SAVAGE DESTINY is a seven-book series covering about 50 years of history, as seen through the eyes of Zeke and Abbie Monroe. They meet on a wagon train west when Abbie is only 15 and the wagon train scout, Zeke, (best known as Cheyenne Zeke) is 25. Abbie hands Zeke a cup of coffee, their fingers touch, and pow! An epic love story is born, a story that epitomizes the ruggedness of the untamed land, the immense challenges to the pioneers, the lawless atmosphere, the wild and rapid way in which America was settled, and the traumatic affect opening the West had on the Native Americans, especially (in my story) the Cheyenne. I am not embarrassed to say that I am in love all over again with Zeke Monroe. I’d nearly forgotten what a provocative, masculine, handsome, rugged hero he is – and Abbie is the perfect strong, devoted, patient woman at his side, a woman who understands Zeke like few others do.
When I proofread the books for the Kindle edition, I learned a lot about Zeke that I never saw when I wrote these books – that in spite of his virile demeanor and his ability to fight and survive and the fact that he has no fear – Zeke Monroe is quite vulnerable when it comes to Abbie. He will do anything for her, and throughout their years together he lives with the constant fear that Abbie will suffer for being married to a half-breed, something that in the 1800’s was considered shameful. Throughout their life together he protects her with a fierceness seldom found in any human. He truly cherishes this woman, and I think that is what draws women readers to Zeke – the fact that this man cherishes his wife. Cherish is a term we seldom hear today, let alone experience emotionally.
Men, too, love these stories, mainly because of the rugged bravery of Zeke Monroe, the real history, and the almost non-stop action. The books follow Zeke and Abbie from that first meeting through tragedy and triumph that includes not only them but also their children and grandchildren, who all follow his and her unique stories in how history and their heritage affect their lives. There are numerous side-character stories in these novels, and all these characters affect Zeke and Abbie - and history itself – in one way or another.
Over the years, readers have told me that these are the best books they ever read and the best love story they have ever experienced; and most want to know if these characters really lived. To me, when readers ask something like that, I’ve done a good job.
I am proud of SAVAGE DESTINY, and am so happy these books will again be available to everyone, especially new, younger readers who have never read them
By the way, I am now "Kindle-graphing" my Amazon.com e-books -- which means I can send you personalized digital inscriptions for any of my books offered in Kindle edition by Amazon.com! Click here for details and available e-books.
Book 1: SWEET PRAIRIE PASSION
. The ninth book that I wrote, SWEET PRAIRIE PASSION was the first to be published. It tells the powerful love story of 15-year-old Abigail Trent, who is traveling west with her family; and a very rugged plainsman, Zeke Monroe, the half-Cheyenne guide who wins Abbie's heart as they journey through an untamed land beset with Indians, outlaws and nature's harsh challenges. Although Zeke and Abbie come from very different worlds, violence and personal loss bring them together in unexpected ways, including a very poignant situation that involves Abbie's little brother. By journey's end, Abbie has changed from an innocent young girl to a strong woman whose courage and determination to survive make her the perfect woman for the sometimes violent Zeke, whose past and upbringing make him a challenge only Abbie's love and personal faith can overcome. SWEET PRAIRIE PASSION is the beginning of many more stories about this unforgettable couple and their life together as they face the perils of settling America's Old West and learn that love can conquer anything. 
continues the love story
of Zeke and Abbie Monroe. For the first five years of her marriage Abbie lives
among the Cheyenne, learning their customs and beliefs and giving birth to a
son who is as wild and free as his Native American family, and a daughter who
will one day be forced to choose between her Indian and white blood. Through
real historical events involving the government and Native Americans, Zeke and
Abbie cling to one another through danger and torn loyalties. This story
vividly depicts the "right" and "wrong" of both sides in
the bloody conflicts that arose as the West was settled. Through it all Zeke
strives to reach the point where he can provide his Abbie with a real
"white woman's" home, where she can set a prized family heirloom, a
mantle clock, over a fireplace in a house with real wood floors and a cooking
hearth. Though his heart is as wild as his Cheyenne blood, Zeke will give up
that life for his beloved Abbie. 
finds Zeke and
Abbie Monroe settled into a cabin along the Arkansas River in southern
Colorado, where they build a horse ranch amid challenges to their love and
their contrasting worlds. As Abbie bears more children carrying their mixed
blood, finding a peaceful family life is something that does not come easily.
