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Dakota Child (Dakota #1)

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 131 ratings · 32 reviews

Trapped in a North Dakota blizzard, single mother Vivian Halliday's prayer for herself and her child is answered. Rescue comes in the seemingly terrifying form of Billy Black, the hulk of a man feared by all the townsfolk. Yet in the home he shares with his ailing mother, the handsome, gentle giant warms her baby's bottles and sings sweet lullabies that lull even Vivian to...more

Mass Market Paperback, 270 pages

Published September 8th 2009 by Harlequin (first published 2009)

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Jan 05, 2011 Jacqueline rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-historical-not-old-west, baby-child-involved, harlequin, christian-fiction, tell-harlequin, beta-hero, owned, owned-but-available

I was sent this to review from Tell Harlequin. I tried to read it but I am not really a person who enjoys Christian Fiction. I read the first half and skimmed the last. The story line was just average. I pretty much knew exactly what was going to happen. There was nothing new and surprising.

At the very beginning of the book the heroine is lost in a snow storm with her 2 month old baby. She is praying for God to help her and thinks she will do anything to save the baby yet when a man looms up in...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I am not a huge fan of the romance genre, but in trying to expand my reading and hone my own writing skills I am trying to appreciate their place on book shelves.

Dakota Child takes place in 1890 North Dakota. It is winter. Vivian is an orphaned girl who has a child out of wedlock with a man she knew several years earlier. She escapes the foundling home with her son, Joshua, in search of a new life with the father of her child. During her travels she is turned around and lost in a blizzard. In c...more I am not a huge fan of the romance genre, but in trying to expand my reading and hone my own writing skills I am trying to appreciate their place on book shelves.

Dakota Child takes place in 1890 North Dakota. It is winter. Vivian is an orphaned girl who has a child out of wedlock with a man she knew several years earlier. She escapes the foundling home with her son, Joshua, in search of a new life with the father of her child. During her travels she is turned around and lost in a blizzard. In comes Billy Black. Billy hears the cries of what he believes to be a cat meowing and finds Vivian. He brings her to his home only to discover the cries are not of a cat, but a baby.

Billy lives with his Ma in seclusion. He travels to town only as needed and spends his days taking care of his animals and Ma and taking walks through the woods and over the land. In the evenings he reads verses from his Bible while his Ma works on her quilting.

The characters, Vivian & Billy, are likeable. Both have a good moral foundation and an appreciation of a higher being to guide them in their lives. And although this book refers to the Bible and God in various points it is not preachy, but soothing in its manner.

Ma Black isn't given enough exploration. She was abducted Indians when Billy was six and returned six years later. The townspeople think her crazy. Towards the end of the story the reader finds out Ma is not crazy, but stuck in an endless loop of reliving her time with the Indians due to her seclusion. Billy believes keeping his ma secluded protects her, but that is really his fear based on the taunting he received as a child.

The story spends a lot of time on nothing. The author could have explored more with Ma Black during this time instead of filling the pages with a crying baby who needs to be fed every few minutes. This seems to be the go to page filler and gets a bit redundant. At the end the author jumps ahead with few details as if she too is bored with writing the story and wants it to just end. A suggestion would be to use that succinctness earlier on and expand on a few other avenues.

There was much more to be explored with Vivian's parents' deaths, why Wayne Styles visited her, getting her family home back, and Ma Black's time with the Indians and her recovery through the help of Vivian and God.

All in all, the story has potential, but the author and her editors missed much of that potential. One more point, in closing, this romance is quite chaste as there are no gratuitous sex scenes. This is a welcome change from many of the romance novels I have attempted reading in the past and probably the single most important reason I finished this book when I have put others down early on.

Discloser: I received this book as part of my affiliation with Harlequin Books. I received no other compensation and my thoughts are my own.(less)

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Dec 27, 2010 Amy Jacobs rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was my first read in the Love Inspired Historical line by Harlequin. While the book featured great writing skills by the author, Linda Ford, I will say that I don't think I will be reading anymore from this line.

The author has a wonderful gift for writing. The book flowed great and the story was heartfelt. I really loved the character of Billy Black. He was so sweet and patient with the baby that it melted my heart! Here was this large man with a heart of gold, sitting in a rocker and hummi...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Gemma rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I got this because I signed up for the "Tell Harlequin" panel. While I consider myself a Christian, this book was too preachy for me. I've read inspiration romance before that didn't lay it on this thick, and I enjoyed them more. Yes, christians believe sex outside of marriage is a sin, but holy cow, did it ever get beaten to death. I got really sick of hearing about how horrible her sin was. The heroine acted like she'd practically committed murder, instead of having a child out of wedlock.

