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The Westmorelands #21

The Proposal & Solid Soul

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New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Brenda Jackson brings you the story of Jason Westmoreland. With one convenient proposal, he could have a Southern beauty in his bed and her birthright in his hands. If only the lovely lady would say yes….

Plus a Brenda Jackson classic—the first in the Steele family series, Solid Soul .

410 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

23 people are currently reading
257 people want to read

About the author

Brenda Jackson

898 books3,599 followers
In 1994, Brenda Jackson’s first novel, Tonight and Forever, was released. Since then she has had more than 100 novels and novellas published (the first African-American author to accomplish such a feat) and has over 3 million books in print.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Brenda is the first African-American author to have a book published by Harlequin Desire and the first African-American romance author to make the New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller lists within the series romance genre.

In 2012, Brenda received the Romance Writers of America’s Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award—one of the highest literary awards a romance author can receive. In 2013, she was recognized by the mayor and the city of Jacksonville as being a Trailblazer in the literary field.

In 2010, she collaborated with Five Alive Films to turn her Truly Everlasting title into a feature film. Brenda’s 2011 novel A Silken Thread is scheduled to be filmed with Debbie Allen attached as director in 2015.

Email Brenda at authorbrendajackson@gmail.com or visit her on her website at brendajackson.net.

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5 stars
212 (59%)
4 stars
91 (25%)
3 stars
35 (9%)
2 stars
12 (3%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
5 reviews
January 30, 2022
I love the Westmorelands...great job Ms. Brenda Jackson. I would like to have learned more about what was in Bella's grandfather's journals.
I was glad that Bella and Elyse were going to try and mend fences and try to have familial relationship.
Profile Image for Unsolved ☕︎ Mystery .
484 reviews107 followers
February 26, 2016

First, I'll review The Proposal.

- My Description -
Elizabeth (Bella) Bostwick recently inherits her deceased Grandfather's estate, land and his prized horse, Hercules.
She meets neighbor, Jason Westmoreland.
Jason is interested in her AND Hercules.
He begins coming over for tea to tell her about her Grandfather.

Her uncle is also interested in her land, estate and Hercules, but for different reasons.
He wants her to sell it all to a friend of his.
She decides she wants to stay.
He throws a fit. Her parents throw a fit.

Turns out, There is a clause in her Grandfather's will that states she has to be married to own the land.
Jason has the proposal for them to get married.
That way, She gets to keep her land, and he gets Hercules.

- My Review -
I don't know what is it about the male characters in Brenda Jackson's books, but I find them annoying, and overbearing.

The storyline was decent enough and the characters were easy to get to know which I liked.

Now, Solid Soul.

- My Description -
Best friends Tiffany and Marcus devise a pretty convincing scheme to bring their single parents together in what they hope gets them to dating each other.

Chance finds a letter from Tiffany to Marcus accepting Marcus's request to skipping classes at school.

The letter is a fake, but that brings Chance to Kylie's florist shop where the romance begins for them.

- My Review -
This was very much like one of my favorite childhood movies, The Parent Trap.

The sex was still too much in this book. The sex scenes are hot, but one sex scene blended into another, using the exact words that described the previous sex scene.

Brenda Jackson's writing is amateurish and repetitive. Her vocabulary doesn't seem to stretch very far.
Her favorite words are: desire, tangling, and mating.
I say favorite because she uses them over and over in different parts of the story.

And Yes, Chance was annoying and overbearing.

There were a few times, in the the course of reading these books, I had almost put the book down and headed for the door.

These books weren't bad at all. Just repetitive, annoying, overbearing, and amateurish.
54 reviews2 followers
June 6, 2012
The Proposal and Solid Soul by Brenda Jackson from Harlequin Desire 2010 (2 books in one).

This was my second time reading a Brenda Jackson book and a much more enjoyable experience.

The Proposal is the romance of Elizabeth (Bella) Bostwick, who is trying to get out from under her parents thumb, and Jason Westmoreland, a horse breeder. The story starts with Bella moving away from her parents to start a new life. She meets the hero of the story and after a few misunderstanding they fall in love. There are forces at work to keep them apart like her great uncle and his grandkids as well as her parents. However, Jason's family fully supports their relationship. After a few tense chapters where Bella's house is vandalized then set ablaze Bella agrees to marriage. Of course there is more misunderstanding that disappear when Jason declares his love for Bella. Then they go on to live happily ever after. I recommend buying separately from Solid Soul.

Solid Soul is the second book and I just skimmed it as the first chapter was about two scheming teenagers trying to match up their parents didn't appeal to me. Of course the teens are successful ad the parents agree to marry which ultimately makes it hard for the teens to act on their feelings.

2,746 reviews128 followers
May 26, 2012
The Proposal -- part of the Westmorelands' series, but easy to read as a standalone.

Jason's got a new neighbor--the lovely Bella, who inherited the ranch from a grandfather she's never met. Angry with her overbearing parents for keeping her from developing a relationship with family and having fallen in love with the land and the freedom at first glance, she accepts Jason's proposal of a marriage of convenience to keep both.

A sweet fun story with an enjoyable cast of supporting characters.

Solid Soul is the first in Ms. Jackson's Steele Family series and is her take on the Parent Trap.

Kylie and Chance's smart and determined teens take it upon themselves to get their parents together and in so doing, give them lives and loves outside of themselves.

Another very fun read with great secondary characters.

Looking forward to reading others in these series!
Profile Image for Patriciaw.
136 reviews21 followers
July 31, 2011
Already read The Proposal so I'm back to read the second half of the book, Solid Soul. I enjoyed both of these stories. Since I'd read the stories of other members of the Steele family already, it was good to go back and get the story of Chance and Kylie. I loved it, as I usually do a Brenda Jackson read, except for one thing. When Chance decides he's in love with Kylie, it felt too soon, as if they hadn't spent much time at all together or getting to know one another. But hey, love can happen quickly. Hubby and I have been together 20 years, and we were engaged 16 days after our first date. Go figure! :)
360 reviews23 followers
November 14, 2014
Two in one

The Westmorelands (series) is a romance lover's delight. Each book is a new adventure that maintains family connections among the Westmorelands of Denver, Atlanta and Montana.
The Proposal is Jason Westmoreland and Bella Bostwick's story. Bella is thought to be a prim and proper southern belle who inherits property adjoining Jason's property. Jason admits he wants Bella's property but wrestles with what he wants from Bella. In this book, love happens in Westmoreland style, liking it is a matter of person taste. Alone, I would give this book a three star rating but with Solid Soul and Chase Steele the anty has been raised.
Profile Image for Tanielle.
Author 0 books38 followers
June 20, 2014
Jason was getting what he wanted no matter what and Bella wanting to start fresh got more then what she thought. Her uncle was a mess and the kids were following right in his footsteps.

Those kids played Kylie and Chance right into their little hands. I love me some Steele's and this man was just too hot for his own good. Going that long without and meeting Chance Kylie should've been all over him.

Both stories were great and the two together was more then enough heat to read on.
Profile Image for Gemma.
893 reviews35 followers
May 12, 2012
I ended up skimming a lot. I don't usually read books from the Desire line, only tried this because it was given to me as part of the "Tell Harlequin" program.
Profile Image for Kate.
118 reviews28 followers
May 16, 2012
Didn't get past page 23. Too much childish romanticism and eye twitchingly annoying repetitiveness.
33 reviews
July 3, 2012
It was ok the first book was much better than the second but it was nice for a quick easy read.
Profile Image for Aimi.
50 reviews42 followers
July 28, 2014
Nah. I didn't even finish it. I just can't read books like this. At least I tried reading a few chapters. The words are just....nah.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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