It's 1879, the place - Sebastian Hacienda in New Mexico, a harsh land with harsh people living there. They have to be harsh to survive the gringos invading and taking all of the land they can from the people already living there. Don Sebastian is getting old and knows that he will soon die, he also knows that he must provide for his beautiful orphaned granddaughter, Iliana before he does. So he plans a party for her 15th birthday, planning to have her engaged to a strong man before the night is over. Iliana doesn't want anything to do with the plan, but her grandfather and her maid Amaya insist. But at the party, she's drug from the dance floor by Ben Purdy, her despised neighbor boy, and he's not planning anything kind or good. She is saved in the nick of time by Ross Adams, American cowboy. Her grandfather knows a good man when he sees one and decides that Ross will be the one to marry Iliana and take over the Sebastian Hacienda and keep it in the family for Iliana's descendants to care for. Unfortunately, the Purdy's have other plans for both the Hacienda and Iliana. Will she be able to save herself, her ranch and her children?
This book was good. I like the characters, but I didn't really feel any emotion from any of them. I liked the plot, but I really thought the ending could have been better. This doesn't sound like a very good review, it's not that the book was bad, I did like it, but when I got to the end I was sadly disappointed. It was really neat to be able to read about this time period and kind of get a feel for how things would have been.Labels: Jennie Hansen, LDS Historical Fiction
