Dust Devil

by Rebecca Brandewyne

Hiding the truth about her love affair with the father of her child, Sarah Kincade tries to put the past behind her after Renzo, falsely accused of murder, is forced to flee.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Historical Romance, Second Chance, Historical

474 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Rebecca lived in Knoxville and then, later, Chattanooga for the first few years of her life. After that, she and her family moved to Kansas, where she grew up, spending her summers in Alabama, visiting both sets of her grandparents. She says she's just a country girl with a dash of big city sprinkled in for spice. But having traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean, she moves easily between the publishing world of New York and her hometown.

Rebecca graduated cum laude with departmental honors from Wichita State University, earning a B.A. in journalism, minors in history and music (theory and composition), and an M.A. in communications [mass (broadcasting) and interpersonal (dyadic relationships):]. During the course of her education, she was fortunate enough to study at various times under, among several other distinguished instructors, three Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and one of the foremost authorities in the field of interpersonal communication. Twice a recipient of the Victor Murdock Scholarship, Rebecca taught interpersonal communication at the university level before becoming a published writer.

She was twenty-one when she started work on her first novel, No Gentle Love. She finished the book a year later and sold it to Warner Books some months after her twenty-third birthday, making her, at that time, the youngest romance author in America, a record that stood for ten years before finally being broken. To date, Rebecca has written over thirty consecutive bestselling titles, including novels and novellas on the following lists: New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Magazine & Bookseller, Ingram, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks, among many others.

Her books have been translated into a number of foreign languages, including Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish; and they have been published in over sixty countries worldwide. Many have been selections of the Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild. Hardback editions of several titles have been published by Severn House, and large-print editions of some books are also available from Macmillan Library Reference and Thorndike Press. Rebecca currently has millions of books in print in the United States alone.

From Affaire de Coeur magazine, she has won: the Classic Award for Classic Romances, for Love, Cherish Me, 1990; the Golden Quill Award for Best of the '80s Historical Romances, for Love, Cherish Me, 1990; the Bronze Pen (Wholesalers' Choice) Award, 1989; the Silver Pen (Readers' Choice) Award, 1988, 1987, and 1986; and a Gold Certificate for The Outlaw Hearts, 1987.

From Romantic Times magazine, she has won: the Reviewer's Choice Nominee for Best Historical Romantic Mystery, for The Ninefold Key, 2004; the Reviewer's Choice Certificate of Excellence for Victorian Historical Romance, for The Jacaranda Tree, 1995; the KISS (Knight in Shining Silver) of the Month for Best Hero, for The Jacaranda Tree, 1995, and for Swan Road, 1994; the Career Achievement Award for Futuristic Romance, 1991, for Passion Moon Rising and Beyond the Starlit Frost; the Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Gothic, for Across a Starlit Sea, 1989, and for Upon a Moon-Dark Moor, 1988; the Historical Romance Novelist of the Year Award, 1987; and the Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Western Romance, for The Outlaw Hearts, 1986. Rebecca has also been named one of Love's Leading Ladies and inducted into Romantic Times magazine's Hall of Fame.

http://www.brandewyne.com/castle/gall...

Reviews

[KC]

Infuriating!

Backstory

Hero Renzo was 22 to heroine Sarah's 17 when they fell in love. He took her virginity, promising undying love and marriage. But they never married because Renzo accidentally killed a man, and left their small town in a big hurry without Sarah because he hadn't been thinking straight. Renzo apparently sent letters to Sarah and called soon after, but the letters were torn up by her mother and their phone disconnected. His mother, meanwhile, had told him Sarah had married and left town.

Problem #1
Maybe it's a bit too much to hope "Turdo" would have stayed celibate during his 11-12 year separation from "Chastity" who, of course, remained chaste in heart and body (all the while raising their secret baby mostly by herself), but what pissed me off is how he claimed shagging other women would help him get over Chastity whom he supposedly still loved. Really? If this logic is true, then why not try celibacy after it became apparent that you would never stop loving Chastity and nothing you did, including therapeutic f*cking, would kill it? Either you were just horny (likely) or your love was weak (very likely). To rub the salt in the wound, this disciple of deep love and commitment never used his award-winning, investigative-reporting skills to check up on the supposed love of his life who, by the way, still lived in the same town as his parents. Are you kidding me!

