Embers of Dawn
by Patricia Matthews
Publisher:  Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Copyright:  1982
Book Club Edition

The Civil War is over, but for young Charlotte King the battles have just begun.  Her father is dead, her mother is ill, and her brother has returned from the war a crippled and defeated man.  But Charlotte refuses to give up.  On the barren family farm she has saved the last tobacco crop, and she hopes to sell it to recoup the family fortunes.

When Sload Lutcher, a predatory tobacco wholesaler offer her only a third of what the crop is worth, Charlotte orders him off her land and goes on the road with a horse and wagon to sell the tobacco to retail stores.  Then, with Ben Ascher -- a quiet, handsome young merchant -- and Clint Devlin -- a reckless, intensely masculine gambler -- she forms a highly successful tobacco company.  It becomes a love triangle when Charlotte is torn between her desire for the dashing Clint and her feeling for gentle, steady Ben, who loves her deeply.  Then her old enemy Sload Lutcher tries to destroy her company -- and her future with the one man she now realizes she will always love.

Embers of Dawn is Patricia Matthews' most romantic bestseller yet.