Wind Dancer

by J Renee Archer
(Kalona, Iowa)

Wind Dancer By Jamie Carie / B & H Publishing Group Isabelle Renoir has always been different. Raised on the frontier during the American Revolution, she's equally comfortable hunting in the woods and dancing in the moonlight as a praise offering to God. After clashing with Samuel, an American spy, she goes her own way---until they're both captured by Indians. Can they work together to escape? 336 pages, softcover from B&H.

Wind Dancer is a romance novel set during the American Revolution and is a gripping tale of unusual circumstances that join two strangers.

Jamie Carie created characters that make for entertaining reading and a story that keeps you turning pages. Isabelle can match the ability of most men and is more at home in the timber hunting than in the kitchen cooking the kill. Just as Isabelle is not the typical woman, Julian, her younger brother, is not the typical young man. He enjoys writing poetry over hunting and music over physical labor. Then there is Samuel; strong, unbridled and who most Indians would love to scalp.

Isabelle and Julian are asked to travel to another town for their pastor. They set off, unaware that this trip will forever alter their lives. Along the path Isabelle and Julian meet an American spy, Samuel Holt. The three travel together and their lives remain intertwined forevermore. Their journey turns dangerous, even deadly when they encounter Indians who hold them captive.

Through the dangers, uncertainty and hopelessness of the situation, Isabelle also faces spiritual battles that eventually strengthen her and bring her peace. All the while she clings to the hope of a relationship with Samuel Holt. I enjoyed the spiritual element in Isabelle’s life. As a result of the trials and major life changing situations throughout the book, she developed a deeper relationship with her Lord and found her identity in Him.

Two nitpicks for Wind Dancer: the graphic violence in a few scenes and a couple of far-fetched dreams. First, I was taken aback by the detailed battle scenes. I was caught up in the developing love story and caught off guard when I got to violent scenes. The overall story would not be compromised with a more general, non-descript approach to the battles and aftermath.

Second, Samuel has dreams of the future and what America will be like once a free country. What Carie describes in one dream is a country full of big cities with sky scrapers. In another dream you can only assume Samuel is envisioning the Statue of Liberty. It seems unlikely a person in that era could imagine such a time as this and such a gift as Lady Liberty. These passages came across as cheesy.

Wind Dancer is a good read. For those who enjoy romance with flare, read Wind Dancer for the love story. For those who like war stories from another era, read Wind Dancer for the history. For those who desire lots of action, Wind Dancer is a page turner.