Title: Fordestined Summer
Author: C. J. Winters
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published in 2005 by Hard Shell Word Factory
IBSN: 0-7599-4792-9 (e-book)
ISBN: 0-7599-4792-9 (trade paperback)
Aurie Peterson is a young woman determined to go after what she wants. In her future, she sees the dark eyes of her beloved, and it promises a long life together. Aurie knows that she is destined to be with Swift. She will follow him anywhere either by foot or horseback all the way to North Dakota if it means they can finally be together. Her parents demand that she stay away from this Indian. Her father threatens to disown her if she refuses. Aurie only sees love for Swift, and a lifetime filled with happiness. She has known Swift ever since they were young children growing up playing games together and there is no one else that she would rather marry. Aurie is willing to confront any obstacle. She doesn’t see the hate that others see because of his color. She only sees love and that is all that matters.
In a world of prejudice and hate, Aurie’s parents refuse for her to be with an Indian. They will not have her marry some red skin man and produce any children. And if she does, they will not be called their grandchildren. There are other respectable men that she can marry, but she insists the only man she will ever love is Swift. If she chooses to disobey them, she will not have a father. Aurie doesn’t mind that she has to live on an Indian reservation as long as she is with Swift. When she discovers that he has up and left without her, she immediately packs and follows. Once they are boarded on the train they encounter snarls and stares from those who do not understand their relationship. Aurie is strong in her convictions and love for Swift and boldly challenges these strangers. She has haunted dreams that continue to bother her mind and she has to make sure that they get answered in some way, and with the help of Swift, she knows they can be answered. A family and life with him to last forever no matter what others see through their darkened eyes.
The year of 1920 didn’t show much promise for Swift McKinley. After his birth, his mother dies and he is forced to live with others. He soon finds out that being an American Indian and raised in a white family on a Wisconsin dairy farm is not a pleasurable event. If you aren’t the right breed then you don’t belong. Aurie is beautiful and has always been a good neighbor when they were growing up. Now that he and she are older, he realizes that he can no longer remain silent on matters. Swift is ecstatic when he finds out that Aurie feels the same towards him. When he hears that her father will disown her if she leaves and marries an Indian he decides to leave without telling her. After inheriting a farm in North Dakota he will move on and try to start a fresh new life without her. Even his foster siblings have turned their backs on him. He sees nothing holding him in Wisconsin. The devastation is too much for him to bear with the loss and rejection. He seeks to find his own path in life, alone, and try to forget Aurie.
Swift tries to convince Aurie it is best that she stay with her family when they don’t accept him. Living on an Indian reservation is no place for her being a white woman. He already has a resentful foster brother and a humiliated sister in the family he lives, he will not have Aurie’s life tarnished. Swift decides to leave without her since he doesn’t want her to have a type of life that would deprive her of things she might desire in life. Swift finds out that she has tracked him down and insists she get off the train and go home. Following him is no place for her. Their ages forbid them to marry without their parent’s consent unless they can find another answer. It would be best for her to go home. After they discover a way to be as one, he finds himself behind bars for a crime he wasn’t responsible but Aurie shows him that you can overcome any hurdle with the love and support of a good woman.
Foredestined Summer is a heart-warming story that showed true grit of families in an age where prejudice is strong and even in families it can prove to be even bitter. I was completely captivated by the book the minute I started reading. C.J. Winters has written a story that truly delivers. The story paints a picture of the way things actually were when a person married out of their color or race. People sometimes do not understand nor do they accept anything that is different. I liked Aurie’s determination. The girl had backbone and she continued seeing dreams that Swift was the man for her and she went after what she believed was best. While most people would have given up and just chosen to go along and married someone out of love to please their parents, she refused to give in to her father’s requests thus making her more or less a black sheep to him. I am glad that the mother’s thinking wasn’t as rough as the father’s. The character of Swift was very believable in demonstrating how a person from a different race can often be intimated and refused things in life because they are from a different set of tracks. One thing is for sure; all people should be made to feel accepted no matter what the consequences. We all bleed the same color blood whether we are white, black, red or any color. We all are made to live on this life to get along together because there is no other place to go. The scene with the bull had me on the edge of my seat with anticipation what would happen next. I kept thinking each disaster they ran into would cause them to shift apart and Aurie would have to go home to stay. These two characters won my heart. They needed to be together. C. J. Winters gave her characters depth that made this story a true epic.
C. J. Winters has written an exceptional book that will make you feel hurt, anger, sadness and then touch you with a blanket of warmth making you feel there is something out there worth fighting for in life. I think others would really benefit by reading this book. Foredestined Summer is a powerful story that should be read more than once. It is remarkably good. If you have yet to read this book, I highly recommend it. Foredestined Summer is Book 1 of the Autumn in Cranky Otter series and you can purchase it in e-book or paperback at Hard Shell Word Factory. I promise you will not be disappointed.
Happy reading,
Linda
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