I lo...more

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Sep 30, 2009 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's a good, quick read! Billy is a big, hulk of a man with a sweet tender side no one knows about, but his mother. Vivian is a young, kind and brave girl who made a mistake, but was willing to pay the consequences of her actions. Billy and Vivian both have lessons to learn. Each have a past that was hard on them,but in the end they allow God to rule their lives, not what other's think and say. It does take longer for Billy to learn that lesson because of the harsh realities he's had to face. Hi...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Jamie Kline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: harlequin

My opinion: I received this book the other day because I signed up for tellharlequin.com. I got this in the mail and though "Hmmm...it's a historical, but it actually sounds pretty good". And it was! We first meet Vivian Halliday who is stuck out in a snowstorm with nowhere else to go, her 2 month old baby in her arms. Luckily, Billy Black happens to come along and get her to the safety of his cabin. She is fearful at first; she remembered him from her childhood, and while she was always nice to...more My opinion: I received this book the other day because I signed up for tellharlequin.com. I got this in the mail and though "Hmmm...it's a historical, but it actually sounds pretty good". And it was! We first meet Vivian Halliday who is stuck out in a snowstorm with nowhere else to go, her 2 month old baby in her arms. Luckily, Billy Black happens to come along and get her to the safety of his cabin. She is fearful at first; she remembered him from her childhood, and while she was always nice to him, everyone was afraid of him and his mother. Everyone thinks the mother is crazy (she was kidnapped by Indians and held for six years). She soon comes to decide that Billy won't ever hurt her, but she remains afraid of his mom, who keeps insisting that she go away; after being abducted, she can't handle being around strangers. Vivian soon decides the best thing to do would be to find her son, Joshua's, father (Wayne) and marry him, which would have been the proper thing to do in the 1800s. Wayne is the son of one of the most influential men in the town, so she knows she and her baby will be well cared for. Billy takes her into town, but they learn that Wayne has left town for an undetermined amount of time. She has no choice but to return to Billy's house, despite his mother's protests. As time goes on though, Vivian can't help but fall for Billy's gentle demeanor; he is kind, caring, and thinks the world of her son. She finds that she loves Billy, but the proper thing to do would be to marry Wayne. Will she do what's right for her son and still manage to be happy?

I liked the characters in this book. Vivian had been through a lot, being stuck in an orphanage after her parents died. Then she had a baby with Wayne, who she thought loved her. She had no idea how to care for a new baby, but she knew she couldn't live without him, and that shows a lot of courage. It was obvious she would do whatever she had to for her son. Billy was great, he welcomed her with open arms and instantly bonded with her son. Even though is mother protested, he refused to cast Vivian away since she was in need. And then later he wouldn't because he loved her. The mother was definitely getting on my last nerve after awhile; I get that she was taken by Indians and I can't even imagine how traumatic that would be, to be away from your family for 6 years and everything that happened to her. But wow, she did act a bit crazy, yelling all of the time and about having panic attacks any time Vivian came close to her. Her actions do make a bit more sense later on in the book, especially her extreme reactions when Joshua would cry. It was a very heartwarming-book, and I actually teared up at one point. The only thing that lost me quite a few times were all of the religious references and Bible passages. I am not religious myself; I am not opposed to those that are, and I don't mind when characters mention God or anything like that. But it inhabited a LOT of this book, which made it a little tough for me to read at some points. However, the story line was good and I was really able to connect with the characters. You could see their relationship progress and how much they cared about each other.

My rating: 4/5 stars(less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received this book as a gift from Harlequin, maybe two years ago already. It was misplaced in a disorganised room, but made it back to the bookshelf a few months ago. I was pleased to see it was from the Love Inspired line, a good indication it could be my kind of story.

And it was! I did find some of it repetitive, with the characters' stubbornness resulting in what seemed to be very similar dialogue over and over. Perhaps they should have just said, "Let's agree to disagree," and the narrativ...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Stacey B. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own, read-2010, reviewed

*I recieved this book from Tellharlequin.

Overall Impression: This was a pretty good read. I found myself cheering for the two main characters throughout the book hoping that they would be able to figure everything out.

Cover: I loved this cover compared to most other romance novel covers. The cover was very sweet and made me feel warm and cozy.

