Ever wonder how a Cherokee Indian might view this unpredictable adventure we call life in the suburbs? Or how do the mysticism and long held cultural beliefs of the Native American blend with the CNN culture of today? Maybe you like your romance with a sprinkling of the unknown, the unexplainable; if so I have a book for you that delivers on all three. Olga Vesta Button, who is best known for blending of the romantic with the paranormal, offers up Eagle's Nest for her readers' pleasure.

The title is taken from a tree house Stone Eagle built in the large tree on his grandparents' property in Oklahoma. Even though Stone enjoyed his time with his grandparents, he decided when he took the lovely Star as a bride that he was heading out of rural Oklahoma. The book opens ten years later with Stone returning home with his two children and the ashes of his beloved Star, and a desperate need to begin again.

Despite good intentions, and the help of his mother-in-law, Mooncloud, everything seemed to be falling around his head. The property that was left to him by his grandparents has a mysteriously missing title. The only real neighbor he'd met referred to him as squaw man and threatened to sic' the law on him. Then there's his daughter, Luna, who constantly talks to her dead mother, while insisting that her mother's now a hummingbird. His son, Clay, fared little better, sure that his mother was only gone for a visit, but would return soon.

If this wasn't enough for one man to shoulder, add to it the delectable Dawn Leigh and her three children. Lacy, her youngest, toddled into Stone's arms and called him "Daddy." Dawn wasn't ready for another man in her life, especially one that reminded her of Phillip, her cheating ex-husband. Still there was something about Stone Eagle that drew her even when she didn't want to be drawn. The question was, of course, what man would seriously consider a divorcee with three children?

Eagle's Nest moves quickly with introducing Dawn as one of the lead characters. The interaction between Stone Eagle and Mooncloud seems genuine, as does the attraction between Dawn and Stone. The children are at times precious, awkward, and resilient as children often are in real life. The story moves at a good clip not overstaying its welcome at any particular place.

If I were to have any issues with the story, my issues would be inconsistencies. A good example of this is when Dawn remembers her husband Phillip left her when she was six months pregnant with Lacy and never came back. A few pages later she reveals that Phillip only saw Lacy once. All the same, it is a tale worth reading. It's a charming turn away from the ordinary romances. You could call it a story with that something extra. It's up to you to find out just what that something extra is.

Reviewed by Morgan Wyatt
© February 2005