Crystal Clear

Beverly Jenkins

Nov 2017 · NYLA

About this ebook

From Lifetime Career Achievement Rita Award winner, USA Today bestseller, and NAACP Image Award Nominee, a story from Beverly Jenkins’s acclaimed Blessings Series...
This novella—taking place after A Wish and a Prayer and before Heart of Gold —shares the inside story of fan-favorite, Crystal Chambers Brown’s adventures as a runaway.
A safe, stable life should be the everything that teenaged Crystal ever wanted; but though she knows she should count her blessings, part of her wants to scream at all the rules! She loves her new life and family...but she misses her friends and being free.
People say you can never go back home, but Crystal thinks they’re wrong, and heads back to Dallas, to see what she left behind. But on the way, Crystal learns some home truths about the real meaning of home. Sometimes a journey backwards moves you forward...
*Includes a new bonus short story, Transformation.*

Ratings and reviews

Crystal has always been a bit restless in the story – and here we get a sense of her internal conflicts and questions as we see her perspective as she runs away – back to Dallas and tests the adage, you can never come home again. She doesn’t dislike her new family and the security that she’s found in Blessings, but as a teen, she’s feeling her way around her choices. As with all of Jenkins’ stories, Crystal’s voice is clear and well-developed, and her choices are often more clear to readers than characters at first. And while I’ve not read all of the stories in this series – the ability to escape into this character’s tale and see just how her past preyed (and affected) her choices, and the conflicts that she has within herself about her own new circumstances when compared to her friends in Texas was a quick and gripping read. I love the ability to have a peek into a character’s head – and Crystal’s story is one that shows loyalty, conflicted desires, love, support and even some growing up as things in Dallas aren’t quite as rosy as she remembered, and “home” really doesn’t feel as comfortable or comforting as the new one she’s building in Blessings. Follow that little story up with a wonderful short story called Transformations that mixes fantasy and history in ways that rarely are seen, to great effect. Highlighting Jenkins’ ability to tell a story that demands attention and engages, no matter the unfamiliarity of the genre. I borrowed this copy of the title from the library with intentions of review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

I wished it was a little bit longer. But all in all it was a good intro to the rest of the story that will continue in another book. I just love all of Ms. Jenkins books. I haven't been disappointed yet. love all of her historical fiction. Just love the July clan.

I really enjoy Crystal Clear

About the author

Beverly Jenkins is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romance. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature, was featured both in the documentary “Love Between the Covers” and on CBS Sunday Morning. Since the publication of Night Song in 1994, she has been leading the charge for multicultural romance, and has been a constant darling of reviewers, fans, and her peers alike, garnering accolades for her work from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, and NPR.