Superb romantic leads and chemistry, Beverly Jenkins has always excelled at conjuring up heroines and heroes who are believably dimensional with undeniable charm, and Loreli +Jake in A Chance at Love might take the crown as the best pairing I've read from her thus far — the conservative, yet earnest hero interacting with a worldly, fire-cracker personality of the heroine generated many hilarious scenes (the outcome from their first physical act after a lengthy romantic tension was hilarious and true-to-character!) as well as tenderly emotional ones. This novel is pick-up worthy just for the character work alone.

Plot-wise, I thoroughly enjoyed the small town shenanigans, as well as the historical facts sprinkled throughout (Beverly Jenkins can get side-tracked by being overly generous with laying out her research, but the balance in this novel felt just right). Unfortunately, the last 10-15% of the novel took a turn, with a hastily-introduced antagonist becoming its focal point (a character I assumed previously to be merely a mention in one scene), and the resolution to the romance that felt very temporary with many conflicts unresolved. This 'closing-a-story-with-an-action-set piece' has been a template executed across a couple novels of hers I've read, it is too bad it has always stuck out like narrative sore thumb in an otherwise perfectly told tale.

Still, this might be my new favorite Beverly Jenkins novel, despite the absence of a fitting finale. My previous favorite has been Topaz, which in the Afterword was mentioned to have character overlap with this one, so that's a pleasant nugget of information!

***Historical Hellions Book Club | Octorber 2024 Selection***