Interesting story, but it didn't work as a romance for me. Mostly because the main characters didn't spend much time together for a huge chunk of the book. I did believe that they cared about each other at the end though. ( )

Katherine Grant has been all over the world with her father and five brothers, but her solo trip to America's west coast is different. Her return journey is beset by robbers, then Apaches, and more. Gaetan, an Apache who hates whites, is tasked with her safety after his brother succumbs to a bullet wound. The two definitely have a hate relationship that gradually thaws to friendship and then love. It's an interesting journey amidst several different cultures that can sometimes feel a bit much, but overall I liked the book. ( )

Beautifully done. Not a wallpaper historical at all. As far as I could tell impeccable research. Wonderfully written. The plot was tight and made sense throughout. The action was fast and believable. The characterization was wonderful. The hero Gaetan, seemed and acted like an Apache male who had been forced to a mission school and then escaped to fight the white man would have. He didn't seem just an idealized romantic version of what modern day women would like to believe he would be like. The heroine was absolutely wonderful. So many authors try to make their heroines 'feisty' but end up just making them silly and TSTL. Here Katherine was totally believable as a strong intelligent woman with a temper. The slow moving but inevitable romance between them was very realistic and believable.

Here is another one that I took a chance on after rave reviews from my GR friends. I think I'm going to institute a policy of only reading things that 4 out of 5 GR friends recommend 'cuz that has really been working for me lately. ( )

This was a fantastic western/Native American romance and I really enjoyed the bits of history the author sprinkled into the story. It reminded me a bit of Comanche Moon and Dances With Wolves. Katherine was a super heroine, with lots of courage and tough as nails. Sometimes she was a little too tough, too matter-of-fact about her circumstances, but it wasn't so much that it took me out of the story. I found that I really enjoyed her temper and the way it fired up the chemistry with Gaetan.

I loved all the characters, despised a few more, and enjoyed seeing the love blossom. It was neat to see Gaetan drawn out of his closed off world. I wasn't wild about the ending. I would've liked to see what happened over the years, but it did leave room for books to fill in the blanks. Overall it was a fantastic read. If you enjoy this genre: "Sit. Stay. Read." ( )

Oh, Ms. O'Connell, I so enjoy discovering each of your books. Yet another incredibly well done book - I was hooked from the beginning. Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold still remains my favorite of hers, but I enjoyed this one almost as much. I think perhaps what stopped this from being equal was there wasn't as much POV from Gaetan as there was from Cord in Eyes. And when you have a strong, silent man (like both of these characters) the internal POV helps the reader connect with them a little better. Or perhaps it was just that Gatean doesn't actually admit (even to himself) that he loves Katherine until the very end of the book. I'm a big romantic and enjoy touchy, mushy moments so I guess I missed that a little bit. There was one scene though near the end when they are reunited that practically made up for any other lack I felt there was there - my heart melted in a big way!

I love how O'Connell builds up the relationship and tension between her characters so there is a substantial basis to base their love for each other on. I think that's why of the reasons I love her writing so much. This book, of course, is no exception.

Katherine was a great character. She was strong, had depth, a great background to build on - really well done all around with her.

The setting for this book was actually very educational for me. I knew, of course, that Indians were forced onto reservations around this time, but really none of the harsh realities of what that meant exactly. Growing up on the east coast I learned virtually nothing about this part of our history in middle/high school and in college I studied European history, so this was the first time I had really read about how exactly everything went down. It was very enlightening. I feel awful about my ignorance now really - this book really brought home what these people suffered, and relatively recently. O'Connell mentions in the Afterword that even in 1915 traveling was dangerous and it wasn't until 1924 that Indians became citizens. I really felt for Lupe, Gaetan, Ista, Echo and their people and when they were rounded up and forced into poverty, and all the more because this type of thing actually happened! ( )