An exciting tale in two halves about a woman stolen by
raiding Comanches. Deborah is getting married when the
raiding party shoots up the drunken Mexican family of her
husband, only the women and children remaining alive. They
are taken captive and dragged back to a tipi village. The
war between the states has diminished the pool of
marriageable men, and West Texas is in an uneasy state with
native peoples forced onto reservations by treaty-breaking
landgrabbers. Deborah's new status as the slave of a brave
named Hawk places her low in the pecking order and makes
her a threat to the safety of the village.
Deborah never expected to fall in love with Hawk, but only
after she and her cousin Judith escape and are recaptured
does she surrender to her undeniable attraction to him. He
has not treated her badly and his little sister Sunflower
has been a good friend. At last Hawk explains that he is
actually a half-breed and grew up on a small farm, being
thrown out by his mother's husband and having spent time in
the Pony Express among other jobs. This may explain why he
regards her as of worth, most Comanches of the time valuing
a female lower than a mule. Knowing that white women will
draw cavalry to destroy the village, he reluctantly returns
them to a fort.
The second half of the book deals with Deborah and Judith's
life among the white society of ranchers and townsfolk. Her
Mexican in-laws need her American status to retain their
hold on their ranch and an offer of marriage from the land-
hungry rancher next door, Dexter Diamond, is refused. To
Deborah's shock she sees Hawk working as a hired gun for
Diamond, using his name Zack Banning. She can't tell
anyone that they were lovers, and Hawk warns her that a
range war is about to break out with her in the middle.
COMANCHE MOON is well described; the sage, pines, Indian
paintbrush, cactus and other plants are part of the scenery
and the horses, snakes and birds move naturally through
this landscape. Both sets of societies are finely drawn
and the stubbornness of the various women in enduring their
tough lives is finely portrayed. This is a good
historical romance full of tough, gutsy characters and
action.
The Comanches did her a favor when they killed her loutish
husband on her wedding night. But now this Southern belle is
the possession of a fierce, blue-eyed warrior called Hawk . . .
Zach Banning, known as Hawk among the Comanches, is caught
between two races, two cultures, two lives. Deborah Hamilton
is a Mississippi beauty who came to the Texas territory for
an arranged marriage. Little did she know, her new husband's
people have earned the Comanches' hatred. They enact their
vengeance on her wedding night, kidnapping Deborah along
with other women and also the settlement's children.
She expects the worst at the Comanches' village, but instead
finds kindness alongside the challenges. But when Hawk
barters her away from her owner, intending to seduce and
possess her, Deborah finds herself in a battle of wills
laced with deep desire.
Virginia Brown is the author of more than fifty novels,
including the bestselling Dixie Divas mystery series. Look
for many more of her classic historical romances, coming
soon from Bell Bridge Books.
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