Rafe

The Renegades #3

by Genell Dellin

In the conclusion of The Renegades series, half-Choctaw gambler Rafe Aigner heads for Texas to build a new life for himself by running the San Antonio Star, the newspaper he had won in a card game, only to discover that widow of the loser is Madeleine Calhoun, the woman whom he believed had betrayed his love. Original.

Genres: Historical, Historical Romance

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

Montana is a magical place to Genell. Late in the 1800s, Westerners called it "The Last Best Place" and to her it seems to be so still today. The enormity of the sky and the mountains, the few people with so much space and so much strength, and the land that seems to go on forever hold a powerful attraction that she loves to use for the background of her books.

Genell is also a lifelong rodeo fan. Growing up, attending the Frontier Days Celebration and Rodeo in Fort Smith was a yearly tradition of her family. She and her sisters loved the danger and the drama and the flamboyant personalities who were part of the show. They played at being trick riders and barrel racers for weeks afterward.

So, when she realized that Chase Lomax, rodeo cowboy, who was a character in her first single title romance, Montana Blue, would be the hero of her next book, Montana Gold, she felt she had been given the best of all possible worlds. What a perfect excuse for attending more rodeos and performances of the PBR, the Professional Bull Riders! What a great reason to make another trip to Montana! What a marvelous opportunity to write about two of her deepest passions!

Genell Dellin has published more than 25 novels. Her historical romances have won multiple awards from Romantic Times BOOKclub and the University of Oklahoma School of Professional Writing. She also receives hundreds of letters from readers in response to her contemporary inspirational romances written as Gena Dalton for the Steeple Hill Books imprint.

She lives with her husband in rural Oklahoma on a limestone hillside not far from a marker proclaiming the highest spot in the Cherokee Nation. Since their son has grown up and gone away to be a QuarterHorse trainer, they share their place with only four-footed family members. The bossy cat named Smokey keeps Genell company while she writes and sometimes offers her advice.

*Cherokee Warriors is Genell's second Cherokee series for Avon Books inspired by family stories about her great-grandmother, who was born on the way to Indian Territory from Georgia.
*Montana Gold is a sequel to Montana Blue.
*Montana Gold is the second in Genell's series of single title contemporary romances set in Montana. "Chase Lomax is a perfect example of what grit and daring can accomplish," she says. "I loved writing him. He inspired me."

Reviews

[Lover of Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeline Calhoun, runs a newspaper called the "San Antonio Star" having recently settled in San Antonio and made a life for herself. Madeline has a passion for discovering the truth and writing about it. Now her husband, whom she thought she may have loved at one time, has now lost him and her newspaper in a card game, and the new owner is a man she fell in love with when she lived in New Orleans, but thought that he had died in Mexico, but now is faced with the one man that once had her heart. Rafe is furious with her, and Madeline is overwhelmed to see him again. Rafe is furious to see Madeline again, but so is Madeline with Rafe for not ever letting her know that he was alive when she believed him dead. So even though these two are at odds with one another, there is still a raw passion that awakens, and a love that is rekindled...Rafe is the third installment in the Renegade series by Genell Dellin. I have only couple books from this author, but I found Rafe to be a compelling story. The story takes place in San Antonio Texas, where two people that once knew the meaning of the phrase "to have loved and lost" now comes face to face with each other, and tempers and emotions are very high, but there is a desire between them that has never died, and has awakened again now that they have worked out a compromise, that will only have their hidden love to come alive brighter than ever. Rafe and Madeline are endearing characters and their interaction with one another is will be entertaining to say the least. Throughout the whole of the story, there was one surprise after another, unsuspecting and full of emotion and intensity. So if you are a lover of romance this is one you don't want to miss out on.....

My Favorite Quote
"You're a fair man, Rafe, and you're being treated monumentally unfairly. You're an honorable man and you're being treated with reprehensible dishonor. I will not let that happen as long as I have a breath in my body."

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rafe Aigner and Madeleine Calhoun were young and in love as Rafe prepared to go south to fight in Mexico, but Madeleine insisted on staying behind to care for her father and his newspaper. After learning of Rafe's death, Madeleine was inconsolable, before finally moving on and marrying - a mistake she has come to regret. So Maddie is extremely surprised to find Rafe alive and on her doorstep with news that before he'd died, her husband had gambled away their newspaper, as well as her livelihood. And Rafe is unforgiving about her having moved on, despite her belief in his death. However they come to an agreement that Maddie will care for Rafe's young son, the one he finally claimed after his mother died, while Rafe continues to try to establish his gambling legacy. This puts them in close contact and the two more or less become co-parents - she helps him and his son learn to love each other and she begins to fall in love with Rafe all over again. But someone in town resents Rafe trying to establish his gambling career in town and begins spreading rumors about Rafe and his son that could cause lots of trouble for them, and by association, Maddie.

This had a promising start. I liked the angle with Rafe and his son struggling to come to terms with each other and Rafe learning how to love his son, not just feel responsible for him. Rafe also had to learn how to forgive Maddie - in his heart, he knew that she'd done nothing wrong, but couldn't accept the fact that she'd moved on enough to marry again. And for her part, Maddie, having failed in her marriage, began to wonder if she could trust her feelings given how wrong she'd been about her husband, and Rafe (given that he lied about his death). So this dynamic worked and I enjoyed reading about it. But about the time that the rumors started flying and the town started their threats, I wondered if this could end well...and I feel like I was right. These rumors had made it impossible to live in town unscathed by glares, comments, etc. And all of this was caused by a man who wanted Rafe out of town (so he wouldn't build a gambling house). So to my way of it, either they defeated this man and built their gamling house anyway or they left town completely to get away from the rumors. As it happens, Rafe ends up throwing away his gambling goals and surrendering to the "bad man" and the little family stays in the town that now hates them (though a little outside of it). So...the villain isn't actually defeated, Rafe is more or less branded a coward, and the town still hates them. Not exactly a really happy ending in my book, but at least they're all happy living together. I felt like some of that needed to be dealt with...like the villain admits he'd made up all those rumors and gets kicked out of town, but none of that happens. So the ending wasn't quite satisfying enough for me.