Characters: I really like the character of Billy. I love his protectiveness of his mother and how he was determined to be nice to everyone and always do t...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Jenr rated it 5 of 5 stars

i shared this book with my mom. she was disappointed that it was a historical. BUT she read it anyways because with the few exceptions of travelling by wagon and a few mentions of surroundings in town, you would harldy notice it was set in an earlier time. also, it seems to be a book written by an author of great Christian faith...but not in an overly "in your face" kind of way. this story made me think... it made me contemplate the people around me and how i perceive them...and it made me consi...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: harlequin, historical-romance, xtian-and-biblical, western-and-pioneers, illegitimacy, bible-to-the-head, harlequin-2000s, 3-stars

The Guy: Big Billy Black, a giant of a guy with a gentle disposition - think Hoss from Bonanza, only with conventional rugged good looks - who lives on the outskirts of a Dakota town with his mother, who is suffering from PTSD from her years as an Indian captive. He loves animals and avoids the town because he's been treated like a monster freak by the townsfolk - not only because of his size, but because of his mother.

The Girl: Vivian Halliday, a local girl who lost her parents and was sent to...more The Guy: Big Billy Black, a giant of a guy with a gentle disposition - think Hoss from Bonanza, only with conventional rugged good looks - who lives on the outskirts of a Dakota town with his mother, who is suffering from PTSD from her years as an Indian captive. He loves animals and avoids the town because he's been treated like a monster freak by the townsfolk - not only because of his size, but because of his mother.

The Girl: Vivian Halliday, a local girl who lost her parents and was sent to an orphanage, then got knocked up by the banker's son. After popping out the sprog, it was taken from her, but she steals it back and hies off to Quinten to present the Baby Daddy with an undoubtedly welcome little surprise.

The Setup: There's a raging snowstorm - as tends to happen up thar in Dakota Territory - and Vivian prays that someone will find her before she gets lost in the blizzard with her baby. Of course Billy shows up at the right time, and takes her back home with him where they fall in love, but Vivian is determined to attempt marriage with her baby's father first and give the kid a name.

The Good Stuff: I was surprised by this one for most of it. It wasn't too bad of a story, and the hero was very believable in his desire to shun human interaction because of past hurts. Also, the guilt he felt that he didn't prevent his mother's abduction by Indians tied into his determination to never leave her again, especially when she obviously needs someone to take care of her. The fact that his devotion has become stifling to his mother's recovery is also addressed.

My Gripes: Not to sound mean or anything, but why do these Christian Harlequins have such basic and simplistic language? I haven't read any other Christian lit, so I can't compare, but is most of this genre like that? As I read this and a couple other titles in the past, I felt like the story was being presented to me in big type with lots of pictures, and the whole thing surrounded by a sturdy Little Golden Book cover. The last 1/4 to 1/3 of this book really reached into Sunday School territory, even though the preachiness was present throughout the entire book.

This is also the second Love Inspired I've read where the heroine had a self-flagellating fetish. Barely a scene went by without Vivian dwelling on her sin and how it made her unworthy and oh my god I'm such a miserable wretch undeserving of any goodness and kindness in the world. OK, I know that the opinion of unwed mothers wasn't exactly warm and accepting in ye olden days, but the sheer repetition of it was obnoxious. But I guess these stories are all about the sin and the redemption and the lesson contained therein, so it's to be expected. I only wonder why the formula has such appeal. It's not exactly brilliant or subtle or even entertaining.

I did get a laugh, though, at Vivian being crushed by the term "illegitimate child," thinking it was the worst curse that would be on the lips of the townsfolk when talking about her baby. I guess the more likely phrase "bastard" is too racy to put in a Christian Harley. That would have really knocked poor Vivian for a loop. Also, she had never heard of the "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" story? Really? Really??

Dare I read another one of these? The last one made me want to engage in a booze-fueled weekend orgy with Christopher Hitchens. This one was slightly less annoying. So we're going in the right direction...I guess, although that orgy idea sounds like heaven to me.(less)

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Jan 25, 2010 Sherri Needs A Maid rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, american-historical, love-inspired

** Warning - Spoilers abound. **

I wanted to like this book but there were just so many things wrong with it (from my viewpoint) that I ended up skimming 80% of the book.

Good Points:
The writing itself is good. Its not stilted or choppy and flows nicely. I give any author props for putting their work out there for the world to love and/or criticize. The cover is attractive and draws you to the book to find out more. And I liked the hero a lot, even though I haven't marked him as "hero I loved". H...more

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Oct 02, 2009 Shelley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklitromance, christianfiction, historical, ijones

I'm of two minds on this one. I both really enjoyed it and didn't. Billy's mother's problems seemed both too large and too easily overcome (my first response: Getting captured by Indians gives you autism?!), and Billy's size really baffled me. Are we talking a Hagrid-sized man? An entire town of people were really that afraid of size? A lot of it must have been in his imagination. But I liked Billy and Vivian a lot, loved following their journeys, and really appreciated the many snowbound in a b...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not at all the typical Harlequin novel. This is from their Inspirational/Historical line, no between the sheets scenes at all. My only qualm with the book was the transformation in one of the characters seemed to be rushed & should have been handled differently. Other than that I loved this book, I cried at least once, possibly twice, and couldn't put it down.

