In my previous post, I made the pledge to read more romance novels while diving into more Beverly Jenkins books.

So I’ve decided to dedicate the ENTIRE month of February to the queen of Black romance. And I do mean the ENTIRE month. I just wanted to jam-pack my psyche with over-the-top, gushy, steamy romance tales.

The goal? To melt the icy cynicism I’d developed when it came to love, romance, capitalism, and well… sucky men from my past.

(Don’t get me wrong… I know situations like that don’t exist in real life, nor do I expect them. It’s just nice to escape to that magical place every now and then where men are perfectly flawed and absolutely dashing.)

Anywhoo, I KNEW Beverly Jenkins’ novel, The Taming of Jessi Rose (my absolute favorite of hers) would do the trick, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to finally keep some promises I’d made to myself – including taking the time to read Indigo.

I purchased it for my Kindle… then I saw more of her titles. And covers. Now, I don’t buy books for their covers, I really don’t. I swear it. For real. But then I saw the cover for Nighthawk…

And I couldn’t not buy it, ya know?

Then I decided, “What the hell?” and before I knew it, I’d purchased about twelve of her books. Ten more than I had originally planned. It was a good feeling. Very satisfying.

Anywhoo, at the start of this challenge, my workaholic butt forced myself to delegate tasks to others and dragged myself away from my desk. All so I could do something I hadn’t done in over ten years: lie in bed and read – no, enjoy – a good book and some great storytelling.

And the payoff? I voraciously read 2-3 books a week, my cynical heart melted against the idea of romance, and I wound up getting through about ten of Beverly Jenkins’ novels, if I’m not mistaken.

Let’s do a quick count. It started with Forbidden…

Then there was Indigo…

Then I just kind of started to fall down the rabbit hole of Beverly Jenkins’ sultry romance tales set in the historic 1800s.  After I found out about other stories that featured side characters that I was familiar with, I couldn’t help it. Next up was Something Like Love, but mainly because I had to find out what kind of woman could tame Neil July.

Oh, I remember him! An extremely well-written support character by Beverly Jenkins. And he was SO FUNNY! Well, he and his twin brother, Two Shafts, were when they got together. So the chick is running away from home because she refuses to be in an arranged marriage and lose the fortune she’d worked so hard to accumulate. Then she gets robbed on the train she’s escaping on.

I LOVED IT!!! 😍🥰😍

That read accidentally led me to Jewel. I really didn’t mean to fall into this one. And not because someone suggested that I read the books in copyright order, either. I know what kind of reader I am, and that doesn’t work for me. I knew I was gonna read these babies WAYYY out of order.

I’m a “scavenger hunt” reader, as in, I like for familiar characters from past reads to randomly jump out at me. So, in reality I was looking for the one to read where Preacher falls in love… ‘cuz I was just curious about that story and loved his character since The Taming of Jessi Rose.

But I didn’t find it. Instead, I saw a premise about two friends having to pretend to be married, only to eventually start succumbing to the passion and I WAS INTRIGUED. I had to dive in! So, Jewel it was. Two friends having to pretend to like each other? The comedic dialogue writes itself!

So, it was yet another 5-star read.  And FINALLY, as my Jenkins fatigue started to set in and I wondered if I should take a break and read some other authors (or even jump over to Loveswept), I pushed myself and said, “We’re gonna totally gorge on her books this month, T… let’s do this. Time for some abs.”

And I finally picked up Nighthawk. After drooling over the cover for about ten minutes, I was ready to find out more about the Preacher – the gun-toting, duster-wearing bounty hunter that spouted Bible verses like he was wielding a flaming sword. It was jaw-droppingly engaging, and I could definitely see Mrs. Jenkins’ evolution as a writer and storyteller. It’s truly been great to witness.

Next was my search for if there was any kind of story involving Two Shaft. Didn’t find it, but what I DID find was Always and Forever, a story where Griffin Blake’s older brother JACKSON falls in love! I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!!

And of course, I wondered if there was a story about Lorelei, one of the fascinating side characters in that tale. There apparently was, but I didn’t get to her yet.