Problem #2
Both bitches mothers got away with their meddling! Not even a slap on the hand or a well-deserved lecture. No, he'd rather be a spineless idgit, allowing them to continue to be a part of their lives (so they can meddle some more).

Problem #3
Turdo now knew they'd been manipulated, but was so pissed at Chastity after finding out about his son that he almost slapped her. If anyone needs to be slapped, it should be their mothers.

I love Rebecca Brandewyne's older historicals, but I don't think her contemporaries are for me.

[Goodtrsfd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book! Lots of angst, emotions. I couldn't put it down. I particularly like books in which the characters have history. The two main characters grew up together, fell in love, but circumstances forced them apart. They come together 11 years later, clear their misunderstandings, and love stronger than ever. Sarah is a sweet likeable heroine who stays true and brings up their son, and Renzo is a hot, handsome, self made man who has always loved Sarah. Definitely worth a read. I wish there were more books like this.

[Copper78 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was apparently written in 1996, but it almost feels like it's much older. It's VERY dated. I was alive in 1996 and I don't recall Italians being in relationships with non-italians being considered "interracial" and shocking. Everyone in this book is insanely racist, backward and ignorant. It felt like a small town in the 50s, not set in the 80s - 90s. Other than that, it's VERY long and the characters are all exaggerated and cartoonish. But weirdly I didn't hate the book, I liked the history between the H/h and how sweet their relationship as friends was when they were kids. I personally like the secret baby trope, which is what inspired me to read this. The hero was pretty old fashioned in his bossiness and alpha ways, and the h was pretty much a weakling doormat as soon as she got within 100 feet of the H. I can't say I recommend this book, but I did finish it and found it interesting enough to want to know what happened next.

[Sanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, I just don't know how to rate it. The first part was great, loved the story about young love. The second part, when all the misunderstandings about secret child and lost love were solved, just went downhill; I felt like reading another book, a suspense book. Good thing is the second part is about 70% towards the end.

[Pinklushhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book. It's absolutely wonderful.

[Itzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is good! Its problematic in some aspects but I like the plot and the way the book has been written. Everything mentioned has been tied to something and makes sense in the end. Some things come to a full circle. Renzo despite having immense love for Sarah is not an ideal hero in any way. Neither is Sarah an ideal heroine. For all the amazing award winning journalism, Renzo didn't know for years that Sarah never married and left town. Sarah, raised the boy herself but never tried to look for Renzo atleast. Even when Renzo came to town she kept him hidden despite knowing that her small town can hide nothing. Renzo had almost slapped Sarah 2 seconds after claiming that he loved her. He also forcefully entered her house after Sarah closing the screen door and refusing to open it in his face! Same goes for Bubba Holbrooke for repeatedly trying to make advances on her after her apparent disinterest. He even claimed to like her more because she was resisting him..? The meddling mothers!! Oh there's so much wrong with the meddling mothers!! They lied to their respective children for 12 freaking years! They deliberately caused all 3 of them pain under the pretense of only doing what they think is right for their child and then got away with it!! How was it right to keep Sarah and Alex from Renzo and vice versa!? I agree that Renzo wouldn't have been an award winning journalist if he had stayed in the town but he wasn't an award winning journalist when the mothers started meddling!! It also seems like a love story for half of the book then turns into a mystery which threw me off a little. It didn't have the proper aspects of mystery from the beginning apart from the bullet wound on Renzo's shoulder when Sonny died.

But despite it all I would recommend the book.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah and Renzo first met when she was a little girl who captured a butterfly and captured a slightly older Renzo’s heart. She had no idea when she was little how much she impressed him. The two met again when she was in middle school and was taking racist garbage from a popular girl at school whose father ran the primary source of employment in the town. Renzo understood what it meant to be the reject. His boyhood had been spent with a prostitute mother who didn’t really want him. He was mysteriously rescued from that life by an aging Italian mafioso who helped him find a new home where he grew up with love. But he never forgot those early days, so helping Sarah made sense.

The two became fast friends and eventually lovers. On a hot summer day, when the town’s young people were illicitly gathered at a quarry near town, Renzo and the brother of the girl who had so badly treated Sarah years earlier challenged one another to dive into the quarry from increasingly higher places. Sadly, only Renzo immerges from the quarry’s depths. Worse still, unbeknownst to him, he had impregnated Sarah. But before he could be accused of murder, he skipped town with help of the mysterious mafioso man—a man who told Renzo that Renzo was his grandson.

This is an intriguing book. When Renzo comes home to take over his dad’s newspaper, having first won a Pulitzer Prize, he and Sarah awkwardly at first, then steamily reunite. Before the book ends, the two must work to find a killer.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style. If you’re triggered by racist words and phrases, you probably want to let this one slide on by. There’s lots of that in here.

[ANTC · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was a secret-baby, second-chance romance. The writing was technically good, but the story itself was nothing special and didn't pack as much of a punch as others of its kind have. The characters also behaved in unrealistic ways and were obviously behaving as such solely to make it easier for the author to hit her plot events.

The book was chock full of cliches, as well as convenient, unrealistic plot-devices utilized by the author solely to achieve her desired storyline. For instance, I know secret baby and second chance romances often rely on misunderstandings, but this author relied not only on misunderstandings, but on a huge chain of unbelievably events and actions to separate the heroine and hero. We had both their parents hiding letters, lying to them, disconnected phones, etc etc...just a lot of unexplainable and unreasonable actions that made no sense other than to continue the plot.

It also annoyed me that we don't see the hero meet his son until the 75% point. The heroine kept the secret for far too long, and as mentioned previously, it didn't really make sense as to why. Conveniently, no one in the whole town, not even the heroine's parents, knew who her son's dad was...even though the son was the spitting image of his father, who was well known in the town.

[Breanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has some serious potential, but unfortunately the characters not only fell flat, but downright angered me. The character of Renzo is nothing but a misogynistic, manipulative tool who does what he pleases while claiming to love the heroine, Sarah. Sarah herself is flighty and weak, allowing herself to be manipulated not only by the hero, but another character as well. This read more like a medieval romance novel than a modern romance, and the amount of racism and prejudice present in the book felt a lot more like a small 1950's town (although admittedly, I cannot speak from experience whether this was an accurate portrayal of rural midwestern America in the mid-1990s or not).
Furthermore, I found there to be a TON of run-on sentences and just generally confusing writing. Overall, the book angered and frustrated me, and I am frankly surprised I kept reading. I gave the book a 1/5 because at least the plot and the potential the plot had kept me turning the pages until the very end. I will have to try one of the author's historical novels, as I feel she may do a better job in a different time period.

[Rose Sanderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope. Cleared the air, didn't confess the big bad, and now invite that dipshit for dinner. Stellar decision. Nope, don't care what happens after that. That kind of stupidity is unforgivable. Especially after that little speech.

[sera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Renzo probably didn't live long because of all the chain smoking he did and considering all the smoke Sarah & Alex must have inhaled because of his habit of smoking indoors I don't see them living long lives either lol.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Very interesting story line that kept me turning the pages.

[°мαggιє° (っ⚈ᴥ⚈)っ™]

One moment Reno's like "o Sarah, o my love!" The next he's about to backhand-slap her to the moon.

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Brandewyne's other works, but this fell flat for me. The characters are all so one-dimensional and so many of the males are stereotypically gross and leery. Not my cuppa.

[Lindsey Lucky]

Where do I begin? This is one of the few books I've ever read, where I honestly disliked the hero from start to finish. Renzo, I guess is the authors idea of a "take charge alpha male" or whatever. But instead he comes across as more of a manipulative, misogynistic, asshole douchebag, & had no redeeming qualities in my book. (no pun intended). I can count at least three different scenes in this book, that would have gotten this guy a restraining order in real life. That's definitely the modern day hero all women dream about, right ladies? I didn't care for the doormat heroine either, who seems to be sobbing weeping or crying; every other chapter. (I couldn't be the only one at times, who wished this chick would have just taken a damn prozac.) The supporting characters, came across as cartoonish & over the top at times. And on top of that, this book supposedly took place in '95 & I was not aware that there were small towns in america; that harbored this much racism toward Italians. The setting & the tone almost felt more like the old south versus the present day midwest. I felt like this book had so much potential, but in the end it just fell flat in many areas. If you're bored & looking to pass the time, I'd suggest it. If you're actually looking for something better written, (without the confusing run-on sentences, I might add) I'd probably pass on it.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good. It was written in the 90s so some of the norms in the book are not the norms now. Other then that it was ok.

[Tilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars.

[Barbie]

the reason i read romance

[Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

Drags and from time to time gets wishy-washy.
H`s habit of smoking is annoying.