A review by crystalisreading
The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology by Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, Piper Huguley

3.0

This collection of short stories was my first time reading African-American historical romances, and my first time really learning about Juneteenth. As with any collection, I enjoyed some stories (the first and last ones) more than others. Being new to the subgenre, I was surprised how many stories featured an at least partially Caucasian love interest, but once I got used to that idea, I was sold on most of the romances. I especially liked the smart, fiesty, independent ladies of Amazing Grace and Let it Shine (and have a hold on another book by Alyssa Cole already). The young ladies were smart and independent, but for the most part not distractingly/ unrealistically so. Having limited familiarity with the fine points of African American cultural history also probably helped me with the suspension of disbelief and constant suspicion of anachronism that I usually struggle with while reading historical fiction. The stories gave me a lot of perspective on various points in African American history, as well as some sense of the role of Juneteenth celebrations throughout it, and left me wanting more, at least by Alyssa Cole and Lena Hart. Kianna Alexander's story was full of one-dimensional characters, especially the "villain" and I really couldn't get into it. and then I actually disliked Piper Huguley's story, characters and plot, so much that I had to struggle to get through it and finish the collection. When I finally pushed through it, I was happy with the ending, and even happier to get to Let It Shine, which I then enjoyed. I'm glad I read this, not only on its own merits, but also as an introduction to a new (to me) subgenre and some good authors to check out again in the future.