What do you think?
Rate this book
Chippewa #5
Savage Paradise
When gorgeous Mariana Fowler had to move to the unsettled Minnesota Territory, she detested the desolate wilderness. But when a virile Chippewa brave saved her life, the spirited young woman never wanted to leave the dense green forest where they met. His masterful caress made her thrill with anticipation, she sank willingly beneath him to their mossy bed. At first all the enraptured miss thought she felt for her rescuer was gratitude, but after one lingering, sensual kiss, she knew she was forever in love!
From the moment he touched Mariana's smooth ivory skin, Lone Hawk was furious. He cursed his weakness for the hated paleface and for craving to be one with his enemy. Then he gazed into her sky blue eyes and the hot blooded warrior had to soar with her to the greatest heights of passion. He'd banish her from his tepee once he sated his most primitive urge, but for now he'd take her time and again to glory in his savage paradise.
From the moment he touched Mariana's smooth ivory skin, Lone Hawk was furious. He cursed his weakness for the hated paleface and for craving to be one with his enemy. Then he gazed into her sky blue eyes and the hot blooded warrior had to soar with her to the greatest heights of passion. He'd banish her from his tepee once he sated his most primitive urge, but for now he'd take her time and again to glory in his savage paradise.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
7 people are currently reading
548 people want to read
About the author
Cassie Edwards
163 books419 followersEdwards began writing romances in 1982 and released her 100th novel, Savage Skies, on August 28, 2007. Although her earlier books were classic historical romances, the vast majority of her novels involve Native American tribes. Edwards's grandmother was a full-blooded Cheyenne. Her first 99 books sold a combined 10 million copies as of August 2007, with her more recent novels averaging sales of 250,000–350,000 copies.
Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.
Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.
Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.
Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 17, 2020
This review is of “Savage Paradise”, #5 in the “Chippewa” series by Cassie Edwards.
The book begins in Minnesota Territory, 1789. Alone with her thoughts is Mariana Fowler, 17, the heroine of the book. Mariana lives with her mother Jewel, a homemaker, and her father, Everett, who runs a trading post. (Backstory. The family previously lived in Virginia, but had to leave due to actions beyond Mariana’s control). Mariana is deeply infatuated with Lone Hawk, 25, a Chippewa brave and the hero of the book. (Naturally, Lone Hawk is the son of-and therefore, future chief-of his band of Chippewa). Everett, who is very aware that Mariana is attracted to Lone Hawk,is pushing her to marry his employee, Eugene South. One day, he makes Mariana and Eugene go on a date, which they do by canoe. The canoe capsizes, and Eugene leaves Mariana to drown and saves himself. Mariana does manage to make it to safety, but falls into an animal pit and is rescued by Lone Hawk. Soon after, they become clandestine lovers.
As usual, the path to love is not smooth for our hero and heroine. In addition to Everett’s disapproval-because he is a raging bigot-there are other factors as well. Those are contained in the “B” and “C” stories in “Savage Paradise”.
The “B” story involves Lone Hawk’s sister, Neala, and her clandestine lover, and Lone Hawk’s blood brother, Sitting Tall. Sitting Tall, like Lone Hawk, is the son of the current chief of his band of Indians, and therefore will be future chief of his tribe. There are two big differences between Lone Hawk and Sitting Tall. One, Sitting Tall is a Lakota Indian-the Chippewa and the Lakota are mortal enemies, so the two men keep their relationship a secret, as does Neala her love for Sitting Tall; and two, Sitting Tall has a major character weakness: he is addicted to firewater (alcohol). This addiction has major consequences when his provider, white trapper Jed Fenris-the second Evil White Man in the book; Everett is the first-gets Sitting Tall drunk, then abducts and rapes Neala. When Lone Hawk discovers this, he shoots Fenris in both arms with arrows; however, Lone Hawk chooses not to kill him. This decision will come back to haunt him and Mariana.
The “C” story involves Jewel and Mariana. Jewel passes away by the end of the first third of the book, but gives Mariana a diary she kept which explains things Mariana didn’t know, including this bombshell: before Jewel married Everett, she was abducted and raped by a Lakota Indian; Mariana is a product of that rape. This creates further issues between her and Lone Hawk, as the Chippewa hate white people almost as much as the Lakota.
Mariana later meets her father, Black Cloud, who tells her a different story about what he did with Jewel; he claims that what Jewel called rape was an act of love. Another thing: Black Cloud is Sitting Tall’s father, meaning he is Mariana’s half-brother. Soon after meeting Mariana, Black Cloud passes, as does Lone Hawk’s unnamed father, making Lone Hawk and Sitting Tall chiefs of their respective bands of Chippewa and Lakota, respectively.
By the end of the book, Fenris is dead, Mariana distances herself from Everett, she marries Lone Hawk, Neala marries Sitting Tall, and both couples have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: Mrs. Edwards does a fairly good job in getting her characters' emotions across to her readers. As usual, Mrs. Edwards books are well researched, giving readers insight into her ‘tribe of the book”.
Downside: “Savage Paradise” follows the formula Mrs. Edwards uses for all of her Native American books; I won’t rehash it here. Marina and Lone Hawk aren’t the most exciting or interesting characters Mrs. Edwards has written about.
I was also really bothered by two things. One, that Mariana accepted Black Cloud’s version of events at face value. I realize it’s difficult to question one’s parents about their sexual activities, but the fact that she accepted the word of a male SHE JUST MET over a woman who gave birth to her and whom she lived with for 17 years bothered me greatly.
On a slightly lighter note, I was also bothered by the constant use of exclamation points in the book! Every paragraph, it seemed, had a sentence which ended in an exclamation point! Most of which didn’t need one! It was very annoying!
Sex: Love scenes involving Mariana and Lone Hawk and Neala and Sitting Tall. The love scenes are quite muted for Mrs. Edwards, who would write spicier scenes in her future books.
Violence: Some of the violence is mentioned above. There are also assault and battery and shootings. There is also a scene where Everett amputates Fenris’ left arm, which is infected after being shot by Lone Hawk. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line: “Savage Paradise” is about in the middle of the pack of Mrs. Edwards Native American romance novels.
The book begins in Minnesota Territory, 1789. Alone with her thoughts is Mariana Fowler, 17, the heroine of the book. Mariana lives with her mother Jewel, a homemaker, and her father, Everett, who runs a trading post. (Backstory. The family previously lived in Virginia, but had to leave due to actions beyond Mariana’s control). Mariana is deeply infatuated with Lone Hawk, 25, a Chippewa brave and the hero of the book. (Naturally, Lone Hawk is the son of-and therefore, future chief-of his band of Chippewa). Everett, who is very aware that Mariana is attracted to Lone Hawk,is pushing her to marry his employee, Eugene South. One day, he makes Mariana and Eugene go on a date, which they do by canoe. The canoe capsizes, and Eugene leaves Mariana to drown and saves himself. Mariana does manage to make it to safety, but falls into an animal pit and is rescued by Lone Hawk. Soon after, they become clandestine lovers.
As usual, the path to love is not smooth for our hero and heroine. In addition to Everett’s disapproval-because he is a raging bigot-there are other factors as well. Those are contained in the “B” and “C” stories in “Savage Paradise”.
The “B” story involves Lone Hawk’s sister, Neala, and her clandestine lover, and Lone Hawk’s blood brother, Sitting Tall. Sitting Tall, like Lone Hawk, is the son of the current chief of his band of Indians, and therefore will be future chief of his tribe. There are two big differences between Lone Hawk and Sitting Tall. One, Sitting Tall is a Lakota Indian-the Chippewa and the Lakota are mortal enemies, so the two men keep their relationship a secret, as does Neala her love for Sitting Tall; and two, Sitting Tall has a major character weakness: he is addicted to firewater (alcohol). This addiction has major consequences when his provider, white trapper Jed Fenris-the second Evil White Man in the book; Everett is the first-gets Sitting Tall drunk, then abducts and rapes Neala. When Lone Hawk discovers this, he shoots Fenris in both arms with arrows; however, Lone Hawk chooses not to kill him. This decision will come back to haunt him and Mariana.
The “C” story involves Jewel and Mariana. Jewel passes away by the end of the first third of the book, but gives Mariana a diary she kept which explains things Mariana didn’t know, including this bombshell: before Jewel married Everett, she was abducted and raped by a Lakota Indian; Mariana is a product of that rape. This creates further issues between her and Lone Hawk, as the Chippewa hate white people almost as much as the Lakota.
Mariana later meets her father, Black Cloud, who tells her a different story about what he did with Jewel; he claims that what Jewel called rape was an act of love. Another thing: Black Cloud is Sitting Tall’s father, meaning he is Mariana’s half-brother. Soon after meeting Mariana, Black Cloud passes, as does Lone Hawk’s unnamed father, making Lone Hawk and Sitting Tall chiefs of their respective bands of Chippewa and Lakota, respectively.
By the end of the book, Fenris is dead, Mariana distances herself from Everett, she marries Lone Hawk, Neala marries Sitting Tall, and both couples have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: Mrs. Edwards does a fairly good job in getting her characters' emotions across to her readers. As usual, Mrs. Edwards books are well researched, giving readers insight into her ‘tribe of the book”.
Downside: “Savage Paradise” follows the formula Mrs. Edwards uses for all of her Native American books; I won’t rehash it here. Marina and Lone Hawk aren’t the most exciting or interesting characters Mrs. Edwards has written about.
I was also really bothered by two things. One, that Mariana accepted Black Cloud’s version of events at face value. I realize it’s difficult to question one’s parents about their sexual activities, but the fact that she accepted the word of a male SHE JUST MET over a woman who gave birth to her and whom she lived with for 17 years bothered me greatly.
On a slightly lighter note, I was also bothered by the constant use of exclamation points in the book! Every paragraph, it seemed, had a sentence which ended in an exclamation point! Most of which didn’t need one! It was very annoying!
Sex: Love scenes involving Mariana and Lone Hawk and Neala and Sitting Tall. The love scenes are quite muted for Mrs. Edwards, who would write spicier scenes in her future books.
Violence: Some of the violence is mentioned above. There are also assault and battery and shootings. There is also a scene where Everett amputates Fenris’ left arm, which is infected after being shot by Lone Hawk. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line: “Savage Paradise” is about in the middle of the pack of Mrs. Edwards Native American romance novels.
June 14, 2017
I found this book had a good story but it was a lot of detail and a bit repetitive.
February 28, 2016
Love all the Savage series and have them all in my book collection.
July 9, 2022
Im not a big fan of instant love/sex that often comes with this authors stories, I prefer the slow pace romance building into love and a relationship. I know that going in with this author so I know to expect it, but I love her regardless. Looking past that, her stories pull me in almost as if im looking at everything unfold through an open window.
I really enjoyed this story.
I really enjoyed this story.
July 4, 2018
Because sometimes you just need to turn off your brain and read some fluff.
November 26, 2022
I feel like I want to be reborn again as a redhead girl
January 24, 2023
I've actually read multiple times through out my life, Cassie Edwards books in these series are my mom, my aunt's and my favorite author/ book series ever. Must Read if you love a good romance.
June 2, 2011
Not the best book that she has written in her Savage books. I felt that it was hard to get into the story and that the storyline wasn't that beliveable. I also felt that more detail was needed in some places and less detail or easier to follow detail was needed in other areas.
February 10, 2015
It was an amazing book that I finished in one day.
August 6, 2018
Book 5 of 5 in the Savage Chippewa series. Couldn't put it down
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews