. So, I’m stomaching it a tad better. The first glance that the hero is no real prize, is his handling of finding out the truth about the baby. Though, I can’t deny his feelings are valid when the heroine shows up on the eve of his engagement party. But I drew the line at his brother being high and mighty too, ready to discard the kid-like leftovers. All reactions were realistic, just not my jam. 1 point off.

The heroine is a prostitute that gets pregnant by one of her clients. Who? It’s not immediately known until the child is at least one. But like most women in this profession, she has a favorite client and the feelings are mutual. Enter the hero. He’s of Spanish descent. He comes and goes like one does. But this ain’t no, Pretty Woman, this life is not easy.

The heroine decides to give up the baby for adoption. Seven months into the pregnancy she’s forced out of the bordello into the old midwives home for the remainder of her time.

Elsewhere, enter the hero’s mother’s pov and while it did show the reader the dynamics of his parental relationship, I still inwardly groaned. I’m thinking here we go, the first of a bazillion supporting characters. But again this book circumvented expectations. It also got a tad unrealistic with the first convo between the mother-in-law and the heroine. She tells the woman she’s in love with her son off the cuff and the mother accepts it with no pause. Just doesn’t seem like how that convo should have happened. But I respected it.

But it was the heroes courtship of Roseline that raised eyebrows. Particularly the woman’s mom that seemed like a handful and frankly, Roseline was worthy of being rescued herself from that nightmare. I also can relate have a difficult mother myself. This is why I was sad when the heroine’s arrival meant their marriage was over. But I was still able to root for the main couple.

My mouth fell open when momma came through with the demand that they get married. I was hooked. I did get to about 47% percent when I realized that it was a tad long for me. So, I took another point off.

Overall, I find this story so much more interesting than my first introduction to Beverly Jenkins’s writing. It just reads younger, despite the setting, and it’s not bogged down with too many supporting characters. And it might just be me, but it read faster as well.

As for reading more Beverly Jenkins, I’ll think I’ll pass. Can’t put my finger on why exactly. Just not the style of writing I gravitate to in my romance novels. She’s a great author, but reader habits vary, and I’m a reader first.

Story At A Glance:

Recommendation:  3 out of 5

Read Series Continuation:  No

 Book Review The Ratings:

Book Cover Appeal:

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

Story & Narration:

🍓🍓🍓

Romance:

🍓🍓🍓

Character/(s) Personality:

🍓🍓🍓🍓

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