The rabbit hole led me somehow to Breathless, sometime before Nighthawk only… I wasn’t ready to read that one yet. I knew it starred one of the nieces of the protagonist from Forbidden, though, so it had my attention.

So I finally dove in. And the story of this smart, career-driven, independent young woman falling in love with a dashing cowboy was quite interesting! Then I found out her sister was running off to become a mail-order bride up in Wyoming, and I just HAD to read about it… since I could have sworn I’d heard that Wyoming crew referenced in some other story… perhaps Nighthawk? I can’t remember.

But Regan’s story Tempest was more interesting than Portia’s. Not to say the latter was bad, I just definitely enjoyed Regan’s fire to Colton’s ice. And the fact that I was seeing way racier love scenes – and positions – was an added plus.

And just like that, the “Forbidden” trilogy was done, and I still had another week and a half left in the month.

No worries. (Or “Hakuna matata” as us Xennials remember…) I still had my Lorelei story, A Chance At Love. And that… was… wonderful.

There, I was introduced to a man I fondly refer to as “Mr. Triple Pump”. You’ll have to read it to know what I’m talking about.  LMFAO But I remember reading Something Like Love before this one and asking myself, “Where are the romance novels that don’t require a woman to be of an almost virginal quality? Gimme a female protagonist with a high body count that knows her body and what she wants from a man.” And you know what? I got it with A Chance At Love as Lorelei taught Mr. Triple Pump not only that it was okay to please a woman, but how to do so.

You guys, that ONLY works if the man is humble and willing enough to listen to you. Most men, unfortunately… aren’t. Pride and bruised egos and all that… So that story was great. I loved it. Where to next?

Lucky day, lucky day! I found out there was a story about Neil and Two Shafts’ sister, Teresa, falling in love! Wild Sweet Love. Let’s gooooooo! I was so excited to read this one because I knew I wasn’t going to be dealing with a virginal gal.

And when I saw the connection back to Lorelei a la Madison (he snitched her out to her baby daddy in A Chance At Love LOL) and had no idea he was really in love with Lorelei. Aww…. But he fell for Teresa and sexed her crazy and all was well in the land of Nod.

Next up was Wild Rain, book two in the “Women Who Dare” series. This one rolls with Colton Lee’s sister, Spring. She was seen in the story of Regan Carmichael called Tempest and it’s really refreshing to see her doing her thing in this book. And I love that she stuck to her guns about not wanting kids. I’m loving all of these women that are bucking society’s rules and standards.

So here is the total list of everything of hers I successfully read in 28 days:

And that was where I left off. I adored Wild Sweet Love, and before I knew it, February 28^th was here and I still hadn’t read the MVP in my opinion, The Taming of Jessi Rose. This was the excerpt that grabbed me and held me forever:

It took Griffin six hours to dig his ma’s grave. Only last night’s rain kept it from being any longer. Digging with his hands and an old ax handle he and his ma once used for plowing, he finally managed to open the earth deep enough to protect her from predators, both animal and human.

So powerful. I was engaged with my guy Griff from page one, to be honest. So much so that when Neil July’s woman made a comment to Neil about shooting him in Something Like Love, I was like, “Hold up, wait a minute… let’s all put the brakes on it!” (I needed it to rhyme.) We’ll have no murdering of Blake Griffin up in here!

What’s still left on the list that I’ll be tackling?  Later this year, I’ll be revisiting Mrs. Jenkins again. There’s still Midnight, Vivid, Rebel, Captured, and Winds of the Storm on my TBR list. Not to mention these little ditties:

Thank you for a great 28 days, Beverly Jenkins. Just the plethora of new history books she’s opened up for me to read has made her a boon in my reading world.

To all of her die-hard fans, I see why you love her and will do my part in making sure she’s promoted to all of the young Black girl readers who were like me growing up – just looking for romances like these, but never knowing that they existed. (Trust me, when Beverly Jenkins debuted in the 90s, I was reading Harlequins and NEVER saw any promotion for her work.)

We’re gonna make sure the world knows why she’s a queen in this genre. I’m all in with you now, ladies.