The first, one of her short stories, didn't really wow me, but the writing was good enough that I thought a full-length novel might be better. This is the third Alyssa Cole book I've read. We need more of that perspective in historical romances, in my opinion. Cole in this book reminds me of Courtney Milan at her best, particularly with how Cole takes the narratives of people of color and historical feminists and weaves them into the story. The writing in this book is very good, and I thought the characterization was incredibly well-done. She's also a suffragette (yay!) and doesn't want to be with a man who sees her as a second class citizen. The attraction between them is instant, but also fraught with difficulty because Amir has responsibilities to his family back home and Bertha has trust issues when it comes to men (for good reason). Amir is a Bengali Muslim who she recently hired as a chef. Two people of color, finding love and their dreams? YES to the please, TYVM.īertha is an ex-prostitute who is now madam of her own club for black people. As she said in her review, this is a satisfying read in Mango Mussolini's America. I'm so glad I "buddy read" it with Korey, even though I was way too slow and she finished it a week before I did. Women helped each other in ways small and large every day, without thinking, and that was what kept them going even when the world came up with new and exciting ways to crush them (164).
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