A Chance at Love (Mass Market Paperback)

by Beverly Jenkins (Author) "As Loreli Winters stood listening to the farmer bending her ear, she wondered how much longer she would have to endure before she could politely..." (more)
Key Phrases: new mama, hog farmer, real wife, Miss Winters, Jake Reed, Loreli Winters (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Marrying Kind...

Loreli Winters never imagined she'd end up a "mail-order bride" in middle-of-nowhere Kansas -- until the two adorable orphan nieces of a dusky dream named Jake Reed beg her to be their new "mama." And one look at the dark, devastatingly handsome man is enough to entice her to abandon her California plans and stay put for a while in this one-horse frontier town.

Strong, sensible Jake was hoping for a wife to help him raise his girls, but Loreli may be more than he can handle. He can't stop wondering what it would be like to hold the fiery enchantress close and kiss her deeply. Surely he could never compete with the sophisticated gents she has known, yet he intends to try. But will his honest passion be enough to take a chance on a long-shot called love?

About the Author
Beverly Jenkins is an African-American historical romance writer. She lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband and their two children. Born in Detroit, she graduated from Cass Technical High School and attended Michigan State University, where she majored in journalism and English Literature.

Ms. Jenkins has written eight books to date, for which she has received numerous awards, including two Waldenbooks Best Sellers Awards, a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine for Best Western Historicals, and a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer's Guild.

Ms. Jenkins has been featured in many national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, People magazine, The Dallas Morning News and Vibe magazine. She has lectured at such prestigious schools and universities as Oberlin College, the University of Illinois, and the University of Michigan.

Beverly Jenkins's adult titles include Night Song, Vivid, Indigo, Topaz, Through the Storm, The Taming of Jessi Rose, Always and Forever and Before the Dawn.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060502290
• ISBN-13: 978-0060502294
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #167,346 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Still Looking for the Original Beverly Jenkins...., September 5, 2002

By A Customer

I am still looking for the original Beverly Jenkins. The one whose first African-American historical romance "Night Song" made me wait with baited breath for more. In my humble opinion the quality of writing and the development of her characters has continually gone down since Night Song. The whole premise of this book was wrong to me. The characters were not believable and the dialogue was stilted at best. I am an *avid* reader. I can read 2-3 books on a good day. In addition to other genres and non-fiction titles, I have been reading romance novels for about 10 years now. Beverly Jenkins's first novel Night Song was the FIRST romance novel by an African -American woman that I had ever read. I have purchased every single one of her books since. But since like the first two, I have been increasingly disappointed. This one was a big disappointment. Save your money and go check it out from your local library.

The thing that Beverly Jenkins gives us in her books is the ability to dream, to see Black family dynasties of old unfold. Her previous novels let you chronicle African-American history while still engaging you in a good love story about two characters as they try and put together a relationship.

Beverly Jenkins will always get my vote for her reasearch and presentation of AA history. The lawmen, doctors, reporters, abolitionists, businessmen, etc. spoke to you as they fell in love and took you into their world and showed you a realistic glimpse of living in those times. In *some* of her previous books, the characters jumped off the page. You felt what they felt, you saw it through their eyes -especially the love scenes. Face it, a big draw for this book market. A Chance at Love failed on all these accounts. The dialogue was poor. The story line was unbelievable. It seems that everyone else thought the twin's precociousness (sp.) was sooo cute, not I. It was unbelievable to me. The love scenes were impersonal and cold. At first funny, then disappointing as you realized that ~that~ was it.

I applaud Ms. Jenkins for taking a chance and choosing the man to be the seduced and the woman to have the experience. I applaud her also for using a woman "with a past" as her heroine one who wasn't the supposed parogon of virtue, but unfortunately, for this story...it didn't work. I think the requests from fans for *MORE* overrode the time needed to develop the characters and storyline fully.

Just my opinion. I will look for her next book to see what she gives us in the future and hope for....more. Just because you have a niche market and fan base who will buy anything with your name on it doesn't mean you should just give them 'anything' with your name on it. Keep at it and Good Luck!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chance At Love, September 14, 2002

By	Sean (USA) - See all my reviews

Loreli Winters was part of the mail order brides, but she was far different from the other contigent brides. See, Loreli was a self professed gambler. Girlfriend had been taking care of herself since she was a teenager. She had seen alot in her life and knew how to deal with people.

When the brides stopped in the small town of Loreli found her self the target of twin girls BeBe and DeDe. They were looking for a new mama. The girls took an instant liking to Loreli and told her about their desires for her to become their new mama. Loreli felt she wasn't mama material, but was honored by the twins wish.

Loreli escorts BeBe and DeDe home and they told their uncle who was their legal guardian now that they wanted Loreli to become their mama. Of course Jake, the hog farmer didn't want any part of this brazen, independent female. Loreli definitely didn't want to become anyones wife much less stay on a hog farm. Jake however,wanted the girls to be happy.

Jake proposed to Loreli that she be the twins mama for one year, and he would continue to look for a more suitable wife during that time and Loreli agreed. From that point on noone's life would ever be the same.

I loved this book! Beverly Jenkins is a wonderful writer who always gives you a history lesson. She didn't short stop on this one. Loreli was funny and I found myself laughing out loud at some of the happenings in this book. The characters were vivid and I could visualize every scene.

If you've never read a Beverly Jenkins book now is a good time. I would recommend any of her books. I would have to say that my FAVO-RITE to date is TOPAZ. (Count for me Chica!) LOL

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beverly does not disappoint., September 12, 2002

By	Sabrina R. - See all my reviews

This JB story is centered on Loreli Winters. Her character was introduced in both Topaz and Always and Forever. Coming in on the wagon trail full of mail-order-brides, Loreli hadn't planned on staying in Kansas long at all. She in fact was headed to San Francisco {but never made it}. The story starts off with Two 8-year-old twin girls asking her if she would be their new mama, since quite a few of their friends has new mama's, they wanted one as well {This part in the book is just too cute for words}. The girls are called Dede and Bebe; their mother having passed away the year before, the girls now reside with their uncle Jake Reed. Jake having refused to look for a wife among the mail-orders brides; the twins took it upon themselves, to see if they could fine themselves a mama.

Jake finds out that Loreli's occupation is a professional gambler. Knowing for sure that she is not the God fearing, law abiding women that he wants and the girls need. He rejects the idea of her being their mother and his wife instantly. The twins, however, have other ideas. The girls become attached to Loreli and no other woman is good enough to become their new mama, so Jake reluctantly propositions Loreli; he wants her to become the twins' mother and his wife for one year, until he can find a more suitable bride. Things progress from there and the two develop feelings for one another that can't be denied but there are forces at work bent on keeping them apart. One of those forces shows up in the form of an ex-lover of Loreli's. He proves to be the deciding factor for the break-up of the Jake and Loreli {but not for reasons you might guess...I'll let you read it for yourselves to find out what happens}. Not wanting to give too much away love prevails and the two come back together become a family.

I though the story was a good read. The like it when an author allows the man to play hard to get in a love story sometimes. We always hear about how the man has to win the woman over but it was the other way around in this story. The ending I though was a bit rushed or it could have been that I just didn't want the story to end; either way you will enjoy this story.