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Not So Wild a Dream
Tempest McClaren, daughter of a Scottish trapper and a Cherokee princess is sold, as a girl, to Abram Walker, but eventually overcomes her humble origins to become the richest woman in California
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
9 people are currently reading
614 people want to read
About the author
Francine Rivers
60 books21.4k followersNew York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers continues to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her numerous bestsellers include Redeeming Love, A Voice in the Wind, and Bridge to Haven, and her work has been translated into more than thirty different languages. She is a member of Romance Writers of America's coveted Hall of Fame as well as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).
www.francinerivers.com
www.facebook.com/FrancineRivers
Twitter: @FrancineRivers
www.francinerivers.com
www.facebook.com/FrancineRivers
Twitter: @FrancineRivers
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 30, 2023
I can see a lot of inspiration for Redeeming Love in this romance, particularly the scenes between Abram and Tempest in the first quarter of the novel. This was brilliantly written but I can see why it hasn't been republished due to its extremely problematic content regarding their relationship. The author's note tried to provide historical context for it, but it's still incredibly messed up.
Not So Wild a Dream is half bodice ripper, half christian fiction and honestly I've never really read anything like it. Only Francine Rivers would write a christian fiction novel full of cannibalism, prostitution, abuse, and death.
I was very attached to Tempest and couldn't put this book down until I figured out if she was going to be all right. She was such an indomitable, good hearted heroine. My one complaint is that I feel the story should have been a little longer once Tempest's final love interest was introduced. This story is told in three parts, all about the three different men that come into Tempest's life. A lot of page time was dedicated to the first two men, and while I really like who Tempest ends up with, I wish I got to know him just a bit better.
Despite that, this is definitely one of Francine River's best works, imo. Again, I get why this hasn't been republished, and I don't really know who the target audience for this work would even be (if you just like her christian fiction, you might not like this and if you like bodice rippers you might not like this either), but I love her old and new books so this just worked for me.
TW: child abuse, sexual assault, cannibalism, pedophilia, graphic depictions of murder, racism, ptsd and religious trauma
Not So Wild a Dream is half bodice ripper, half christian fiction and honestly I've never really read anything like it. Only Francine Rivers would write a christian fiction novel full of cannibalism, prostitution, abuse, and death.
I was very attached to Tempest and couldn't put this book down until I figured out if she was going to be all right. She was such an indomitable, good hearted heroine. My one complaint is that I feel the story should have been a little longer once Tempest's final love interest was introduced. This story is told in three parts, all about the three different men that come into Tempest's life. A lot of page time was dedicated to the first two men, and while I really like who Tempest ends up with, I wish I got to know him just a bit better.
Despite that, this is definitely one of Francine River's best works, imo. Again, I get why this hasn't been republished, and I don't really know who the target audience for this work would even be (if you just like her christian fiction, you might not like this and if you like bodice rippers you might not like this either), but I love her old and new books so this just worked for me.
TW: child abuse, sexual assault, cannibalism, pedophilia, graphic depictions of murder, racism, ptsd and religious trauma
June 25, 2012
Don't let the cover fool you.Yes, I'm the fool .thought it is a bodice ripper but no, This is a 'Christian historical fiction'.
At fourteen, Tempest(a half breed) was still a child, not having bled yet.Abram(his early thirties) bought her from her father.Five dollars in gold and a bottle of whiskey.Then the horny but 'Oh so patient' guy stuck his stick through her hymen and deflowered.my God! she's only 14 you sick basta..
Abram become ill with stomach pains.as a mercy killing,she kills her husband.she miscarry.This happened following her husband's death.after that,she goes in search of her father .a casino owner made her his mistress. they feel a VERY VERY strong obsessive sexual attraction.One year later,she is pregnant again and not telling him cuz Jared dump her for Geneva(old love).Geneva come from an old family and money.
***
He still wanted her. Damn, but he still wanted her. He had only to
touch her and his body grew hot and hard. Sometimes just looking at her did it to him. But she was what she was. And he was what he was. He could never marry her.he didn't want to marry her. She wouldn't be a fit wife for him.
Imagine the reactions of his family and friends back home if he were to take such a one as Tempest McClaren Walker to wife, to give her his children!
And now Geneva could be his.He laid his hand on Geneva's letter, his heart racing.
*****
Bjorn Lindahl(Swede)yep,her third lover he propose her to become his wife.first no,no,no then yes and HFN----->HAPPY FOR NOW
*************last page**********
Da had taught her well to keep her body alive, but what other
knowledge she needed to survive he had lacked. He thought Abram Walker had it,and in part he had been right.
Abram had a soul and God was in him. He had loved. When she had looked at him, he had not turned his face away from her in fear of being seen.He had looked back, openly. I am here, Tempest. Reach out to me. I am here.
When she finally had, it had been the barest brush with what was real, what was lasting. It remained, alive, but not tangible. At least he was not lost to her as she had once believed.
Even Jared had given her knowledge of herself. He had taught her
flesh, schooled her body. Touch was more than the rubbing of bodies together,the joining of genitals. But Jared hadn't known that. He still didn't know.
She looked down at Bjorn stretched out on the cabin bed. He was
all in one. Da in his primitive nature, seeing enemies where there were none;Abram with a soul and love;Jared with his gift of giving her the pleasures of the flesh. And he was himself, different from all the rest, separate from her,yet joined. Mated.
She heard seagulls on the wind. Leaning her head back, Tempest
closed her eyes.Birds and animals and fish and even the lowly insects all can take care of themselves. They know, they trust, they abide by the natural order of life. It is only man that questions it, then tries to alter it. And it is only man that fails. He crushes the knowledge he had in the womb, refusing to open his eyes and heart to it. Man is the lowest form of life on earth. Perhaps that is why he is
blessed. His vulnerability is deepest, his need greatest.But there was a lifetime to contemplate that. For now she had
promises to make, a wedding to attend.
She stood, legs splayed, arms wide, palms up, head flung back.
Communion.
God, I will raise my son to seek the truth in himself. I will love
this man freely, openly, so that he understands I love him. Whatever ventures I take on, whatever gold I make, and I will make much, I will seek to use for worthy purpose.
Beyond that, my God, I am lost. Not in the wilderness of the world, but in the far vaster, far more terrifying wilderness of myself.
I am open.
Come into me.
Show me the way.
************************
At fourteen, Tempest(a half breed) was still a child, not having bled yet.Abram(his early thirties) bought her from her father.Five dollars in gold and a bottle of whiskey.Then the horny but 'Oh so patient' guy stuck his stick through her hymen and deflowered.my God! she's only 14 you sick basta..
Abram become ill with stomach pains.as a mercy killing,she kills her husband.she miscarry.This happened following her husband's death.after that,she goes in search of her father .a casino owner made her his mistress. they feel a VERY VERY strong obsessive sexual attraction.One year later,she is pregnant again and not telling him cuz Jared dump her for Geneva(old love).Geneva come from an old family and money.
***
He still wanted her. Damn, but he still wanted her. He had only to
touch her and his body grew hot and hard. Sometimes just looking at her did it to him. But she was what she was. And he was what he was. He could never marry her.he didn't want to marry her. She wouldn't be a fit wife for him.
Imagine the reactions of his family and friends back home if he were to take such a one as Tempest McClaren Walker to wife, to give her his children!
And now Geneva could be his.He laid his hand on Geneva's letter, his heart racing.
*****
Bjorn Lindahl(Swede)yep,her third lover he propose her to become his wife.first no,no,no then yes and HFN----->HAPPY FOR NOW
*************last page**********
Da had taught her well to keep her body alive, but what other
knowledge she needed to survive he had lacked. He thought Abram Walker had it,and in part he had been right.
Abram had a soul and God was in him. He had loved. When she had looked at him, he had not turned his face away from her in fear of being seen.He had looked back, openly. I am here, Tempest. Reach out to me. I am here.
When she finally had, it had been the barest brush with what was real, what was lasting. It remained, alive, but not tangible. At least he was not lost to her as she had once believed.
Even Jared had given her knowledge of herself. He had taught her
flesh, schooled her body. Touch was more than the rubbing of bodies together,the joining of genitals. But Jared hadn't known that. He still didn't know.
