Crystal Clear: Blessings #4.5 by Beverly Jenkins

Item: Crystal Clear
Rating: 4
Author: Gaele

Beverly Jenkins returns to the blog today with a novella that provides background information in her Blessings series. A book that I found by chance at the library, please read on for my review of

Crystal Clear

Crystal has always been a bit restless in the story – and here we get a sense of her internal conflicts and questions as we see her perspective as she runs away – back to Dallas and tests the adage, you can never come home again. She doesn’t dislike her new family and the security that she’s found in Blessings, but as a teen, she’s feeling her way around her choices. As with all of Jenkins’ stories, Crystal’s voice is clear and well-developed, and her choices are often more clear to readers than characters at first. And while I’ve not read all of the stories in this series – the ability to escape into this character’s tale and see just how her past preyed (and affected) her choices, and the conflicts that she has within herself about her own new circumstances when compared to her friends in Texas was a quick and gripping read.

I love the ability to have a peek into a character’s head – and Crystal’s story is one that shows loyalty, conflicted desires, love, support and even some growing up as things in Dallas aren’t quite as rosy as she remembered, and “home” really doesn’t feel as comfortable or comforting as the new one she’s building in Blessings.

Follow that little story up with a wonderful short story called Transformations that mixes fantasy and history in ways that rarely are seen, to great effect. Highlighting Jenkins’ ability to tell a story that demands attention and engages, no matter the unfamiliarity of the genre.

I borrowed this copy of the title from the library with intentions of review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Crystal Clear: Blessings #4.5 by Beverly Jenkins

Title: Crystal Clear
Author: Beverly Jenkins
Series: Blessings #4.5
Also in this series: For Your Love
Genre: African-American, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, Novella
Published by: NYLA
ISBN: 9781979825290
Published on: 9 November, 2017
Format:eBook
Source: Library Copy
Pages: 86
Rated:

Heat:

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From Lifetime Career Achievement Rita Award winner, USA Today bestseller, and NAACP Image Award Nominee, a story from Beverly Jenkins’s acclaimed Blessings Series…

This novella—taking place after A Wish and a Prayer and before Heart of Gold—shares the inside story of fan-favorite, Crystal Chambers Brown’s adventures as a runaway.

A safe, stable life should be the everything that teenaged Crystal ever wanted; but though she knows she should count her blessings, part of her wants to scream at all the rules! She loves her new life and family…but she misses her friends and being free.

People say you can never go back home, but Crystal thinks they’re wrong, and heads back to Dallas, to see what she left behind. But on the way, Crystal learns some home truths about the real meaning of home. Sometimes a journey backwards moves you forward…

*Includes a new bonus short story, Transformation.*

About Beverly Jenkins

Ms. Jenkins is the nation's premier writer of African American historical romance fiction and specializes in 19th century African American life. She has over thirty published novels to date.

She has received numerous awards, including: five Waldenbooks/Borders Group Best Sellers Awards; two Career Achievement Awards and a Pioneer Award from Romantic Times Magazine; a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer's Guild, and in 1999 was named one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th Century by AABLC, the nation's largest on-line African-American book club.

She has also been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Dallas Morning News and Vibe Magazine. She has lectured and given talks at such prestigious universities as Oberlin University, the University of Illinois, and Princeton. She speaks widely on both romance and 19th century African-American history and was the 2014 featured speaker for the W.W. Law Lecture Series sponsored by the Savannah Black Heritage Festival.