Silken Savage

Summer #2

by Catherine Hart

Captured by Cheyenne while en route to the Colorado Territory, Tanya Martin is ill-prepared for the feelings she experiences when she meets A Panther Stalks, the brave who has claimed her as his prize. Original.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Native American, Historical, Western Romance, Westerns, Historical Fiction

476 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1985

About the author

Catherine Hart is one of today's most popular romance authors and has earned many prestigious writing awards since she started her craft. With 16 historical romances and 2 novellas under her belt, Catherine keeps very busy giving romance readers lots of great reading. Many of her books have made their way to bestseller lists then went on to win awards such as the Romantic Times Storyteller of the Year, a Lifetime Achievement Award for Western Romance. Also, she was recently inducted into her high school's Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame, an honor she cherishes. Catherine is donating total profits from one of her novellas to promoting adult literacy and she credits her success to a firm belief in true and lasting love, an overactive imagination, an insatiable thirst for knowledge and an off-the-wall sense of humor.
Catherine resides in Ohio, where she was born and raised and she is the mother of 3 grown children, a "Nana" and the adoptive "mama" of a Siamese cat named Sassy and a Pekingese dog named B.J., both of whom have found a place in her historical novels. Ms. Hart has a passion for Ohio State football, Native American crafts and culture, romantic movies and books, travel, "oldies tunes" and her husband of 29 years, her own special hero.

Reviews

[Beth F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absurd. But I adore it for all sorts of reasons I can't explain. Since the early 90's, I've read and re-read this fool book more times than I care to admit, and on several occasions after finishing, I have flipped back to the beginning and started again. Psychopath Jeffrey rules!

I wish the publisher would reissue this shit for Kindle. I'd probably read it even more if I didn't have to worry about hiding the cover in public.

[Abibliophobia-the fear of running out of things to read 🥺 · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️💫✨ 2.75 stars

This book was pretty nasty and when it wasn’t it was so boring. The hero was relatively good to the heroine, but that really was just in comparison to how the other women were treated. I hate when an author adds in unnecessary cruelty of others to make a hero look good.

Tanya was so annoying. She was so perfect and unrealistic, but also so stupid. She gets over her family way too fast, it’s like she has no compassion.

Panther was meh. I didn’t hate him, I didn’t love him. I give him a lot of credit for not choking the life out of Tanya when that’s all I wanted to do.

All in all, the parts about Native American culture were interesting, but I would really suggest picking up a real history book for that.

[Regan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating Tale of the Cheyenne before Little Big Horn—a Love Story to Remember!

Set in 1866, Silken Savage tells the story of 16-year-old Tanya Martin, who travels via wagon train with her family to meet her fiancé in Pueblo, the Colorado Territory, when nearly to their destination, Cheyenne warriors seize five of the women, including Tanya. The chief’s nephew, A Panther Stalks, and leader of the group, claims Tanya for his own and treats her better than the other captives who are treated brutally. Tanya, who Panther calls “Little Wildcat,” takes to Cheyenne life like a duck to water and becomes Panther’s woman, eventually his wife, planning never to go back to her old life.

Hart’s unique style makes for a captivating tale with wonderful characters and many twists and turns. The relationship between Panther and the golden girl who held his heart was certainly well done. And the action never stops. You understand the Indian-white man conflict from the Cheyenne point of view as Tanya becomes one of them, happy to be with Panther and his people. (George Custer is actually one of the characters.) Of course, Panther has a secret that will become very important.

At times, the heroine seemed too perfect, her strength and abilities nearly supernatural. First, she learns the complicated Cheyenne language in “weeks.” Then she fights off the rival Ute tribe killing and scalping a warrior. But the one that really got me was when she killed two armed men with her knife and, though pregnant, had the strength to load the dead bodies onto the men’s horses, this after she took down a 14 point buck with an arrow (and hoisted the buck up over a tree limb to “bleed out”). After that she killed a full-grown cougar and skinned both animals and preserved the hides. For a 16-year-old white teenager who’d only been in the west for a short while, it was beyond belief. And I don’t think a white girl taken captive, beaten, branded and treated as a slave, dragged around by a strip of leather around her neck, would be quick to fall in love with the Indian who did it, even if he was handsome and wanted only her. But all this was really only at the beginning of the story—a story I could not put it down.

I recommend this one for all of you Western historical lovers, particularly those who love those half Indian heroes. This one’s a saga you won’t forget!

Hart’s Native American trilogy:

Silken Savage
Summer Storm
Night Flame

[Maura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah. This is a ridiculous book. Within 2 weeks, she learns the Cheyenne way of life, the Cheyenne language and completely adapts, realizes her love for the hero and loses her virginity to him (after he tames her into it…works her up to it day by day as though she were a horse being broken in, which is actually the analogy the hero uses). Then she proceeds to become a Cheyenne warrior and what not. She is so CHEYENNE by the time she's rescued that she refuses to speak any English and has her fellow captive translate for her.

