The combination of the two is what makes Rebel terrific – and terrifically readable – all the way around.Įscape Rating A+: Yes, I know I’m squeeing. Working their way through and/or around the forces arrayed against them is the hard part.

In the end, figuring out that they love each other is the easy part of their story. On the other, complementary level, its historical fiction about the Black experience in Reconstruction era New Orleans in specific, and in U.S. Rebel is a story on two levels, and it works excellently on both of them. But some of what they have to go through to get there, and what the Black community of post-Civil War New Orleans – and in the rest of the country – had to experience both before and after Freedom, that is frequently heartbreaking, all the more so because it doesn’t feel over.) (Don’t let that bit about heartbreaking worry you, there is an HEA for our hero and heroine. Sometimes heartbreaking, but marvelous every step of the way. It is simply marvelous from beginning to end. But when Valinda's father demands she return home to marry a man she doesn't love, her daring rebellion draws Drake into an irresistible intrigue.Ĭonsidering that a big part of the romance in this book is all about Drake LeVeq persuading Valinda Lacey to let her inner hellion out of the straight-jacket her father has tried to wrap it in, this book would have been better titled Hellion than Rebel.Īnd that’s about the only quibble I have with this book. And he can't stop admiring-or wanting-her. Raised by strong women, he recognizes Valinda's determination. When thugs destroy the school she has set up and then target her, Valinda runs for her life-and straight into the arms of Captain Drake LeVeq.Īs an architect from an old New Orleans family, Drake has a deeply personal interest in rebuilding the city.

But soon she discovers that here, freedom can also mean danger. Valinda Lacey's mission in the steamy heart of New Orleans is to help the newly emancipated community survive and flourish. The first novel in USA Today Bestselling Author Beverly Jenkins' compelling new series follows a Northern woman south in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War. Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweissįormats available: paperback, ebook, audiobook Rebel (Women Who Dare, #1) by Beverly Jenkins

Beverly jenkins rebel