The Book Junkie's Reads . . .: Blog Tour - Forbidden (Old West, #1) new series by Beverly Jenkins 5star Western Edification

Forbidden (Old West, #1)

By: Beverly Jenkins

Releasing January 26, 2016

Avon

ACCEPTANCE . . . DENIAL . . . FEAR . . . CONFUSION

USA Today bestselling author Beverly Jenkins returns with the first book in a breathtaking new series set in the Old West.

Ms. Jenkins has rendered another venture into the Historical Romance for women of color. This 5star Western Edification was filled with acceptance, denial, fear, confusion, anger, betrayal, bonds made, bonds severed, and more. There is much her in the old west to attract someone looking to make a new life for themselves. This just so happen to have been the desire of both out hero and heroine.

Rhine Fontaine had built his dream on the back of a lie. A lie that he held close to his heart. In truth it was just a partial a truth. That one lie that can take away from him a future that could make his life truly worth all he has sacrificed to live the lie of his life.

Eddy Carmichael was the woman with a dream bigger than the tiny part of the country she lived in. She had dreams that should would not allow for the two robberies take away from her. With her cookstove in tow and her determination wrapped around her, she sets out to make the dreams she wants come true. She leaves the two she loves most in this world behind to make a future for herself and them.

Through the course of Eddy's adventure further west she has more to be concerned with than being robbed. She has the little matter of almost dying in the desert. The desert she is rescued from. She finds herself in a small room with a man. In a town she has never been in before and surrounded by a community that would soon become as close as family to her.

This western edification that Rhine and Eddy finds themselves on open eyes to a community. They learn who just talks the right of the world. And they learn those that are the right of the world. The challenges they face are huge but not completely un-climbable. During this journey we find crazies, bigots, elitist, and the pure of heart.

Just grab a hot drink, warm corner, plenty of light, and your trusted reading choice (eBook reader, print, or audio). Sit back and enjoy the debut novel in the new series from Beverly Jenkins.

I look forward tot he next two books in this series. With all that came about in this story and the fact that Rhine put so much effort to find his sister. I am looking forward to find myself a copy of Through the Storm. I want to see the unfolding of the love between Sable and Raimond.

Please proceed forward and read the interview that Ms. Jenkins has provided.

Author Info

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.

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. 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, Old West, #1

Thanks so much for this opportunity to meet you and your readers.