Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Dakota Dreams

by Madeline Baker



      Madeline Baker returns to the Old West with another of her Native American romances. It is the story of Nathan Chasing Elk, half white and half Lakota, and Catharine Lyons, a white woman originally from Boston. A more unlikely pair is unimaginable. The story begins with Nathan in prison for a crime he didn't commit - the murder of his wife. Ellenora had died at the hands of a man who wanted her for himself. Jim Buckner was young, in love with a married woman, and fool enough to think she would leave her half-breed husband and run away with him. She told him to go home and never come back. In his anger over her refusal, he stabs her to death. However, Nathan is convicted of the crime.

Four-and-a-half years later, Nathan escapes from prison and is wounded in the process. Catharine Lyons finds him near death and nurses him back to health. For her part, Catharine is afraid of Nathan, but even more afraid of the local Apache chief, Marteen, who demands that she submit to becoming his wife. With her parents dead and her brother, Mark, missing, she's struggled to keep the ranch going. And when the sheriff comes asking about Nathan, she lies and doesn't hesitate one second when Nathan suggests they leave.

Thus begins their long and perilous journey to find Nathan's daughter, Leah, and his mother. Catharine hadn't expected to fall in love with Nathan, nor he with her. But the further they traveled together, the closer they became.

Dakota Dreams is both an adventure and a love story. Tainted only by the sex scenes and occasional curse word, the story grabbed my attention with the first line and kept it to the end. I'm not crazy about romances, but this one is a winner. Pick up a copy and enjoy a trip to the past.

The Book

Signet Eclipse
February 2006
Paperback
0-451-21686-5
Historical Romance
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Contains sex, violence, some bad language

The Reviewer

Jo Rogers
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com