Teaser Tuesday

"Lizzie sampled a cheese straw from the plate in Sally-Jo Baker's hand. "You mean, you finished teaching today at three P.M., went home and baked three things to bring tonight?" shouldbereading

Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins

Maggie and Ian have me all stirred up for adventure and romance. Ian is a bounty hunter, deputy sheriff and a preacher. Yes, he can beat the slop out of a bad guy while at the same time he can quote a scripture from the Song of Solomon in the Holy Bible. Plus, Ian is very, very handsome. He's a man of color from Scotland. However, the novel, Night Hawk, is a story that takes place out west in Denver, Kansas and Wyoming. Even though cuff links have Maggie linked tightly to Night Hawk all sorts of shenanigans take place. There is danger from old, forgotten enemies. Also, at times Maggie is lost from Ian. One time she finds herself in a brothel with other women who don't want to be there. They are there against their will serving up their bodies with a bottle of whiskey and a dance or song. This part of the novel made me think a lot about human trafficking in our day and time. How awful it must be to find yourself taken somewhere against your will to do a service that takes away your dignity and leaves you hardened and ashamed.

Beverly Jenkins is one of those authors who always leads me in different directions. When I met Maggie and Ian, I knew that they were bound to fall in love. However, I didn't expect to learn about the plight of the Chinese in the Nineteenth century nor did I expect to learn about the Kaw, a Native American Tribe. "The Kaw were forced into Indian Territory in'73. When they were removed there were less than five hundred members of a tribe..."kawnation

I felt sad and happy when Maggie and Ian married. I thought my adventure had ended. I knew Maggie would become a good school teacher. I felt that Ian would want to put his gun slinging days behind him. Well, I had a surprise coming my way. Ian and Maggie's life starts out more than rough. As a matter of fact, I liked the ending best of all. I will always remember Maggie's quill pens. I just might find some of those quills online to buy or at an antique shop. You never know when a couple of quills will come in handy.