This is the author’s second book in the Women Who Dare series. It revolves around Spring, a character in the third book of the Old West series, Tempest. Spring is an independent woman rancher in the Wyoming territory during the time after the Civil War. She begins a relationship with a Washington D.C reporter who comes to Wyoming to interview her brother, Dr. Colton Lee.

Everything fans of Mrs. Jenkins’ writing enjoy are present in this novel. She weaves historical facts in the developing romance and storytelling. There is a hint of intrigue as crimes are being committed in the novel.

I was given the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley.

Western Romance Perfection!

✔️Capable heroine who doesn’t need a man to run her ranch
✔️ Bookish hero saved by the heroine and isn’t afraid to admit he likes it and her
✔️ Beautiful landscape and horses

I absolutely loved Spring and Garrett, in fact I think he’s my favorite Beverly Jenkins hero ever!

In addition to the majesty of a capable heroine who is unconditionally loved by the hero and the very sexy “substantial” consent that was present, I loved the inclusion of the history of the Black press, skewed representation of Natives at the time, and the exploration of the different facets of Jim Crow. Reading a Beverly Jenkins book is like the best history lecture I ever attended (I have two history degrees) but with some serious kissing!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

The latest from the infamous Beverly Jenkins 100% did NOT disappoint!
'Wild Rain' is the newest installment of her Women Who Dare series, book #2, and also, book #4 of her Old West series (our heroine, Spring Lee is the sister of the infamous Colton Lee, whose story with his lady, Regan, of Tempest!)
This story was, sweet, it was sexy, and as I've learned to expect from Ms. Bev, full of history lessons. I have admittedly not read her entire backlist yet, but that is one of my goals this year because I love her writing, and how she sets up an entire world that you can see so vividly through her words.
Spring happens upon our hero, Garrett McCray, in the middle of a blizzard in Wyoming. Garrett was thrown from his horse as he was traveling west to interview Spring's brother, Dr. Colton Lee. Garrett hails from the east coast and is a reporter for his father's sundown paper.
The story revolves around a small town called Paradise, with a whole collection of characters we've seen, and some new ones as well. Garrett grapples with his attraction to the prickly Spring almost immediately - he's never met a woman like her! She lives alone, she's a rancher, she wears jeans and a gun belt! She breaks wild horses, she does her own manual labor - honestly, Spring is the total package, and Garrett is the ooey gooey cinnamon roll who just wants to love her.
Like a lot of Ms. Bev's books, we see what life is like post Civil War, and the prejudices that folks who aren't white, faced. As we're in the old west, we get a glimpse into what people out east thought/said about the Native Americans, as well as the horrible double standard freed Black slaves had to endure. Another thing that set this book apart for me was that Spring did not want children. I never know what to expect when that stance comes up in a book because I always get nervous there's going to be some sweeping declaration to change the heroine's mind... Not here. And I can't tell you how much that made me smile. I absolutely LOVED this story and I'll be singing its praises until everyone I know has read this incredible book.

Many thanks to the author, Avon, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally read historical romance set in the Wild West but I'd heard good things about Beverly Jenkins so I thought I'd try it, with mixed results.

I really enjoyed the way Jenkins captures Spring's terse, independent personality. The dialogue was good - especially Spring's. But at the same time, the exposition was choppy and almost clumsy, with sentences all approximately the same length of the "she did that. Then she did that. Later she did that" variety which is a personal pet peeve of mine.

Ultimately the good didn't outweigh the bad for me, so I stopped reading when it became clear that I wasn't going to get more interested in the story and sexual assault made an appearance.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an e-arc to review.

I absolutely loved this installment into the series. I can always count on Jenkins to make me fall in love all over again with new and old characters. I can’t wait to get more books in this series!

Fans of author Beverly Jenkins will not be disappointed with the second book in her Women Who Dare series. Ms. Jenkins is a master storyteller and her ability to give us a great tale as she weaves a history lesson into the pages is without exception. She is a true legend in the historical fiction game and each and every book is a testament to her talent.

WILD RAIN was an exceptional read from its stunning cover to the very last page. Spring Lee and Garrett McCray are characters you root for and fall in love with. And those history lessons come easily, leaving you wanting to know more and excited for the next book in the series

Kudos too Ms. Jenkins, and my appreciation to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed this romance taking place in frontier Wyoming. Jenkins includes information that some readers may not know: Wyoming gave the vote to women around 1869 and includes information about the inclusion of African Americans and native Americans in the historical tapestry of the state. But the story alone is a nice romance with likable characters (and some despicable villains). There's not as much early conflict between our main characters as in some romances, but that was fine. Both protagonists are searching for themselves, not looking for a romance.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest opinion. Well, my opinion was so positive that I will now be reading #1 in this series, so that I can read the back story of some of the other characters!

I've read some other novels by Jenkins and have enjoyed them. They are usually lighter in tone with actually good people, so this is an author if you are tired of reading books with lots of angst. However, don't think this is a "gentle read". The sex included is pretty explicit, but not constant. If you are offended, you can jump those parts and enjoy the rest!

Wild Rain is the second book in the Women Who Dare series, and from the very first page, you feel like you have arrived with the family with its feeling of coziness.
We meet Spring Lee, as we soon find out her life's journey has been easy and for reasons having nothing to do with it being the post-civil war era. It is this journey that has shaped her into the person we meet in this story.

Spring Lee is unique and unapologetically her, and she is as unconventional as a woman can be during this time in Paradise. It's this uniqueness that makes Paradise either turn its nose up in resentment or be in awe of her independence and strength.

When a newcomer from back east rides into town for an interview for a Black newspaper with the colored doctor, he finds that it is more than one that demands his attention.

Garrett gets thrown from his horse during a blizzard, and it's Spring that rescues and nurses him back to health. The questions that arise about Spring comes naturally for the reporter in him. The more he learns, the more intrigued he is. It will take a special something or someone to get close to Spring. With all the experiences, she is a tuff nut to crack. Will Garrett be able to get through the layers and win her heart or go back east defeated like most of the men in Paradise?

What I have come to love about Beverly Jenkins's book is how easy it is cozying up and getting into a story rich in history and characters full of depth. Wild Rain was that for me.

If you are like most, you fell in love with Regain and Colt from Tempest, and we get to catch up with them. It is no surprise that Regan and Spring get along so well.

Finally! I took on a Beverly Jenkins book. If you are a true romance reader you’ve heard of her books. I just never knew were to start to when I got to review Wild Rain I jumped on it.

Set back during the Old West in Wyoming Territory. Spring Lee is a strong and fiercely independent women running her own house and tending to her own land and animals. Garrett is the complete opposite. Coming from the east, city boy, , journalist on his way to interview Springs brother - the doctor out there, and with a set of different world views. The chemistry is spot on between them and I love seeing Spring through Garrett’s eyes.
For me the best part about this book was reading of the Old West and the time period. I now need more! Definitely jumping on Mrs. Bev’s backlist and getting the backstory of a bunch of the wonderful side characters in this book!

Gem of a Page Turner
Spring is the star of this story. She’s very strong, and rightfully so because she runs her own Ranch. Then she picks up a stranger in the snow. Little did she know he would be her knight to the rescue. They are opposites but the attraction is just below simmering and turns into full flames. Garrett is smitten from the first, but Spring is determined not to like him, but she is losing this battle one day at a time. Her upbringing had her never wanting to be with a man ever again. Garrett is everything Spring does not expect or want, but the love is growing slowly between them.
Beverly Jenkins has not disappointed on her History/Her-Story’s yet. I loved this sweet story.
I was happy and satisfied with the Authors well told history of the Western Culture. The background characters will keep you entertained with good drama and action. Warm and Cozy is how this story left me feeling. You will want to have some free time because it’s a Page Turner.

I loved escaping into this wonderful romance!

Set in the Wyoming Territory in the late 1880's, this fascinating story brings to life a strong, determined woman who charts her own way in the world while remaining devoted to her family and friends.

Spring Rain Lee is a breath of fresh air, and I loved getting to know her and her wild ways. She holds unconventional ideals and I loved how those weren't treated as a problem to be fixed. She's been abandoned and mistreated by some of the men in her past so she's committed to making a life for herself that doesn't rely on any man.

Garrett is a man of several trades, but it's his role as a journalist that brings him to Paradise to interview the local doctor, who is Spring's brother. Garrett turns out to be very different from any man she's known before, in ways that are intriguing and even more liberating. Garrett is enthralled by Spring's unconventional manner, and I really loved how he could stand up to her and for her and make her feel safe all at the same time.

There's a bit of local drama that threatens Spring and by extension Garrett, but the story never veers far from the delicious love story that shows us how Spring and Garrett both change for the better and stay true to their innate core selves while forging a path ahead together. I loved his mother's advice when Garrett is faced with the one issue he thought might keep them apart, and I was relieved to see how the author resolved this conflict.

