Publisher's Weekly
Formula characters, unlikely events and a sentimental version of U.S. history undermine this post-Civil War romance. Of biracial heritage, Alanna Caldwell is an Indian princess whose white father is a scion of Virginia blue bloods. Alanna lives with her Cheyenne maternal grandparents until the battle at Little Big Horn. Her grandfather is killed, her dying grandmother sends word to the girl's father. Capt. Nicholas Ballinger is dispatched to help, and the young man escorts the beautiful young woman east. Alanna saves Nicholas's life when their coach is attacked by robbers, and in the public scandal that ensues at their having been stranded alone, Nicholas marries her to save her reputation, although he distrusts women: during the war, Nicholas's Southern father was killed by Union troops for shooting his wife's Yankee lover. As Alanna works to make her marriage a real one, she learns that there is more to the old family tragedy than Nicholas suspects and becomes the agent of his reconciliation with his mother. O'Banyon is the author of the Savage Seasons series.