A Brother's Honor by Brenda Jackson

Have I said how much I love Brenda Jackson? Okay, well here goes - When it comes to authors who write fabulous and non-stereotyped African-American characters, I love Brenda Jackson. Why I adore this author can be found in the pages of the book A Brother's Honor, which is the first book in the The Grangers series. If you've read my review of A Man's Promise then you already know that I read this series out of sequence and started with book #2 first. I was so taken with that book that I immediately 1-clicked book number one which just happens to be A Brother's Honor. As you can guess I wasn't disappointed and if anything I think I may have liked this book a tiny bit better than A Man's Promise and that's saying something.

A Brother's Honor introduces the readers to the three Granger brothers who couldn't be more different. The brothers live in
different parts of the world and have hugely different lifestyles and careers. They are called home due to the sudden illness of their grandfather who is in the hospital. When the family reunites at the hospital they realize their grandfather is worse than they had thought. He extracts a promise from them to return to the family business (Granger Aeronautics) and help save it as they've been losing contracts and he believes it is due to sabotage from the inside. Of course each man agrees to do their part and stick around. The brother who is the main focus in this story is Jace. He is the eldest and has been working as a lawyer. He is also the best fit for CEO and slips into a leadership role easily. The brothers must find out who is trying to sabotage their family business so they recruit Shana Bradford who is a highly recommended consultant. The attraction between Shana and Jace is immediate, but both are professionals who are not willing to compromise that professionalism by getting involved. Fortunately these two can't resist one another and neither one is prepared for the depth of their feelings for one another. A secondary story runs along side the primary romance between Jace and Shana. This story is a mystery that will span the length of the series. The mystery involves the death of their mother, for which their father has been convicted and serving 15 years in prison. The boys believe he is innocent and want to help prove that he is. Are the events at Granger Aeronautics tied into their mother's murder and the reason why their father is in jail? That's for the reader to find out.

Shana was a good character for me. The author acquaints the reader with her background and her family. There's a nice side-story about her father falling in love that I think is too cute and I'm happy to say continues in Book #2. You get a good sense of who Shana is through this background on her family and it never feels intrusive or like you are getting unwanted information. Her fears and wants are obvious to the reader and you are able to understand her actions. In terms of female characters in romance books (at times they can be frustrating) Shana is smart, competent, and not a push-over. She's the perfect match for Jace. Speaking of...

Jace is the eldest and it shows. He steps into his role as CEO as easily as he might slip on a business suit. He's in charge and his brothers wouldn't have it any other way. No power plays between them at all. He doesn't quite get his youngest brother and they often squabble, but that is many times the relationship dynamic between eldest and youngest and I thought it was authentic. He was an alpha male without being  jerk or disrespectful and once again, it was something that I appreciated and enjoyed. I couldn't be happier with how the relationship between Jace and Shana played out. They each had their fears and they didn't fall into insta-love. Mutual respect was right up there with mutual lust and the eventual fall into love was not forced at all in my opinion.

I highly recommend A Brother's Honor and I definitely recommend the series for anyone who enjoys a believable romance and suspense/mystery. I give this a 5 out of 5 rating.

I purchased my copy of A Brother's Honor from Amazon