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    Forbidden
    Forbidden
    Forbidden
    Audiobook9 hours

    Forbidden

    Written by Beverly Jenkins

    Narrated by Kim Staunton

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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 . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 26, 2016
    ISBN9780062448811
    Forbidden
    Author

    Beverly Jenkins

    Beverly Jenkins is the recipient of the 2018 Michigan Author Award by the Michigan Library Association, the 2017 Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romance. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature, was featured in both the documentary Love Between the Covers and on CBS Sunday Morning. Since the publication of Night Song in 1994, she has been leading the charge for inclusive romance, and has been a constant darling of reviewers, fans, and her peers alike, garnering accolades for her work from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, and NPR. To read more about Beverly, visit her at www.BeverlyJenkins.net.  

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    Reviews for Forbidden

    4.5/5

    130 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I loved this love story! The themes of injustice but perseverance survival to thriving as the central then of the legacy of African American men and women in this country’s history and the love story laid on top was delightful!!!!! Beverly Jenkins is the greatest at this I’ve yet to read! More Please Ms. Beverly Jenkins!!!!
    • 5/5
      It was good . Still prefer indigo and belle .
    • 4/5
      3.75 stars

      This is my first book by Beverly Jenkins and I'm really glad that I finally read one. I don't think this will be my favorite book from her once I read more but I do think this was a good introduction to her work. I really appreciated the amount of research that went into this and it really came through in the story. The writing style of this book is quite dry and straightforward but I didn't mind that. Plot-wise, I did find this to be a bit dull in parts. This was a very slow burn romance but it's also very character-driven, so there's not a lot of other plot, at least until the end. I wish the pacing had been different because very little happens and then all the sudden, a ton of stuff happens. I thought things should have been spread out a bit differently and not saved for the last five chapters.

      The thing I really liked in this book was the characters. I really enjoyed the dialogue between Rhine and Eddy. I always appreciate it when the relationship really drives the plot rather than the other way around and that happens here. I really enjoyed Eddy and her determination. I wish we had learned a bit more about her backstory and her family. I felt like that was a bit unexplored for her, especially since we learned so much about Rhine's family. I liked Rhine's character. I especially liked his relationship to his brother. His drama with his fiancee Natalie was not my favorite. It just seemed a little overblown to me. Because this was slowburn, it was a little hard for me to get into the romance, which usually happens to me with slowburn. However, by the end I was very on board.

      I definitely want to pick up more books by Jenkins, especially with the characters who were mentioned in this book like Sable. This was a fun read for me and really enjoyed Jenkins style so I look forward to reading more in the future.
    • 4/5
      Nash raised his hands. "I'm sorry," he said, chuckling as if the encounter had been a joke. "I didn't know she was yours. Had her a few times when she and I crossed the desert. Was just trying to renew an old friendship. She as hot for you as she was for me?"Eddy saw red. He'd robbed her, left her to die, and was now intimating that they'd been intimate? She was so furious she wanted to shoot him herself, but not having that option, she grabbed a long-necked bottle off the bar's top and slammed it hard across his jaw. The bottle shattered. Had she been taller she'd have brought it down on his head.I am TOTALLY HERE for a woman who can stand up for herself in the face of total humiliation. Eddy is 1000% my kind of heroine!!This was the most delicious of slow-burn romances. It was a refreshing change of pace - Ms. Jenkins loves to lavish her couples with lots of sexy love scenes, but there aren't really any here because of the massive stumbling blocks in these characters' way. She does not play coy with the heap of issues surrounding her characters, the most serious of which is her hero, having successfully passed for White for many years, suddenly facing the idea of losing it all in order to be with the woman he loves.Eddy is marvelous. She doesn't take guff from anybody. Her parents died young, so she basically had to raise herself, and she's worked very hard for a very long time. She decided to work her way out of poverty, whereas her sister Corinne decided to prostitute herself. The sisters don't pass judgment on each other; they are estranged for the entire series because of the choices they've made. Eddy decides that she wants to get out of Denver and head to California, where she's heard that black people have successfully started businesses. Her dream is to have her own diner, and boy can this woman cook. Reading all of the descriptions of food made me salivate!Rhine is pretty much your classic dreamboat, but he has plenty of issues of his own, not the least of which is his race. He grew up in slavery and saw the stark difference between his place in the world and his legitimate half-brother's, and he knew the only way he could make a success of himself was to "leave the race," as he terms it. He doesn't turn his back on them, completely, though, as he takes up the cause of his brethren every possible way he can, as a White ally. So much so that when he does confess to his tarnished history to the entire White population of his town, the Colored folks welcome him home.The best thing of all is that these two are adults, and they handle their mating dance with grace and maturity. Eddy refuses to become Rhine's mistress, and Rhine refuses to let the town's bigotry (and his own crazy ex) stand in the way of being with the woman he loves. It's very powerful, and a fabulous way to open the series.I read this series completely out of order, and that might have made it more poignant for me, because seeing their happily ever after in Books 2 ([book:Breathless|30166205]) and 3 ([book:Tempest|35068495]) is what propelled me to go back and read this one. As I've said before, Ms. Jenkins does something that is increasingly rare these days: she fashions characters that modern readers find appealing, but she places them firmly in the context of their own time. These are not 21st century people running around the Wild Wild West. These are rich, full, interesting characters living rich, full, interesting lives. Ms. Jenkins packs her books full of history (and has the author's notes full of references to prove it!), so not only are you getting a fabulous love story, you're getting a wonderful history lesson as well.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book! I can't wait to read/listen to the next one
    • 5/5
      AWESOME!!! I LOVED IT. CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE
    • 5/5
      Omg this was amazing! I’m such a sap for romance, and this was a perfect dose of greatness
    • 5/5
      Books devoted to ROMANCE! do not form a genre I'm drawn to. I DO enjoy Wendy Wax novels for the plot twists, odd romances, and welcome humor.A recent online article mentioned that Romance novels written by African American women weren't getting a lot of play, so I ordered FORBIDDEN.Despite a fairly predictable plot, there is much more to the story, including varied perspectives on the South and West during the violent eras following Reconstruction.Strong women, cool handsome men, and humor form a memorable mix.Fans of both Rhine Fontaine and Eddy will hopefully see sequels featuring their children.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book by Beverly Jenkins that I have read and I really enjoyed it. I do have to admit that I completely judged this book by its cover. I don't think I even read the summary until after I finished the book (I do that quite a lot actually). I assumed based on the cover that this was going to be an interracial historical romance but the story ended up being a bit different than that. The difference was probably even more interesting. This was a book that I ended up reading in less than a day simply because I didn't want to put it down.Eddy is determined to move to California and open a restaurant. She ends up in Virginia City, Nevada after almost losing her life in the Nevada desert. We learn very early in the book that Eddy is tough and resourceful. She doesn't give up even when things looks impossible. Rhine is the man that rescued Eddy when she was close to death in the desert. He is a prominent citizen in Virginia City and owns a successful business in the town. His life depends on his ability to pass himself as a white man.Eddy and Rhine are drawn to each other from the very beginning. Eddy has no plans to act on those impulses for a couple of rather important reasons. Eddy's presence in the town really makes Rhine consider some of the choices that he has made in his life and he make a few changes. I liked the chemistry between this pair and thought that they really proved how much they cared about each other through their actions.This book has a lot of excitement in it in addition to the romance. Virginia City was a wonderful little town filled with wonderful characters. Each town person in the story had their own charm and really added something to the book. It seemed like something was always happening in this town and Eddy and Rhine kept themselves pretty busy both in the town and with each other.I would recommend this book to fans of historical romance. The characters were fantastic and the plot was well executed. I can't wait to start the next book this series!I won a copy of this book from Addicted to Romance.
    • 4/5
      I kind of read this group (trilogy?) of books backwards. I loved Reagan's and Portia's story and couldn't wait to read about their aunt Eddy and Rhine. I enjoyed the books very much. The bits of history thrown into the story are really interesting. I think it highly doubtful that Rhine would have survived the night after his announcement unless he left town that same night, wealthy or not.I liked this better than the Yates brother's stories. Well two out of the three. Destiny's Embrace (Logan Yates and Mariah Cooper) is definitely a keeper.
    • 4/5
      I liked it! The premise was good, but some parts seemed to drag. I wasn’t fully immersed in the story, so the telling felt more like an explanation of what happened to the characters, and somewhat bland. The narrator was just okay.
    • 3/5
      As mentioned in a comment on an update, there were a lot of editing issues in this book, which is surprising as it's from a major publisher.

      The story itself was lovely. I really liked the view into a Black community in the West after the Civil War. Eddy was a delight. I loved how she knew what she wanted and wouldn't take crap from people who might question her goals or ability to get to reach them. The supporting characters were also great. And Rhine, of course, was a wonderful, dreamy hero.

      Everything was wrapped up nicely with a pretty bow on top, but it's a romance, and that's how things are supposed to happen.
    • 4/5
      The author successfully made me care about Eddy and Rhine, the townspeople, their families, etc. Some of the conflict towards the end was a bit contrived and resolved a bit too neatly, but I almost didn't care because I was invested in that happily ever after.
    • 3/5
      2.5 stars

      I don't know if it is the author's writing style or just this story but there was a bit of a stark back and forth between the characters' dialogue that gave the story a choppy feel to me. I liked the introduction to Rhine but Eddy's jumped so quickly from sister to nice wagon driver guy to evil wagon driver guy that I couldn't settle in with the character; this obviously improved when Eddy finally gets settled but it was an awkward beginning.

      There was a little bit of a feeling of insta between Rhine and Eddy because of the inner thoughts we are given and how they don't get a huge spotlight on them specifically together; Rhine is still engaged to someone else until 50% into the book. Even though I wanted more of it, I did enjoy the gradual, almost shy, way Rhine and Eddy begin to spend time together, pretty sweet.

      The romance aspect let me down a bit but what I loved was the way the author incorporated the political climate and shifting society after the Civil War, this takes place in 1870. The author manages to take broad issues and apply them down to this little town in Nevada where political dealings within the Republican party, changing attitudes, and segregation are being discussed and affecting people's lives. I got an incredible feel for the times, what individuals were dealing with, and the characters had an authenticity to them; this is what a historical should feel like. Eddy was a wonderful strong woman character but within the framework of her times and no less for it.