A sweet romance that is jam packed with historical detail about the Reconstruction era West. Rhine, a minor character in Jenkins's Through the Storm, is a wealthy saloon owner and Republican councilman who is the biracial son of a slave master and his slave. He is light skinned enough to pass as white, which he does. When he meets Eddy she is near death after being burgled en route to California to work as a cook and hopefully open her own restaurant. They have a strong attraction to each other, but Eddy refuses to indulge it believing she can never be with a "white" man and Rhine is yoked to a rich, white fiancee acquired to further his political ambitions and faces the loss of his white privilege if confesses his true racial lineage to be with Eddy. 
 This doesn't have a fast paced, action packed plot but Jenkins does such a good job making her characters and Virginia City come alive that all the details feel important and the pace doesn't drag. There are also plenty of supporting characters and subplots to keep things interesting. Eddy recuperates from her attack in the desert and then settles into Virginia City as a boardinghouse cook. She becomes close with several residents of the town and is briefly and unsuccessfully courted by another man. Rhine goes to council meetings, hits on Eddy to no avail, runs his businesses, is an active crusader for civil rights, and deals with his crazy fiancee. Rhine and Eddy have excellent chemistry when their paths intersect, bantering and flirting. More than anything else, I just really enjoyed spending time in the world Jenkins created as a reader. Jenkins does a good job making them interesting characters as individuals as well as teasing their romance. There's not too much sexual content but what is there is hot. 
 I feel like romance novels are generally formulaic enough not to require spoiler tags but I will be talking about the ending in general terms so if you're exceptionally spoiler sensitive do not read on. Vague sort of spoilers start now ------>. My only criticism is I do think the ending is too abrupt. I wish we had seen more of Rhine and Eddy actually as a couple and I think the consequences of Rhine deciding to no longer pass as white are too quickly brushed aside. I would also think Rhine's revelation would necessitate a move that doesn't happen.