Deseré: A Love Story of the American South

by Maria McKenzie

Deseré, a skilled seamstress and slave, lives on a South Carolina cotton plantation. Fair-skinned and astonishingly beautiful, she is owned by a kindly master and given his permission to marry the man she loves, a carpenter enslaved on a neighboring plantation. Yet when her master dies before her wedding and his nephew inherits the plantation and its slaves, Deseré's marriage is indefinitely postponed, pending consent from her new owner.

Lawyer Anthony Sinclair arrives from Ohio on the mend from a broken heart, leaving behind a career derailed by scandal. Owning a plantation presents a vibrant opportunity. Yet torn by inklings of abolitionist beliefs, Anthony struggles with the damning prospect of owning human beings.

Upon first seeing the alluring Deseré, Anthony is immediately dazzled by her golden skin, shimmering blond hair and ocean blue eyes. Yet Deseré perceives the tall, dark-haired and handsome “Masta” Anthony as rather stupid. He knows nothing about running a plantation, nor being a planter. But as long as he allows Deseré to marry the man she loves, she will be happy.

Anthony, however, desires Deseré for himself. To what lengths will he go to win the forbidden love of a slave? Will owning Deseré be the only way Anthony can ever possess her while her heart belongs to another man?

IR/Clean Romance

314 pages, Paperback

Published December 13, 2017

About the author

I was a librarian for several years, and librarian, of course, equals book lover! I enjoy curling up with a good book when not writing, or daydreaming about a new novel to write. I'm a sucker for a good love story, and live on a steady reading diet of romantic suspense, thrillers, historical fiction and non-fiction, and biographies.

I've always been a daydreamer, but didn't enjoy reading until I discovered Nancy Drew at age 10. As for writing, I never thought I'd actually pen a novel. I'm not a talker, so how could I ever fill up a book? As a quiet person, I internalize a lot. And later in life I discovered that internalizing can create some wonderful stories!

Being in an interracial marriage (I'm black and my husband's white), I enjoy exploring the topic of interracial/multicultural romance in our nation's past and writing tales of forbidden love.

Mixed race romance from decades gone by is emotionally explosive, providing heart-wrenching conflict, as well as incredible pain. Those elements combined create amazing stories. Love transcends all boundaries. If two hearts are meant to be together, they'll find a way, regardless of circumstance.

I graduated from Wittenberg University with a degree in English, then received a master's in Library Science from Atlanta University. While working as a librarian in North Carolina, I met my husband. Our marriage inspired my novel Unchained. One day I thought how sad it would have been if we'd fallen in love 150 years earlier and couldn't have married (as mentioned earlier, he's white, I'm black). I kept thinking "what if, what if," and eventually Unchained came into being, but I turned it into a trilogy because the story kept going on and on!

Essie Mae Washington Williams's memoir Dear Senator provided the idea for The Governor's Sons. Ms. Williams is the African American love child of South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond. After reading her story, I wondered what would have happened if a southern governor fathered a son by a black woman, and that son grew up to become a civil rights leader.

I live in Cincinnati with my husband and our two sons. I'm a foodie, love old movies, history, museums and antiquing. I'm also into fitness and enjoy running. During my morning runs I can come up with some great story ideas, if I'm not listening to a book! Book junkie that I am, audio books are an addiction!

Reviews

[Debbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by the same author as the "Unchained" trilogy that I just finished but not as good. This one involves a man who inherits a plantation and falls in love with a light-skinned slave girl. Made the argument about the pros and cons of slavery as it was viewed at that time.

[--karen Green-berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Love 💘

I am not really a big fan of historical fiction but this one really is worth it. It was an interesting story and was a page turner for me.

[Stacy McKitrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical books tend to have a lot more detail than contemporary, which is probably why I don’t always pick up historical books. But Maria is a writer friend. We both belonged to the now defunct Cincinnati chapter of RWA and I’ve sat next to her at a book signing. I never bought her books before, though. Now her home and others are being threatened by a landslide. They are trying to raise $300,000 to fix it and I donated what I could. But I thought, why not buy one of her books, too? So I picked the one with the pretty cover (and it is pretty, isn’t it?). There are portions in this book that did drag on for me (because…historical), but it sure picked up speed toward the end. I enjoyed reading this and if you like reading historical romance, I highly recommend this one. And if you’re interested in helping the author and her neighbors save their homes, you can find out more about the fundraiser here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/46718....

[Claire Self · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history behind this story was compelling, which I found very interesting to learn about, especially the wicked and awful ways some of. the slaves were treated by plantation owners. It's obvious that Maria McKenzie did a lot of research to complete this book and it definitely made the book better for that exact reason. I always enjoy a book more when you can tell just how much research and passion has gone into it.
I found it rather difficult to get into the flow of this book as there were some scenes that I found myself having to re-read over. However, I have spent the past week and a bit moving into our first new home so my mind has been preoccupied with other thoughts which could have been clouding my mind.
Deseré is a very strong, beautiful and brave young woman whom I admired quite a bit, after some of her actions she chose to play in the book. I found Anthony's character mysterious at first, soon to be interesting and whom I ended up growing to love. The other main characters are well-developed and detailed who also embark on the adventures of a dramatic, love story.
I found this story well-written, thoughtful and well researched.

[Adeline Mirren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a man who falls in love with a slave girl after inheriting a plantation from his uncle. It's a fast-paced, interesting read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It's set in 1845 and seemed very well researched. The author writes in such a descriptive, beautiful style, and I loved the dramatic love story (though I do think that it was a little fast). Desere is such a strong, brave character, and I liked Anthony and all of the other people as well. The climax was interesting- a bit strange, though- and I loved the ending. Overall, a beautiful, fast-paced story filled with romance and drama.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

[Michele Stegman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always learn a lot of history reading Maria McKenzie's books. And it is always interesting and gives me a new point of view of the antebellum South. It is obvious she did a lot of research for this book. I stopped and looked up a lot of things she mentioned--and learned even more history! Her characters were well-rounded and the book kept me turning pages!

[Theat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I could have gone through that one, if my reading time allowed, in one day nonstop.  It is a beautiful story.  Fast paced, romance and drama.  I highly recommend it

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