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May 08, 2011 ஐ Briansgirl (Book Sale Queen)ஐ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian, own, romance-harlequin-silhouette, romance-historical, review-free-copies

I got this book as a free review copy from Harlequin. It took me awhile to get around to it, but I enjoyed it very much. Even shed a few tears at the end. Always a sign of a good novel. I do want to point out just two points about this novel. First, it's very christian. It's worked in throughout the whole novel. If that would bother you, then skip this novel. It's not done in a bad way. It's not in your face, or over the top, but the main couple in the book have to confront their faith along wit...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Deanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received this book as part of the Harlequin Ambassadors Club. If you like a romance infused with christian spirituality then this is the book for you. A sweet gentle story of two outcasts from society - one by choice and the other by a 'sinful' mistake. The author certainly knows her Bible and includes many passages from it.

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Jan 23, 2011 Paige rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance

This was a good book. It is a christian story (no sexual content), with christian values about a girl that has a child, and meets the tall outcast male. He shows compassion for the visitors and they fall in love. I'm trying not to give away the plot lines and such. You should check it out.

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Jan 12, 2011 Candice rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is not my preferred genre of books but i liked it. The storyline flowed well although very predictable. i dont really have any complaints about this book. it's a 3 star for me because it is not my preferred genre and therefor was harder for me to sit down and enjoy.

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Sep 02, 2012 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an okay read. I enjoyed the love aspect and the obstacles the characters had to face. The only problem I have is the religious aspect and historical aspect to it. It just isn't my cup of tea. If I overlook that then it was great. Just not what I am into.

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Jan 10, 2011 Beth - ;) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, christian-fiction, romance, gave-away-after-reading, historical-fiction

I almost put this book into the gave up category. It started out really slowly and I was not really interested but persevered because it was sent to me as a survey book so I felt I should read it to give a proper opinion. It did pick up but was really just a basic romance, no suspense or mystery at all which is what I like to have in a book.

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Dec 29, 2010 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

I got this book from the publisher and had to do a survey about it. This book was really so-so. Not my cup of tea however it wasn't the most aweful book I have ever read either. There were a few good parts in it however the leads fell kinda flat for me.

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Jan 27, 2011 Patriciaw rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is about judgment and forgiveness. Judging people without knowing who they truly are. Forgiving ourselves and others as much as God forgives us, again and again. I love the gentle romance that develops between Vivian and Big Billy. A delightful read.

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Jan 24, 2011 Bradley rated it 3 of 5 stars

A not so trashy romance. Plenty of Bible passages and warm feelings. Not bad for an inspirational story. Got this one from my wife's older sister. The funny thing was I had declared I was not going to read it. Ah well. =)

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Dec 30, 2010 Penney rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not my kind of book too clean but I absolutely loved it. It's well written I will be reading more of Linda's books! I highly recommend reading it!

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Oct 14, 2009 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Becky by: thompson.rebekah@gmail.com

It was alright- I'm not a huge fan of the overtly Christian in your face stuff when it comes to fiction, but it was a cute story.

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Feb 09, 2011 Haley rated it 3 of 5 stars

cute quick read

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Nov 14, 2011 Jane(Janelba) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: atwi80books-challenge-2011, kindle, books-read-in-2011

Beautiful inspirational book set in Quinten, North Dakota in 1890.

Teaches us not to judgemental and how we can change our ways.

Loved the three main characters.

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Feb 25, 2011 Rochelle Rudicil rated it 2 of 5 stars

very slow and redundant.

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Jan 18, 2011 Patrice rated it 4 of 5 stars

so far so good, I am really enjoying this story.

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Aug 10, 2011 Fran Tucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good read. Story of forgiveness, love, and many references to Bible lessons.

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Jan 12, 2011 Adina rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-erotica

I received a review copy of this book from Tell Harlequin.

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About Linda Ford

Linda Ford grew up devouring books and making up stories in her head—often late at night when she couldn't sleep. But she hadn't planned to write. Instead, she dreamed of running an orphanage. In a way, that dream came true. She married, had four homemade children, adopted ten and lived (at times, endured) the dream.

Writing first took her to non-fiction human-interest articles for newspapers and...more

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