What do you think?
Rate this book
Chippewa #3
Savage Heart
Innocent young Christa Martin, threatened with an unwanted, arranged marriage to an older man, tries to battle her attraction to Tall Cloud, the powerful and handsome chief of the Suquamish, but his embrace overcomes her resistance. Reissue.
381 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
14 people are currently reading
812 people want to read
About the author
Cassie Edwards
164 books421 followersEdwards began writing romances in 1982 and released her 100th novel, Savage Skies, on August 28, 2007. Although her earlier books were classic historical romances, the vast majority of her novels involve Native American tribes. Edwards's grandmother was a full-blooded Cheyenne. Her first 99 books sold a combined 10 million copies as of August 2007, with her more recent novels averaging sales of 250,000–350,000 copies.
Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.
Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.
Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.
Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 14, 2020
This review is of “Savage Heart”, #3 in the “Chippewa” series by Cassie Edwards.
The book begins in Seattle, Washington, 1855, where Christa Martin, the heroine of the book, lives with her brother, David. (The siblings parents died from cholera on the trip from Boston to Washington. The family came to Washington state believing they would find wealth. They didn’t. The Martin siblings live in a one-story home and are farmers). The Martins’ and other white settlers find themselves visited frequently by Suquamish Indians; one of these visitors to the Martin homestead is Tall Cloud, chief (naturally) of his band of Suquamish, and the hero of the book. Soon after meeting Christa, Tall Cloud and Christa become lovers, much to the dismay of David, who is pushing her to marry Harrison Kramer, a wealthy local businessman and the Evil White Man of the book (Kramer tries to rape Christa early on).
Tall Cloud decides he wants to marry Christa, and he offers a bride price to David for her. When David refuses, Tall Cloud kidnaps Christa in an effort to force David to agree to their marriage. This also fails to move David.
Soon, the Suqamish’s mortal enemy, the Haida, declare war on Seattle. Christa and David, who is now in love with Kramer’s daughter, Delores, move to a stockade in Seattle, paid for by Kramer. Tall Cloud and his Suquamish fight with the whites against the Haida. This is done for two reasons: One, as mentioned, the Suquamish and Haida are enemies; and two, Tall Cloud thinks that if the Suquamish fight with the whites, they will tear up a planned treaty forcing the Suquamish onto reservations.
While in Seattle, Kramer again asks Christa to marry him. When both she and David reject his proposal, Kramer trails her to find out if she’s seeing someone else. When he discovers this is Tall Cloud, Kramer tries to kill him both Tall Cloud and Christa. (Kramer later dies when, during a fight with Tall Cloud, the gun Kramer is holding goes off, killing him). Later, Christa is abducted by Striped Wolf, an evil Haida and the Evil Indian Brave of the book (Earlier, Striped Wolf raped Tall Cloud’s sister, Princess Star, impregnating her during the act. Princess Star and her baby both die in childbirth).
Christa does manage to escape from Striped Wolf, who is later killed by a member of the posse David formed to find her. In the end, Christa marries Tall Cloud, David accepts their love and marries Delores, and both couples have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: As usual in Mrs. Edwards’ books, the love scenes are good.
Downside: Also as usual, everything about Mrs. Edwards’ books I don’t like is on display here.
Christa is a ok heroine, nothing more.
I really didn’t like Tall Cloud. He began as very arrogant and insensitive; his philosophy was “I want Christa, and I’ll abduct her to force David to give her to me”. He also believed that marrying a white woman would help compel the whtie citizens of Seattle to tear up the treaty mentioned above. Where he got this idea from is not specified, but when it doesn’t happen, he gets angry about it. For much of the book, Tall Cloud acknowledges that he is using Christa as a bargaining chip with the whites, which causes her-and me as a reader-to seriously question his motives. There is little to no romance between Christa and Tall Cloud-they meet each other 3 times and become lovers and suddenly, are supposedly madly in love? The characters are shallow and undeveloped; they are pretty much what they are throughout the book. None of these characters will be remembered much by me when I put the book back in my book nook. Like most of Mrs. Edwards’ books, the plot is basically non-existent.
Sex: As mentioned above, the love scenes are the best part of the book, Not erotica, but pretty good for a mainstream romance book.
Violence: Some of the violence is mentioned above. In addition to that, Christa beans Striped Wolf with a rock to get away from him. He also kills two white settlers when they try to stop him from abducting Christa. That is the only semi-graphic violence in the book.
