This was my first try reading Cassie Edwards, after just venturing into historical romance late last year. I had seen her name in many places and knew she was a large part of the historical romance genre. After reading about half of this book I had to put it down; I couldn't connect with any of the characters and if I am being honest I just didn't care what happened to any of them. I am sure that plenty readers liked this book but I was not apart of them.

Interesting story line and time-period, as this story contains many details of the culture and history. It is a love story between an Cherokee Indian named Dancing Cloud and a virginal white woman named Lauralee. I enjoyed the background information and scenery but found the characters not fully flushed out. Lauralee dialog with all her “darling” quotes was too sappy and irritating. Dancing Cloud’s character was much more strongly written and worked better. This story was again heavy on details and the culture of the time. It could easily be many pages shorter. I enjoy many of Cassie Edwards stories, but this one was not my favorite as a romantic story.
I received this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

Who would have ever known that something so good and loving would come from the Civil War? Lauralee Johnston was only 5 years old when her father went off to war. Her father was the commander of a troop of Confederate Cherokee warriors that he had been close to for many years. His best friend is Joe Dancing Cloud, a chief of the Wolf Cherokee clan. Joe would do anything for the commander, so he is willing when asked, to accompany Lauralee to Illinois to live with her aunt and uncle. This story sweeps through the years and is fast-paced, full of adventure and love. I found the characters to be vivid and endearing, the plot to be satisfying but stereotypical. In this book, I was able to overlook the stereotypes and enjoyed it to the very end.

Wild Abandon by Cassie Edwards will be available January 30, 2018 from Zebra, an imprint of Kensington Books. An egalley of this book was made available from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Sigh. I don't know why this was reissued. Lauralee and Joe Dancing Cloud felt like stock characters and the romance/situation too cliche. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It might not have been for me but you might enjoy it if you are looking for a romance novel where cultures blend.

Cassie Edwards is one of the Leading writers of Historical Native American Love Stories. She writes about all the tribes and shows the prejudice against them and their way of life like you are there. Cassie catches the feeling of prejudices in post Civil War America in this story of Love between Dancing Cloud and Lauralee. While coming home after the war is over with his friend Boyd, their group is attacked by a rogue Yankee band of soldiers. When Boyd steps in front of Dancing Cloud and saves his life, he vows to help Boyd any way he can for the rest of his life. The leader gets away and is shot in the leg while fleeing. After patching up the wounded and taking care of the dead Dancing Cloud & Boyd go their separate ways to find their homes devastated by the war. Boyd has lost everything including his wife but spends the next 10 years looking for his daughter only to find Lauralee working in the veteran's hospital he has come to as he's dying. Lauralee has been living in the orphanage connected to the hospital since she was 5 and still suffers from the attack & death of her mother. As Boyd lays dying he sends for his friend Joe so that he can escort Lauralee to relatives in Illinois. As soon as Dancing Cloud and Lauralee meet they're attracted to each other but Lauralee can't seem to get past witnessing what happened to her mother. Eventually, her feelings for Dancing Cloud over come her fear of men. On the way to her relatives house they fall in love but Lauralee wants to keep her promise to her father. Dancing Cloud leaves immediately for his home in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, but he's only a short way from where he left Lauralee when the man who attacked his group 10 years earlier reappears out of no where to shoot him and would've killed him if not for passing farmer. The farmer takes him to the doctor who does surgery and as Dancing Cloud lay there Lauralee's uncle brings in his wife who has had a heart attack. Her uncle doesn't want her to be with Dancing Cloud so he introduces her to the farmer's son who saved Dancing Cloud. Lauralee is conflicted for a short while between the 2 because of her upbringing. When the man who shot Dancing Cloud comes to check out the situation at the hospital and runs into Lauralee. She can't believe the man who raped and killed her mother is right in front of her and then he tries to kidnap her as part of his revenge but she gets away. It's then that she realizes the man who killed her mother and the man who is after Dancing Cloud are the same person. Also in a dream Dancing Cloud sees his dead family and including his father letting him know he's died also and that the man who attacked his group at the end of the war also attacked Dancing Cloud's village and killed his people. After Dancing Cloud recovers and they go for a tour of the town and stop at a stable and see a beautiful white stallion. Lauralee talks to her uncle into helping her buy it for Dancing Cloud but when he goes to talk to the owner the next day the owner says Dancing Cloud has stolen the horse. Dancing Cloud is put in jail where Lauralee breaks him out. As they head to his home with a posse of their tail. They get caught by the posse but find out the man lied and her uncle brings the horse for Dancing Cloud. On their journey home, they run into a little boy in the woods and he hates Lauralee because she is white. He won't reveal his past but they take him in and love him as their own. While going to the trading post Lauralee is kidnapped by their enemy and taken to his log cabin where his Indian wife is. When she escapes and runs through the forest fearing her husband is after her she ends up falling over a cliff where Dancing Cloud finds her alive and she points him in the direction of the cabin. Lauralee is keeping her kidnapper at bay by holding a gun on him, but when the gun is knocked out her hand and goes off shooting the guy, Dancing Cloud comes through the door. They take the injured woman back to the village where Lauralee tries to save her. They decide that they want to adopt Indian children from a local orphanage and they bring back all of them to be adopted by other members of the tribe. They adopt a baby girl but their son won't have anything to do with his new sister because of the loss of his sister that his father was going to get rid of. They realize after Lauralee miscarries that the baby is their son's actual sister. 10 years later: They return to her relatives home because her uncle has passed away a short while before, and it ends with them back in the village. Cassie Edwards brings you into the world of these two characters and how they love each other through all the trials and joy of a life well lived and they can over come their problems with love and trust in each other no matter what with Wild Abandon.

Nothing about this book appealed to me. Too many age/time issues that didn't work for me.