There's a wonderful HEA and hints about another story to come, and I for one can't wait to read more about this delightful slice of Old West Paradise. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Honestly - Beverly Jenkins is a legend and all her books continue to be a testament to her incredible talent as a historian, writer, and storyteller.

Portia is prickly, and brilliant, and still very much dealing with the fallout of her mother's abandonment as a child. The last thing she expects is passion, feelings, or an outrageous cowboy in the form of Kenton. There are dares for kisses that don't go anywhere, top-shelf banter, and at least one rodeo.

Side stories I loved: the entire cast of guests at the hotel, the little sister running off to be a mail order bride - can't wait for that book!, and the discussions the racism within the suffragette movement - specifically the call out of ECS. Not to mention Geronimo and Lozen's appearance within the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥.5
Tropes: opposites attract, forced proximity, sexual dares, friends to lovers
Subgenre: historic romance - wild west
CW/ TW: mentions of parental abandonment, parental death on the page

This is my first Beverly Jenkins (I know, I know) and it will not be my last. I have a few other of hers and they are going right to the top of my TBR! Wild Rain is second in a series but they seem to be standalones (with some connections to previous books like Tempest).

Spring Lee comes upon a man out in a horrible blizzard so takes him home and mends him up when she realizes he is a journalist from the East come to do a story on her brother, the Black doctor Colton Lee. Spring and Garrett slowly become friends and Spring thaws as she learns more about Garrett as a person. Their romance is beautiful - not a slow build by any means but one that starts to scratch an itch for Spring but then turns into amazing and supportive love.

Spring is perfection - like literal PERFECTION. She is smart and strong, hates being vulnerable but does have some soft parts. She is magnificent and I couldn't have wanted anything more from her. And Garrett might end up being my fav cinnamon roll of the year! Love love loved him so much. Lastly, I don't want to spoil the end but there was a really beautiful and supportive wrap up to their romance that provided no compromise on Spring's part and I loved that.

Jenkins writing is phenomenal - her descriptions are beautiful and she really transports you to this time in 19th century midwest that isn't really spoken about: post the Civil War but before Jim Crow racism really solidified in the East and West. You've got Black doctors, heiresses who are women of color, Black women ranchers, and Indigenous engineers and ranchers. Jenkins highlights the racism that occurred during that time, both against Black and Indigenous folx, but she really does a great job of making the story not be about trauma - they are just people of color living their lives, loving each other and building a community.

Overall, I really loved this story. I highlighted SO MUCH which I will add closer to pub date. I highly recommend reading Spring and Garrett's story.

I knew I was going to like this book when Spring Lee yells at the injured man she's rescued from a snowstorm to get off her nice new couch before he ruins it. There's a gentle tension between the two characters immediately (enhanced by the forced proximity of an April snowstorm).

Spring has worked hard to earn and keep her ranch as a Black woman in Paradise, Wyoming. Garrett read for the law, earns his living as a carpenter, and has traveled west to interview Spring's brother, a Black doctor, for the newspaper.

Spring is prickly and has every right to be. She has the hardest time adjusting to Garrett's continuous efforts to care for her. I adore her.

This book has a lot of action (people get shot), but the relationships are the focus of the book. Spring and Garrett, naturally, but also their relationships to family and friends. I haven't read Tempest, the book which precedes this one, but I imagine it's even richer if you have.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am so glad that Beverly Jenkins is finally getting more of the popular attention that she deserves. Her name has come up a lot as people have talked about what Netflix or Shondaland should adapt next for a series. Jenkins has been writing sine 1994, and calls her writing “edutainment.” While white writers, publishers and readers were debating whether it was possible to give Black characters a happy ending in romance, Beverly Jenkins was writing those stories and showing her work with bibliographies for further reading.

In Wild Rain, Spring Lee runs across a loose horse and then a lost man as she makes her way back to her ranch during a snow storm. Garrett McCray has traveled from Washington DC to Wyoming to interview Colton Lee, Spring’s brother, about being a Black doctor on the frontier for his father’s Black owned newspaper in DC. Garrett is a competent man, but outside his area of comfort. He doesn’t understand Wyoming, or Spring, or the relaxation of gender roles and rules. But he likes and respects Spring and is quickly head over heels for her.

Spring starts off wanting to be left to her own devices. Men too often think they should have some say over what she does and she is not interested. She loves her ranch and her horses and she isn’t looking for a partner. The Easterner who asks too many questions makes her think about maybe having a man in her life.

Beverly Jenkins takes the scenes that another author would use as a Big Scene and subdues them, or skips them entirely, so that the big moments in the book are the quiet moments between Spring and Garrett. Antagonists get their due, but the important moments are the lovers together, in partnership. Wild Rain is lovely. It does dip into the layers and intersections of racism and misogyny, that never overshadows the characters falling in love and building lives.

I received and advance reader copy of Wild Rain from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Spring is an ENTIRELY independent, badda**, rancher heroine who knows exactly what she wants and will not compromise. (NO marriage, NO children)

Garrett is the city journalist who sees through her prickly exterior to the tender heart inside.

I am an angst fiend and I do love it when my romance characters don’t yet know how to name and feel their emotions. But sometimes it’s also nice to read characters who know what they want and how they feel and just say so. That’s the spirit of this book.

CW: Previous, off-the-page abuse and sexual trauma.

Thank you at Avon and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Everyone should be reading Beverly Jenkins! This book is no exception. This one has a fiercely independent woman rancher meeting a lawyer visiting her town to help report on a story about a Black doctor. She's staunchly childfree by choice, which really is a very complex idea in the Reconstruction Era, he's a delightful cinnamon roll of a man. It's got all the Wild West violence you could want. You get to pick up information about little known historical things like the Civil War battle between a US Navy ship and a Confederate ship in Cherbourg, France.

What I love about Ms. Bev's books is her confidence in writing them the way she wants. The prose is not overwrought but she draws the characters finely, and the pacing does not feel typical for romance novels but is immersive in a way I really enjoy. We're just so lucky to have these books!

Wild Rain is the second book in the Women Who Dare series by Beverly Jenkins. The setting is mid-April in Wyoming Territory. Spring Lee, a woman rancher, is driving through a blizzard when she notices a horse sans rider. Soon after she spots a man covered in snow and limping up the road.

It turns out that Garrett McCray is a newspaper reporter/carpenter looking to do an article on Dr. Colton Lee for his father's Black newspaper. Instead he is fascinated with Dr. Lee's sister, Spring, the daring woman dressed in a men's shirt, denim pants and a gun belt. She is the epitome of unconventional woman. Spring isn't looking for love but their attraction grows.

As with other Beverly Jenkins novels, there is a history lesson woven into the fiction. Wild Rain takes place after the Civil War. A period when most women weren't wearing denim but expensive gowns instead. Spring Lee is unapologetically independent too, which impresses oh-so-sweet-cinnamon roll Garrett and sets the tone for a natural romance to unfold.

What kind of book starts with a woman saving a man? A historical romance by the great Ms. Bev! I am loving the Women Who Dare series. It features women that do not live by society's standard. Women that are free, bold, fierce and comfortable in their own skin. And best of all in Wild Rain, Ms. Bev gives a tribute to women who prefer to be child free. Thank you!!!

I adore this couple and expect to see them mentioned in the last book of series, as is the custom. Although, Bookhearts not familiar with the Women Who Dare series can certainly read Wild Rain as a standalone. Whether you are new to the series, new to the author, or a longtime fan such as myself, pre-order Wild Rain and plan to read this good Western romance during Black History Month.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

~LiteraryMarie

Another winner from Mrs. Bev!! I really enjoyed reading about woman of the land and rancher Spring and the bookish cinnamon roll she fell in love with. There are tons of cowboy romances out there but not a lot of cowgirls, even though they existed.

I loved everything about this heroine including how independent she was.. It's unconventional for a woman nowadays to not want children, let alone back then. And for that to be something she wouldn't budge on is amazingly progressive for a historical, even by today's standards of the romance novel. But of course, what else can you expect from this author..

Spring 'had a past', which is also another unique thing about this story. That and the fact that Garrett didn't care or even if he did rightfully told himself it was none of his business. I loved that and how he came to terms with the fact that he couldn't change Spring or her mind about things so he had to accept her the way she was.

The conflict was bit rushed, which is the norm for this author but I find myself not bothered by that because honestly in real life it's like that. The thing that is built up so big in our minds ends up taking less time than we think to resolve. And the story was around Spring and her coming to terms with her demons and needing to forgive the family that had wronged her and Garrett realizing that he was truly was a freed man and this included not playing into the expectations of his father, another former slave.

Everything was beautiful about this book and I adored every page.

Beverly Jenkins does it again! I loved loved loved these characters--even though they're quite opposite in their personalities, their love sparked on the page and kept me rapt the whole time. Spring is an unusual heroine and I loved that she didn't want kids and owned her own ranch and made her own way in the world!