Wild Splendor

Rating:
Summary: Lackluster romance, good history lesson
Review: Leonida Branson made a promise to her father before he passed away. She vowed that she would marry General Harold Porter so that he could take care of her and cause her father not to worry anymore. She was now having a hard time living up to that promise. Slowly learning how much of an Indian hater this man was Leonida is finding her days with him more and more difficult at Fort Defiance, especially when she meets Pure Blossom and her brother Sage.

Sage is the Chief of his Navaho Indian band. He trades with the white men for a profit to his people and has been and honorable and peaceful man until he learns that the white man, including a friend of his Kit Carson, wants to take away from him what he values most, his land. He however cannot forgot that attraction that hums between him and the beautiful Leonida.

While the romance was boring to me I found the book to be a great history lesson. As I began reading it I found it very similar to an article I read about Kit Carson and his involvement with the Navahos. While I'm sure there were many differences, this being fiction and all, I found what I learned to be quite interesting. Sage was a great hero. The way he felt about his people and how he took care of them was inspiring. Leonida was a great heroine as well but it was more of a history lesson than a romance to me. I gave it 4 stars for that reason.