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FORBIDDEN
Beverly Jenkins
Releasing on January 26, 2016
Avon
USA Today bestselling author Beverly Jenkins returns with the first book in a breathtaking new series set in the Old West
Rhine Fontaine is building the successful life he's always dreamed of—one that depends upon him passing for White. But for the first time in years, he wishes he could step out from behind the façade. The reason: Eddy Carmichael, the young woman he rescued in the desert. Outspoken, defiant, and beautiful, Eddy tempts Rhine in ways that could cost him everything . . . and the price seems worth paying.
Eddy owes her life to Rhine, but she won't risk her heart for him. As soon as she's saved enough money from her cooking, she'll leave this Nevada town and move to California. No matter how handsome he is, no matter how fiery the heat between them, Rhine will never be hers. Giving in for just one night might quench this longing. Or it might ignite an affair as reckless and irresistible as it is forbidden . . .
Excerpt:
The
following morning, Eddy gathered her things, took a bittersweet look back at
the place she’d called home, and closed the door. After handing Mrs. Hampton
the key and being told, “Godspeed,” she set off. Her clothing and the skillet
were stuffed in an old carpetbag and the cookstove was balanced on her head. It
was a chilly April morning and the city was just coming to life.
Most of
the residents of the red- light district were sleeping off last night’s
excesses, so the streets were quiet. The seedy area with its cribs, saloons,
and bawdy houses looked tired and worn- out under the dawning light of day.
Eddy guessed her sister would be asleep, too, and would probably not welcome
the early morning visit, but it couldn’t be helped. Setting the cookstove on
the ground by her feet, she knocked on the shack’s door.
Her twelve-
year- old niece Portia answered the knock and her dark eyes brightened. “Aunt
Eddy!”
She threw
herself into Eddy’s arms, and Eddy held her tight and kissed her brow. Eddy
loved the girls and hated the circumstances they were being raised under. She
dearly wanted to offer them a home with her, but going from a destitute mother
to a destitute aunt served no one. Although Corinne swore she loved her
daughters, Eddy worried about them constantly, especially now that they were
growing into young ladies.
Portia’s
baby sister, ten- year- old year Regan, appeared and also met Eddy’s appearance
with joy. Both girls had inherited their mother’s great beauty. Eddy assumed
Corinne knew who their fathers were but had never shared the identities with
Eddy.
Regan asked,
“Did you come to spend the day with us, Aunt Eddy?”
The hope
in her eyes twisted Eddy’s heart. “No, sweetie. I came to talk to your mama. Is
she sleeping?”
Regan
nodded. “And if we wake her up she’ll whip us. Won’t she, Portia?” Portia
didn’t respond verbally but the tense set of her chin affirmed it.
As if
cued, the angry Corinne entered the room belt in hand and snapped, “How many
times have I told you not to wake me up?” Seeing Eddy, she paused. “Oh, it’s
you. What do you want?”
“My purse
was stolen yesterday. My train ticket to California was inside.”
“So?”
Eddy held
onto her patience. “I came to see if I could borrow enough to buy another. I’ll
pay you back once I’m settled.”
“Why are
you going to California?”
“To look
for a job. There’s nothing here for me.”
Portia
looked mortified. “You’re leaving Denver, Aunt Eddy?”
Eddy knew
she should have told them about California before now, but she and Corinne were
like tinder and matches, so she kept putting the visit off. “I’m hoping to,”
she said softly. “I’ll come back to see you and Regan as soon as I can. I
promise.”
Portia, so
stoic for someone her age, raised her chin stiffly. “Okay.”
Corinne
said coolly, “Portia, since I’m up, go strip the sheets off my bed, and pump
some water so we can start the wash.”
“Yes,
Mama.” She hurried from the room and disappeared into the back.
Regan
laced her thin arms around Eddy’s waist and pressed herself close. She
whispered through her tears. “Please don’t leave Aunt Eddy. Please.” Eddy felt
awful.
“Regan,
stop that sniveling and go help your sister.”
“Yes,
Mama.”
Eddy
caressed her cheek in good- bye and Regan left the room.
“You
didn’t have to be so mean, Corinne.”
