HAWK'S PASSION

Author: Elaine Barbieri ISBN: 0843956372 8/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: Galveston 1866

Four children abandoned in an orphanage. Two missing parents. One man whose hatred had divided a family, whose duplicity ended in murder, inextricably weaving all their lives together in a web of lies that only time could untangle. Jason will do whatever it took to bring down Simon Gault, the corrupt shipping magnate. The supposedly upright citizen had betrayed Galveston during the war, causing untold deaths. But even more disturbing was his twisted desire to seduce innocent Elizabeth Huntington. No matter how determined she was to make her own way in the rowdy, war-ravaged city, Jason swore he would protect the daring young beauty from Gault, help find her missing family and then win her heart.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Well, I have been looking for a good western romance. Honestly, I still am. HAWK'S PASSION relies on too many cliche's to be really good, but what really does it in is the heroine with mincemeat for brains.

I cannot stand dumb heroines. Especially the women that claim to be smart and capable, but then do dumb things. For instance, say you are wanted for questioning regarding a murder and are hiding out from a potential killer. Your beau is protecting you by hiding you and investigating so that you don't get railroaded. Now, after he goes through all of the trouble of keeping you safe, do really think you should sneak out of the hiding spot dressed like a man (haven't heard that one before *snort*) and put yourself in jeopardy? This heroine does. Or how about, everyone in town can see that the man she has decided to trust—not the beau I mentioned above—is a sleaze ball, but she can't? Dumb, I say! Dumb!

This heroine does those things and more, which do not make her strong and independent. They make her foolish and childish, more than anything. If I want that, I have three kids I can go to. Obviously, for me, anything else in the book is overshadowed by my dislike for her.

Shannon Johnson