Love at Dawn is the romance-suspense tale of Love, forgiveness and redemption set in Zamzudan, a fictional country in East Africa. The novel’s major characters are Tory Da-Silva, a temperamental African beauty and Rashad Macaulay, a broody and cynical multi-tasking lawyer who has literally come from grass to grace. The novel also features the rampant poverty and corrupt governments that is often observed in African countries.
Tory comes from a wealthy African family. Rashad on the other hand has lived a hard life, growing up in the brothels of Zamzudan’s ghetto city, Gutterpark. In her early teens, Tory meets Rashad who happens to be her older brother’s best friend and business partner. At the first meeting, Tory falls in love with Rashad, but he rejects her because he feels she is too young to be with him. Besides, he is battling his own demons of insecurity caused by being fathered by a well-known pedophile and being mothered by a prostitute. Rashad keeps his background a secret as he concentrates on becoming a successful lawyer. Tory, unaware of his secret, vows to make him hers. On one moonless night, while Rashad is drunk for grieving for his mother who dies a violent death in the hands of gang groups, Tory seduces Rashad and loses her virginity to him. The next day, sober Rashad is horrified to discover that he has dis-virgined the teenager, who incidentally happens to be his best friend’s younger sister. Filled with shame, he hurls Tory out of his apartment, his disgust for himself strong. Tory gets pregnant but she keeps it a secret from Rashad. She has an abortion and doctors tell her that she will never be able to conceive children again.
Nine years later, Tory has grown into a very beautiful woman. Rashad is the owner of a flourishing law firm and security service business. He finds that he is very much in love with Tory but he still feels he is undeserving of her because of his background. Tory encourages him not to punish himself for his parents’ life choices. She has never stopped loving Rashad and she envisions her dreams of being with Rashad coming true. All seems ready for them to be together, but there is a serial killer on the loose harming women with histories of abortions in Zamzudan, and Tory is the latest target. As Rashad works to protect her from this attacker, Tory finds that she will have to share with Rashad her dark secret of having an abortion and being unable to conceive children. She fears that Rashad will reject her again since most Zamzudan men want children. When Rashad hears of Tory’s secret, he feels ultimately responsible for what happened to her. With deep remorse, Rashad begs Tory for forgiveness. The serial killer is captured and Rashad and Tory finally get a chance at love.
Lara Daniels 