To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins
Historical Romance
August 23, 2022, by Avon
Review by Melanie
I don’t want to point fingers but Beverly Jenkins has been responsible for a lot of the late, sleepless nights in my life, especially this year. Early this year, I decided I was going to do a deep dive into Ms. Bev’s histrom back catalog. I had already read several but after perusing her website, there were 18 titles I hadn’t yet read, including her newest release. I’ve been reading a couple of them every month, the highlight of every reading month. I was lucky enough to score an ARC from Avon for To Catch a Raven, the 3rd and final book in her Women Who Dare series. To say it was a delight would be an understatement.
Raven Moreau comes from a family of thieves and con artists. She is clever and cunning, wily and witty, and always manages to be a step ahead. In short, she follows in the pantheon of iconic Ms. Bev heroines who have come before her. I loved her and I loved her close-knitted, nosy family all of whom, despite their grifting lifestyle, are as loyal to each other as they are loving.
Braxton Steel is handsome and proper, an upstanding tailor from a wealthy shipping family in Boston. While Raven and her family grew up in poverty, Braxton was born into a life of wealth and luxury. His father, Harrison, and Raven’s mother, Hazel also have their own history, having been in love once upon a time. Harrison is directly responsible for putting a halt to Hazel’s first wedding. So when these two families cross paths again, it’s hardly a happy reunion.
Brought into each other’s orbit to try and steal back a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, Raven and Braxton have to pose as a married couple acting as housekeeper and valet/driver for the former Confederate official suspected of stealing it.
Now, you might be thinking, is this a heist book? Let me assure you all, it’s very much not. The stealing of the Declaration of Independence is a subplot at best and the real focus of the story lies exactly where it should, that is on the burgeoning feelings between the poor, uneducated Raven and the wealthy and proper Braxton.
While their first meeting is full of judgmental attitudes (Braxton) and snappish rebuttals (Raven), the two quickly learn they have to find a way to work together and find common ground if they’re going to achieve their objective. To that end, posing as a married couple also means a great deal of forced proximity and yes, that familiar favorite, only one bed.
If you’ve ever read a Ms. Bev histrom, you know her love scenes are steamy and this book is no different. While he may be a proper gentleman in the streets, Braxton is a sex god in the sheets. And his brand of sexual prowess is all about pleasuring Raven. Her first clue that there may be more to him than the polite facade he presents comes soon after they have dinner together, right after they first meet.
“Find us a bed and I’ll give you dessert.”
Her heart stopped.
Eyes blazing intensely, he added, “I can’t speak for other men, but you’ll remember my pleasuring you for the rest of your life.”
And let’s be clear, Braxon is not full of empty words, he more than backs up his promise later in the book, multiple times, in fact.
As is the case with most of Ms. Bev’s histroms, the romance and the heist subplot is interspersed with a lot of actual history and as always, I came up with a deeper understanding of this country’s history, more than I was ever taught in any of my history classes.
In the end though, the romance reigns, and Brax and Raven find themselves falling in love while they’re forced to pretend to be a married couple. They both see beyond the surface and realize that even if they come from wildly different backgrounds, where it truly matters, they both want the same thing.
Long-time readers of Ms. Bev will love this book and also enjoy the fact there are a few familiar faces that pop up. I was delighted when I made those connections and without spoiling, Ms. Bev really knows how to run a long game when it comes to plotting. Every time I finish a Ms. Bev histrom, I do so with a smile on my face. There is just something so comforting and warm and loving about the books she writes, whether it’s the couples themselves or the community around them, or in this case, Raven’s entire family. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down. Additionally, if Ms. Bev were to revisit the Moreau family again, I would not be opposed to that.
Final Grade: A
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