That first book was Coyote Frontier by Allen Steele, the third book of this particular series about Mankind's first extrasolar colony. The European Alliance has invented a hyperspace jump gate, and they bring the technology to Coyote, the colony world. Hijinks ensue.
This is a very good continuation of the saga, and the ending leaves things open for more in the series; there's actually more books yet, and I will continue reading them.
One thing I did notice; like Heinlein before him, Steele suggests in this book that wealthy men of vision may be very necessary to promote the goals of human expansion off Earth. His rich man isn't as altruistic as Heinlein's in The Man Who Sold the Moon, but I have to wonder if their writings have helped promote the actions of people like, say, the owner of Virgin Galactic?
Any book that gets me to wonder deserves a solid high mark on my list.