Anna Wiley has spent much of her life knowing she wasn't wanted. Her father left when she was a small child. And her mother left her at an orphanage so she could pursue a different life. Anna spent her entire childhood at the orphanage and then dedicated her life to helping orphans. She isn't beautiful by standard definition -- she's too tall, her features are on the plain side, she's thin. She has accepted that she will be alone for the rest of her life and has convinced herself that she is happy with it.

War Cloud is a proud brave, member of the Dog Soldiers. He stood for peace and represented his people as they negotiated with the White Man in an attempt for a treaty. Then, when the White Man turned on them, he fought valiantly for his people and their land. He avenged the senseless attacks against villages of helpless women and children. And yet, this strong, proud Indian Brave fights a battle he cannot win. His family was cursed many generations ago and no member of the family is successful in love.

Anna's adventure begins when she brings a group of orphans west to find them homes. In the Kansas territory, their train is attacked by a group of Indians and Anna finds herself and the orphans in a tenuous situation. War Cloud takes Anna and her group of orphans with him rather than kill them. His plan is to take them to a nearby Indian settlement and give the children to families who have lost children in raids so they can raise them as their own. Anna; however, is determined to convince him to take them all to a white settlement so she can place the children with "good Christian" homes.

War Cloud's ancestors have completely different plans all together. They believe that Anna is the woman to break the family curse and bring lasting love to War Cloud and their family. Sky Falcon, War Cloud's ancestor visits him several times as he, Anna, and the children travel across the plains. What War Cloud doesn't know is that Anna is also having visions when Sky Falcon is visiting. Whether his ancestors are right or not, passions are building between Anna and War Cloud, and it doesn't take much for those passions to ignite.

WAR CLOUD'S PASSION is beautifully written, with well- rounded characters. Karen Kay does a wonderful job of describing the scenery; it feels like you're right in the middle of a rain storm on the Kansas prairie. The love scenes with War Cloud and Anna are very intense and build naturally. I really enjoyed the scenes with the ancestors -- all in all WAR CLOUD'S PASSION is a great book, I look forward to reading more!!