Comanche Moon.

I haven't read a "fun" book in forever and a day, or at least that's how it seems. My school reading load is overwhelming. While I understand the merits of Wuthering Heights, and appreciate it as a novel, I can't say that I would ever read it simply to be reading it. The whole cast of characters is unredeemable. Heathcliff and Catherine don't make for very good company and I'd like to kick Lockwood and Nelly in their respective throats. I needed a break...so I cheated a little this week and finished two, yes TWO, "fun" books. The first was good until its final pages, where it became unbearably clichéd and syrupy. The second...the second is worth mentioning.

I've been a fan of Catherine Anderson since I picked up my copy of Cherish years ago. Race Spencer is my favorite hero. I usually would have a hard time settling on just ONE hero but when push comes to shove Race is the one I pick. He would be the book I risked my life to keep if the plot of Farenheit 451 ever came to realization. He would also be the only book I couldn't bear to leave behind if I were going to be stranded on an island somewhere. I've read Cherish at least once every few months for at least 5 years. I know passages by heart. When I love a book this much I'm torn between telling everyone I know about it and forcing them to read it or keeping it to myself so that I don't have to share. I'm feeling the same way about Comanche Moon.

I ended my Thursday by looking at the pile of library books I haven't touched since starting school and putting it in my mind that I deserved to read one dammit. I was having a tough time deciding which one I was going to indulge in and decided that I would read the first few pages of each to see which I wanted to read the absolute most. I picked up Comanche Moon to try first. I never cracked open any of the others. I got sucked in. After reading this I have to say Hunter is definitely on par with Race. I don't have a clear favorite...Hunter may have managed to squeak just a little above and beyond. (Sorry Race!)

In Short: Hunter of the Wolf (Hunter for short) is part of the great prophecy of the Comanche tribe. He will one day meet a "yellow-hair" (a.k.a. white girl) and together they will leave both of their worlds to make a life of their own, teaching their children the ways of the Comanche so that the "True People" are never completely lost/forgotten. Loretta is an orphan; her family brutally murdered by Comanche braves. (here to purchase) Hunter lost his wife and unborn child because of "yellow-hair" men. They come together by force; both are filled with hatred for the other. They separate by necessity; both are filled with sorrow. Fate circles around and gives them a second (then a third) chance.

I guess that this book has been a "favorite" of a lot of people for years. I feel robbed. It was so good! How could I have missed it? I laughed and cried in equal measure. At one point I was positive that it was going to be one of those crappy endings where the girl doesn't get the guy, but she has a child so she's never completely without him. I was wrong. Thank you baby butter Jesus. This is a book that I'm going to buy and sit it in a place of honor...right beside Cherish of course.

Fina Grade: A+.