And what's really weird. Our hero is half-Mexican, raised by his mother in a white civilization, educated, speaks English and only spent summers with his grandfather among the Cheyenne. And yet he is perfectly willing to kidnap a woman, watch other women being raped and enslaved, brand his new slave (our heroine) and whip her for trying to escape him. And he never shows any sympathy or remorse for what he's doing. I think Mom did a bad job raising him.

And the author does more telling than showing. To give an idea - the heroine has two kids with the hero before we're even 100 pages in.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Докато вбесено чета историческо изследване за геноцида над индианците , изведнъж си припомних това “боклучаво” заглавие от далечните ми ученически години. С изумление установих, че все още е в библиотеката ми, и го поотгърнах да си припомня защо, да му се не види, все пак съм го запазила. И ме налази откритието, че траши-боклучавата литература понякога носи толкова сериозни послания, че чак е изумително. За човек, решен единствено да бяга от действителността, и това е вид комуникация, макар авторите там далеч да не си поставят някакви благородни цели освен еднотипни заглавия на килограм, където печалбата се реализира на база реализирани големи обеми, а не на някаква (духовна) стойност. И все пак и такава се случва да се намери…

Сега осъзнавам, че тази несериозна авторка всъщност е проучила сериозно периода около 1860-1870 г. в САЩ! Удивено срещам събития и имена, които историческото изследване също цитира, и няма отклонения! Описанията на племенните привички и бит, които са доста детайлни за такъв жанр, също съвпадат.

16-годишната Таня Мартин е отвлечена от група чейени, когато отношенията на племената с алчната, корумпирана и жестока администрация и армия на САЩ вече са доста обтегнати. Това, което следва, е типично за любовните романи, но и за живота, като има много документирани сходни случаи. Попаднала недоброволно в съвсем чужда среда и култура, както и нрави, тя все пак се влюбва, и решава, че бракът и с чайен заслужава пълното и внимание. Усилията и се насочват изцяло към адаптация и грижа за индианското и семейство и деца, а спомените от предишния и живот постепенно избледняват. Тя приема някои немислими и от днешна гледна точка обичаи, макар те да не се практикуват точно в нейното семейство - робство, полигамия, самонараняване в състояние на транс. Но тези нрави бледнеят в сравнение с еквивалента си сред “бледоликите”.

Щастието продължава до клането, организирано от армията над беззащитни жени, деца и старци, описано в детайли и от Ди Браун. В книгата има доста точна възстановка на ужаса от Сандс Крийк. Таня е бяла жена, каквито е имало сред индианците, и това я спасява, но я връща в света на белите. Този свят обаче вече и е чужд, и следва едно дълго - и крайно невероятно, но пък типично за романтичния жанр - завръщане. Хепи ендът е гарантиран, но неочакваните поуки са доста. И освен, че любовта може да спаси света, сред тях е и толерантността и силата да се бориш за себе си и близките си, без да се поддаваш на расизъм, алчност да заграбваш и глозгаш чуждото без пари и усилия и всякакви благовидни оправдания, съпътстващи един геноцид.

С две думи, книгата е необичайна за жанра. Твърде историческа и мрачна. От друга страна, спрямо историческите, е твърде любовна. Ще допадне на малко читатели, а на търсещите само разтуха - никак.

[Tonya Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!! This book came highly, highly recommended to me by a dear friend.
It has left me, speechless!!!

Silken Savage, this is one of the most beautifully written books about the Cheyenne Indians, I have ever read.
I love Historical Westerns, especially books about Native Americans. This one does not disappoint and will satisfy anyone who loves The Beautiful Cheyenne People, their culture, lives, and traditions.

A Panther Stalks and Tanya Martin’s love for one another will stand the test of time.
I was transported back in time and was completely consumed with such an amazingly well-written book.

Silken Savage isn’t for the faint of heart, no fluff, it’s as if the author lived this story, herself.
Catherine Hart has weaved such a phenomenal love story into my heart and soul for eternity.

[Lynsey A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this re-read of one of my favorite NA romances. Sure there isn't really any conflict in this book between our hero and heroine except in the very beginning but I don't think it takes away from the overall enjoyment of the story. In fact, I enjoy books more when the H and h aren't fighting through the entire book, as long as it is done well, which it was. The conflict came from the ex-fiance of Tanya after her return to "civilization" when she and the others are "rescued" by the Calvary...after the Calvary decimates the camp killing women, children and the old.

He does not rape the heroine. He slowly woos her and quite honestly gentles her like someone taming an unruly horse. Perhaps not the best analogy but that is how it is played in the book.

The love comes quickly, actually before we even hit page 100 but it didn't take away anything from the story for me. I admit it was slow while they were in the Native American village and it picked up more when Tanya was returned home but many parts of this book stuck with me over the years.

A nice sweet romance full of tons of purple prose and OTT words of love that sometimes had me rolling my eyes but still a nice re-read.

[Jena · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILER:

This book has rape, also a scene where the heroine witnesses multiple girls getting raped together. I don't think the hero ever "cheats" on the heroine, but it's been so long, I may be wrong about that.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf'ed this one a little over 200 pages in. This book was ridiculous. Of course out of the WHOLE group of like SIX girls, the heroine was the only one not to be raped at all... whereas the other girls were raped repeatedly by multiple men within the tribe.

She learned the language and could speak fluently within like TWO weeks.

Her Native American captor "tamed" her to accept his touch within a couple of days (there was even a parallel example being shown between a young brave taming a horse and he did it within the same amount of time...).


I finally gave up after:

A) She had one of the girls she grew up and was kidnapped with beaten for disrespecting her because "she's officially part of the tribe" .

B) Within a couple of months was seriously referring to the chief and the chief's wife as her mother and father since they "adopted" her so she could marry her husband.

C) She was happy that her friend's baby was born early and died because it was a "grotesque deformed thing" and this is attributed to how evil the baby's father was.

D) She bartered to have said friend freed and given to her and her husband as a slave (so she wouldn't have to endure the evil treatment of her previous captor)

but of course they were freely getting their freak on nonstop in front of the friend (the same friend that had been raped repeatedly) in their shared teepee 'cuz that was just the normal way things were done within the tribe...

then bravely accepted that if her husband wanted to sleep with her friend too, that was his right under the tribe laws!

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I don't mind reading the odd bodice ripper, this one was your fairly average Native American variety - the feisty heroine is captured by the handsome young Chief who treats her kindly and secretly has a Spanish mother and is heir to a large ranch in Texas. Full of the obligatory purple prose, it felt quite dated by 2014 standards. For nostalgia's sake, an extra half a star for the lovely Boo Blue eye shadow worn by the heroine on the front cover.

★★☆

[Riccarla Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Silken Savage" is a great example of the bodice rippers of the 80's. No long drawn out historical set-up, just right into the young women from the wagon train bathing in the river, kidnapped by Indians, and raped. Except for our heroine Tanya Martin who is claimed by A Panther Stalks, a young, handsome brave who treats her kindly. Well, there was that one beating when she tried to run away, but then he treats her gently, kindly, teaching her how to live as a Cheyenne. Of course, they fall in love, marry, and have children. She is far more fortunate than the other girls.

Alas, there is a snake in this Eden - the U. S. Army with Custer and Lt. Jeffrey Young, the fiance Tanya was supposed to marry,( if she hadn't gotten kidnapped at the river). A massacre of the village while the men are away brings the women back to "civilization". Tanya refuses to speak English or give up her children.

There's a great twist but I won't spoil it. Suffice it to say, she tries to reunite with Panther while Jeffrey goes totally stalker crazy. I like crazy villains but he was way over the top and gets his just desserts at the end.

This is a great fun read. It moves quickly and you can't wait to see what will happen next. I recommend it just for the way you get drawn into it and actually care about what happens next.

[JennyG]

I expected more from this. I am about to start chapter 4 and I have no desire to continue this book. Why?

First of all the writer is using mostly TELL instead of SHOW.
The consequence of that is that I feel like I am being given a history lecture which doesn't make me emotionally invested in the book.
I feel like I'm reading a newspaper account of the events.

Does it get better? Do I continue or give up?

I wonder if I've been influenced by all the negative reviews I've read about this book?

[Lady Tea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rating: 1.2 / 5

Although I expected this to be bad, and it was, I was also a bit surprised by just how readable it was as well.

That is to say, I cared enough about what happened next enough to read on, and yet it's that kind of "caring" that we can only say in reference to seeing just how far a writer can go in making something bad.

It goes there.

For anyone who may think to try this out, here are a few things to be aware of:

- a fast pace that squeezes in a LOT happening, not just in a short page count, but in the span of a short amount of time as well (and yes, it's unrealistic)

- writing that does a lot of TELLING, but not showing, so the writing itself is just...meh (and the emotional connection NIL)

- rape within the first chapter, and while it doesn't happen to the heroine, it still is pretty horrifying

- violence and abuse as part of the plots as well (just in the beginning to the heroine, but still)

- a...rather insulting plot in terms of Native American cultures, and therein is my main beef with the story

To expand on this last point, like others have said in their reviews, it's ridiculous how this story progresses. Basically, moving past the part that the heroine is able to master the Cherokee language within such a short timeframe, once she falls for the hero (again, unrealistically fast and with very little reason, but that's not so unusual in this genre), she has to go through a series of trials to be officially adopted into the tribe before she can officially become his wife.

At first, I thought this was a pretty neat idea, as it adds a bit of worth to the idea, rather than just be adopted for no reason at all as I've seen in other stories--although, the ease of that is preferable, to be sure.

HOWEVER

For some reason the heroine is given literally all the possible trials that I think can be expected of a Cherokee male warrior (short of the Sun Dance, of course, or seeking out her own vision quest), and has to pass tests on everything from hunting to tracking to freaking counting coup in order to prove her worth. I think...the author really failed to do any research here, because there is no way and no how that women were expected to do the same things as men in Cherokee culture. I won't deny that some tribes and traditions could give a war-like role to women, but I've yet to encounter women being expected 100% to do the exact same thing as men, on top of all their usual chores.

So....nope.

EXCEPT

The heroine proves to be pretty much a protegee at everything, even killing a full grown cougar when she's out in the wilderness on her own, as well as outwit their three best trackers from the tribe. It legit takes her only a couple of weeks to become a pro at what would realistically take YEARS and YEARS of hard work and dedication, and...yeah, that's an amount of disrespect and inaccuracy that does go into the realm of ridiculousness....

...and hence why I just couldn't take it seriously beyond that.

Read (though preferably NOT) at your own risk.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish.

[AlexandraB95 · Rating 1 out of 5]

ridiculous and verra sugary...

[Char · Rating 1 out of 5]

My reaction to 90% of this book : ugh. Don't waste your money on this juvenile book.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best romance and wemon growth story you will find with actually accurate history information in it, highly recommended if you can find it as a second hand online buy the paper back version you'll thank yourself for the moments it brings you.

[Addi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cathy wild for this one.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe how long it took me to read this book. About a month and a half! Granted, I have been busy. But that's no excuse. Part of it, though, is that it's only in paperback. Not quite as convenient for me. Anyway, great story. Tonya and her family were working their way across the country enroute to California when she and 3 other girls were captured by a band of Cheyenne. She ends up falling in love with a chief, Panther, and embracing the way of life. It's a big book and there are many plot twists. But an absolutely fabulous HEA.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely horrendous book. The heroine is basically a sociopath who shrugs off all sorts of horrifying situations, while getting her freak on with her hot captor. DNF. Like, Tanya should be pushed off a high cliff by the other girls.

[Copper78 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything about this book was ludicrous. I laughed out loud a LOT considering this isn't a romantic comedy. Here's a few funnies: tamed and trained guard cougars, babies who never, ever cry or fuss, a 16 yr. old heroine who can best any Cheyenne Warrior at anything, she also becomes fully fluent in Cheyenne within a few weeks and stops speaking English entirely, she never cried or showed fear when she was kidnapped by savages, the hero is infallible and can seamlessly move from the white world to the Cheyenne world without anyone realizing he is the same person, the H/h can communicate somewhat telepathically etc. This book is also LONG. Somehow I stuck with it, maybe b/c I just wanted to see what crazy idea the author would throw in next. Let's not forget the lunatic villain, Jeffrey who dies when his horse throws him into a pit of rattlesnakes. Oy vey. I don't think I'll read anything else by this author.

[April Brookshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a little infamous for a dislikable heroine.

I think she's got the makings of a serial killer with the way to takes to Indian torture customs.

I expected this to be one of those old bodice-rippers that are ridiculous but entertaining.

However, everything was so drawn out and it felt as if the heroine was always waiting long periods of time for this or that.

It was probably more realistic in the violence of the time, though.

[Lucie "a heart so wild" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average romance. Too fast to like each other.
Maybe coz the main 'theme' in this one is using a fast plot.
Fast plot is not my type. It's just like Danielle Steele's book, not focusing in the character how they could falling in love.

[Mary23nm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this 3 stars because Silken Savage was entertaining, in a wacky, it's not supposed to be funny, kind of way. Total ridiculousness (not that some parts weren't serious and violent). Not a keeper!

[Cvpakkē Burgess · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who is Native, I wanted to throw the book across the room! Why is it that most of the NA romances are fucking racist?! The heroine was a Mary Sue as others have put it and the hero was another cookie cutter brutish jerk! Ugh at least the sequel is slightly better.

[FlibBityFLooB · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was disturbing. I do not recommend. I think that the heroine was the "savage" in this book.

[☮ mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

the kind of story full of clichés and laughable plots, which makes great Native American romance a rarity !!

[Dora Navarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cheesy and predictable love story....but I loved it anyway....

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. Flicked through some chapters but only reinforced that I didn't want to finish it.

[Meisha]

good