"Entertaining historical romance"

When the military attacked the Lakota village, they rescued captured white woman Emma Hartwell, a prisoner for seven years. However, her return is not filled with joy as everyone including her family except her sister treats her like a pariah. She concludes that her only sin was choosing to live even if it was amongst the Sioux.

Her parents decide to send Emma to live with widowed aunt in St. Paul, but instead she leaves at night by herself seeking to learn if her son Chayton survived the massacre. Her father John hires former scout Ridge Madoc to bring his daughter home. Ridge realizes that Emma is more a "Squaw Woman" than she is a white as she makes the trail hard to follow. As they begin to travel together, they fall in love; however, she refuses to believe that he does not care one iota about her Indian experience. All he wants besides her is to help her raise Chayton.

This entertaining historical romance highlights the problems faced by a white woman coming home after years living with an Indian tribe. The story line is character driven as Emma makes the plot work with her resolve to find her son although that will paint her as even more of an exile amongst family and friends. Ridge is a terrific person whose resignation as a scout due to military atrocities is a value that the military including the Commander-in-Chief should encourage as much as loyalty. Though John's turn around seems to quick and fast, fans of Americana romances will appreciate this wonderful tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 29, 2004

Summary

It has been seven years since Emma Hartwell's capture by a tribe of the Lakota Sioux. But her recent rescue by the US Cavalry feels like anything but salvation. She has been forced to leave behind her beloved child, and return to the family who can't accept her, only to be shunned by the townspeople as an outcast. Emma is haunted by her life with the Elk tribe. She sets off on a dangerous journey, fueled by a fierce love of her son and fears for his safety, in an effort to find the tribe and reclaim him.

Only Ridge Madoc stands in her way. A former army scout with a keen tracking sense and a keener sense of justice, Ridge has been sent by Emma's father to bring her back—a task that will give him the chance of reclaiming some of the land that was rightfully his. But, he never expected a woman as determined and courageous as Emma. Now, Emma must appeal to Ridge to help her with her desperate quest, and Ridge must struggle with his desire for a woman who no longer has a place in his world...