Meggie's Baby

Navajo Family Blessings #2

by Cheryl Reavis

COYOTE, EARTH'S MISCHIEF-MAKER, WAS MEDDLING IN JACK BEGAYE'S MARRIAGE, DAMN HIS HIDE ....

Once, rabble-rousing Jack left gentle, blue-eyed Meggie Baron. But it was for her own good! For Jack was Navajo-and trouble, to boot. Yet Meggie stubbornly returned to the reservation. Bearing a fatherless child. And Jack could fight their love no longer. He made Meggie his bride and Coyote howled with evil glee. For soon Meggie would have to choose: between fulfillment and heartbreak, her beloved husband and her unborn baby.

THAT SPECIAL WOMAN!
Between Father Sky and Mother Earth, there was no other female like Meggie.

Genres: Category Romance, Romance

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

About the author

AKA Cinda Richards

Former public health nurse, now award-winning romance novelist, Cheryl Reavis, describes herself as a "late bloomer." Her Silhouette Special Edition™, A CRIME OF THE HEART, reached millions of readers in Good Housekeeping magazine and won the Romance Writers of America's coveted RITA award the year it was published. She has also won the RITA award for her Harlequin-Silhouette novels, PATRICK GALLAGHER'S WIDOW, THE PRISONER, and THE BRIDE FAIR. BLACKBERRY WINTER, THE BARTERED BRIDE and a Berkley novel, PROMISE ME A RAINBOW, have been RITA award finalists. She has received numerous awards from Romantic Times magazine.

Her award-winning literary short stories have appeared in The Crescent Review, The Bad Apple, The Mosaic, The Sanskrit, Laurels, The Emrys Journal and Writer's Choice.

Publishers Weekly described her Berkley single-title novel, PROMISE ME A RAINBOW, as "...an example of delicately crafted, eminently satisfying romantic fiction."

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For this type of standard-issue romance, Meggie's Baby actually has a lot to recommend it. It's set on a Navajo rez in the Southern states and is, as far as I can tell, reasonably culturally accurate. Those parts were interesting.

Also, I thought the characters, good and bad, all had backstories that were fleshed out enough to explain their actions. I really liked all of the secondary characters and the emphasis on family and community support. It seems to me that there's more realism in that than in the traditional romance focused solely on the hero/heroine.

I was fully prepared for this to be just another silly Harlequin-esque romance in which I wanted to bash the characters over the head, but I actually feel like it made me think. Maybe it's just the mood I'm in, but I quite enjoyed this quick read.

[Kristy McCaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows “One Of Our Own,” which was a wonderful love story set on the Navajo Reservation. This features Meggie Baron, who was a child in the first book, and her love for Jack Begaye. The story begins with their estrangement, but the love is still there. However, Meggie has gotten pregnant, and although she didn’t love the father, this is a hurdle that she and Jack must overcome, as well as the custody issues by the grandparents of the unborn child. This is an engaging and emotional read, with wonderful details about the Navajo and their culture. Worth the read!

[Malika-Liki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this story, the story of Meggie and Jack Begaye we met as children in "one of our own"I loved their fierce love and their profound understanding of each other.
I loved every "secondary" character, they have their place in the story, a wonderful read full of emotion, tenderness, and humor while dealing with serious topics like abandon, prejudice, and custody.
Only one request, PLEAAAAASE change the cover, this one is way too outdated (in a nonpositive way) without falling to the other extreme of almost nude models.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 Stars! ~ Meggie Baron first met Jackie Begaye when she was nine and visiting her half brother in the receiving home. Jack was there because he had been outcast by his abusive father. The two children bonded because both had felt abandoned by their fathers. They had grown up loving each other. Only Jack knew that Meggie deserved to find her own path and that he was only holding her back, so he told her that he didn't love her and joined the marines, hoping she would then go on to university as her family had hoped. After doing his time in the marines, Jack came back to the reservation to run a mission house, to help those that were forgotten. Meggie returns home too, much to her families surprise, only a few months from her graduation. Meggie's home because she's pregnant and the father of her baby is dead. She confesses her secret to Jack, and at first he feels betrayed. He still loves Meggie but she doesn't know the real reason he pushed her away. Jack pursues Meggie and following Navajo tradition he asks her grandmother for Meggie's hand in marriage. This is a rocky road. The parents of the father of Meggie's baby are stalking Meggie and demanding she return to their home for the birth and raising of the child. The stress puts her baby at risk, so Jack hires Lilian (Meggie's lawyer aunt) to protect them.

Jack and Meggie's bond is a deep one, and I was very pleased with their HEA. I really enjoyed reading more about Sloan and Lucas.