Review: Jezebel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 29, 2013
I reviewed this at MustReadBooksOrDie with my friend Shelley.3.5 rounding to 4 starsI also wasn't sure what to expect with a historical romance when we got this request. It looked promising though, so we jumped in with both feet. All in all, I really liked it. It was fun and interesting to wrap my mind around another time and place, when people's ideals and beliefs were so different than they are now. Throw in an interracial romance, and their struggles become even more so since the setting for Jezebel is the 1930s New York. While not the pinnacle of the civil rights movement, emotions were high and opinions immovable during the depression.1) The setting. You said it perfectly with the tones of the book and realistic light shed on affluent businesses still being segregated, but it didn't become about that. It was fact that Celeste lived with and accepted, and while she loved that Shane wanted to protect her, she opened his eyes to how things were for her. He adapted and adjusted the best he could, but you could tell it still got to him.2) Celeste. Celeste and her inner demons really gave Shane a run for his money on wooing her. The story begins with her going back home for her estranged father's funeral. Here she meets Shane and while she is attracted to him, she is also on edge because she has never had anyone to show her true love. She has always dealt with her problems through alcohol use and men, and it was refreshing to see her really like Shane but still stick to how important it was to find herself and be confident without the help either.3) Shane. Geez, Shane didn't just have one secret...more like several. I was right in my thinking of one, but the other one at the end surprised me. I didn't see that coming at all, but then again he said himself he didn't talk much. He was forthcoming with his feelings for Celeste, but we aren't let in on a lot of his past. I liked him a lot for always standing up for her, and for playing whatever game she threw at him, whether it be to impress an old acquaintance or follow him up for a party scene he wasn't used to. They had their drama and miscommunications, but when he went all in, He. Went. All. In. His choices choose both of their fates for a while, but he doesn't stop fighting for what he wants, and I loved that.I, too, enjoyed the pacing, and really enjoyed it as a first time in something I hadn't experienced before. Not that I haven't read historical stories before but it was a first for a romance (the others were mostly all young adult). Propriety and morals were fun to read about in Jezebel as it isn't something we see much of anymore.