Summer Storm is part Native American and has had little contact with her tribe, so when she accidentally committed herself to marrying a warrior, she is terrified, until she falls in love with him. Summer Storm is the daughter of an Indian warrior and his wife who chose to leave their tribe when the danger became too great. As such, she is aware of her Native American culture, but unlike her siblings, has only had very limited interactions with them. When she realizes that a betrothal she unwittingly committed to will actually occur, she is miserable. She enjoys modern society and all of the comforts provided by it, but her parents force her to live up to her obligations. She had also fallen in love with Jeremy, a man her family has known for some time, and hoped to marry him one day.
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She receives a crash course in everything that she will need to know, but is very reluctant to do anything for her new fiance. She fails at basic actions such as setting up a teepee and cooking is especially challenging. Eventually, she realizes that she has no choice but to make the best of it, and that her life could be much worse. She falls in love with her new husband, Windrider, and does her best to live up to his expectations. She quickly matures into a competent wife and significant character development is obvious as she does so.
Through many travails, including weather, lack of food and illness, their marriage blossoms. She bears him one son, who is still nursing as a toddler when they find an orphaned baby who is the only survivor of a raid and take her home to raise. Unfortunately, given the problems of the time, danger is inherent and Windrider is injured and later dies.
She, and their children, return to her family home where she grieves over her lost love. However, her friendship with Jeremy, who is now a veterinarian grows as she spends time working with and around animals, as she has as a child. She later realizes she has fallen in love with him. They wed and he commits to both her and her children. Her life has come full circle and she was fortunate to have had two great loves.
Best part of story, including ending:
I loved the fact that the only reason she got married was because she accidentally committed to it and backed out. It is one of the more interesting reasons for a wedding in historical romance novels and consistent with the practices of her parents, whom we met in "Silken Savage"
Best scene in story:
When they found the baby, especially because if they hadn't been there when they did, the baby would have died. She was in a drawer and choking, so her life was saved because Summer Storm was still nursing her son, who was definitely not a baby at that point.
Opinion about the main character:
I loved that Summer Storm was resilient and loyal. Although she was a young widow with two children, she allowed herself to grieve and then went on so that she could care for her children. By doing so, the relationship with Jeremy began to re-form, although that was not her intention.
