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A review by shae_purcell
Night Song by Beverly Jenkins
3.0
This is my first time reading a true romance novel. I've read books with a love story, of course, and I love a Jane Austen romance, but I never thought I'd enjoy the '90s style Harlequin-esque books with their shirtless Fabios. I've just always been too prudish, let's be honest. Lately, I've been dipping my toe into other genres (cozy mysteries!) and finding myself quite pleased, so I decided a steamy romance would be next on my list.
I first came across Beverly Jenkins in a Goodreads article about new historical romances. The book mentioned in the article was her newest release, but I decided to go back to the beginning and start with her very first published work. The cover told me all I needed to know. Night Song, here we go.
First of all, I love historical fiction. It's one of my favorites to read. I'd read that Beverly Jenkins is great at weaving historical events into her stories. While some seemed to find it tedious based on their reviews, most praised her work. I am firmly in the latter camp. I loved the historical references, most of all because I learned a lot about a period in history I'm not all that familiar with. It made me want to learn more on my own, which to me is a sign of a good author.
Now, the story itself. I really enjoyed Cara and Chase and how their stories came together. I can see how others might consider the flow of this book to be predictable, but there were very few things I was able to guess before the end. I expected that once the build-up to their first sexual encounter was done, there wouldn't be much left of the story. I was pleased to be wrong. The ending wrapped up quite nicely - maybe too nicely for some, but it was just the way I wanted it to go.
At the end of it all, I'm still quite prudish. The author is playfully descriptive in her terms for various parts of the male and female body. It's barely steamy compared to some reviews I've read for other books, but any mention of Chase's "manhood" and Cara's "blackberry forest" had me giggling and blushing. Yes, I'm still twelve. Let's just say that this was a great novel for my first time. My only complaint - the man on the cover needs a mustache!
I first came across Beverly Jenkins in a Goodreads article about new historical romances. The book mentioned in the article was her newest release, but I decided to go back to the beginning and start with her very first published work. The cover told me all I needed to know. Night Song, here we go.
First of all, I love historical fiction. It's one of my favorites to read. I'd read that Beverly Jenkins is great at weaving historical events into her stories. While some seemed to find it tedious based on their reviews, most praised her work. I am firmly in the latter camp. I loved the historical references, most of all because I learned a lot about a period in history I'm not all that familiar with. It made me want to learn more on my own, which to me is a sign of a good author.
Now, the story itself. I really enjoyed Cara and Chase and how their stories came together. I can see how others might consider the flow of this book to be predictable, but there were very few things I was able to guess before the end. I expected that once the build-up to their first sexual encounter was done, there wouldn't be much left of the story. I was pleased to be wrong. The ending wrapped up quite nicely - maybe too nicely for some, but it was just the way I wanted it to go.
At the end of it all, I'm still quite prudish. The author is playfully descriptive in her terms for various parts of the male and female body. It's barely steamy compared to some reviews I've read for other books, but any mention of Chase's "manhood" and Cara's "blackberry forest" had me giggling and blushing. Yes, I'm still twelve. Let's just say that this was a great novel for my first time. My only complaint - the man on the cover needs a mustache!