A Love Forbidden by Kathleen Morgan - REVIEWED

About the Book: (from Revell Publishing)
  
They're from two different worlds. Can love cross the divide?

Moved by a compassionate heart and the desire for adventure, twenty-year-old Shiloh Wainwright impulsively accepts a teaching position at the White River Indian Agency in northwestern Colorado. Eager to use her skills to help improve the lives of Ute Indian children, she looks forward to a fulfilling, independent life on the Colorado frontier.

But her new job isn't what she imagined it would be, and Shiloh soon finds herself caught in the cross fire between the Utes, their unyielding Indian agent, and a demanding US government. Her unexpected encounter with a half-Ute childhood friend, Jesse Blackwater, only complicates matters as they battle their growing feelings for each other amidst spiraling tensions that threaten to explode into a catastrophic uprising.

Set amongst the wilds of the Colorado Rockies in 1879, this tale from bestselling and award-winning author Kathleen Morgan explores the transformational power of forgiveness, compassion, and God's healing love with artistry and authenticity.

My Thoughts:
 

“And we’ll pray for the grace to be brave no matter what.  No matter if all others desert or fail us.  No matter what…”  (p 234)

That’s an all-encompassing statement made by a woman who is now a Ute captive in a vicious war for property and the right to live free on your own land. Wow! Shiloh certainly has some courage to even voice such a prayer…her heart’s desire though it may be.

But Shiloh has fought to be comfortable in her own skin, in her own faith, practically all of her life, and by the time she utters this heartfelt cry, I think she is willing to sacrifice her own life to save the lives of those she has come to care for so deeply both among the Indian Agency staff and among the Ute people.

I don’t imagine Shiloh ever dreamed that her childhood friendship with Jesse Blackwater would have such far reaching effects on her life – especially her heart.  Through strained family relationships, numerous trials on the White River Indian Agency in her position as teacher…Shiloh’s life takes a difficult and circuitous route to reach her final destination.

A Love Forbidden encompasses many complexities of the human condition and the relationships and power struggles that shape, and destroy lives.  This is a story with a broad scope in some ways while telling a story that is both intimate and heart wrenching.  This book begins the Heart of the Rockies series, and it is a thrilling beginning in every way!!

About the Author:

 Kathleen Morgan is the award-winning author of many novels, including those in the bestselling Brides of Culdee Creek series. She lives in Colorado.