USA Today bestselling author Beverly Jenkins returns with the first book in a breathtaking new series set in the Old WestRhine 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. … 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 . . .
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Forbidden is a great story! Reminded me of some of my family members who could pass for another race and did almost 100 years ago. Reads quickly and you don’t get bored with the characters – especially the very strong women throughout!
Thanks for a good read. Edie
Ms. Bev is the Queen. I have never read a book of hers that wasn’t amazing. Forbidden is one of my all-time favorite historical romances.
A great historical romance very accurate to the time and location. Love, danger, and deception. Oh my! Beverly Jenkins never disappoints.
My first Beverly Jenkins book, and I fell in love with it! It’s a common setting, the Old West in the late 1860’s, but she showed me history I’d never learned before. This one’s on my keeper shelf.
Tight plotting, historically honest, and nuanced characters. Held me from beginning to end.
Such a fun read with a slow building yet sizzling romance.
This was my very first Beverly Jenkins book and I absolutely loved it. I used to think Historical fiction was limited to a one group of people. I went out on a search to find black historical fiction and Ms. Jenkins was at the top of the list. She’s awesome!
What attracted me to this book was that the story line took place in Nevada, where I was residing at the time. Having been a teachers, I was interested in more Nevada history. I definitely learned some things and even better was that there was romance. Can you say Win Win? I loved it and look forward to reading more of Ms. Jenkins’ books.
Forbidden is set in the post-Civil War era. The hero, Rhine Fontaine, is a former slave who is light-skinned enough to pass into white society, and he has done so successfully by the time the book starts. The setting is Virginia City, Nevada, which apparently had a substantial African-American community at that time. Rhine, who was educated with his white half-brother, is a smart businessman who owns a number of properties in town. He runs the Union Saloon, where he refuses to discriminate between races. As a result, most of his customers are African-Americans. Rhine has a foot in both races. Though he has passed, he refuses to turn his back on his people.
Enter our heroine, Eddy Carmichael. Eddy is a free woman of color as were her parents, who died recently in a snow storm. She is headed to California, but only makes it to Virginia City where she is hired as a cook boarding house. Rhine is immediately attracted to the feisty, independent-minded, Eddy, but as a white man she is forbidden to him, except as a mistress. And Eddy will settle for no less than marriage. Plus Rhine is already engaged to a white girl whose father has business deals with Rhine.
Rhine wants Eddy, but knows he will have to cross back over the color line if he wants to marry her.
Both main characters were sympathetic and likable. The interactions between white and black Republicans were quite fascinating. The rift between the races was already widening just a few years after the Civil War. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and recommend it for fans of historical romance.
This is a well-written, fantastic historical romance.
I loved Eddy and Rhine’s story! The western setting, descriptions of daily life, murky politics, race perception, and of course, the super nova chemistry! Even the villains were interesting 🙂
I loved the concept of this book. Eddy has a lot of drive and Rhine has a lot of reckoning to do with his past. I also loved the setting of the Old West. I found the writing to be a little too much “telling” and not enough “showing,” and the final act of conflict didn’t feel justified, but otherwise, I enjoyed it!
Well written, great historical information, great love story.
I loved reading this book – not just because of a great romance story line but also because of the history I learned from it. Unfortunately, not much is taught about the Reconstruction Period, especially if you grew up in the south. While reading the book, I would research some of the information and was surprised, not surprised by some of the info. As a HBCU grad, I know that some of our schools were founded by sons of slaves who passed for white. At the same time, to learn about the character that the hero is based off of was eye-opening. I hope to come across more Reconstruction Period romance novels that unveil this hidden segment of US history.
The main characters were strong and well defined. Hard to believe throughout history the unfairness and mean spirited ways of people. You had to see the love between Eddy and Rhine, I enjoyed their banter.
