You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Updated 2022 Rating: 4 Stars
I stand by everything I said in the 2019 review but I think some of the things I thought were weaknesses, such as the going on historical tangents to kind of root this story in historical fact actually are a strength and so for that reason, I think it deserves a higher rating than I gave it before.
Original 2019 Rating: 3 Stars
I really enjoy Beverly Jenkins’ historical romances and their perfect blend of romance with non-mainstream really important US history particularly of minorities in the post-US civil war era. So, I want to make my way through her backlist of historical romances. Vivid, I believe, is her second book and dates from 1995. I have an Audible Escape free trial and decided to read it in audio format.
The premise is that newly-qualified doctor, Viveca Lancaster, moves to a small town in Michigan that is expecting a male doctor rather than one of the members of the first generation of black female doctors in America. Town “mayor,” hero and general “guy everyone looks up to,” and “somewhat bitter against citified womenfolk,” Nate Grayson, who has reasons not to trust “women like Viveca,” is prejudiced against her and NOT AT ALL happy about the misunderstanding that has brought this intrepid female doctor to his small, middle of nowhere town and he wants her out.
I think this being only the author’s 2nd book, it really stands up really well two and a half decades later. It’s feminist enough, it’s “politically correct” enough. The history in it is still uncommon and lesser known but no less important to be made mainstream. However, because I’ve read more recent books by Beverly Jenkins, I can also totally tell this is early work. The history and the romance are not blended together as elegantly as they are in her later books. The balance wasn’t quite right. The history feels very much like it could have been edited down a little bit more to fit in with the story because at times, it felt like there was a lot of essaying of her historical findings and it felt a little like the book went on tangents that forgot this was a novel. This made the story drag a lot in parts more than was necessary.
I still recommend this however, because there’s a kickbutt heroine, a bucketful of wit, meaningful conflict, racial and political history post-US civil war, enemies to lovers and lots of fireworks, chemistry and delightful family dynamics.
I stand by everything I said in the 2019 review but I think some of the things I thought were weaknesses, such as the going on historical tangents to kind of root this story in historical fact actually are a strength and so for that reason, I think it deserves a higher rating than I gave it before.
Original 2019 Rating: 3 Stars
I really enjoy Beverly Jenkins’ historical romances and their perfect blend of romance with non-mainstream really important US history particularly of minorities in the post-US civil war era. So, I want to make my way through her backlist of historical romances. Vivid, I believe, is her second book and dates from 1995. I have an Audible Escape free trial and decided to read it in audio format.
The premise is that newly-qualified doctor, Viveca Lancaster, moves to a small town in Michigan that is expecting a male doctor rather than one of the members of the first generation of black female doctors in America. Town “mayor,” hero and general “guy everyone looks up to,” and “somewhat bitter against citified womenfolk,” Nate Grayson, who has reasons not to trust “women like Viveca,” is prejudiced against her and NOT AT ALL happy about the misunderstanding that has brought this intrepid female doctor to his small, middle of nowhere town and he wants her out.
I think this being only the author’s 2nd book, it really stands up really well two and a half decades later. It’s feminist enough, it’s “politically correct” enough. The history in it is still uncommon and lesser known but no less important to be made mainstream. However, because I’ve read more recent books by Beverly Jenkins, I can also totally tell this is early work. The history and the romance are not blended together as elegantly as they are in her later books. The balance wasn’t quite right. The history feels very much like it could have been edited down a little bit more to fit in with the story because at times, it felt like there was a lot of essaying of her historical findings and it felt a little like the book went on tangents that forgot this was a novel. This made the story drag a lot in parts more than was necessary.
I still recommend this however, because there’s a kickbutt heroine, a bucketful of wit, meaningful conflict, racial and political history post-US civil war, enemies to lovers and lots of fireworks, chemistry and delightful family dynamics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
Every time I read a Beverly Jenkins book, I get an awesome romance, strong female characters, but also so much history!!
She does her research and the way she weaves it into her novels is amazing!
EasterReadathon 2019: Read a book by an author of color & read a book about new beginnings
She does her research and the way she weaves it into her novels is amazing!
