As a twelve year old boy, Red Hawk was known to the people who raised him as Poor Orphan. Left as a baby with a Clan that was not his own by the death of his parents at the hands of a vengeful god, he has been forced to live with a people who will never accept him or acknowledge him by his given name. Yet, on one fateful morning he is handed a gift and a curse all at once.

Reluctantly chosen as champion for his grandfather's band of the Clan, he is released from the mist that traps the Clan and given eighteen years to undo the curse of his adopted people or live out the remainder of his life with the knowledge that he failed...like so many before him.

Effie Rutledge has lived for seventeen years with the memory of a strange Indian boy who played with her in the water and then disappeared into the mist never to be seen again. The fact that his appearance corresponded with her first hearing of the legendary Lost Clan seemed to her as more than mere coincidence, but in the end she dismissed the connection... until he returned.

Back in Montana to make one more attempt to end the curse of the Lost Clan, Effie and her team are beset by trouble and Effie is forced to hire a new guide to lead them into Blackfoot Country. Her new guide looks oddly familiar, and, moreover, seems to recognize her.

It isn't long until she realizes that her guide is Red Hawk, the boy from so long ago, and that there is so much more to the curse than she ever believed possible...including danger from a force that is far from human.

This story combines a classic Native American Romance tale with a Paranormal twist. With greed, mining practices, chauvinism, and the general cluelessness of the "white man", it remains true to the core tropes that separate Native American Romance stories from Western Romance with Native Americans in them.

The addition of the paranormal aspect allows this story to venture where other historical tales rarely can. It allows the reader to suspend disbelief and enter a fantasy world where a clan lost in time might actually be possible.

In RED HAWK'S WOMAN, Karen Kay achieves what every great historical writer wishes to achieve: she makes history interesting without sacrificing (or rewriting) its integrity. The archaeological practices presented are vague and accurate enough to not draw attention away from the mesmerizing story unfolding all around it. Part of me wishes that more time was spent on the journey to the site and the developing relationship between the characters, but we can't have everything. My verdict on this one: A mystical tale of danger, romance, and the pursuit of peace. A worthy addition to anyone's booklist.