She looked down at Bjorn stretched out on the cabin bed. He was
all in one. Da in his primitive nature, seeing enemies where there were none;Abram with a soul and love;Jared with his gift of giving her the pleasures of the flesh. And he was himself, different from all the rest, separate from her,yet joined. Mated.
She heard seagulls on the wind. Leaning her head back, Tempest
closed her eyes.Birds and animals and fish and even the lowly insects all can take care of themselves. They know, they trust, they abide by the natural order of life. It is only man that questions it, then tries to alter it. And it is only man that fails. He crushes the knowledge he had in the womb, refusing to open his eyes and heart to it. Man is the lowest form of life on earth. Perhaps that is why he is
blessed. His vulnerability is deepest, his need greatest.But there was a lifetime to contemplate that. For now she had
promises to make, a wedding to attend.
She stood, legs splayed, arms wide, palms up, head flung back.
Communion.
God, I will raise my son to seek the truth in himself. I will love
this man freely, openly, so that he understands I love him. Whatever ventures I take on, whatever gold I make, and I will make much, I will seek to use for worthy purpose.
Beyond that, my God, I am lost. Not in the wilderness of the world, but in the far vaster, far more terrifying wilderness of myself.
I am open.
Come into me.
Show me the way.
************************
January 29, 2024
“She was as cold as a Sierra winter, as hard as Independence Rock, and as wild as the land in which they now lived.” With a soul made of steel as well as satin, “Tempest McClaren Walker” is a woman of great potential.” In contrast to her pioneer counterparts “all in white, her golden hair like a halo about her perfect oval face, her eyes dreamy, Tempest was dark, her blue eyes filled with earthy knowledge.” They are “flat champagne to Tempest’s strong, fine brandy.”
But her Irish mad-trapper father sells her for five dollars in gold and a bottle of whiskey as a child bride of 14 to a farmer. After he dies, a gambling house owner leaves her “a half-breed, a mongrel, a girl who had killed a helpless, dying man, the cast-off whore of one man and mistress of another, a woman who ran casinos and whorehouses….this ridiculous establishment that brought her riches and a ruined reputation, a stain on her soul.”
Until she meets a Swedish sailor who sees her for who she really is. “And what are you, California Tempest, but the woman I’ve looked for all my life and never thought to find? I knew the night I saw you who you were. I don’t want to change you…I want to make you mine.”
“Tis like the salmon going upriver…like the swallows coming home, and the bear returning to its old den. Da went back to his mountains, Abram to his God, and Jared to his high-bred woman.” But Bjorn Lindahl “was all in one. Da in his primitive nature, seeing enemies where there were none; Abram was a soul and love; Jared with his gift of giving her the pleasures of the flesh. And he was himself, different from all the rest, separate from her, yet joined. Mated.” This Golden Medallion Award winning novel is quite possibly Francine Rivers’ best yet!
But her Irish mad-trapper father sells her for five dollars in gold and a bottle of whiskey as a child bride of 14 to a farmer. After he dies, a gambling house owner leaves her “a half-breed, a mongrel, a girl who had killed a helpless, dying man, the cast-off whore of one man and mistress of another, a woman who ran casinos and whorehouses….this ridiculous establishment that brought her riches and a ruined reputation, a stain on her soul.”
Until she meets a Swedish sailor who sees her for who she really is. “And what are you, California Tempest, but the woman I’ve looked for all my life and never thought to find? I knew the night I saw you who you were. I don’t want to change you…I want to make you mine.”
“Tis like the salmon going upriver…like the swallows coming home, and the bear returning to its old den. Da went back to his mountains, Abram to his God, and Jared to his high-bred woman.” But Bjorn Lindahl “was all in one. Da in his primitive nature, seeing enemies where there were none; Abram was a soul and love; Jared with his gift of giving her the pleasures of the flesh. And he was himself, different from all the rest, separate from her, yet joined. Mated.” This Golden Medallion Award winning novel is quite possibly Francine Rivers’ best yet!
July 8, 2021
Honestly, this book was awful, compared to other things Francine Rivers has written. The story had a slight aspect of faith, but it was laced with sin so deep amongst all of the characters, I could never recommend this book. Skip it! Go read her books after she became a born-again believer. Any B.C. (before Christian) books of hers are not worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews