Wild Rose Pass, Karen Hulene Bartell

. . . .Cadence McShane, free-spirited nonconformist, yearns to escape the rigid code, clothes, and sidesaddles of 1880s military society in Fort Davis, Texas. She finds the daring new lieutenant exhilarating, but as the daughter of the commanding officer, she is expected to keep with family tradition and marry West Point graduate James West.

. . . . Orphaned, Comanche-raised, and always the outsider looking in, Ben Williams yearns to belong. Cadence embodies everything he craves, but as a battlefield-commissioned officer with the Buffalo Soldiers instead of a West Point graduate, he is neither accepted into military society nor considered marriageable.

. . . Can two people of different worlds, drawn together by conflicting needs, flout society and forge a life together on the frontier?

          Rarely have we found a blurb which so accurately describes its nove. Karen Hulene Bartell has given western historical fans an action-packed story, filled it with a lush setting, and populated it with diverse, well-drawn characters.

          Cadence McShane has a mind of her own, but isn't pushy with it. She simply. . . yearns to live a life different from the expectations pressed on her by the society she lives in. As an aside, it came as a refreshing to realize gossip, bias and bigotry are not unique to the 21^st century. Clearly, by Bartell's extensive research, these societal woes have been around for awhile.

          And now we come to Ben Williams—a hero worth knowing, appreciating, and respecting. In one word he is yummy. Nicely done, Ms. Bartell.

On a scale of 1—5, Wild Rose Pass deserves a 5.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews