"The latest edition to the White series!"

This is the story of Emily Ambrose. Her father is an itinerant preacher but he acts like he detests her and she just cannot understand why this is. When the resident priest nearly rapes Emily, her father blames it on her and says she?s just loose and wanton and she tempted the priest. Then he tells Emily?s mother to pack the wagon because they were leaving and leaving Emily alone in the wilderness.

As her parents are driving away, Emily is just stunned. Then she hears the sound of the wagon being attacked by savages. She hides in the wilderness until they leave. Her father is dead but her mother is still alive but barely. She gives Emily a locket and tells her a secret. Then she dies.

Emily is in shock and wanders the wilderness when she is found by a young Indian man named Swift-Foot who takes care of her. They fall in love but Swift-Foot knows he cannot take Emily for his mate because he has to lead his tribe. He knows that John Cartier walks the woods so he leaves Emily where he knows John will find her. John does find Emily heartbroken and he persuades her to come home with him. John falls in love with Emily at first sight but Emily can only think of her savage who has left her with a broken heart.

The longer John and Emily are in each other?s company the more they become attracted to each other but Emily cannot forget that her father and mother abandoned her and then her first lover left her brokenhearted too. Can she trust John not to leave her too?

This heart-wrenching story was a one-sitting read for me. I just had to know what was going to happen next as I read chapter after chapter of this enthralling book! I have thoroughly enjoyed Susan Edwards White series of books and hope to see her write many more!

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted April 1, 2002

Summary

Emily Ambrose had her share of dark days. Her birth father abandoned her in the wilds of the Michigan Territory, and Indians slaughtered her adoptive missionary parents. Of that had come some good, though; through her rescuer, she'd discovered passion. Yet he, too, was destined to leave. After one summer of bliss, Swift Foot was gone, and Emily found herself in the care of a trapper.

She was no longer looking for love. That had come and gone, and now Emily was seeking safety. Big John Cartier promised it. But the handsome mountain man also pledged something else. He vowed a steady devotion, a desire to vanquish all the dangers yet to come. In his arms, Emily began to understand: The hot sparks of a season's passion flare bright, but they fade. It is the unquenchable flame of true love that lights one's life. And with that knowledge came a surety that tomorrow would be brighter than any day she's ever known.