WHITE DECEPTION

Author: Susan Edwards ISBN: 0843953330 11/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: LEISURE
Time Period: 1800's - Pheasant Gully - Western/Native American

Mathilda's world changed the day the barn burned, for that day she lost her vision. She could still see what was right, however: continuing to ranch, chasing her murdered parents' dream, here in the Dakota Territory . But she needed someone to help her; someone who would fight the men who'd killed her folks, kidnapped her siblings and aimed to drive her off her land. Whom could she trust? The soft-voiced half-breed who smelled of sage and promised to protect her? For Reed, the blind woman meant redemption. A terrible mistake had set him on this quest that led to her property, but her hands on his face, the touch of her lips—everything about Mattie felt right. He had to save her. But first he had to prove himself worthy. He had to overcome his past, the hatred he'd seen and the hatred inside, to look beyond, beneath, to find what was valuable: not just redemption, but love.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Having not read all the other books that precede this one, WHITE DECEPTION by Susan Edwards, I feel somewhat at a disadvantage. It's not that this book cannot stand on its own, or that the author does not eventually explain things that happened in the previous books. I simply feel like I would care more for the central players introduced here, if I knew these people and problems before hand.

The heroine here, Mathilda (Morning Moon) O'Brien, is blind, but seems to be able to "see" quite a bit despite that. She has visions and nightmares that show her the way life is going to be. Powerless to stop it, she is pretty optimistic that most things even out, like death and birth.

A slight inconsistency that I picked up on is that a couple of times it's worded that Mattie is truly looking at a person—not just looking in their direction, or being led by the sound of their voice. It's almost like she sees them though she is blind. That is confusing to me, since other times it's worded that she is looking at them but cannot see them. I kind of wonder if that is a mistake on the author's part, or if you are just supposed to know that it's a figure of speech?! She does it once with her brother, Matthew, towards the end, and personally I think that part is a flub.

Mattie is also a natural born magnet for trouble. She is constantly getting hurt, inside and out. First her parents die, then she is trapped in a fire where her husband of mere hours is killed, and she is struck blind, then she is shot at, has a new fiance that is in love with another woman, has glass from her bedroom window explode on her, then is trapped in another fire. That's an awful lot for a girl to handle, and yet still be so thrilled that she has met her soul mate whose baggage rivals her own.

The chemistry between Mattie and her tormented hero, Reed, just doesn't click for me. He spends way too much time thinking about his dead wife and missing his little kids. Mostly he thinks about revenge for the old wife's death, and tracking down stolen money. With all that going on, when he has a love scene with Mattie, I just don't feel it. I am surprised that they do.

I guess if you are fan of the "White" series, then you will get into this one more than I did. I noticed that Mattie's deceased parents were the subject of one of the earlier books. So, if you have read about them (the O'Brien's) then you may want to know about Mattie and her siblings. If not, then you might do better starting from the beginning of the series and working your way to this one.

Shannon Johnson