Comanche Passion

by Betty Brooks

HE'D BE HER GUIDE
Auburn-haired Serena Graves had grown up wanting only one thing: to find and rescue her younger brother who'd been taken by the Comanche and raised as an Indian. Now that she was eighteen, it was time to make the journey. But there was a problem: Pecos Smith, the only man who could lead her to Buffalo Hump's camp and negotiate the rescue, was unwilling to take her. Her words fell on deaf ears; her money was ignored. As a last resort, Serena smiled . . . then felt the touch of burning flesh on hers. As her lips opened uder his kisses, Serena knew that the long journey across Texas would be filled with days of loving and nights of passion under the hot Texas sky . . . regardless of what she might find at journey's end!

SHE'D BE HIS WOMAN
Pecos Smith was a bitter, hardened man, and when he said no he meant it. The handsome half-breed had had his share of trouble with the Comanche, and the last thing he needed was the long trek to Buffalo Hump's camp on a fool's errand with a silly white girl. Hell, her brother was better off staying with the Indians anyway! But when the reckless green-eyed beauty insisted on making the journey, then whispered "Please!", Pecos's defenses crumbled. He'd act as her escort, but that's not all he'd do. He'd kiss every inch of her velvety body, run his hands through those cascades of fiery chestnut hair, and guide the lovely Serena to the heights of rapture.

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Native American, Romance

415 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

About the author

Betty Brooks was born and raised in Palo Pinto County, the second eldest of eleven children. During her early years, she roamed the Palo Pinto Mountains with her brothers, developing a love for the outdoors that remains to this day. She became an avid reader in grade school and her love of books has stayed with her throughout the years.

In 1953, she married her high school sweetheart. Two years later, he was drafted into the army. His military career spanned twenty years and brought the family (one son and two daughters) to Michigan, Minnesota, California, El Paso, TX, and Germany. When James retired in 1976, they moved back to their hometown of Mineral Wells, TX.

There, Ms. Brooks began her writing career. Her first book, Savage Flame, was published by Zebra in March, 1987. A national best seller, it was nominated by Romantic Times (RT) for "Best Indian Romance" by a new author. Her Apache quartet was nominated by RT for "Best Western Romance Series" of the year. In total, Ms. Brooks has written twenty Historical Romances for Zebra Books. 1999 brings the release of three new Betty Brooks titles. A Place in my Heart will be available in April, A Wayward Heart in December, and her novelette, Mail Order Love, is offered as lead title in Zebra's anthology Always A Bride (May 1999).

Reviews

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

SOME SPOILERS Despite the constant punctuation errors that seem to plague this book, and despite the annoying stubbornness of Serena, and despite the fact that the little plot threads and tidbits weren't tied up in a satisfying way at the end, this book is full of action, erotic passion, and a great story and setting.

The story starts up with 17 year-old Serena Graves traveling all the way to San Antonio, TX to find Pecos Smith, a tough Comanche half-breed with a bad attitude towards all people. She heard that Pecos knew the Comanches, and could therefore help her on her quest to find and return her brother Johnny from the Comanche chief Buffalo Hump's village. But Pecos refuses, knowing that her brother would have grown up with the Comanches and would refuse to leave. He knew it would be a useless attempt for the impossible. But Serena, hard-pressed to find Johnny, puts her trust in the wrong man, a man called Gabby Blaylock, to escort her to Buffalo Hump's village.

After Blaylock attacks and captures Serena to sell to the Comancheros, Serena escapes and is found by Pecos, passing through to Brackettville. He brings her along with him, where he discovers that the man who placed a bounty on his head was currently searching for him there in Brackettville. In desperation, Pecos relents and decides to take Serena to Buffalo Hump's camp after all, to her surprise. But he knows it is a vain attempt to get her brother back. He warned her it would be, but she was too stubborn to listen.

Once at Buffalo Hump's camp, Serena finds her brother Johnny, now called Spotted Wolf, a young 16-year old warrior who not only doesn't speak English, but also resents her for reminding himself and the village that Spotted Wolf is not of Comanche blood. After attempting to escape the village, it turns out that Serena no longer has the option to leave the village with their permission and must be given to a warrior to be watched. Between a warrior who would have Serena as a slave, and Pecos who would have to take her as a wife, Serena decides she would rather go with Pecos.

I won't say much else about the plot because it is worth reading to find out! But the entire book is basically Serena having feelings for Pecos and feeling his rejection of those feelings because he tries his best to deny his own feelings for her. They fight a lot because she doesn't realize that Spotted Wolf would not be able to thrive in white society, away from the Comanche family he grew up with. There are several other things she doesn't realize, some more painfully obvious to the reader that makes me want to headbutt a wall in frustration. And some of their fights are over such small matters that you wonder why on earth Pecos still puts up with her! But there are events and moments that do bring them back together. Honestly, I like his devotion towards Serena. I like the internal struggles he has as he fights his feelings for her. It makes him very interesting. I would like to see more into his soul, as to his reasons for his hesitation and fears concerning loving Serena. Perhaps more regarding the pain of his past. I also like Serena's inner pain as she feels rejection and the feeling of being unwanted. These emotions felt very raw and real to me, and sometimes you felt sad for her and wondered if she would ever find happiness.

And Spotted Wolf was a much more interesting character than I imagined he would be. I'm sad he was taken away from the white world in such a cruel manner when he was a child. In fact, the book never talks about the reasons for Serena's mother to be brutally raped and murdered, as her father was murdered. We never know who orchestrated the attack and why. And the book doesn't talk about why white adults are brutalized, while children are merely taken and raised as Comanche. Why does the hatred of white people not transcend to children? I am quite sure that, realistically, white children would have been killed alongside their white parents. But, for the sake of the book, let's pretend that Comanches took pity on white children and took them in and never once saw them as whites, but as one of the People.

Interestingly enough, there is a moment where a character is raped. But it's not a main character. There are two other moments then a character COULD be raped, but isn't. And that was a main character. Of all the western/Native American romances I've read, only one dared to have the main heroine actually brutally raped, and that was Heart's Surrender. But that book focused on the redemptive and healing power of true, unconditional love. This book had romantic feelings, but nothing close to the healing love found in Heart's Surrender, so I guess this book couldn't have gotten away with having Serena raped because, despite Pecos' growing feelings, they would have a long while to go to find healing in their love because of how short a time they even had to be intimate.

Great book, despite the smaller disappointments I had with it. It was shorter than I would have liked, and an epilogue could have really helped the book out in terms of ending. But I liked the story, the characters, and the steamy moments! It wasn't as bad as it could have been, so 4/5 stars for me!

[kattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Love Story

I loved this story. I look forward to reading more of her books. I recommend everyone to read this book. Kattie. 1/26/18.

[wendy montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comanche passion

Brilliant love story of hardship and passion with a happy ending intriguing detailed suspending daring loving hate but in the end brilliant

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turned out to be a tough read. A bit ridiculous at times - how many times does Serena get kidnapped? - but overall, not bad. Warnings for rape and suicide.

[Ayla Stierwalt]

no stars it was awful

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book... the writing, the characters, the storyline, were all well-written. The only reason I gave it 3 instead of 4 stars is because it was so frustrating to have the characters go back and forth not sharing their feelings for one another throughout every challenge. It just seemed like needless games. You read a 400-page book just to have them FINALLY share their feelings in the last 5 pages?! Com’on!