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Wild Rain

Book 2 in the series:Women Who Dare

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'Wild Rain' by Beverly Jenkins is a historical romance novel set in the American West in the mid-nineteenth century. The story follows the independent and strong-willed heroine, Spring Lee, who rescues Garrett McCray during a blizzard. Their initial encounter leads to a complex relationship filled with challenges stemming from their different backgrounds and outlooks on life. Through well-developed characters and authentic historical details, the book explores themes of love, independence, and personal growth, all set against the backdrop of the Wyoming Territory.

Characters:

The characters are vividly crafted, with Spring being a strong, complex heroine and Garrett as a supportive hero.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is immersive and rich with historical context, paired with authentic dialogue and character depth.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot centers on the developing relationship between Spring Lee and Garrett McCray, highlighting themes of personal trauma and societal expectations.

Setting:

The setting is rich in historical detail, depicting the American West during a period of significant change.

Pacing:

The pacing balances character development with moments of tension and emotional depth.
Spring Lee held tightly onto the reins of her wagon and cursed the blinding blizzard she was driving through. With her hat pulled low, muffler wound up to her eyes, and wearing the thick oversize buff...

Notes:

Beverly Jenkins is a beloved historical romance author focusing on the experiences of people of color.
Wild Rain is the second book in the Women Who Dare series.
The story is set in the Wyoming Territory shortly after the Civil War.
The main character, Spring Lee, is a strong, independent woman who owns her own ranch.
Garrett McCray, the hero, is a journalist from the East trying to report on interesting people of color.
Spring rescues Garrett during a snowstorm, leading to a romance between them.
The book explores themes of gender norms and a woman's right to choose not to have children.
Jenkins often includes historical tidbits and an author's note with suggested readings at the end of her books.
Spring had a tough upbringing, having been thrown out by her grandfather and previously worked on a ranch under undesirable circumstances.
Garrett has a background as a former sailor and a skilled carpenter, adding depth to his character.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

The book contains content warnings for themes of racism, discussions of slavery, past sexual abuse, and trauma.

Has Romance?

The book features a strong romantic storyline with significant emotional and physical connections between characters.

From The Publisher:

USA Today bestselling author Beverly Jenkins continues her captivating Women Who Dare series with a female rancher who forges her own path in the wake of the Civil War…

Banished by her grandfather at the age of eighteen, Spring Lee has survived scandal to claim her own little slice of Paradise, Wyoming. She's proud of working her ranch alone and unwilling to share it with a stranger-especially one like Garrett McCray, who makes her second-guess her resolve to avoid men.

Garrett escaped slavery years ago and is now a reporter in Washington. He's traveled west to interview Dr. Colton Lee for an article, yet it's Lee's fearless sister, Spring, who captures his interest. Clad in denim and buckskins instead of dresses, she's the most fascinating woman he's ever met. And he's certain she also feels the connection that sizzles between them.

But when a shadow from Spring's past returns, all is on the line: her ranch, her safety-and this wild, fierce love.

Ratings (3)

Incredible (1)
Loved It (1)
It Was OK (1)

Reader Stats (9):

Read It (3)
Want To Read (1)
Not Interested (5)

1 comment(s)

Incredible
1 month

I recently read a twitter thread about what "no more slave movies" means. It doesn't mean no more movies that have slaves in them; it means no more movies written and directed by white creators where the Black characters are there simply to be slaves, not whole people. And it applies to other sorts of films as well -- ones where the Black characters are there merely to be gangstas, for example. It contrasted movies like that with something like Do The Right Thing, where Black director/writer/producer Spike Lee produced a complex story about the people in a neighborhood, many of whom were Black.

Just a few days after that, I read this book, and then I went, "Oh. I get it now. That's what they were talking about." Wow. This was my first American histrom since I was a teenager and my first Black-authored histrom. It's set in the 1880s, so slavery is part of the past of many of the characters, Jim Crow is on the rise, and racism and racist violence play pivotal roles in the plot. But the book doesn't center those things; it centers Black resilience, Black joy, and Black love.

One of the things I found most interesting was the wide variety of life paths the various Black characters had lived. Some are formerly enslaved; one was indentured; others were born free. Some are highly education, others scarcely educated at all. All of these disparate experiences seemed historically plausible to me, and the author's note gave some references for historical reading, which is always a good sign to me in historical fiction.

The romance itself has a reporter for a Black newspaper in DC coming out to the Wyoming Territory to interview a Black doctor. He gets thrown from his horse in a snowstorm and rescued by the doctor's sister, a tough, independent rancher who wears denims and buffalo hide and is nothing like the ladylike Eastern women he's used to. I won't go further into the plot, because I don't want to give you spoilers. I'll say there's a mixed cast -- the most central characters are Black, most of the rest of the town is white, and there's one Cheyenne character. Some of the white people are racist pigs but a lot of them aren't, and there's actually also one racist (anti-Indian) Black character. Hurt/comfort, opposites attract, railroads and land speculation all make appearances. It's a well-constructed romance that makes excellent use of the historical setting and material and I recommend it highly.

Oh, and I've ordered another four of her books.

 
 
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