Monday, April 27, 2015

Blessings Brought To You By Beverly Jenkins

Hello All,

I was lucky enough to have met Beverly Jenkins during a library program I hosted when I lived and worked in Michigan. At the time, she was writing African American historical and contemporary romance; since then she has also given readers a wonderful new series, the Blessings series.

In Bring On the Blessings, Bernadine Brown catches her husband in bed with another woman. She takes him to court and along with her divorce, she is awarded 275 million dollars. She then opens her heart and asks for guidance to do something positive and meaningful with her wealth. Within a short period of time, she finds a town who has put itself up for sale on Ebay, and she buys it.

The town of Henry Adams, KS is rich with African American history, but low on funds to maintain the town, let alone invite growth. Once Bernadine arrives, things start happening. She uses her finances to start rebuilding the town, and to build new structures for more people to move to Henry Adams. Bernadine had also read about foster children, and matching them with parents who are interested in the long haul; really committed to one child and giving them love and family to grow up with. She matches five children with five sets of parents, herself included. Much of the remainder of the book is about how these new families negotiate life with each other, and how Bernadine helps Henry Adams grow into a special town.

Here is the series:

1. Bring on the Blessings
2. A Second Helping
3. Something Old, Something New
4. A Wish and a Prayer
5. Heart of Gold
6. For Your Love (published April 28, 2015)

Each of the books in the series shows the growth of the adults and the children, and especially of the love that is shared in this small, special place. They are best read in order.

I received the most recent title in the series, For Your Love, as an advance reader copy, and I read it a week or so ago. As I have with all the others, I loved it. Ms. Jenkins has added a few new characters, and each family experiences growth and change.

I love these books and these characters--and some of them are real characters (in the humorous sense)! The town really comes together to raise these foster children. One of my favorite things is that when the kids get in trouble, either together or on their own, one of their punishments is to paint a white picket fence! This has been a punishment for a generation or two. Also I really, really love how the town works together to solve problems, and they create ways to really be together as a community.

I wonder if Henry Adams needs a librarian...

Happy Reading!!!
Patti












1 comment:

beverly said...

Thanks for the support Patti. HA is building a new library. I'll let Ms. Brown know you wish to apply for the position as Head Librarian.