Destiny's Surrender

Antonio Andrew Yates, the middle child of Alanza and Abraham and the most philandering of the 3. He's highly intelligent, but he enjoys the company of women, even if these women work in "pleasure houses." After his older brother finds a fiesty, cat-eyed woman from Philadelphia and falls in love and gets married in no time, he thinks maybe he should start a courtship, find him a novina, and end his sowing of wild oats. Before he does, he has to spend a little time with his Mina. Billie is his go to girl. She's not just any "woman of pleasure." Antonio takes care of her. He buys her nice clothes, brings her fine chocolate and perfumes, takes her to the doctor to make sure she's healthy, he cares for her like no "customer" should. When they're together last, she noticed a tear in her protection, but thought no more of it. Antonio was off for several months on business and she would return to her life at the Black Pearl, run by a shady Creole woman - Pearl, and her even shadier son - Prince. Billie didn't exe the pregnancy to happen, but it did. Pearl wanted her to get rid of it immediately and get back to making her money, but the drink she took the last time nearly killed her. She was having this baby, and she made a deal with Pearl to make sure it would go to a good home. In the end, she moved in with Addy. An herbalist, a midwife, and another Creole woman with the gift of sight. She had an axe to grind with Pearl and Prince and explained it all to Billie. When Antonio came back to San Francisco, he went hunting for Pearl and couldn't find her. By chance he ran into her one day and saw she was with child. She couldn't look or even talk to him and ran away. Once she gave birth and started caring for her son, who she realized at first sight was definitely Antonio's, she knew she couldn't give her baby away. Prince kept coming around to see when the baby would be ready, but she found excuses every time. Daddy knew she'd planned to run so she'd made preparations for her and little Antonio. In the middle of the night, the slipped off under the cover of darkness headed to Rancho Destino. She had to find someplace safe for her son, out of reach of the DuChamps. She knew Prince would kill her and had no clue what would become of her baby who she now loved beyond her own life. What would the high class Yates think when a whore showed up at their door with a baby, claiming it was Antonio's. Plus the fact, they are being hunted.This book was even better than Logan and Mariah''s story. The love/hate relationship that now exists between Billie and Antonio only ignites their passion. Billie surprises everyone in town, in their family, and is a perfect fit with Alanza and Mariah with her attitude!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have mixed feelings about this book and while looking at the other reviews on Goodreads, I came across Christina's, who basically articulated every issue I had with this book. Normally, Beverly Jenkins is one of my favorite romance authors, and to date, I've loved every single one of her books I've read... except this one.DESTINY'S SURRENDER is somewhat edgier than some of her other books, and I appreciate experimentation when it works out well. Here, the heroine, Billie, is a "lady of the evening" and Drew, the hero, is the man who pays for her favors. She's his favorite, and he pays extra so she'll be exclusive to him when he wants her, and reads to her, and takes her out to the opera, and buys her expensive chocolates, and Billie is more than a little in love with him, even though she knows that things can never work out between them.When she ends up with child, she doesn't initially know whose it is due to the nature of her profession (something the summary is a little unclear about), and she ends up cutting a deal with her madam that will result in her being able to give birth and keep the child for a year, but after that, she'll have to sell it. Well, the child is born and she realizes 1) it's Andrew's and 2) there's no way she's giving up the baby she loves, so she ends up running away...To Andrew Yates's ranch in Destiny, seeking shelter from her madam's evil son, Prince.So here are a few of the things I didn't like about this book. I didn't think Drew was so great as a love interest. In the beginning, he and Billie had a lot of chemistry, but he is SO MEAN TO HER when she shows up on the ranch and so is his brother, Logan. The only one who really goes out of her way to be nice is their mother, Alanza, although she's become totally grandchild obsessed, kind of like the cabbages guy in ATLA, except instead of "MY CABBAGES!" it's "MY GRANDCHILDREN!" He's even gotten engaged to another woman he doesn't love (although things never fully work out between them), which I know a lot of my friends won't like, since they prefer steadfast heroes.A lot of the scenes on the ranch moved SO SLOWLY. I ended up skimming a lot of them, which made me sad, because every other book I've read by Jenkins has been fast-paced and full of action. There were some excellent scenes in here, like the one when Billie FINALLY got her revenge (and I was glad she was the one to get it, and her man didn't do it for her), or the getaway scenes, but they were few and far between, which brings me to my last issue.The tone. It felt so inconsistent. At first, I thought this would be an angsty romance, but then Drew became a jerk. And normally, Jenkins's romances do have an edge to them, but Prince's presence in this book really made this book a lot darker and more vicious than Jenkins's books are typically known for. He was seriously one of the nastiest villains I've encountered in a romance in a while, and his squirm-inducing acts of villainy were a lot when juxtaposed against pastoral scenes of domestic bliss that dragged on and on forever.Like my friend said, the best thing about this book is Billie: an unconventional heroine, a sharp-shooter, and determined to protect herself and her loved ones at any cost. She deserved better.I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, which is apparently a romance between Noah, Andrew's younger brother, and a female pirate. It's supposed to be a lot better than this one.2.5 out of 5 stars

When I first started reading this book I had one eyebrow up because of Billie's character but after learning about her past that lead her to her present circumstances I couldnt put the book down. Billy was constantly being judged "the ho to housewife" but Billy was a beautiful young woman that got a second opportunity at life after being handed the short end of the stick at birth. I loved the spirituality & mysticism in this book! Definitely one of my favorites!

First book by this author. I didn't really enjoy the pacing, it seemed to keep slowing down then suddenly speed though a decent plot. I struggled with Drew and his tantrum; he was totally surprised that the consequences of his promiscuous conduct caught up to him.... Then he lashed out at Billie, because he believed that he deserved the rewards of 'good' moral conduct with a broken moral code... Hmmmm. I'm glad he was held accountable and forced to deal with his choices. In effect Billie was the right type of woman for him because that is what he chose - while believing himself entitled to a high society virgin. He paid quite a high price for reluctantly accepting Billie and I couldn't bring myself to care, he got what he deserved. Billie on the other hand, was the better of this coupling. Being forced to endure the degradation of the sex industry and societal shunning, humbled her and built a strong sense of survival, strength while maintaining her humanity. The message here is that everyone is deserving of love, a second chance or redemption. The idea that a woman can be good isn't relgated to the fact that she's a virgin or sexualy inexperienced (as many modern authors would have you believe). It's simple, what makes a person decent or good can and should transcend their bedroom activities; character is the true determinor of the merit of a person.

Though the colourful cast in this novel is a fact that should be applauded, the story was not very outstanding in a sea of romance books. The villains were very two-dimensional in their mustache-twirling glory. The plot dragged unnecessarily in its second half before the showdown with the villain. Points for the heroine being well aware of how to defend herself against unwanted advances, but I am skeptical about so many men/women admiring and partaking in those self-defense classes, in light of the fact that she was a former prostitute.

Excellent