Yellow Jacket: Savage Frontier Romance Series Book 5

by Jessica Leigh

Meg Carver knows what it is to be cornered, sold, and traded by men who think paper gives them the right to own her. When her indenture is unexpectedly transferred to Muata—a Susquehannock-born and Lenape-raised warrior with the scars to prove his violence and the silence to make her wary—she assumes only another form of captivity.

What she does not expect is how she is drawn to him. Muata is hard, formidable, and merciless toward anyone who threatens his way of life. He tells himself the stubborn Frenchwoman in his care is nothing more than a burden to carry until the debt between them is settled. He has survived much worse than inconvenience.

But the harshness of a frontier winter has a way of stripping away both convention and judgment. And the more closely Meg sees the man beneath Muata’s ruthless reputation, the more impossible it becomes to fear him in the ways she should.

Snowbound roads. A tiny room. One bed much too close to ignore. And a slow-burning hunger that turns ruthless once it catches fire. But love on the frontier has a steep price, and both are hunted by the past. To belong to each other may mean losing everything. To walk away may cost even more.

Perfect for fans American historical romanceForced proximitySlow burn... until suddenly it's not 🌶️Cross-cultural romanceImmersive settingsEastern frontier adventure

319 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2026

About the author

Jessica Leigh writes historical romance and romantasy filled with imperfect heroes, resilient heroines, and the fierce, world-shifting love that binds them. Her stories are born from a lifelong fascination with the early American wilderness—and from countless hours spent deep in the archives of Penn State’s Old Main library, digging through century-old histories, ethnographies, and forgotten memoirs.

Before writing fiction, Jessica studied environmental science at Penn State, learning the language of the eastern forests, its native plants, and its wild secrets—knowledge that now breathes life into every page of her books. She brings the land itself into her storytelling: the river’s pulse, the hush of pines, the healing power of plants, and the whisper of wind carrying myth and memory.

Jessica is known for writing characters who are beautifully flawed, passionately loyal, and shaped by the savage frontier worlds that test them. Whether it’s a young woman navigating cultural boundaries or an accomplished warrior wrestling with myth and magic, her characters fight, love, heal, and always rise above.

When she’s not writing, you’ll find her wandering nature trails, crafting herbal skincare products, dreaming up fascinating for her next novel, or trying to keep her cat from sleeping on her keyboard.
She is currently at work on book #4 of Native American historical romance series.

Reviews

[Patsyann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though it was written in some kind of prose, it was very easy to follow along.
The characters were richly drawn, they had vague back stories that in rare situations were explained or never explained.
The book had many of my favorite things:
- love at first sight
- a small room in a full "hotel" with one bed and lots of sexual tension in the room
- staying in an Indian Village with the woman who once was the girlfriend of the man you love.
- basically getting kicked out of the Indian Village by the girlfriend of the man you love
- the man you love travels many miles going from settlement to settlement looking for you
= the man you love doesn't know he loves you - but you know
Muata and Meg are my new favorite couple - they fight, they have sex, they get angry and have make up sex and in the end Meg learns to say I Love You in Muata's language. Yeah, that makes them my favorite - plus they are very attractive to each other and others!!
I have one question - why did men in the trading post think that Muata was half- white? It was never explained - maybe I needed to read the previous book or the next book!?!?
BEST USE OF: a hickey, a piece of paper, a stab wound
ALPHA MALE: 10
SPUNKY HEROINE: 10
CUTE CHILD: 1-
SEX: 10 - 2 sex scenes with some details but not erotic - just sexy!
TRAVELING IN THE FOREST IN THE WINTER: 10
PROLOGUE/EPILOGUE: Neither - and this book is in need of an epilogue (next book in series?)
Rating:
10 - on keeper shelf
Heat:
10 - not erotic but very sexy
COVER COVERS IT: Cover reflects what the characters looked like in the story - great cover
HOLLYWOOD CALLING: Hollywood should call on this book. A TV series, a movie both - Lots of opportunities for indigenous actors - a TV series could take Muata and Meg through the Eastern Frontier of the 1600's.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how I got here, but I’m glad I did. This was a great read.
The only thing I have to critique is that it’s extremely wordy for no reason, in the last chapter I found myself skipping paragraphs because they didn’t have any importance to the story. Just about nature, the moon, the destination, it becomes tiresome after a while. Not every single thing has to be described all the time.