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Racing Moon

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In 1857 Irish immigrants Maureen O'Rourke and her parents move to Louisiana where she sells her watercolors and they open a bakery. Her current commission is with wealthy Taylor Clairmont, who covets expanding his holdings by stealing nearby Indian land. The nasty Taylor does not care how he succeeds as long as he owns more. His men set on fire the Chitamacha Rosedown Worship House where an Indian boy Sun Arrow on a ritual was worshipping.

When Taylor kisses Maureen, she flees in disgust. However, her flight for freedom ends abruptly when Sun Arrow's father Sharp Wing abducts her because he thinks Maureen is Taylor's wife and that he is the villain who killed his son. The tribe chief Racing Moon is attracted to the hostage, but refuses to act because he also believes she is a married woman. When Sun Arrow turns up alive, Maureen tells Racing Moon the truth, as she is attracted to the chief. They make love and agree to marry, but first he must deal with Taylor who burns down the replacement holy building.

Cassie Edwards has the patent on Indian romances. Her latest action packed tale contains plenty of depth into the lifestyle of the tribe and stars a strong couple. However, all conflict is resolved too easily in favor of the good guys while the villain has no redeeming qualities. Still Ms. Edwards provides a delightful diversion for her fans.

Harriet Klausner

Cassie Edwards has an agenda. On the inside back cover of "Racing Moon" she states, "Writing my Indian romances is my small tribute to those beautiful first people of our land who have suffered so much injustice." How unfortunate that her revisionist views and political correctness come at the expense of historical accuracy.

The reader is expected to believe that Maureen O'Rourke, the typical Cassie Edwards heroine who is slender, beautiful and prone to fall in love with the hunky Indian hero at first glance, has managed to bring her family from Ireland to Louisiana with her earnings from selling water colors. (Never mind that the famine in Ireland had ended several years earlier.) One can't help but wonder where Maureen got the money to buy her art supplies if her family was poor crofters on the brink of starvation, or, if she was indeed such a successful artist, why her family wasn't in better financial circumstances as a result of her numerous sales to the rich and famous.

A quick Google search of the Chitimacha tribe showed they were almost decimated from disease by the time the book is supposed to take place and that tribal customs were nothing like what Ms. Edwards purports them to be. Furthermore, it's ludicrous to imagine a white woman during this time period, particularly a daughter of newly-arrived Irish Catholic immigrants, would be allowed to marry a man of another race, especially an Indian, since they were viewed to be savages and no better than animals.

Just as silly is the notion that a group of slaves, upon the death of their master, would move in with the tribe to live as one big happy family. Like it or not, they would have been ferreted out by the authorities and sold to a new master or bequeathed to the deceased's next of kin.

How Ms. Edwards ever made it into the world of romance novels is hard to fathom. Evidently, it was a slow day at the publisher's or else they're on the same PC bandwagon.

This book cost me 25 cents at the local library - and it was a total waste of a quarter. I feel sorry for those who paid full price.

RACING HEARTS

Leaving her native Ireland behind, Maureen O'Rourke arrives in America with her watercolors, her canvasses, and her boundless dreams. She is hired to paint the impressive manor house of Louisiana cotton farmer Taylor Clairmont-a conniving landowner with less-than-noble intentions. Painting beneath a tree one day, Maureen catches a glimpse of an Indian-the first she's ever laid eyes on. With his broad chest, raven hair, and chiseled features, he is by far the most handsome man she's ever seen.

A proud Chitimacha chief, Racing Moon has sworn to stop Clairmont from usurping the land allotted to his tribe. But when he sees a flame-haired beauty on his enemy's plantation, his anger is replaced by desire. Mistaking Maureen for Clairmont's wife, Racing Moon vows to keep his distance. But his decision is no match for his destiny...