Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws

THE WIFE HE NEEDS

Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws

By Brenda Jackson

It’s Women’s History Month, and as one who loves romance novels with Black Love, it is my good pleasure to give a hat tip to one of the trailblazing authors in the romance genre for Black women: Brenda Jackson.

When Brenda Streator Jackson entered Romancelandia with her work nearly 40 years ago, she was told that romance novels featuring Black couples wouldn’t sell, that there was no market for them. That didn’t stop her. She self-published her first nine novels, and the response was so overwhelming that traditional publishers couldn’t ignore it. She is now a New York Times bestselling author, in addition to having her own publishing company.

Jackson describes herself as a “die-heart romantic,” with the motto “Family is everything.” It shows in her successful series of family sagas, such as the Madaris family, the Westmoreland family, the Steele family, and the Outlaw family, to name a few. That being said, here is The Wife He Needs.

38-year-old Garth Outlaw is CEO of the family company and the oldest of six siblings, part of the Outlaw branch of the Westmoreland family. As it happens, each of them has a different mother, the result of his father Bartram “Bart” Outlaw’s five marriages and one relationship. Raised by Bart, the siblings are a close-knit family. For 10 years, Bart has been carrying a torch for his deceased fiancée Karen, who was killed in a military helicopter crash. Now, with a push from his younger sister Charm, he has opted find a wife through a dating service, but not for a love match. He has a date to meet her in Santa Cruz, Spain.

28-year-old Regan Fairchild is a pilot par excellence for the Outlaw’s Fairbanks, Alaska-based company, as her father was before her. Growing up around the Outlaw siblings, she is like a sister to Charm. Unknown to Garth, Regan has been in love with him since the age of 16. As the company pilot and having Garth as her boss, she has done her best to keep these feelings in check. And now she is to fly him to Santa Cruz to meet his prospective bride. Men she has dated never lasted too long because they weren’t Garth. But how could she compete with a woman who was dead?

When they arrive, Garth discovers that the woman isn’t there due to a mix-up, so Charm convinces him to invite Regan to stay with him at the chateau for this two-week holiday. The thing is, Garth’s feelings for Regan have grown to more than friendly, but he is in denial about being able to love her. For Regan, this is her window of opportunity to show Garth that she is the woman he can fall in love with and the wife he needs. Can she do it?

Jackson is masterful at establishing the chemistry between her characters; it’s romantic, steamy, and sensual. Garth and Regan’s relationship is also grounded in their family ties and connections. Like many families, they can be nosy and intrusive; here is where I see Jackson’s humor come in. At the same time, there is no mistaking the strong family love, unity, and support that is a signature of her work, something that I have loved since I picked up my first Brenda Jackson novel. And of course, Garth and Regan’s happily-ever-after is most satisfying.

The Wife He Needs is the first of her Westmoreland Legacy: Outlaw series. It is available through Amazon and Harlequin Desire.

Thank you again, Brenda, for bringing another story of Black Love that checks all the boxes with all the feels, and for all you have done over the years to inspire more authors of color in this genre.