“Don’t
tell me how to raise my children. When you get your own, you can treat them any
way you like. And, I don’t have any money for you or your highfalutin dreams. I
told you years ago, you’d make more money down here than you’d ever make
uptown. You had the bosoms and the looks, but no, you thought you were too
good.”
“No, I
didn’t want to become a whore, Corinne.”
“Yet here
you are begging help from a whore.”
“I’m here
begging help from my sister.” Corinne’s legendary allure had faded; too many
men, too much whiskey, too much hardship. Now, instead of features that
could’ve launched ships like the fabled Helen of Troy, she looked as tired and
worn- out as any other women of her profession. Eddy was saddened by that.
“I have
nothing for you. Guess you and your dreams will have to walk there.”
“I guess
so.” Eddy thought back on how much she once loved her sister, the giggles
they’d shared in their bedroom at night, the way they’d played as girls, and
the sense of family their parents always tried to instill. Standing before her
now in a ratty, faded green wrapper was a woman she didn’t know and it broke
Eddy’s heart. “Good- bye, sister. I’ll write when I get settled.”
“Fine.”
Eddy
left.
BUY
NOW
NOW
Ms. Jenkins is the nation's premier writer of African American historical romance fiction and specializes in 19th century African American life. She has over thirty published novels to date.
She has received numerous awards, including: five Waldenbooks/Borders Group Best Sellers Awards; two Career Achievement Awards and a Pioneer Award from Romantic Times Magazine; a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer's Guild, and in 1999 was named one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th Century by AABLC, the nation's largest on-line African-American book club.
She has also been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Dallas Morning News and Vibe Magazine. She has lectured and given talks at such prestigious universities as Oberlin University, the University of Illinois, and Princeton. She speaks widely on both romance and 19th century African-American history and was the 2014 featured speaker for the W.W. Law Lecture Series sponsored by the Savannah Black Heritage Festival.
Interview
with Beverly Jenkins
Q. Beverly, please tell us a bit about the New Book and Series.
A. The book is
titled: Forbidden and is set in 1875 Virginia City Nevada. Our hero, Rhine
Fontaine is a saloon owner and a pillar of the community. Our heroine Eddy
Carmichael is a cook from Denver and is traveling to California to fulfill a
dream of opening her own restaurant when things go awry. She is robbed by a man
impersonating a priest and left to die in the desert. Rhine finds her. Books 2
and 3 will focus on Eddy’s nieces Portia and Regan.
Q. Did you do anything different with your research this time
around?
A. I didn’t do
anything out of the norm for me. A
recently conducted archeological dig in Virginia City unearthed the remains of
a high end 1870s saloon founded by a man of color. It, like many of the city’s
other business establishments was
destroyed by the Great Fire of 1875. I based Rhine’s saloon on that real
saloon.
Q. What about the Wild
West called you?
A. Who doesn’t
like the scope and sweep of the Wild West? I’ve written quite a few westerns.
That I get to add to the standard lore stories about men and women who looked
like me along with the Buffalo Soldiers, the all Black townships of Kansas and
the black and the brown outlaws and lawmen of Indian Territory makes it even
more of a blast.
Q. Who did you have more of a connection with while writing, the
hero or the heroine?
A. It depends
on the story. Sometimes the story belongs to the hero and at other times the
heroines. It can also belong to both. I let the characters decide.
Q. Can you share a small
teaser from your favorite scene of the book, or describe your favorite scene?
Eddy awakened
in a four-poster in a large room barely lit by a turned down lamp. Having no
idea where she was or how she came to be there, she shook the cobwebs dulling
her thinking and noticed she was wearing a man’s shirt! Perplexed, her eyes
moved around the room to a well-appointed sitting area and then to the face of
a White man watching her from one of the chairs. Panic flared. She snatched the
blanket to her neck and she drew back fearfully.
“Don’t be afraid. You’re safe. I’m Rhine
Fontaine. My friend Jim and I found you in the desert.”
Confused, she tried to force herself to
calm down so she could make some sense of this, but she couldn’t. Watching him
warily, she asked, “Where am I?” Her throat was dry as sand. She wanted water
badly, but needed to solve the mystery of this first.
“Virginia
City.”
“And this place
is?”
“My bedroom.”
Her eyes went
wide. “I need to go, I can’t stay here.”