Zeke's Cheyenne relatives face broken treaties, and the building of the Union
Pacific cuts a swath of violence and change through the lives of white and
Cheyenne alike, forcing the Monroe children to face deeply torn loyalties. New
and powerful enemies enter this spellbinding story, and Zeke's love for his
Abbie is tested in a totally unexpected way that would devastate the love of
most couples with even the strongest relationship. No two people demonstrate
the power of love more vividly and with more poignancy than Zeke and Abbie
Monroe in RIVER OF LOVE. 
. The American
Civil War plunges Zeke and Abbie Monroe into violence and separation, danger
and torn loyalties. Their first-born son, Wolf's Blood, takes part in the Sun
Dance, a tortuous ritual that initiates him into life with the Cheyenne. Then
war forces Zeke to leave his family to join his white brother, Danny, in the
conflict. Abbie is left to face a horrible fate at the hands of Zeke's worst
enemy while he is gone. For the first time in their beloved marriage her
strong, brave, warrior husband is not there to protect her. When Zeke returns
to learn her fate, the worst violence in his savage soul rages forth to seek
sweet revenge. Zeke and Abbie's love transcends loss and tragedy thrown at them
by savage people in a savage land that can be tamed by only the bravest souls
in EMBRACE THE WILD LAND.
. Zeke and Abbie
are forced to defend their children against challenges faced because of their
mixed blood. More settlers come west under the Homestead Act, causing the
gradual and final demise of the Cheyenne way of life. The surge of new settlers
brings with it a wealthy Englishman, Edward Tynes, who builds a cattle ranch
near the Monroe homestead and falls in love with Abbie, admiring her strength
and bravery, and jealous of her undying love for a man who cannot give her the
pampered life Tynes feels she deserves. Zeke leaves to join his warrior son,
Wolf's Blood, in new Indian wars, and for the first time Abbie's loyalty to her
husband is tested. But no man can replace the fiercely brave, strong, handsome
Zeke Monroe in Abbie's life. 
. A relentless
wave of frontier progress forces itself into the lives of Zeke and Abbie
Monroe, threatening their many years of abiding love and forcing a separation
unlike any other they have experienced. Zeke joins the Cheyenne in their last
effort to hold on to the freedom they knew until the white man invaded their
pristine domain and destroyed their game, their hunting grounds, their
beautiful innocence. MEET THE NEW DAWN is a keenly powerful and
poignant story about the last years of Zeke and Abbie Monroe's life together,
and how their love and their passion for each other lingers on into their
twilight years as proof that age and the challenges of life cannot dim the love
these two share, a love that causes a man and woman to see each other only as
the fifteen-year-old girl who once touched a savage older man's hand over a
campfire, a touch that changed both their lives forever. Get out the Kleenex
for this powerful read you will never, ever forget! Book 7 (Not yet available on Kindle - New Cover Coming Soon): EAGLE'S SONG
. After I
finished Book 6, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I had to get away from
the Monroe family. The first six books were published between 1983 and 1985,
and it took me eleven years to walk back into the lives of all the characters
who had become so dear to me. There was Abbie, waiting for me to finish her
story, and also tell the stories of some of her grandchildren. In EAGLE'S
SONG, the clan gathered for a long-awaited reunion on their sprawling
Colorado ranch, but old hatreds and new passions exploded...in heartbreaking
tragedy for eldest son Wolf's Blood; in a forbidden love affair between Abbie's
wild grandson Zeke and a rancher's headstrong daughter; and in an agonizing
choice Wolf's Blood's young son must make--a choice that could seal his
father's fate.
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