Tibby Day might be ninety-five, but she’s still the matriarch of the Day/Sprague families and a real treat for those who read her story in Dawn’s Early Light, the first book in Thane’s Williamsburg series. Tensions between the North and the South are heating up, and Yankee Cabot Murray finds himself a not so welcome guest in some households, but Tibby welcomes him into her home and marks him as the one man suitable for her favorite granddaughter Eden. Sparks are flying between the two, but is their love strong enough to surmount the obstacles ahead of them as the war between the states begins?

“It was lonely to be in love and not be able to mention his name, or hear from him, or even to answer his letter.”

That’s about all I’m going to tell you – read it for yourself. The novel covers the Civil War from start to finish, and a big thumbs up to Thane for imparting the important battle details to the reader without the endless exposition one finds in so many other Civil War novels (John Jakes, anyone?). I loved watching Eden and Cabot’s relationship grow and change as war changed all of them (Cabot is a seriously dreamy hunk BTW). I adored Tibby who had the gumption to stand up to any damned Yankee soldier with the nerve to search her home for you-know-who that was hidden under her bed. And then there was the doomed relationship between too closely related Sedgwick and Sue. **sniff**

The large extended Day/Sprague families are a bit confusing at the start, so keep your focus on Eden/Cabot, Tibby and Sue/Sedgwick and the rest of them will fit into place as you continue reading. I have noticed some comments from other readers being somewhat shocked at the casual attitudes towards the slaves, but remember this was written many, many years before we became so terribly Politically Correct. Probably my only real complaint is that the ending is a bit too abrupt and I would have enjoyed some more payola or an epilogue to finish things off.

Highly recommended and I will definitely be continuing on with this series.