Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell, set in 1885 Colorado, delves into a forced marriage born from violence and societal prejudice. A compelling historical romance.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.
Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Standalone
April 8, 2010
Read this if you want:
- Western historical
- Tearjerker
- Family
As he finally stopped fighting sleep, he wondered if maybe, just occasionally the gods designed a woman fit for a king or a prince and then gave her to an ordinary man. Maybe they did such a thing once in a while, knowing an ordinary man would treasure her more, love her better. Maybe they even let him keep her-for a while.
Annie Wells has just run away from home. It may be a little late in life as she is 27, but after spending months locked in her room by her father with only scraps for food she finally manages to escape. Hiding for the night in a barn, she doesn’t realize that it is Cord Bennett’s, a man with a reputation of the devil as well as being half Indian, but Annie has never believed this and is proven right when he offers her food and shelter and money to escape. That’s when the mob, led by Annie’s father arrives, almost killing Cord, forcing them to marry and almost raping Annie.
No doubt about it, this book has a harrowing start, Annie and Cord’s marriage is born in violence and blood, but something beautiful grew from it anyway. With many romances what you have is a great amount of lust and passion which a few days later they interpret as love, in this book, you see them grow together from being friends to the realization that actually, they love each other to distraction and the passion grows with it. I liked this change of pace, it is both more realistic and was lovely to read.
As well as the relationship with each other, there is also the relationship with Cord’s large clannish family, who, like everyone else believe he is some kind of cold blooded killer, they still love him, but they are afraid of him. Annie’s anger at his family and loyalty to Cord is one of the reasons I really liked her. But seeing the rift slowly and painfully healing as a whole lifetimes worth of misunderstandings on both sides is revealed was almost as good as watching Annie and Cord fall in love.
Perhaps this isn’t the most well written book, although there are some lovely quotes, I found myself having to read sentences again and think about it before they made sense, but it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of this book, as I really couldn’t put it down and will be looking at more of Ms O’Connell’s books.
Read More
Thanks for the great new to me author recommend Suz!
Thanks for the great recommendation.
I read this book during Christmas 2010 when we were snowed in, in Virginia while visiting my son. I felt so guilty because I wrapped up in my blanket and refused to put my reader down. I loved the relationship and it’s progression. I cried a little, I smiled a little, I melted a little. I was so invested in the story, I was a little depressed when it was finished. I to, had to reread bits and pieces but overall, it was a wonderfully told love grows story. .