By the Break of Dawn

"By the Break of Dawn"
B. J. Betts
Prairie Rose Publications
February 2015
Kindle edition $ 0.99
60 pages

"On the morning of Valentine's Day, a young maiden must go to her window and look out just before the dawn breaks.  If she sees a man walking below her window, he is the man she will marry before the years is out."

What if the man you see is not the man you love or long to marry?  What if he is not the love of your life?

Isabella Bellini has loved Eli King most of her life.  Now that both of them are graduating from high school, they both feel that it will soon be time for them to become husband and wife.  They have both been dreaming of this for years.  They can't wait to begin their lives together in Council Bluffs, Iowa in this year of 1880.  Now that Eli was of age, finally, he could properly court her.

Everything seems set in place for the two lovers.  Why does Isabella suddenly marry Chace Monette, an older, wealthy man with a questionable reputation?

This tale is a light romantic tale involving a little of the historical Council Bluffs, Iowa with cameo appearances by James Rue and R. J. Kattleman and the legendary Ogden House.  Also incorporated in this novella is a discussion of the Mormons trek and how the town changed after they left on their journey to Utah.  Numerous people of questionable businesses moved into town including many brothels.

Also historically is the short discussion of the Morganatic Marriage held in a Catholic church.  It is amazing that this practice ever existed.

Being born and raised in Council Bluffs, author B. J. Betts now resides in Missouri Valley but still feels a close kinship to her hometown.  She has previously published other romance novellas and novel: Saigon Moon, Echoes in the Night, Snowflakes and Teardrops, Mile Marker 59, Belle's Crossing and A Moment in Time.

"By the Break of Dawn" is a Valentine story with the simple gift of a Valentine threading through the tale to show the way to true love.