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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Book Review-Through The Storm by Beverly Jenkins

by | May 4, 2016 | Book Reviews | 18 comments

Book Review-Through The Storm by Beverly Jenkins

Book Review-Through The Storm by Beverly JenkinsThrough the Storm by Beverly Jenkins
Also in this series: Indigo, Rebel
Series: Le Veq Family #1
Published by Avon on August 1st 1998
Genres: Historical Romance, Civil War Era, Reconstruction Era, Interracial Romance
Narrator: Kim Staunton
Length: 11 Hours and 32 Mins
Pages: 384
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
ISBN: 0380798646
Goodreads
AmazonLibrary ThingLibrary ThingLibrary ThingLiteral Club
five-stars

Sable, a slave on the run to escape the cruel man she's been sold to is forced to betray the charming Union officer Raimond LeVeq, who had romanced her and championed her. Brought together again by fate and an arranged marriage, she must try and win the trust of LeVeq--the man she truly loves.

My Review Updated

SummaryΒ 

Sable, a slave on a plantation in the south, has reached her age of maturity. But when her mistress sells her to a horrible man that has been known to kill his slaves and accuse them unjustly, she knows she must find a way to escape. But when her only family, a beloved aunt is killed in a fire and she learns the truth of her heritage, that she is part of a family of queens. Now through the help of her ancestors and her faith, she flees and manages to reach a freedman camp and meets the charming Raymond LeVeq. She does laundry, writes letters for other ex slavesΒ and aids in the medical tent and falls in love with Raymond. However, she is forced to flee when the man she fears the most comes for her to take ownership of her. She ends up in New Orleans and through a series of events ends up married to Raymond who believes her to be a betrayer. But soon Raymond and Sable reconnect their love affair,Β but there is danger lurking around the corner that could tear them apart forever.

Plot and Story LineΒ 

In Through The Storm, we get the continued story that began with Indigo. Now technically it is considered a single title, but I personally place it in this series, because it is connected to this family. We even get some interaction between Hester and Galen with this story and boy was that fun to see!! Through The Storm takes place a few years later from Indigo. Its at the end of the Civil War and we get to the beginning of the transition to the reconstruction era. This was a time period I haven’t read too much of, but boy does Beverly Jenkins spin a historical tale with fabulous historical detail. As I was listening to this narration, I was swept away by this story and seeing certain historical events come into play with a mix of a powerful love story.

I was simply in love with this book in every moment I couldn’t help but get excited by the play of events. I found quite a few surprisesΒ and twists, and what an entertainingΒ read. Reconnecting with this author has been so fun, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy her writing. I loved the elements of two opposite people (honestly they are like oil and water). One is charismatic, charming and has no trouble finding women to bed at a crook of his finger and has money aplenty.

If I wanted you for desert, I’d have you for desert, and trust me you’d be willing

Now Sable, has never had the chance to be flirty or charming. She has lived a life as a house slave, kept away from men. We see some growth in these characters, but most especially in Sable. She really comes into herself through her journey. I admired her strength and the ways that she stands up to Raymond. She is true to herself and her values, and I loved that she didn’t just give into the seduction that Raymond wanted for her. She makes him work for it and yeah Raymond so deserved that. But after they are separated and come back together, they have to rebuild the trust they lost. But thankfully it doesn’t take long and we also get more of the delightful LeVeq brothers. Now they are all so entertaining and I loved how this family stands together. There were serious moments, many fun and silly moments, fascinating moments and some tear jerking moments that bring about a well-balanced romance I couldn’t get enough of.

The NarrationΒ 

I really loved this narrator, at first I wasn’t too impressed, she seems to be just a averageΒ one however I was really delighted in how she portrayed the accents. Her voice was pleasant and engaging and I couldn’t wait to put my ear buds in to listen to her narrate this delightful story. I believe this narrator, really made this story even better and I am so glad I was able to get it in narration form.

The CoverΒ 

WHAT a cover!!! I just love it, because it portrays these two so well. I love how tender and sweet their pose is, with the warm colors displayed.

Overall ViewΒ 

Through The Storm is a stimulating romance that takes you through the Civil War Era and a couple finding a beautiful love in this tension filled time. MAJESTIC!!

Series Order (2)

About The Author Updated

About Beverly Jenkins

Beverly Jenkins is an African-American historical romance writer. She and her family live in southeastern Michigan. Born in Detroit, she graduated from Cass Technical High School and attended Michigan State University where she majored in Journalism and English Literature.
Ms. Jenkins has written sixteen books to date and has received numerous awards for her works, including: the Detroit Free Press Book of the Year, three Waldenbooks Best Sellers Awards; two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine; a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer’s Guild, and in 1999, Ms. Jenkins was voted one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th Century by AABLC, the nation’s largest on-line African-American book club. In May of 2002, Ms. Jenkins published her first historical novel for young adults, titled: Belle and the Beau. Her second YA, Josephine and the Soldier followed in 2003.
Ms. Jenkins has been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Dallas Morning News and Vibe Magazine. She has lectured at such prestigious universities as Oberlin University; the University of Illinois; and the University of Michigan. She speaks widely on both romance and 19th century African-American history at libraries, schools and organizations including Romance Writers of America, and the Afro–American Historical and Genalogical Society. She is active in her church and community, and in November 2001 was a recipient of the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award.
In February of 2004, Ms. Jenkins’ first contemporary novel of romantic suspense, The Edge of Midnight was released. Sexy/Dangerous, her fourth novel of romantic suspense will be in stores in November 2006.

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18 Comments

  1. Blodeuedd

    Ohhh cool dress!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh I know!! I love the colors—they just work for this cover so well.

      Reply
  2. LilyElement

    I’ve been wanting more diversity in books! Adding this to my TBR πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh you definitely should pick up Beverly Jenkins. She is amazing.

      Reply
  3. Eva

    Wow I haven’t read anything in this era and I am loving the sound of this series! Definitely going to check out this author

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh you need to read this author for sure. She is so talented and really makes her stories come alive. And there is such great diversity that is so rare for HR authors to write.

      Reply
  4. Jennifer_FairyTales

    After finishing Indigo, I definitely want to read this soon. Raymond was amazing and I can’t wait to see him get his happy ending. Sable sounds like an awesome heroine.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh you need to Jennifer!!! I LOVED Raymond, and you really see more depth to him in this one. And its fun to see Raymond and Galen act like rambunctious little devils when they get together hehe But yes Sable is so great and I had many great laughs with these two.

      Reply
  5. Braine TS

    Oh how cool! More historical romances like this should be written. It’s not often that you read a histrom with interracial couple romances or African Americans as leads. They’ve been typecast as the help or what-not

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh I agree Braine. Its so rare to find interracial romances in the historical romance genre. And she portrays the history of civil war and aspects of slavery realistically which I liked. Beverly Jenkins is a master at African American HR.

      Reply
  6. Christy LoveOfBooks

    What’s cool about this genre, is books written 20+ years ago can really stand up well against ones written today. This sounds excellent, and yes, that cover is very bow-chicka-wow-wow. πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      it is pretty neat right?? Lately I have been discovering so many fun treasures that were written so long ago but don’t feel like they were, mostly because they are so well written and authors especially back then spent so much time on research making sure they got historical events and cultural aspects right.

      Reply
  7. Sophia Rose

    I’ve got one of her western historicals on my list, but I really need to snag anything from her backlist it seems. You have me antsy to give this series a go.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh yes, I think I just got one of her westerns from my library and hope to read it this weekend. You definitely need to check her out Sophia, you would adore her work. This series is so amazing.

      Reply
  8. Quinn's Book Nook

    I SOOOOOOOOO need to read Through the Storm. I want more Raymond LeVeq. Seriously, his name is just so much fun to say. I’m so glad you loved this. I will have to try the audiobook. I tried listening to the audio of Indigo but I didn’t care much for the narrator. I didn’t hate her, but I didn’t feel like she brought life to story. Actually, I felt like she sucked the life right out of it! πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh you so need to Quinn!!! This one was so amazing, I think I liked it more than Indigo. I just can’t get enough of these brothers and boy did this book have some fun moments. This family reminded me of the Bridgertons in a way. Their fun bantering was so engaging. And the romance was AWESOME!!

      Reply
  9. Lola

    Oh this one takes place towards the end of the civil war that’s interesting, haven’t seen many series that take place back then. And I like opposites attract romances, they just can be so much fun, seeing two different people fall in love. And it sounds great to see Stable grow in this book. Great review!

    Reply
  10. Anna@herding cats&burning soup

    Oh I’ve heard others rave about her books but I’ve not tried them yet. I’ll have to see if my library has these on audio. Sounds like it could be a good read while walking the neighborhood πŸ˜€

    Reply

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