#BookReview: FOR YOUR LOVE by Beverly Jenkins

As the sixth book in the Blessings series opened, I wondered if Beverly Jenkins would still be able to draw readers into the imaginary town of Henry-Adams, Kansas in For Your Love.  I shouldn't have wondered because Beverly Jenkins is a master at what she does.  As always, she combines historical fiction with modern times, entertaining readers while teaching them.

For Your Love focuses on returning characters like Trent July, the mayor of Henry-Adams, and his wife Lily, as well as the town owner, Bernadine Brown.  Jenkins also introduces us to a few new characters, including Trent's mother and a family of newcomers.

Friends of Crystal's from her previous life, Bobby and Kelly are a young family she knows from her days on the streets in Dallas. A former gang member and the product of a foster home, Bobby trusts no one except for Kelly.  When Crystal offers the young couple and their twins a chance to leave the hard knock life of Dallas and move to Kansas, they're hesitant.  I absolutely loved watching Bobby mature as Trent and the other men in town mentored him in various ways.  The people of Henry-Adams show time and time again what community looks like.

Watching some of the women's reactions to Rita Lynn return to the small town is interesting.  It gives us a glimpse into what Henry-Adams looked like over forty years ago.  Grudges and mistrust from decades ago kick up their ugly heads, but Jenkins likes a happy ending, so you already know everything will work out before the book ends.

If you're just hearing about the Blessing series and like what you hear, be sure to go back and read the previous titles.  All of the books can stand alone, but reading them in order gives you a more complete view of who is who and the history behind why things are the way they are.

Book 1: Bring on the Blessings
Book 2: A Second Helping
Book 3: Something Old, Something New
Book 4: A Wish and A Prayer
Book 5: Heart of Gold

Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

About Author

Beverly Jenkins is the author of thirty historical and contemporary novels, including five previous books in her beloved Blessings series. She has been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People, the Dallas Morning News,Vibe, and many other publications.

Find out more about Beverly at her website and connect with her on Facebook

#BookReview: A Wish and A Prayer - Beverly Jenkins

Like returning home for a family reunion, Beverly Jenkins takes readers back to Henry Adams, Kansas and its town members.  We first met them in Bring on the Blessings, grew to love them in A Second Helping and were amazed by them in Something Old, Something New. 

In Bring on the Blessings, we learned of this town that had been founded by freed slaves after the Civil War.  When the mayor put the struggling town up for sale on eBay, Bernadine Brown, the ex-wife of a multimillionaire purchased it and began to turn the town around.  With Bernadine's help, town residents were able to foster and adopt needy children from around the country and bring them to a place filled with love and history.

In A Second Helping the residents and kids prepare for the adoption process and readers are treated to a history lesson about an August 1st parade.  If you're as unfamiliar with it as I was when I first read about it, here's some background.   Most of us are familiar with Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Texas, the last state to free their slaves in 1865. August 1st celebrates the abolishment of slavery in the British empire in 1834 and was celebrated throughout towns in the United States up until 1927. To this day it is also celebrated in Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and the British Virgin Isles.

With Something Old, Something New the town prepared for the wedding of mayor Trent July and his high school girlfriend, Lily Fontaine and a few of the adopted children began to wonder about their birth parents.  As Lily and Trent moved forward with wedding plans, they were challenged with assisting their foster kids with making the transition from the new home life they had come to love to being an extended family.

A Wish and A Prayer finds the town doing battle with the neighboring mayor who insists on trying to bring a big box store to their area and wants Henry Adams to pay for it.  Riley Curry, the former mayor and hog lover, shines the spotlight on the little town when he wages a full battle against the county to keep his prized hog and involves a PETA-like organization to assist him.  And Preston Miles finally has a chance to meet his birth mother.

As with any Jenkins' book, there's a historical lesson to be learned and there's no exception with her latest.  Readers are told of the Black Army Corp of Engineers during the building of the Alaska-Canadian Highway.  Not only does it serve as a lesson for the children of town, but for the reader as well.  Jenkins always finds a way to make books entertaining and educational.  If you've not visited Henry Adams yet, there's no time like the present.

320pp
Published: April 2012
Disclosure: Copy received from publisher, opinions are my own.

 

Theme: Already Alright by Yolanda Adams