Most readers remember that moment: The thrill of recognizing that the cover that caught their eye across a crowded bookstore is going to be one of the special ones. This book will not get tossed on the DNF pile. This book crooks its finger and beckons the reader closer. This book will tell a new story, a different story. This book will introduce the readers to characters who will linger in memory for years and decades to come. This book will forever leave its fingerprints on the reader’s heart. Mildred E. Riley writes those books.
Back in 1990, multicultural romance was still in its early days, so the cover of Yamilla stood out, depicting portraits of three black women on the cover. A romantic saga that spans three generations, Yamilla’s story grew from a tale passed down to the author by her great-grandmother, that of a young woman transported from Africa to America, who lived as a slave but steadfastly insisted she had been born to royalty.
The fictional Yamilla refuses to give up her heritage, despite the harsh realities of her new life, and finds love where she least expects it. She insists that her children also remember their roots, both African and American, as they find their own places in a changing world. Yamilla’s legacy continues as her granddaughter pursues both true love and a medical degree at the dawn of a new century.
Akayna, Sechem’s Daughter is a Wampanoag woman determined to return home from far-off Spain, a far easier task than choosing between the dashing African adventurer, Khamseen, and ship’s navigator, Ibraha, whom she dubs Whale-Hunter. Akayna and her love must find a way to meld their two very different worlds before they can build a future together. With unique characters and an interesting perspective on the whaling trade of the seventeenth century, this is a truly unusual and memorable look at an often overlooked time in American history.
In No Regrets, Maddie and Roy, two musicians coming of age during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, find that neither time nor distance can untie the bonds of love. Julliard-trained Maddie pursues a classical career that takes her to the Left Bank of Paris, while Roy embraces the jazz world, rising from the speakeasies of Harlem to become an orchestra leader and recording artist. On such different paths, readers will keep turning pages to see how these star crossed lovers can make beautiful music together at last.
None of these are typical settings, but then again, Mildred E. Riley can’t be called typical anything. At ninety-four (yes, you read that right), Ms. Riley draws inspiration from the fifty years she shared with her own real life hero, and only beginning her writing career after forty years as a psychiatric nurse. Whether her stories are historical, contemporary, or spanning the rapidly changing years of the twentieth century, Mildred E. Riley knows how to touch universal emotions. Never shying away from the rough spots that lie along the road to happily ever after, these are romances to remember.
Anna C. Bowling considers writing historical romance the best way to travel through time and make the voices in her head pay rent. She welcomes visitors to her blog, Typing With Wet Nails and to follow her at Twitter.
