Too Dark a Dawn for MeShe is sixteen and alone in a wilderness she can't survive. Her parents are dead, cut down right in front of her. It's 1810, and Emily Ambrose is terrified, grief-stricken, and broken. And then she is found by a young Indian, one who guides her, protects her, provides for her, makes love to her. But never speaks to her. Until he too, leaves her.Emily doesn't know why. Or what she did that made him leave. She knows she loves him and is devastated by his loss, even if she never knew his name. She knows her hope and confidence, and any meager joy she had found since watching her parents slaughtered, is gone. Not even the gentle kindness of the trapper John Cartier, the man who finds her after even her Indian left her, is enough to convince Emily she has any worth at all, or any hope for a future too bleak to survive.From the moment John stumbles upon Emily in the woods, she's like sunshine to him, a bright source of warmth and joy. He can tell she's deeply wounded, emotionally drained. Fortunately, John's a patient and caring man, and he sees Emily as just another wild, traumatized soul who needs help similar to that he's always given the creatures of the forest. He yearns for her, but he knows, beyond doubt, that unless she's given space, time, and gentle handling, the bright light that shines in her will go dark forever. And that's just not acceptable to John.He wants a chance at a future with Emily. She is forever to him. He just needs to convince her.~*~Originally published in 2002, White Dawn has been re-released along with the other eleven books in Edwards' popular White series. Western Romance novels aren't my favorite type of historical, but I was curious about this one and wanted to see where the series began. I wish I'd liked it more.My issues had nothing to do with how the book was written. It's certainly authentic for the time and the story is told with solid technical skill. There were some minor issues with a bit of repetition in some of the plot points, but that complaint was minor. The characters were nicely fleshed out, Emily's backstory intensely sympathetic, and John's past well-defined.Unfortunately, I thought the first quarter of the book too harsh and depressing to be entertaining and I got very frustrated with Emily's character when she was mired in her depression. It was realistic, I suppose, and even understandable. There is such a thing as too realistic for me, though, and this is a good example of it.Plus, I couldn't help but be a little squigged out by her relationships with both her Indian (because of the result) and John, who at ten years her senior seemed to have achieved an aura of adulthood that Emily had not. It wasn't the age difference - that' wasn't my problem. I just never felt Emily was all that grown up at any point. And that bothered me. I know that a sixteen-year-old was considered an adult back then. I do. But there wasn't enough maturity in Emily's character for me to forget or forgive the instinctive ick-factor of a young girl in her position.I really liked John. Truly. He was a gentle giant and I loved how he related to the animals and to Emily. He was my favorite character in the book, hands down. His friends and his grandfather also made great secondary characters. I even liked Emily later in the book, when she'd warmed up to John and stopped being so depressed. There just wasn't enough of that for me to really appreciate her character in total.The storyline was a little weird for me too. I know it's the first book in a well-developed series, but reading just this book on its own caused some problems for me. Swift Foot's backstory and his influence in Emily's life was not only depressing, his storyline cut off with no resolution and a sort of emotional downer. Maybe he's featured in other books, maybe he and his tribe play a part in later books, but it leaves a hole in this one. So did John's cousin. Not a good guy, obviously, but his storyline just sort of cut off suddenly with no resolution.There were aspects of the book that I did enjoy. Plot points and characters that I found entertaining. Too few of them, though, for me to truly embrace the read or give me any interest in continuing the series to see if any of those threads that were left dangling get woven into subsequent books. This one's not for me.Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.~*~*~*~Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
Unusual Prequel to the Indian-White Man Love Stories of the White Series This was my first by Edwards (and it’s the first in the “White series” if you’re reading according to timeline). Set in 1810, it begins as John Cartier, a 26-year-old fur trapper, is loading furs in his canoe for his grandfather to take down the Missouri River to St Louis. He intends to spend one more year trapping in the wilds before settling down. Meanwhile, in the Michigan Territory, 16-year-old Emily Ambrose is left alone when Indians kill her parents. She is saved from wolves by a Sioux named Swift Foot who becomes her lover. I just gotta say that it’s a strange romance novel that has the heroine spending whole chapters in an intimate, loving relationship with a man who is not the hero, but that’s what happened here. Emily falls in love with Swift Foot who loves her in return. But he cannot keep her and forces himself to leave her near trapper John Cartier’s shack. That detour had a certain ick factor, along with Emily’s father who seemed to represent a bias against Christians, portrayed as fanatics. Emily was a sweet, though very mixed up young woman (who wouldn’t be with her background), and John was a patient, loving and honorable man, just the kind she needed.The story held my attention, and for fans of Edwards’ White series, is likely an essential read. However, the ick factor detracted as did several story elements. Except for the repetition in introspection and the villainous half brother being summarily dropped off the story at the end, it was mostly well written. The whole purpose of the story is to show you the parents of Sarah Carter (the heroine in WHITE WIND who marries Golden Eagle). Here’s the White Series in chronological order should you want to read more:The prequels to White Wind:White DawnWhite DuskWhite Shadows And the rest:White WindWhite WolfWhite Nights White Flame White Dreams White DoveWhite DeceptionWhite Vengeance
Do You like book White Dawn (2015)?
I wanted to like this better. The story idea was interesting but the writing was very flat and repetitive. The characters spent pages and pages and pages in introspection going over and over the same things especially towards the end. The sex scenes dragged on and were pages too long. There were too many of them also. They really added nothing to the story. They weren't integral to the plot. On the whole the writing felt as if the author was trying too hard.In addition to the pedestrian writing
—Jacqueline
I'd forgotten just how much I like romance novels. This book brought all that back. This is the first of Susan Edwards' White series and it is wonderful. These books are being re-released and I can't wait to read them all. The story begins with a young being abandoned in the New Frontier and rescued by a wonderful man. After a heavenly time, he must leave her and she is saved again by a trapper named John. They both come from pasts that a less than perfect and together they find the love they are both so desperately, albeit unknowingly, seeking. This is a beautiful love story and I enjoyed it so very much. http://letthemalleatcake.blogspot.com...
—April
Territory of Michigan, 1810Late spring“Satan’s spawn!”The harsh bellow shattered the early-afternoon peace, startling Emily Ambrose. Her hands froze in midwring as her gaze flew from the pile of laundry to her father, a tall, rail-thin man with a wild mane of ash-brown hair. The tails of his overcoat flapped angrily behind him as he marched down the bank with a Bible in one hand and a whip-thin switch tucked beneath his arm. He stopped less than a foot away from where she knelt in the shallow water.Emily Ambrose lived in fear of her Christian missionary father’s wrath and no matter what she did, she just couldn’t please him. It had never taken much to set him off, but when she was nearly raped by a Jesuit priest, and then blamed for tempting the “man of God,” beyond endurance, her father, mother and Emily left the mission that had been their home, disgraced. As far as Timothy was concerned, Emily was a nothing more than a sinner and he would allow no more shame to fall on the family because of her. He’d had all he could take, so he did the unthinkable – he left Emily, ‘satan’s spawn, the devil’s daughter,’ alone in the wilderness, for God to deal with, uncaring of whether she lived or died. Yes, well. I'm happy to say that God wasted no time and 'dealt' with all of them.Historical Romance novels hold a special place in my heart, be they Medieval, Georgian, Victorian, Regency, Colonial or American West, but believe it or not, I hadn’t yet ventured into the world of Native American historicals. Now, granted, only a small portion of this book was devoted to the Native American theme, but thanks to Susan Edwards, I’ll most definitely be reading more!Ms. Edwards' beautifully detailed descriptions of the cultures and landscapes, hardships and joys of life in the wilderness, captured both my heart and my imagination. I couldn’t help but admire Swift Foot, Emily and John as they found so much happiness in the smallest things, and through that happiness found the strength to not only survive, but to trust, to love, and to do the right thing, regardless of the cost to their hearts. They were hardworking, honorable and devoted, and I couldn’t help but love them.The bottom line – While White Dawn wasn’t without its flaws, I really enjoyed this tenderly poignant, romantic and passionate story, and will definitely be reading the next book in the series! Note: Originally published in paperback in 2002 as the seventh book in Ms. Edwards’ White series, White Dawn is actually, chronologically speaking, the first book series, and I would strongly encourage anyone considering these books to read it as such. I was happy to learn that this entire series is being re-released in ebook format by Carina Press, with the first four books – White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows and White Wind becoming available November 21, 2011.This ebook was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press.3.5/5 stars
—UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick
