Ninetysomething Mama Laverne is determined to find all of her great-grandchildren their perfect match before going home to glory. So far, her success rate is 100 percent—and she intends to keep it that way.
After sustaining injuries in Iraq, Chancellor Madaris was told he’d never walk again. Chance credits his great-grandmother Mama Laverne with giving him the will to heal and prove the doctors wrong. He has a healthy respect for her meddling ways and knows he’ll eventually end up next on her matchmaking list.
When Zoey Pritchard was eight, she survived a car accident that took the lives of her mother and father, and was sent to live with her great-aunt who refused to speak about her parents. Zoey has no memory from before the crash, but she’s been having the same dream over and over…
Searching for answers, Zoey travels to Houston, where she uncovers a scandal involving her parents and the wealthy and powerful Madaris family. Her trail leads her straight to Chance’s door. The dislike and intense attraction are instant and simultaneous. But to help Zoey restore her memory, he grudgingly introduces her to his great-grandmother…
Was it chance, or Mama Laverne’s plan, that threw this pair together?
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.
I honestly was drawn to this book because the cover is beautiful and the title made me giggle. I liked all the family history that was included in this story as it unfolded. The matriarch of the family was definitely my favorite character and seemed realistic enough. Some of the moments between the main romantic couple in the story seemed a little unrealistic to me. Overall, I enjoyed the story though.
Brenda Jackson can do no wrong! Loved this story and how Zoe & Chance’s love story evolved. Mama Laverne definitely spilt some tea & had me clutching my invisible pearls! I like that Brenda gives you enough back story that allows you to keep up with the story, even if you haven’t read the rest of the Madaris family series. This story has love, heartbreak, and enough family drama to last a lifetime (literally) as this family feud went back many generations! Very enjoyable story that kept me hooked from start to finish.
Yes, this was an unexpected but wonderful surprise about the Madaris family and a long standing rivalry due to a lie. One of the best books ever written by Brenda Jackson. I love a drama mystery romance. This book gave it all and left nothing hanging. Kudos Ms. Jackson 👏🏾
This was my first book by this author, and Spilling the Tea was her 150th book published. The story was complicated and intriguing. It’s great to read about the Madaris secrets and uncovering generational plots. Filled with love, betrayal, murder, and family secrets.
I really enjoyed this book and it took me through a range of emotions. From joy, to spice, to tears of sadness to anger - such a well developed set of characters.
Now, I’ll admit the story started off slow and there are a lot of characters to keep up with but once I really started connected everyone I was hooked!
The dual timeline POV was done well and I was engaged in both plots equally - and I did not guess the twists at the end! This was my first Brenda Jackson book and it won’t be my last!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an advanced listeners copy. All thoughts and views are my own.
4.5 ⭐️I tried a new tea - Jamaica Mint - and it was really good and refreshing! So was this book! Reading this felt like I was in the backyard at my family reunion with my great aunts listening to them spill the family’s tea, with a iced glass of tea in hand!
First of all - If your grandparents are still living and/or have passed down rich family history to you, consider yourself truly blessed! What a privilege it is to have our elders present with clear minds and fond memories to share with their legacy.
I finished this with the biggest smile. What a lovely Southern family tale! The matriarch, Mama Laverne came to spill the family’s tea and baby it was good, sweet (😉) and hott!! She was integral in keeping the family legacy thriving by picking and choosing the very best partners for her children through the years.
The past sections with Victoria, Milton, Wayland and Phylicia stayed hot and spilling over throughout the years! It was such a shame how long grudges and anger festered from generates.
I loved seeing how it connected the past with the present. I also liked the romance that brewed between Chance, the rancher, and Zoey, the doctor who came to town to fill in the gaps of her memories. I also loved that the story is set in Houston, TX! I appreciate the added family tree so that I could keep up with the who’s who in their large family.
Mama Laverne was so precious yet well revered within her family and community. I loved how everyone addressed her with the utmost respect and how she only wanted the best for her loved ones.
Finishing this story made me wish I'd read the previous Madaris family books. It's not a series, but the books follows a family throughout the years. I’d love to be apart of this family tree, it was giving very much Black elite, Jack and Jill, follower by line dancing at the cookout type vibes!!
𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚? Give me all the iced sweet tea!!! I go to Chick Fil A Mon-Sat faithfully for a large sweet tea, or 2!!
My first book by Brenda Jackson and do say I was confused 90% of the time would be an understatement. But I pushed through. There was so many characters and names dropped I felt liked or weighed down the book. Maybe I should have listened to the books before this first but idk.
