~ Review: The Taming of Jessi Rose ~

This is a book that should not be missed.  Beverly Jenkins has done it again in The Taming of Jessi Rose.  A smart, tough heroine, a sexy, endearing hero, a vivid, carefully drawn plot and rogues’ gallery of supporting players…this book has it all.

Jessi Rose Clayton is fighting the devil to keep her family’s ranch.  The devil in this case is Reed Darcy, a man who not only killed her father, but who is trying to claim her land for the railroad and harbors an unholy lust for her.  She has to protect her young nephew, all that she has left of her late sister, and she is determined to keep the land as his legacy.  And she is fighting a losing battle all alone.  The townspeople have long ago turned their backs on her because of her father’s duplicity, and they all buckled under to Darcy years ago.

After her father’s death, Jessi’s back is literally to the wall.  Fearing Darcy, no one in town will sell her supplies or support her in any way and she and her nephew Joth could very well starve to death if they aren’t run off the land by Darcy’s henchmen.  If ever she needed a hero, the time is now.  And in Griffin Blake, she gets just that, albeit a most unlikely one.

In response to a letter from Joth, Dixon Wildhorse springs Griffin Blake, the notorious train robber from jail on once condition.  He has to go to Jessi Rose and help her save her family’s land.  Reluctantly, he goes to Texas and offers his help to Jessi Rose.  She is not what he expected, and she isn’t grateful for his offer.  But under the big Texas skies they form a bond that turns to trust, to passion and to love everlasting. 

Jessi Rose Clayton is a resourceful, admirable woman.  And Griffin Blake is just delicious.  With Ms Jenkins’ snappy dialogue and sparkling humor, this book just leaps off the page at you.  The secondary characters from the local madam, Auntie to Griffin’s disreputable allies, The Terrible Twins and Preacher, are lively, exciting and keep the action moving right along.  This is one of those books that will make you forget whatever it was you had planned for the day.  When you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down.

One of the things I particularly like about Ms Jenkins’ books is the continuity of characters.  Her supporting characters are so charming and deftly written that when she devotes a book to their adventures it is as welcome as a second helping of some rich, satisfying dessert.  Griffin is first discussed in TOPAZ, for example, which is where we first encountered Dixon Wildhorse.  There are a few other characters in some of her other books who I would love to know more about; here’s hoping that we will encounter the Preacher, a somber man with a tragic past, again.

This is a tremendously satisfying book.  I am sure her loyal readership was thrilled with its debut.   If you are like me, one of the 12 or so people who have recently become acquainted with the esteemed Beverly Jenkins, do yourself a favor and buy this book immediately!  A sexy, intelligent beautifully written book.