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Traipsing across the countryside was not Rebecca Bennett’s idea of a good time. She had agreed to travel with her father, Otis Bennett, to the Canadian wilderness in the guise of leading a wagon train for an Edward Cope, a paleontologist, in the hopes of finding her missing twin sister, Amy and the lost Spanish gold. Amy had been captured by Indians, a Sioux tribe called the Bloods, as a child when the Bennett family had made the fated decision to move north from Missouri many years ago. The Spanish gold had become a legend; one that Rebecca wasn’t even sure was true no matter how much her father believed it to be. Days away from reaching the meeting with Cope in Helena, Otis is found bloodied and tortured. On his dying breath, he makes Rebecca promise to find her sister and bring her home, or kill her if she refuses.
Lucas Swallow, otherwise known as Luc L’Hirondelle, a Métis, is well known throughout the northern prairies and Canadian wilderness as an unsurpassed horseman. He’s been hired by Edward Cope to serve as a trail guide for his expedition. Lucas is overwhelmed by Rebecca’s looks and fiery spirit when he sees her at the Governor’s soirée for Mr. Cope. She insists on leading her father’s wagon train but such a thing is laughed upon in the Canadian wilderness. But when Lucas sees Rebecca’s necklace, made from a bear claw that he’d carved and given to Otis Bennett when he’d saved Lucas’ life as a boy, he is bound by honor to help Rebecca in her quest to honor her father’s contract and search for her sister.
Disguised as Métis and his captive, Lucas and Rebecca embark on a harrowing journey though wilderness and attraction for each other. With hostile Indians ahead of them and band of killers behind, they search for Rebecca’s sister. What sort of woman will they meet when they finally find Amy? Lucas fears that Rebecca’s justified hatred of the Indians will be a hindrance to finding lasting love with him. But maybe it’s his deception of his true nature that will divide them in the end....
Once again Victoria Gordon has written a story of the heart. SUNSET WOMAN takes us to a time long past where danger was around every corner and survival was not an everyday occurrence. Rebecca’s spirit and determination matched Lucas’ ease and wit perfectly. Victoria Gordon is a master at description. Whether it is the surrounding landscape or deep-felt emotions, you feel like your there among the sage bushes or madly in love with the hero. Don’t let the sun go down with out reading SUNSET WOMAN, but if you do, there’s always tomorrow.
Reviewed by Tina Burns
for The Road to Romance
August 11, 2004
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