Beauty Is Truly Rare

I've read most of what Tamera Alexander has written and LOVED every single book. I will never turn down the opportunity to read something she's created. So when A Beauty So Rare came up on the list of choices, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed.

Let me introduce you to:

Adelicia Cheatham--the matriarch of Belmont Mansion in Nashville, TN. She's headstrong and doesn't mind doing what she has to do to get her way.

Eleanor Braddock--Adelicia's niece who is trying to make it on her own, but unfortunately butts heads with her aunt Adelicia. She wants to open a restaurant, but finances get in the way. Instead, she begins ministering to the widows and their children who often go to bed hungry. Eleanor can't stand for anyone to go to bed hungry. She believes she's plain to look at and past her prime for marriage.

Marcus Geoffrey--an architect and hobby-botanist trying to overcome the difficulty in raising potatoes that don't suffer dry rot while trying to please Adelicia with grafting a rose in the absolute perfect color. He sees in Eleanor a beauty so rare and so intriguing, he cannot forget her, nor does he want to.

Naomi--one of the mothers who benefits from Eleanor's generosity and eventually partners with Eleanor in preparing and serving meals to the widows and their children. Marta and Elena are two other such women. Her son Caleb is one of Marcus' employees and so smart.

Lawrence Hockley--the banker who wants a wife for the purpose of begetting an heir. At first, he wants Eleanor, but she isn't as tractable as he would like. He lives for his routine and has no room in his life for anyone else's desires or habits.

Garrison Theodore Braddock--Eleanor's father who suffers from senile dementia. Because Eleanor can no longer care for him herself, she has him committed to the local asylum, hoping the doctors there will be able to help him. He becomes really antagonistic toward Eleanor, although he doesn't recognize her when he sees her.

These are the major players in the book and there are others who add to the dimension and depth of the storyline. Tamera does such masterful work in this book, I wish I could give it more than Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Rose of any color.