Bottom Line: I’m resolving to accept Mrs. Edwards’ books for what they are. “Savage Heart” though, is not good, even by the low standards I have for Mrs. Edwards’ books.
The book begins in Seattle, Washington, 1855, where Christa Martin, the heroine of the book, lives with her brother, David. (The siblings parents died from cholera on the trip from Boston to Washington. The family came to Washington state believing they would find wealth. They didn’t. The Martin siblings live in a one-story home and are farmers). The Martins’ and other white settlers find themselves visited frequently by Suquamish Indians; one of these visitors to the Martin homestead is Tall Cloud, chief (naturally) of his band of Suquamish, and the hero of the book. Soon after meeting Christa, Tall Cloud and Christa become lovers, much to the dismay of David, who is pushing her to marry Harrison Kramer, a wealthy local businessman and the Evil White Man of the book (Kramer tries to rape Christa early on).
Tall Cloud decides he wants to marry Christa, and he offers a bride price to David for her. When David refuses, Tall Cloud kidnaps Christa in an effort to force David to agree to their marriage. This also fails to move David.
Soon, the Suqamish’s mortal enemy, the Haida, declare war on Seattle. Christa and David, who is now in love with Kramer’s daughter, Delores, move to a stockade in Seattle, paid for by Kramer. Tall Cloud and his Suquamish fight with the whites against the Haida. This is done for two reasons: One, as mentioned, the Suquamish and Haida are enemies; and two, Tall Cloud thinks that if the Suquamish fight with the whites, they will tear up a planned treaty forcing the Suquamish onto reservations.
While in Seattle, Kramer again asks Christa to marry him. When both she and David reject his proposal, Kramer trails her to find out if she’s seeing someone else. When he discovers this is Tall Cloud, Kramer tries to kill him both Tall Cloud and Christa. (Kramer later dies when, during a fight with Tall Cloud, the gun Kramer is holding goes off, killing him). Later, Christa is abducted by Striped Wolf, an evil Haida and the Evil Indian Brave of the book (Earlier, Striped Wolf raped Tall Cloud’s sister, Princess Star, impregnating her during the act. Princess Star and her baby both die in childbirth).
Christa does manage to escape from Striped Wolf, who is later killed by a member of the posse David formed to find her. In the end, Christa marries Tall Cloud, David accepts their love and marries Delores, and both couples have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: As usual in Mrs. Edwards’ books, the love scenes are good.
Downside: Also as usual, everything about Mrs. Edwards’ books I don’t like is on display here.
Christa is a ok heroine, nothing more.
I really didn’t like Tall Cloud. He began as very arrogant and insensitive; his philosophy was “I want Christa, and I’ll abduct her to force David to give her to me”. He also believed that marrying a white woman would help compel the whtie citizens of Seattle to tear up the treaty mentioned above. Where he got this idea from is not specified, but when it doesn’t happen, he gets angry about it. For much of the book, Tall Cloud acknowledges that he is using Christa as a bargaining chip with the whites, which causes her-and me as a reader-to seriously question his motives. There is little to no romance between Christa and Tall Cloud-they meet each other 3 times and become lovers and suddenly, are supposedly madly in love? The characters are shallow and undeveloped; they are pretty much what they are throughout the book. None of these characters will be remembered much by me when I put the book back in my book nook. Like most of Mrs. Edwards’ books, the plot is basically non-existent.
Sex: As mentioned above, the love scenes are the best part of the book, Not erotica, but pretty good for a mainstream romance book.
Violence: Some of the violence is mentioned above. In addition to that, Christa beans Striped Wolf with a rock to get away from him. He also kills two white settlers when they try to stop him from abducting Christa. That is the only semi-graphic violence in the book.
Bottom Line: I’m resolving to accept Mrs. Edwards’ books for what they are. “Savage Heart” though, is not good, even by the low standards I have for Mrs. Edwards’ books.
December 14, 2010
This was just an "ok" read. This was my least favorite of Cassie Edwards savage series. It was just average but I thought the end was pretty good though.
October 29, 2011
I love all her 'Savage Series'
work...period
work...period
Read
December 23, 2008Great book. Cassie Edwards really puts you in the moment.
August 3, 2012
Indian romances = happy me
August 21, 2024
Rating: 3.9 / 5
As is usually the case when the hero and heroine get together fairly early on in the story, everything afterwards just feels like a looooooong read.
