Wild Rain Women Who Dare

Wild Rain is one of those releases for the year I have been most anticipating, but it took me a while to get in the mood. I ended up having it on my TBR for the #HRREADATHON and rotating between the audio and the ebook. Wild Rain is the second book in the latest series by Bev Jenkins and a western romance. It definitely has the typical flair that one will find with Bev Jenkins books, but I love her style with westerns. Now it wasn't a perfect book or one that won my heart completely. The ending was so NOT my cup of tea and I just felt the heroine could be selfish at times at the expense of the hero and it just rubbed me the wrong way. Wild Rain begins with Spring Lee who is rancher and on her way home she stumbles across an injured rider and she takes him back to her home to tend to him. Garrett is a Eastern news reporter who has come to interview her brother who is a black man practicing medicine. Garrett is a respectful honest man that is intriguing to Spring. Spring is proud of the woman that she has become. She is independent, self sufficient and doesn't depend on anyone but herself. She loves being a rancher and the ability to be able to pave her own life. But there is a chemistry between herself and Garrett and Spring doesn't know what to do with this attraction with Garrett. She knows their lives are at a crossroads but can't resist the temptation of a strong yet kind man who has only treated her with kindness and respect. Garrett has in his own, gone his own way. His parents fought for him since he was young and sacrificed much. But he is own man and wants to find his own way. He finds Spring and the western way of living such a temptation. He feels a sense of completeness he couldn't ever feel in the city way of life. But he knows Spring will have to be the one to choose him because she is on her own path but hopes that their love will be enough for them both. Wild Rain was a sweet and poetically penned romance. I had such a blast with this book and all the bright and colorful personalities that come into play into this story. Now while its definitely not one of my favorites, westerns always breath new life into my reading and this queen of an author can always draw me into her books and I love seeing the way it beckons me into it. I will say that as this one was an audio book, I was impressed with the talent of Kim Staunton. She really brought the perfect balance in the narration of this story. Spring and Garrett were definitely a unique mix together and I did enjoy their relationship and seeing the sacrifices. But I did feel that Garrett was really the one making all the concessions and sacrifices and it didn't feel like Spring was willing to do nearly as much for the relationship. Garrett seemed to be much more invested in the relationship and I did find that the heroine was very selfish at times and yeah the ending just didn't feel final or that HEA feel to it at all. I just finished reading the book with feeling like there needed to be more. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike the heroine at all. I found her to be very impressive and I adored the way she would stand up for herself and what she believed in. I just felt like there wasn't much growth to her as I was expecting and there were aspects to her character that wasn't my favorite to read in. But Garretty? As the male lead and hero, was superb in every way. I loved his dynamic character. I would say he is a beta with some alpha tendacies especially in being a protector. This part of his character comes when you least expect it. I loved seeing him grow in this story and being such a dynamic character. The plot in this book was quite interesting. I honestly never know what to expect in the plot developments of Beverly Jenkins reads and this one was no different. There are aspects of suspense and it was a unique experience to go along for the ride with this book and see where this author was taking us on the journey. There were mutliple of aspects that drew me into this book and I had no problem staying engaged, I found the pacing the plot to be steady and didn't falter as sometimes happens in historical's. I really get a kick out of Beverly Jenkins, she has always been an author whose writing style has just worked for me. I really respect her level of rich historical authenticity that is so rare in modern historical authors these days. Its obvious that she knows her history and does her research and "high respect". Overall I found Wild Rain to be a thrilling tale of western culture, rich historical context and a tender romance to curl your toes.

Wild Rain was my first Beverly Jenkins, and it definitely won't be my last! I was enamored with the small-town setting, and especially so because in this instance, it provided me with a glimpse of American history I don't often get to read much about. Spring is an incredible, strong, independent character and my heart broke for what she endured in her youth; at the same time, I love that she has people like Odell, Colt, and Regan who care for her. I really like Garrett's wide-eyed innocence as a new arrival to the town of Paradise, because it's like we're being introduced to the story through his eyes. And I especially appreciated his open-mindedness when called out for his ignorance, and his willingness to learn new things and adapt to new places. The most gutwrenching part of the story, by far, was Spring's relationship with her grandfather, which I wish could have been explored a bit more, and at the same time I can understand why it wasn't. Overall, some really powerful storytelling and such a sweet romance.

4.5/5 stars ** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!** This was fantastic. I had a great time reading this book. This is the first book I've read from Beverly Jenkins and I can't wait to pick up her backlist. My only wish is that there was a little bit more tension between the two main characters. This is totally personal preference. I really did like our main character, she was badass and didn't take shit from anyone. Overall it was great. I completely enjoyed myself and highly recommend picking up this book.