I m surprised how much I loved and enjoyed this book. Both Rhine and Edie are amazing characters. I was surprised how much i rooted for them. I really loved the twists and turns in this book. I m excited to say started Book 2 of this series
I love Ms. Bev’s books because the history is spot on. But this book is special–a love story about a light-skinned man of color posing as white and the dark-skinned woman he falls in love with in Virginia City during it’s heyday. She resists the attraction because inter-racial marriage was forbidden (hence the title). Should he tell her the truth? This was a delicious story with oodles of conflict. Loved it and can’t wait for the movie.
Audiobook Review. This was my second book by Beverly Jenkins and it was a very very good story for me. The author really dealt with the racial tension of the period as well as the historical period and the intricate characters that were developed within the story. Although they were complex in their own right, they were developed well by the author.
Rhine Fontaine was a slave and son a slave master who at an early age determined that he could pass as whitel. After the Civil War, he was determined to build a life of success with only a few people knowing his secret of “passing”. One day, hemeets Eddy Carmichael who had passed out from heat exhaustion. She was on her way to California to start her life as a cook and then restaurant owner but all her hard work ended when someone had stolen her purse with her ticket and life’s savings for the journey.
When Rhine rescued her, Eddy was given an opportunity to stay and make a little money to aid her in her dream of opening her own restaurant in California but in all her hopes, she found herself becoming more and more attracted to the green-eyed white man…only if she really knew his secret. Another problem was in the day and times in which they lived, blacks were not expected to be equals to white, let alone involved in any kind of liaisons. The problem for Rhine…his engagement to a women belonging to a powerful and political family.
I truly loved this story and thought the MC’s were kind and compassionate individuals who held inner strength and deep convictions for what they wanted and believed. The pace of the story was on target. This is one story that had you wanted to find out the ending and didn’t disappoint. If I had read the novel, I would believe the writing flowed word for word. BJ did a wonderful job with this story and I thoroughly enjoyed and loved it.
Beverly Jenkins is an exceptional writer. I have read most of her books and find the historical content realistic coupled with an intriguing story line.
I love all of this authors books. This is one of the best.
Forbidden is my first read from the highly-acclaimed Beverly Jenkins, and it certainly will not be my last. I am not typically a fan of western romances, but I was drawn into this story and found myself enjoying it quite a bit. Jenkins certainly has a lovely writing style, which was complemented by this narrator, Kim Staunton, who had a very soothing voice. The cadence and pacing Staunton employed was perfect for the old west feel of this story.
Our heroine is Eddy (ee-dee) Carmichael, a woman of color born free in the late 19th Century. Eddy is making her way in the world when we meet her, with plans to go even further west from Denver to California to open her own restaurant. Unfortunately Eddy meets misfortune and unscrupulous characters along the way, which was balanced with periods of luck and charity so that we didn’t quite lose our faith in humanity. Due to these ups and downs, Eddy never makes it to California and instead is rescued outside of Virginia City, Nevada. I very much admired Eddy’s character and grit and perseverance. I obviously cannot relate to what our heroine faced in post-Civil War America… but I enjoyed experiencing her life as much as I could through Jenkin’s storytelling.
Our hero is Rhine Fontaine (great name), who was born to an enslaved woman – the product of unwanted congress between his mother and her master. Since the war, Rhine has been passing – as in racial passing. I found this aspect of the story to be very intriguing, as it was the first storyline of this nature that I had encountered. So Rhine is living his life as a white man, but has not forgotten his heritage and supports the black community as much as possible. While a wealthy man, Rhine does not put on airs or act better than anyone. I liked his character immensely.
This romance was a very slow burn, which is not surprising given that interracial relationships were forbidden at the time (hence the title). While I would sometimes get impatient when things are drawn out this far, that did not happen with this story. I was so caught up in the daily lives and difficulties of our characters, that I didn’t feel the burning need to have our characters come together and start building their relationship. I found the town and goings on around Virginia City to be very interesting, which is a first for me. I have tried westerns in the past and the setting was always lost on me… but this one just worked. (Maybe it has something to do with me moving west to Arizona!)
I look forward to the rest of this series, and will most likely continue listening in audio if the narrator selection remains as good as Kim Staunton.