This was even better than I expected! It had a little bit of everything, which made it really enjoyable. There were moments when I just wanted to jump in and give a couple of characters a good shake 🙄. I love stories that make me feel all kinds of emotions. I'm so excited to see what happens next!
Great book. There were so many layers to this story. I didn’t have access to the family tree but it would of helped. Trying to keep up with who was who was a lot. Mama Laverne did not want to spill the tea, she wanted to only tell a small part of what happened. Zoey was able to get the answers she was looking for and she found love. Overall I enjoyed this book.
I couldn't put down Brenda Jackson's 150th novel! Spilling the Tea hooked me with its back-and-forth between past and present, slowly revealing how buried secrets shape today's lives. Chance and Zoey's romance grabbed me from the start. He's a wounded vet who defied the odds, she's a surgeon with eight missing years of childhood memories. True to Jackson's signature style, their attraction blazes fast and intense while they uncover some painful family history. Mama Laverne steals every scene she's in. This 90-something matchmaker with a perfect record knows ALL the family tea and drops it at just the right moments. The way Jackson reveals these secrets broke my heart and then put it back together. The Madaris family feels like people you know - they joke, they argue, they have your back no matter what. Jackson shows how one choice ripples through generations, changing everything. The standout feature for me was the dual timeline. Following clues in both time periods kept me turning pages way past bedtime. I had to know how everything connected and what it meant for Chance and Zoey. The ending ties everything together beautifully, giving both emotional satisfaction and closure to the family mysteries. Jackson fans will love catching up with familiar faces, and if you're new to her books, this is a great place to start.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Spilling the Tea Author: Brenda Jackson Publisher: Harlequin & Canary Street Press Publish Date: April 1, 2025 Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 3.8/5 Spice: 🌶 🌶 🌶 2.5/5 Genre: Contemporary Romance Pages: 350 Format: 📖 🎧 Narrator: Ron Butler
First, I would like to thank Netgally and Harlequin for providing me with this Arc as it was such a joy to read. I also would love to give Brenda Jackson a standing ovation as this marked her 150th published novel. Even though this was my first read book from her collection. I learned so much about her in such a short time.
I never knew she was the first African-American Romance Author to make the USA Today and New York Times Best Sellers List. This is huge and such an accomplishment as she paved the way for some of my favorite African-American Romance Authors.
I appreciated how the story started off with a breakdown (recap) or the other books in the series and how mamma Laverne came to be known as the Madaris Matriarch. She is quite the matchmaker and has had a 100% success rate. There was even a family tree to show how everyone was connecting. I have never seen this in a romance novel before. You usually see this more so in Fantasy, so I thought her attention to detail was so iconic.
The story begins with us learning about Zoey Pritchard. When she was eight, she experienced a traumatic event being in a car accident that ended the lives of her parents, leaving her as the lone survivor. This also left Zoey with memory loss as she was unable to remember anything prior to the accident. She then was sent to live with her great aunt whom refused to speak about her parents or the accident leaving Zoey with so many questions as she consistently has been having the same dream over and over ever since. This was when I knew there would be groundbreaking secrets that could change the course of everything.
Chance is introduced as heartless as he has sworn off relationships as his previous relationship ended with his fiancé running off and marrying someone else. He is content with being single and enjoying life until his ex-fiance comes back into town with the mission of getting him back.
Zoey is new in town as Mama Laverne has been helping her get a fresh start. All is fair in love and war as Zoey catches the eye of Chance. Grief, healing, uncovered secrets, love, and family drive this rollercoaster of emotions home. I hope you read this novel and enjoy it as much as I did.
This is my first Brenda Jackson book and it won’t be my last. This book was a great read! I enjoyed the characters and the writing. I’m looking forward to learning more about the Madaris family.
This is exactly the book I needed. My reading has been restless and slumpish ( yes I made that word up). I needed to get back to my roots and Brenda Jackson came through for the win.This story had a lot of mess like a soap opera, I loved it. Mama Laverne has all the tea and it’s gives historical romance as she spills it. The romance between Chance and Zoey was the first in a very long time that was not orchestrated by Mama Laverne , IYKYK. Add this to your TBR I think you’ll like the new romance and the flashbacks of old love.
I received an advance listening copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes; this in no way influences my review.