____________________________
The story itself is fairly basic: Christa and David are a brother and sister who are trying to make it on their own in a small homestead outside of Seattle, after their parents died on their journey over from Boston. An older and rich man, Harrison, is interested in courting Christa, and David's inclined to accept his suit, because he feels that Harrison gives Christa her brightest future.
Except that Christa quite frankly detests Harrison, and of course wants a young man closer to her own age to marry.
Enter Tall Cloud, the chief of the Suquamish tribe. He's also quite smitten with Christa, and the two of them begin a courtship once it becomes clear that Christa feels the same--both of which are confirmed after Christa
I suppose that it had my attention until page 200 or so, after which I just sort of got bored with what was going to happen next because...well, it felt like none of the characters were really budging.
Christa and Tall Cloud are still very much in love, but then Tall Cloud concerns himself with the duties of a chief and therefore they're apart most of the time.
David, likewise, doesn't really budge from being stern and just refusing to consider any other suitor for Christa other than Harrison. He stops just short of being an asshole and forcing Christa into anything, but even after both Christa and Tall Cloud try and try and try again to get him to acknowledge them being together, he still doesn't budge from Harrison. I suppose I'd get it if David has something against Tall Cloud personally, but the fact is that he doesn't. Likewise, considering how much David does love Christa, it's off-putting how he doesn't at all listen to her feelings, and insists that she marry a man that so obviously disgusts her, just because said man is rich. It's...just the sort of obliviousness and stubbornness that's frustrating to read through, though not quite at the "stupid" level, thank goodness.
All in all therefore, I'd say that this is okay and that I did like the characters themselves just fine, but feel that the narrative could have benefitted a bit more from tension--in particular, maybe waiting a bit longer for Christa and Tall Cloud to really acknowledge their feelings for each other, so that there's more buildup to the love scenes once we come to them.
As is usually the case when the hero and heroine get together fairly early on in the story, everything afterwards just feels like a looooooong read.
____________________________
The story itself is fairly basic: Christa and David are a brother and sister who are trying to make it on their own in a small homestead outside of Seattle, after their parents died on their journey over from Boston. An older and rich man, Harrison, is interested in courting Christa, and David's inclined to accept his suit, because he feels that Harrison gives Christa her brightest future.
Except that Christa quite frankly detests Harrison, and of course wants a young man closer to her own age to marry.
Enter Tall Cloud, the chief of the Suquamish tribe. He's also quite smitten with Christa, and the two of them begin a courtship once it becomes clear that Christa feels the same--both of which are confirmed after Christa
I suppose that it had my attention until page 200 or so, after which I just sort of got bored with what was going to happen next because...well, it felt like none of the characters were really budging.
Christa and Tall Cloud are still very much in love, but then Tall Cloud concerns himself with the duties of a chief and therefore they're apart most of the time.
David, likewise, doesn't really budge from being stern and just refusing to consider any other suitor for Christa other than Harrison. He stops just short of being an asshole and forcing Christa into anything, but even after both Christa and Tall Cloud try and try and try again to get him to acknowledge them being together, he still doesn't budge from Harrison. I suppose I'd get it if David has something against Tall Cloud personally, but the fact is that he doesn't. Likewise, considering how much David does love Christa, it's off-putting how he doesn't at all listen to her feelings, and insists that she marry a man that so obviously disgusts her, just because said man is rich. It's...just the sort of obliviousness and stubbornness that's frustrating to read through, though not quite at the "stupid" level, thank goodness.
All in all therefore, I'd say that this is okay and that I did like the characters themselves just fine, but feel that the narrative could have benefitted a bit more from tension--in particular, maybe waiting a bit longer for Christa and Tall Cloud to really acknowledge their feelings for each other, so that there's more buildup to the love scenes once we come to them.
December 9, 2007
The dialogue lacked character emotion. The story had potential, but was too plainly written for my taste. I was annoyed at the overuse of proper nouns. UGH. How many times did the heroine say "Tall Cloud?" UGH!!!! Pronouns, pronouns, pronouns they "be" a wonderful thing.
April 13, 2010
I have fallen so in love with this book. I have read it over 5 times.
January 11, 2014
because sometimes, your brain just needs junk food.
updated: i needed brain junk food, not brain poison. oi!
updated: i needed brain junk food, not brain poison. oi!
April 29, 2014
I love author Cassie Edwards! Im going to read more of her books!
August 17, 2018
Christa and her brother David move out to Washington state after their parents died in an accident. They went from living the rich city life of Boston to living the country life with a small farm with animals and wearing country clothes and learning how to grow and make their own food. The indians in the area are not very polite, They come into your home whenever they want unannounced to "check things out". It was during one of these house invasions that Christa met the chief who just came in to check things over and decided to help himself to some of their food.
