Before the Dawn: A Historical African American Romance of Enemies to Lovers and Fiery Passion in the American West

Oh, what a tangled web we weave! Try to keep up, readers, as we board the roller coaster that has become beautiful Leah Barnett's life. Following her beloved mother's death the previous year, Leah inherited the Black Swan, a Boston tavern servicing sailors of color, where Leah scrapes to get by. On his deathbed, her mother's longtime lover, Louis Montague, convinces Leah to marry him in order that she might inherit the estate he abandoned when he left Colorado 30 years earlier. What Monty neglects to tell Leah until after the simple ceremony is that he abandoned two sons--half-brothers Ryder and Seth--there as well. Accompanied by Monty's best friend, Cecil Lee, Leah boards a train to Colorado to claim her bequest, enduring petty prejudices along the way. But nothing prepares Leah for her first encounter with Ryder Damien, her half-breed stepson who blames his absentee father for his illegitimate birth and his Cheyenne mother's tragic death. Determined not to care that the hostile Ryder thinks her a shameless gold digger, Leah nonetheless cannot deny his devastating attractiveness. Even Seth Montague, Monty's smooth-talking, legitimate Creole son, can't hold a candle to the longhaired Ryder. But Leah's arrival in Denver is further plagued by a 30-year-old court judgment that might cost Leah not only her inheritance, but her very freedom if she can't raise the additional money to pay off Monty's creditors. Enter Ryder, who offers to give Leah the funds she needs--if she'll give herself to him. And the dance begins! Accomplished author Beverly Jenkins creates a captivating tale of passion, distrust, and evil in disguise that keeps readers flipping pages until the end. --Alison Trinkle