I’ve never read Brenda Jackson, though she’s been on my radar as a Black romance author and a well-loved author by many, and this sounded like exactly the kind of book I would enjoy with lots of family history and secrets. I did really enjoy the story and the family elements, and a part of me wants to go through the backlist for more about the Madaris family, but I also feel like I’m not the right audience for these books (and I’m sure a big reason I was able to finish this was because of the audio format). Spilling the Tea is extremely cis-heteronormative and I didn’t feel like there was any space for queer people in the world. Which is *fine* but not exactly the stories I want to read. What truly bothered me and the biggest reason this is a three-star read for me is the ableism prevalent throughout the story. When Chance was younger, he was enlisted and ended up injured to the point he was in a wheelchair and told he’d never walk again. It was frustrating to read about how with the help of Mama Laverne, God, and physical therapy he no longer needs any kind of mobility aid. I understand this is a fantasy, because that’s what all romances are, but this particular fantasy is harmful to people who use wheelchairs and other mobility aids, and there is no “cure.” Again, I enjoyed a lot of the familial elements of the story and the world Brenda Jackson has created, but this is not a world I feel like I can be a part of.
Again, I do think a large part of why I was able to read the whole book and not DNF is audio (I struggle with not getting bored with contemporary romances these days), and Ron Butler is a very good narrator. He had distinct voices, and even his intonation outside dialogue would change depending on whose perspective the story was focused on. I might check out more of his work because I really enjoyed the narration.
Some country mess. lol. I liked this. I was a tad turned off by all the characters. But aside from that this comfy, messy romance was good to me. And there was a lil murder mystery in the mix! I liked the multiple time line aspect too
When I tell you Bev knows how to write a book she can write a damn book. THE MEEESSSSSSSS!!!!! Baby there was a lot of goings on in this family. Family feud, banished children, lies, hidden pregnancies. You name it. I loved every minute of this book and will def be adding it to my list.
Thank You Netgalley. LOVED IT. With this book, you get more than one romance story plus a little mystery, which kept things exciting the entire time. I loved what Brenda Jackson was able to do within a book of this length.
The first half of the book switches between the present-day story of Zoey (the FMC) and Chance (the MMC) and flashbacks to their ancestors. I loved that Chance’s family matriarch was the one helping Zoey since she had knowledge of Zoey's family past. The flashback chapters were some of my favorites. I got attached to those characters so fast and was fully invested in their love stories and the family scandal. I could’ve read a whole book about just them.
Brenda Jackson did such a great job with both time periods that it felt like I had two full stories in one. I also enjoyed how the drama between the Madaris and Satterfield families tied into everything happening in the present. I love the Madaris family and definitely plan to go back to the beginning of the series and read through their family history. The characters were mostly easy to love, but I stand with the Madarises. The Satterfields were a different story.
There was even a murder mystery in the mix, which added a fun and unexpected twist. When all the pieces came together at the end, I was genuinely shocked. The history and tension between the two families caused so much confusion. Chance and Zoey's love ended a family feud that began so long ago. And I have to say, I loved how intentional and respectful the men in this story were about their women. It gave very old school, and I was here for it.
There was so many layers to this novel but I kept up. Of course I did Brenda Jackson is one of my favorite authors. Congratulations on 150 novels. I love the Madaris family and basically caught up on the family. Grandma Laverne Felicia was at it again, however she has the answers. Zoey Pritchard’s memory was wiped out after a horrific car accident losing her parents. She belonged in the Satterfield lineage. Tall, dark and handsome hero great grand-son Chancellor Madaris instantly felt the attraction to Zoey. Bumps and cruisers ex-fiancé Ravenna throws land mines and the fun went on. Fast paced, realistic, charming until the end. Loved it, bravo.
Great page turner! I was on the edge of my seat the entire story, eager to know what happened next. Mama Laverne definitely spilled the Madaris family tea and we got to see another love connection from the Madaris family :)
This scandal that affected generations and spewed venom for years on end was jaw dropping. I did struggle to keep up with all the characters and the roles they played, but thoroughly enjoyed the family dynamics. Excellent writing!
I enjoyed this book so much. I think it falls under the grumpy/sunshine trope which is turning into one of my favorites. The family secrets were crazy especially at the end. I plan on reading more from this author in 2026.
Sometimes the tea needs to be spilled and that is exactly what the family matriarch Mama Laverne does in this book. There were scandals, lies and cover ups that had to come out in the open.
WIth great, likeable characters, enjoyable dialogue, and appealing premise, I was able to thoroughly savor this books without having read any of the novel about The Madaris Family.
This was my first Brenda Jackson book and it will not be my last!!
I can't believe this is her 150th book. What an incredible feat!