After the house invasion, Tall Cloud, the chief, felt an attraction to Christa, so he wanted to get to know her better but Christas brother was not having it. He wanted to get Christa married off to a city rich man who was twice her age, Christa couldnt stand the older, richer man.
Christa is walking through the woods searching for berries to pick when she hears screams, she comes upon a very young indian girl being brutally raped by another indian from an enemy tribe. Christa shoots him in the shoulder and he leaves. Christa helps the girl back to her camp when she discovers she is Tall Clouds younger sister. She tells him what happened, instead of getting angry and going searching for his sisters attacker he tells Christa that his sister will be shamed by him and the rest of the tribe because she left the camp when she wasnt suppose to and the rape was her punishment. Well that didnt sit to well with Christa or me.
Tall Cloud continues to try and marry Christa but her brother wont let it happen and Christa is not sure if Tall Cloud loves her for all the right reasons. At times Tall Cloud says things that make it sound like he is using Christa to get things from our Government that will benefit him and his tribe.
This story was packed with alot of intrigue and suspence which I love about Cassies books but I didnt like Tall Cloud at all... I was turned off right away when he shamed his sister and then double shamed her when she became pregnant with her rapists child, that made my blood boil. I also didnt like how he treated and talked to Christa, at times it was borderline abuse. His treatment towards women in general was almost like all women are beneath him.. usually I love the main male indian characters in Cassies stories but not this one.
In a way I liked that I didnt like Tall Cloud because it makes you relize that Cassies books are not always predictable.
After the house invasion, Tall Cloud, the chief, felt an attraction to Christa, so he wanted to get to know her better but Christas brother was not having it. He wanted to get Christa married off to a city rich man who was twice her age, Christa couldnt stand the older, richer man.
Christa is walking through the woods searching for berries to pick when she hears screams, she comes upon a very young indian girl being brutally raped by another indian from an enemy tribe. Christa shoots him in the shoulder and he leaves. Christa helps the girl back to her camp when she discovers she is Tall Clouds younger sister. She tells him what happened, instead of getting angry and going searching for his sisters attacker he tells Christa that his sister will be shamed by him and the rest of the tribe because she left the camp when she wasnt suppose to and the rape was her punishment. Well that didnt sit to well with Christa or me.
Tall Cloud continues to try and marry Christa but her brother wont let it happen and Christa is not sure if Tall Cloud loves her for all the right reasons. At times Tall Cloud says things that make it sound like he is using Christa to get things from our Government that will benefit him and his tribe.
This story was packed with alot of intrigue and suspence which I love about Cassies books but I didnt like Tall Cloud at all... I was turned off right away when he shamed his sister and then double shamed her when she became pregnant with her rapists child, that made my blood boil. I also didnt like how he treated and talked to Christa, at times it was borderline abuse. His treatment towards women in general was almost like all women are beneath him.. usually I love the main male indian characters in Cassies stories but not this one.
In a way I liked that I didnt like Tall Cloud because it makes you relize that Cassies books are not always predictable.
November 16, 2022
I usually enjoy Cassie Edward's Indian books. But this one had something wrong from the very beginning. The characters changed their moods rapidly by the minute. Christa is angry because she thinks Tall Cloud is using her, then the next minute she is intensely loving him. David trusts Tall Cloud and wants to collaborate, then he pulls a gun on him to kill him. Tall Cloud also changes instantaneously. The pieces just don't fit together well.
October 8, 2023
Author uses the characters names too much in dialogue. No one constantly says the person's name that they are talking to like that. Gets annoying. Plus says the N word once when it wasn't really necessary. Won't be reading her again.
March 1, 2013
I'm really disappointed that I cannot get on with this author's writing style. I love Native American romances and, judging by the reviews, these might be wonderful stories. However, I get bogged down by the writing, which I find tedious and boring and slow.
So, another DNF for me but I will keep trying.
So, another DNF for me but I will keep trying.
Read
July 6, 2012Love everyone of her Salvage Series
August 12, 2012
Very good historical references.
April 5, 2013
I've read every book Cassie Edwards has written. Love them!
November 11, 2015
It had been a long time since I read a romance novel and I think I picked the worst in the bunch. Ugh! Just don't!
August 6, 2018
Book 3 of 5 in the Savage Chippewa series. Awesome
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews