HER ARTISTIC SPIRIT Lady Mackenzie Daniels is a portrait painter with a wild spirit and arrives in the American frontier west to paint portraits of English officers at Fort Belvadere. There she meets Fire Dancer. A red man. A savage. The most glorious man she has ever laid eyes on. She dares to paint Fire Dancer’s portrait against his wishes and scandalously meets him at a cool brook nearby...
HIS PROUD BEARING Fire Dancer, Prince of the Shawnee Nation, is at Fort Belvadere to negotiate peace with the King’s Army during the French and Indian War. He has never met a portrait artist, let alone a white woman like Mackenzie, and now a war rages within him. He forbade her to paint his portrait, lest she steal his soul. But he cannot stop her from stealing his heart. When a King’s soldier is murdered outside the Fort, Fire Dancer is imprisoned and beaten. After Mackenzie reveals she was with Fire Dancer at the time of the murder, she is locked in her room.
THEIR FIERY PASSION Fire Dancer escapes and goes to say goodbye to Mackenzie. “Let this man in,” he whispers. “There is not much time, woman of my heart.” Mackenzie watches as Fire Dancer comes in through the window. “What have they done to you?” “Shhh, it is nothing,” he murmurs. “We must speak softly.” “Fire Dancer,” Mackenzie whispers. She kisses him softly on the mouth. “This man will never forget you.” He kisses her back, harder, and pulls her closer.
Fire Dancer was an interesting story set in colonial Pennsylvania in 1759. The heroine, Mackenzie, goes to Fort Belvadere with her father to paint portraits of the officers in charge of the peace process between the English, French and Indians. At the fort she meets Fire Dancer, a Shawnee brave who is in representing his tribe in the peace negotiations. They both feel an instant attraction but think that nothing can ever come of it because they are from two different worlds. They strike up a friendship of sorts and get to know each other in secret.
Fire Dancer had told Mackenzie not to paint his portrait because he believed it would steal part of his soul. Mackenzie didn’t understand his superstitions so she painted him in secret. After Fire Dancer is unjustly accused of being a traitor, he is about to flee the fort but stops by to see Mackenzie one last time. He notices the portrait of him and is outraged because he thinks she has power over him. Fire Dancer kidnaps Mackenzie after an accident renders her unconscious but during the escape attempt inadvertently kills her father. He takes Mackenzie to his Shawnee camp, where she recovers from her illness and gets over her anger at him for kidnapping her. Fire Dancer does not tell her about her father because he doesn’t want to lose her. The rest of the story tells how Fire Dancer and Mackenzie fall in love and start their marriage as they learn to live together despite their differences. There is some conflict in the story due to Fire Dancer’s evil cousin and the issue of Fire Dancer killing her father, but they are able to overcome the challenges.
The positives of this story are the unique setting and time period. I enjoyed having a Shawnee hero and seeing his way of life. I find this setting fascinating because my family has been in Pennsylvania from 1780 so I enjoy knowing the history of where I live (another reason I enjoy learning about the French and Indian War). Fire Dancer was very well drawn, his character did seem Native American and not just a white guy with a different name (as some of these NA books seem to make them). The most annoying thing about him was the unending use of “this man” in reference to himself. The author had most of the Native Americans speak this way and it drove me a little crazy. I like the fact that the heroine was a strong female but sometimes she made decisions that were a little annoying. But at least she wasn’t spineless like some historical heroines.
I didn’t love this book but it did entertain me and was a decent story. If you enjoy colonial American romance, this one is something different because of the Shawnee hero.
Ohh one more positive - a seriously hot John DeSalvo on the front cover in a stacked loin cloth and rocking a six pack. Yummy.
Mackenzie and Fire Dancer have an immediate attraction and connection to each other, but after Fire Dancer discovers Mackenzie has painted his face against his wishes he decides he must take her captive back to his village because he believes she possesses a piece of his soul. While he tries to escape with her a white soldier accidentally shoots her. Mackenzie’s father tells Fire Dancer to give her back to him and he’ll let him leave, but of course he is lying and tries to shoot Fire Dancer, forcing Fire Dancer to shoot him in self-defense. Mackenzie wakes up after several weeks and the village’s holy man orders her and Fire Dancer to marry since she painted him.
There is a Shawnee woman named Mary who desperately wants to marry a white man and live as a white woman. Her brother Okonsa is mentally unstable and murders Fire Dancer’s nephew Tall Moccasin to prevent the boy from spying on him, kicks Mary in the stomach and causes her to miscarry, and kidnaps Mackenzie because he believes she actually loves him. He confesses to her that he was raped by Englishmen as a child. He falls off a cliff and appears to have been eaten by wolves… but in the epilogue, Mackenzie seems to imply that he actually wasn’t.
Fire Dancer eventually tells Mackenzie that her father is dead but doesn’t admit that he was the one who killed him until she asks him why Okonsa would say that he did. She decided to leave Fire Dancer in anger, but when the Shawnee and other tribes attack the fort again, unrelated to her leaving, she tells him of her pregnancy and returns to him.
The prologue and epilogue take place about 40 years after all of this. Fire Dancer is 79 and he and Mackenzie have at least one daughter and a granddaughter.
Overall, I really enjoyed this!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Mackenzie was a woman who knew her own mind. Something a woman was not allowed to use. Her father had a trading post at a faraway British fort. She was commissioned to paint the three men of a peace talks. Her good friend, Harry was the commander, Fire Dancer, and a French captain. She painted Harry's portrait first but the Indian, Fire Dancer wouldn't allow her to paint his. As she tried to explain it to him, he said it would take a part of his soul. As more time they spent together, their love grew as well. She knew she would have to stop seeing him, but they kept meeting. The fort was attacked by the Huron as Fire Dancer had come to say good bye. He found his portrait she had done in secret under her bed. So, he kidnapped her with the painting. But Josh had shot at Fire Dancer but hit Mackenzie instead. But he took her anyway. And that lead the ball rolling. I leave you to finish the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a beautiful love story without seeing the color of their skin. It is definitely for adults only! You can't go wrong with this book,I guarantee!
Another fabulous book by Colleen! I absolutely loved Mackenzie and Fire Dancer 's story. I was hooked from the very beginning of the book. I fell asleep reading it. The story is fascinating and very intense at times. I absolutely loved their word game about love. He would say he loved her and she would say how much? Fire Dancer would answer with things like "as much as the moon loves the stars."
I really do love the author's Indian romance books. However, I gave it four stars rather than five only because they all say "this man" rather than "I" and it simply doesn't flow easily.
OMG!!!!!! I Loved this book! I fell back in time with this book. It made me feel like I could visualize the whole strory in my mind. So romantic! LOVE< LOVE< LOVE this book!