“Maybe in a few
days, but right now—”
Alarmed, she
didn’t let him finish. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her mind
was so foggy she wasn’t sure what was happening, but she knew she had to get
away.
He stood and
said urgently, “No! You’ll fall!”
He was right.
The moment she stood, she was hit by a wave of weakness so strong her legs
folded as if they were made of cards. She cried out involuntarily as she hit
the floor.
He walked over
to her. “As I said, maybe in a few days. Are you okay?”
Drawing away
again, she looked up and recognized the face of the man from her dream. She
stilled. Had it been a dream? “I’ll scream!”
He sighed. “If
you feel that’s necessary, go right ahead, but I’m not going to hurt you—in any
way. When you’re done, I can help you back into bed, or carry you to the
facilities, whichever you’d prefer.”
Heated
embarrassment burned her cheeks. Her needs were not something she talked about
to a stranger, and especially not a White man stranger. “I can walk.”
“No, you can’t,
but if you want to try, I’ll wait.”
At that moment she saw her bare legs sticking
out from beneath the long-tailed shirt, and also realized she had on no
underthings! Not drawers. No shift. As quickly as her weakened state allowed,
she reached up and pulled the blanket down. Ignoring him as best she could, she
covered her bare legs. This was getting worse and worse.
“As I said, my
name’s Rhine. And yours?”
“Eddy. Eddy
Carmichael.”
“Pleased to
meet you, Miss Carmichael. You gave my partner Jim and me quite a scare
out there in the desert, but I’m pleased to see you are recovering.”
Then her
muddled brain remembered Jack Nash’s perfidy and her walk across the desert,
but nothing else. “How long have I been here?”
“Four or five
hours.”
Lord, she was thirsty. “May I have some water
please?” she croaked. She felt so weak. It was not a state she was accustomed
to.
He poured her a
glass from a pitcher on the nightstand and handed it to her. “Slowly,” he
advised softly. “Just a little for now.”
She nodded and
took a few short swallows. The water tasted so good and she was so thirsty she
wanted to down the entire offering, but heeding his advice, she took only a few
more slow pulls. Done, she handed the glass back and her parched throat savored
the relief. “Why am I so weak?”
“Walking the
Forty Mile Desert under a full sun takes its toll. So,
Miss Eddy—facilities or back to bed?”
She hated to
admit it but she really needed choice number one. Thoroughly scandalized, she
confessed softly, “The facilities, but I can walk. Just point me in the right
direction.” Looking around, she didn’t see a screen of any kind.
“It’s at the
end of the hallway.”
“Oh,” she said
disappointedly. Still bent on getting there under her own power, though, she
wrestled with the blanket in an attempt to fashion it around her waist. Trying
to get it out from under her hips and secured without treating him to another
show of her legs was a struggle, however. He’d seen more of them than any man
ever before.
“Do you want to go today?” he asked in a tone
of muted amusement.
She shot him a
glare. Reasonably certain the blanket was secured, she said, “Yes.” Now she
just had to get up. No small task. The fullness of the blanket made it
difficult to get her feet planted so she could stand. She decided she’d use the
side of the bed to give her the leverage she needed. She scooted closer.
“You always
this stubborn, Miss Carmichael?”
“It’s called
determination, Mr. Fontaine.”
“I stand
corrected.”
Giving him
another withering glare, she grabbed hold of the bed’s wooden side panel and
began working herself to her knees. She made a bit of progress, but her
weakened state conspired against her efforts. Refusing to surrender and
breathing harshly, she slowly inched herself to a standing position, careful
not to get her feet fouled by the swath of blanket, and promptly keeled face
forward onto the mattress.
Chuckling
softly, he picked her up from behind and placed her gently into the cradle of
his strong arms. He smiled softly. “It’s called stubbornness.”
Rolling her
eyes, she allowed herself to be carried from the room.
Q. What is next for you? What are you working on
now?
A. Next up for
me is the June debut of the 7th book in my Blessings series which is women’s
fiction. The title: Stepping To A New Day. I’m presently working on Portia’s
story which I hope will be out in the fall.
Thank
you for taking the time to talk about FORBIDDEN
Thanks so much
for this opportunity to meet you and your readers.
Thank you for hosting FORBIDDEN today!
ReplyDeleteCrystal, Tasty Book Tours