EasterReadathon 2019: Read a book by an author of color & read a book about new beginnings
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A sweet story with tons of heat. It takes a bit to warm up to Nate and given his history it’s easy to understand why. Once he and Viveca cross paths it’s hard to put the book down and the ending is perfect.
TW: Death of a child, miscarriage
*Triggers briefly mentioned.
One of my favorite Beverly Jenkins books! This one features Dr. Viveca Lancaster, a female doctor and Black woman
taking a chance, taking a risk to make her dreams happen: to set up her pratice in the late 1780's where female physicians still had quite a way to go to be accepted in society. Another fine tale of well written characters to love, root for and dislike,
finely detailed and researched settings and situations and love affairs to cherish. This book did falter a bit in the last arch of the story as noted by other reviewers and may have been a bit too long in my opionion--But the chemistry between the two main characters, their dialogue had me hooked!
taking a chance, taking a risk to make her dreams happen: to set up her pratice in the late 1780's where female physicians still had quite a way to go to be accepted in society. Another fine tale of well written characters to love, root for and dislike,
finely detailed and researched settings and situations and love affairs to cherish. This book did falter a bit in the last arch of the story as noted by other reviewers and may have been a bit too long in my opionion--But the chemistry between the two main characters, their dialogue had me hooked!
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am beginning a journey of reading all of Beverly Jenkins' novels for the first time. This is my second read so far and I really, really enjoyed this. Not only did I like Jenkins' writing style, I also loved how I got such a well-rounded reading experience; her interweaving of historical facts allowed me to so learn so much about the time period and get a better idea of why the characters behaved the way they did.
Speaking of characters, Vivid was so interesting. A woman who can hold her own in conversation, game, and sport? A woman not interested in appeasing your short-sided ideas? A single female doctor in 1870s Michigan who had no intention of doing anything but 'doctoring'?! YES! But this is a romance and of course Vivid was going to do a lot more than just 'doctoring'. That is the content I was here for. (Wasn't really here for the virgin trope though, but this seems to be an unfortunate historical fiction thing...).
I just wish I was more enamored with her love interest, Nate. I honestly can do without the alpha male trope. And alpha he was. But there was just something about the way Jenkins wrote the banter between Vivid and Nate that had me anticipatorily turning the page. (Even when I wanted to throttle Nate, and even was I was heatedly annotating all my frustrations with his male ego). So if you live for the alpha male character, this is for you.
There were also side characters I found myself consistently interested in throughout the book, such as Magic, Maddie, Abigail, and Eli. I think there was a nice balance between the love story and the side stories but the ending felt rushed. I got to the last paragraph and was thrown by the fact that the book was done. Given how well everything else was developed, it was a tad underwhelming for me.
I may be only two books into this personal challenge but so far it is looking like I am going to be a big fan of Jenkins.
Speaking of characters, Vivid was so interesting. A woman who can hold her own in conversation, game, and sport? A woman not interested in appeasing your short-sided ideas? A single female doctor in 1870s Michigan who had no intention of doing anything but 'doctoring'?! YES! But this is a romance and of course Vivid was going to do a lot more than just 'doctoring'. That is the content I was here for. (Wasn't really here for the virgin trope though, but this seems to be an unfortunate historical fiction thing...).
I just wish I was more enamored with her love interest, Nate. I honestly can do without the alpha male trope. And alpha he was. But there was just something about the way Jenkins wrote the banter between Vivid and Nate that had me anticipatorily turning the page. (Even when I wanted to throttle Nate, and even was I was heatedly annotating all my frustrations with his male ego). So if you live for the alpha male character, this is for you.
There were also side characters I found myself consistently interested in throughout the book, such as Magic, Maddie, Abigail, and Eli. I think there was a nice balance between the love story and the side stories but the ending felt rushed. I got to the last paragraph and was thrown by the fact that the book was done. Given how well everything else was developed, it was a tad underwhelming for me.
I may be only two books into this personal challenge but so far it is looking like I am going to be a big fan of Jenkins.