Native romance novel series

Restoring Hope (Native American Romance Series Book 1)Books in the Native American Romance Series include:

Restoring Hope (Book 1)
Brave Beginnings (Book 2)
Bound by Honor, Bound by Love (Book 3) due out 2012

Another one of Ruth Ann Nordin's Best!, June 26, 2010
By author "Paula Freda" (USA)

"Restoring Hope" another one of Ruth Ann Nordin's best, is a tender, sensitive story of Woape, a young Mandan Indian woman who is taken prisoner by a rival tribe's cruel warrior, Hothlepoya. Tortured and humiliated, Woape, escapes in the middle of the night. All seems lost until she crosses paths with Gary Milton, a kind young white man. He doesn't know why three Indian men want to harm her, but he is sure of one thing: he must save her. So he does. Woape clings to him and follows him everywhere. Gary nicknames her tenderly, "his shadow," as he falls irrevocably in love with her. She becomes his wife, but this is only the start of their adventure, as the ruthless Hothlepoya has sworn to find her.

"Restoring Hope" is the first of a planned Native American Romance trilogy. I look forward to reading them all.

Could Have Been Better, July 14, 2011
By dstew1973

I enjoyed Brave Beginnings (Native American Romance Series Book 2) more than Restoring Hope, however I think both books were very one dimensional in the writing. I think the characters could have been much more developed and interesting. I enjoyed them but I didn't fall in love with them, and that's what I am looking for when I read a Historical Romance Novel.Comment:  A Native woman who clings to a man because she can't take care of herself. A tribe of cruel warriors. It doesn't sound promising.

The cover is offputting. I don't know if the woman is Mandan--I'm guessing not. But her perfect complexion, with makeup or airbrushing, looks phony to me. Presumably the story is set in the 19th century, so why would you use a modern photograph? It convey the wrong impression about the story's subject.

If you want a clue, 19th-century Mandan woman look like this:




Not this:



You can see they've lived hard lives. They don't look like they just came from a modeling session. So the book probably is pushing an unrealistic notion of Native women.

For more on the subject, see Romance Novel About Pala Professor.