A review by harmony
The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology by Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, Piper Huguley
2.0
Amazing Grace by Lena Hart
One Star
Setting aside the chemistry-less insta-love and the twee fact that the hero is attracted to the heroine, named Gracie, while she's singing Amazing Grace, I just couldn't find much to like in this novella. The heroine is a young Black woman who escaped from a plantation with her family when she was 4, her father having sustained a brutal beating over the theft of an apple.
Who does she fall in love with? Gross, gross, gross!
Drifting to You by Kianna Alexander
Three Stars
I didn't really have strong feelings about this story. The attraction and buildup between the two characters is largely implied to have happened before the story actually starts, so we're supposed to instantly buy into chemistry that they supposedly have and are ignoring. Will is the owner of a very successful business for backstory reasons that are barely plausible, and Rosaline is a baker who seems to be universally admired, enough that a wealthy local woman is willing to lower her standards to encourage her nephew to marry a former slave. Obviously that doesn't work out the way she'd hoped. The couple is sweet but bland, and the story didn't stick in my mind.
A Sweet Way to Freedom by Piper Huguley
One Star
I couldn't finish this one. The heroine is too perfect to believe and the hero is supposed to be a redeemed player but he just comes across as awkward and a little gross. The writing was technically competent, but the overall story didn't work for me at all.
Let it Shine by Alyssa Cole
Five Stars
Unsurprisingly, Cole is the shining star of this collection. She writes beautifully, her characters are delightful and vulnerable and real, and her story is crafted with skill and care. Sophie and Ivan, a young black woman and a Jewish man in the early days of the first Civil Rights Era, have just reconnected after being childhood friends, but their relationship is illegal in Virginia, and even if it weren't, they are both prepared to throw themselves into the danger and violence of protest and prison. It's an emotional journey and a great story.
One Star
Setting aside the chemistry-less insta-love and the twee fact that the hero is attracted to the heroine, named Gracie, while she's singing Amazing Grace, I just couldn't find much to like in this novella. The heroine is a young Black woman who escaped from a plantation with her family when she was 4, her father having sustained a brutal beating over the theft of an apple.
Who does she fall in love with?
Spoiler
HER FORMER OWNER! Not that she realizes that at first. At first he's just some random guy she gets sort of thrown together with on flimsy reasons who is prone to inappropriate touching. Despite knowing basically nothing about each other, the girl who was willing to move away from everything she knows and loves to marry a stranger on the frontier to help her family basically throws herself at him, simultaneously throwing her family's future away. She regrets it, but it's okay because he totally wants to marry her now, except that he knows she's from his plantation and DOESN'T TELL HER. She's mad for a while, but after a couple weeks she's ready to forgive him and make little frontier babies with the guy who owned slaves and fought for the Confederacy.Drifting to You by Kianna Alexander
Three Stars
I didn't really have strong feelings about this story. The attraction and buildup between the two characters is largely implied to have happened before the story actually starts, so we're supposed to instantly buy into chemistry that they supposedly have and are ignoring. Will is the owner of a very successful business for backstory reasons that are barely plausible, and Rosaline is a baker who seems to be universally admired, enough that a wealthy local woman is willing to lower her standards to encourage her nephew to marry a former slave. Obviously that doesn't work out the way she'd hoped. The couple is sweet but bland, and the story didn't stick in my mind.
A Sweet Way to Freedom by Piper Huguley
One Star
I couldn't finish this one. The heroine is too perfect to believe and the hero is supposed to be a redeemed player but he just comes across as awkward and a little gross. The writing was technically competent, but the overall story didn't work for me at all.
Let it Shine by Alyssa Cole
Five Stars
Unsurprisingly, Cole is the shining star of this collection. She writes beautifully, her characters are delightful and vulnerable and real, and her story is crafted with skill and care. Sophie and Ivan, a young black woman and a Jewish man in the early days of the first Civil Rights Era, have just reconnected after being childhood friends, but their relationship is illegal in Virginia, and even if it weren't, they are both prepared to throw themselves into the danger and violence of protest and prison. It's an emotional journey and a great story.