Liv and Audrey own a floral shop and are the go-to place in Ramble. Audrey's old friend, Jenny, comes in with her mother to arrange the flowers for her wedding to Derek Rawlings, son of the socially prominent family of Ramble. Jenny comes back later to tell Audrey the wedding is cancelled. Later that night Derek is found dead. Now Audrey must find out who did or Jenny could face life in prison.

I enjoyed this story. The world building is good. The story drags as the beginning but there is more action after the murder so it picks up. I only could remember who the killer was when I realized I had read this before--before I used Goodreads.

I liked the characters. Some of the secondary characters will be recurring ones. Others are one and done. I like the way the recurring characters have created a family for themselves. I appreciated how none of them wanted to listen to gossip but it was necessary to find the killer. I hope I can get the other books in the series.

Having some issues posting to Booklikes, will post there when I get a chance.

Trigger warning: Rape and PTSD

So "Destiny's Captive" is the third and last book in the Destiny series. I have to say that the main reason why I didn't give this five stars is that I thought that Jenkins didn't do a great job with exploring the whole PTSD story-line. I know that this was of course written in consideration of the times of the day, but I thought everyone was acting way too much like [redacted] should just get over things. We get a glimpse into what happened and it's shocking and heart-breaking so I thought that everyone could have been more sympathetic. That said, I loved the love story between Noah and Pilar. The two of them worked well together. I also have to say that once again Jenkins does a good job of tying things into the time that the book was written. We get some ugly looks at segregation in this one with the two characters having to ride a train and being forced to segregate because they are not white. We also see how women even if they are capable, would not be able to run a business like the daughter of one of Noah's potential business partners wants to.

"Destiny's Captive" follows the Noah Yates. We have heard and seen glimpses of him in the first two books, but not much. We know that he is gone a lot and that his family misses him. We also heard in the first two books how he was kidnapped (or crimped) and forced to work aboard a ship before his family found him. Noah feels adrift and knows that he is not the same person he was before this happened and his family feels pained that he keeps them at a distance now. When Noah's ship is stolen though by a female pirate (Pilar), he promises to find her and get his ship back. When Pilar is almost captured she and her family make their way to her uncle in Florida. Pilar is wondering what is next for her when in walks the man whose ship she stole!

I thought that Jenkins does a great job of setting up Pilar and Noah. I do think as some other reviewers noted there's a bit too much going on in this one. And though I liked how Pilar and Noah eventually get together, I wish that we had more interactions with the brothers and sister in laws in this one since this was the last book. I thought the writing was really good and I did enjoy the romance scenes between Pilar and Noah. The flow worked for the most part until we got towards the end.

The setting of this book seems even more brutal than the previous books in this series. Jenkins includes the practice of crimping or shanghaiing in this one and we get to read what was done to Noah and others. I read up on crimping or shanghaiing and was shocked it took to the 1900s before the practice was outlawed. We also get to read a bit about Cuba's efforts to liberate due to Pilar's backstory.

The ending I think wrapped things up too quickly. We go from Noah being hurt to all of a sudden a secret being revealed and no one really getting a chance to deal with things. I also didn't like the fact that everyone acted as if [redacted] was in the wrong.

Wow. Not much to say except this and the third book in the "Destiny" historical romance series are so good. You can tell Beverly Jenkins did research in the time and place this book takes place (California in the 1800s). I thought that Jenkins did a wonderful job of not sugar coating what Billie did for a living (she's a prostitute) and the realities of her life. Billie and Drew worked for me as a romance couple and I loved that it took them some time to open up to each other. I have to say that Billie was probably one of the best romance heroines I have read in some time. 

"Destiny's Surrender" follows Billie Wells and Andrew (Drew) Yates. The two have a monetary relationship when Drew is in town and he buys time with Billie. Over time the two of them have settled into a routine of sorts with Drew teaching Billie about opera and reading. Billie though she likes Drew, doesn't think of him in a romantic way since of course the two of them could never have a future together. When Billie finds out she is pregnant, she refuses to take a drink that can cause a miscarriage. Billie decides to have the child and give it up for adoption. However, as time goes on, the first birthday of her son is approaching and she knows she can't give him up. She realizes upon birth that her son Antonio is also Drew's son due to an identical birthmark. Seeking him out to deliver their son to him so she can disappear, things change when Drew's mother finds out about the boy and then Billie and Drew are thrown together in a marriage that neither one wants.

I have to say that Billie is hands down awesome. She's a prostitute and makes no excuses for it. She enjoyed sleeping with Drew, but we know she also sees other men until she gets too big to continue to provide her services to other men. Her seeking out Drew is what she has to do when she realizes the man she made the deal with is a murderer who is intent on paying Billie back for past actions.

I thought that the character of Drew was good too and of course he is left wondering if Antonio is his son due to him knowing about Billie's profession. When he is forced to marry her he is of course angry and wants nothing to do with her or their son. It was nice to see things slowly wearing down his resistance though. 

I thought that Jenkins also did a nice job of including a lot of the mess that was going on in California at that time. Since Drew is of mixed race, he is being prevented from practicing law. Due to that he is left angry about the current laws of the day and how that is going to affect a lot of his clients. Billie of course knows that polite society won't admit her into their company, but I liked how she held her head up and how her in-laws would not put up with anyone saying anything against her.

The ending was really good I thought and I loved that we have a heroine that saves herself time and time again. 

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