Harmony by Sienna Mynx is an interracial romance set in the 1920s. The first thing that drew me to the story was the author, who I find a true genius at building unforgettable plots. Second was the time period in which the novel is set. I’ve read several contemporary romances from Mynx and I couldn’t wait to see how she handled a story from a unique era. The main character, Harmony, is a single woman trying to make a life with very little resources. Back then a woman sought a husband or a suitor if she wasn’t born into wealth. Harmony doesn’t do either, but decides to work for a living. Unfortunately her younger brother gets caught up in the seedy side of Harlem. She is forced to seek help from an unlikely source, known gangster Vincenzio Romano. The irony of the overall story is that while Harmony initially sought Vinnie’s help, in the end, Harmony ends up being the one who has to save him from being killed.

This story would make a great movie. Harmony Jones is a jazz singer during the Prohibition and the Harlem Jazz era. Life is hard and people do what they must in order to survive. It is a time when interracial couples are often seen as a taboo. Harmony’s brother has gotten himself in some trouble and is missing. Harmony is left no choice but to seek help from the man who knows the ever-shady dealings in Harlem. Vincenzio “Vinnie” Romano is the ruling king of the bootleg trade. Unfortunately his kingdom is about to come crashing down, orchestrated by his brother who views Vinnie as the obstacle to his happiness. Harmony seeks Vinnie’s help and this sets into motion a chain of events that almost leads to their demise.

~ Susan for AReCafe ( )

Is a B- four stars or three? I'll just say four stars to make it easy.Harmony is set in early 1920s Harlem and features a Sicilian gangster and a black jazz singer caught in the turf wars between racketeers and bootleggers. I've always loved Harlem of this period, where the interaction between blacks, whites, and immigrants was thorny, with all groups barely tolerating one another, yet fascinated by the music, the literature, and the glamour of the neighborhood. Mynx manages to capture all of this--the violence, the pettiness, the racism, the crime, but also the hope and mythology of American culture (where you can come from nothing in your home country and be Somebody in the USA). But back to the romance. Vincenzio Romano stalks Harmony Jones's performances at the Cotton Club, and when her younger brother Willie disappears after double-crossing a few Harlem gangsters, she approaches Romano for help in finding him. Romano is no gangster-in-name-only: he's violent, short-tempered, and self-contained. Yet, he is drawn to Harmony despite their different racial backgrounds and her possible accomplice in her brother's crime. The relationship between Vinnie and Harmony heats up very quickly, and though I wished for a few more pages devoted to their relationship--and a few less to the twists and turns of the plot--their romance was sweet and believable. I was rather meh about the big villain reveal, since I already had an inkling as to where it would go, but I did really like the impact it had on Vinnie and Harmony. This is an unconventional, yet conventional, historical romance, but I really enjoyed the detail Mynx put into the setting and building realistic characters, and am interested in more of her work. ( )