Wild Whispers - Softcover

Always working with me to think up new ways to make my Indian series more intriguing for my readers, Audrey LaFehr, my editor, suggested a new approach. Audrey said that it would be interesting if I could write about three Indian tribes in a trilogy, in which each tribe would be connected somehow... would interact... from book to book. I liked the idea. I liked the challenge of doing extensive research to see which Indian tribes could interact peacefully. I had to make sure that each tribe's locale was nearly the same, so that they could move from village to village without the miles between each being a hindrance to the stories.

I had to make sure that the customs of each tribe did not clash. Also, I had to choose three tribes that had peaceful relations with the white settlers since in my Indian romances the heroines are white...my hero, Indian.

When I was finally able to weave all of these things together, thus began my trilogy that began with Wild Bliss, about the Chippewa Indians, followed six months later by Wild Thunder, about the Potawatomis Indians. Wild Whispers, written about the Kickapoo Indians, concludes the trilogy, and although each book has a new hero and heroine, the stories of White Wolf and Dawnmarie, which began in book #1, is concluded.

Wild Whispers begins in Texas in 1854. Chief Fire Thunder of the Coahuila Thunder Clan of Kickapoo has traveled far from his homeland in Wisconsin to get away from the white people who pushed his Kickapoo people from place to place. He has led his people to Mexico where they have become a rich tribe who own vast herds of Longhorn steers.

Fire Thunder becomes intrigued with Kaylene, a green-eyed white woman he sees traveling with her father's carnival. He can not rest until he has this woman.

Many obstacles stand in his way of approaching the woman in a friendly way. Her father abducts Fire Thunder's small deaf mute sister to use in his side show in the carnival. Fire Thunder saves his sister, and at the same time abducts Kaylene.

From there they fight many battles together, both personal and otherwise. In the end, Fire Thunder helps Kaylene open up mysteries to her past that she never knew existed. Kaylene helps Fire Thunder learn how to trust again!

And White Wolf escorts his wife Dawnmarie to Mexico, where she fulfills a prophesy that her mother had told her about in Wild Bliss, which, in turn, finalizes everyone's stories in the trilogy.

Wild Whispers not only concludes my trilogy, but also my Topaz "Wild" series. But that doesn't mean that my Indian series, as a whole, is concluded for Topaz. A new, intriguing Indian series begins! The title of each book will be taken from the name of the hero of each book. For example, Rolling Thunder, my November Topaz release, is the story of Rolling Thunder, a Comanche Indian chief, and Tanzey Nicole, my heroine.

The next book will be Black Lance, that name taken from Black Lance, my handsome Chippewa warrior hero.

I hope you will enjoy reading about these newest, handsome, intriguing Indian heroes, and their feisty, strong-willed, yet sweet women!

Cassie Edwards was always a voracious reader of gothics and mysteries until a friend loaned her one of her newest "finds" in reading... an historical romance! Always having loved history, and... passion, Cassie became immediately hooked on reading historical romances which one day led her to write her own. Since then she has seen 53 of her titles published and there are now more than nine million of her books in print.

Being drawn into the mystique of Indian lore, Cassie found her true passion... writing Indian romances. Cassie's Indian romances have appeared on bestseller lists all across the country, including USA Today's list, as well as Waldenbooks and B. Dalton's top ten. She has also won the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Reviewer's Choice Award from Romantic Times for her Indian romances. In addition, the readers of Affaire d'Coeur voted for Cassie as one of their top ten favorite romance writers.

Having lived in St. Louis for thirty years, raising two boys there, Cassie and her husband returned to Mattoon, Illinois, when Charlie retired from teaching. Cassie's dream home is in the rural area of Mattoon, where an occasional curious red fox ventures onto her sundeck and peeks through her glass sliding door into her office. Serene, and as one with nature, it is a perfect place for Cassie to create her Indian novels. Writing them is her tribute to the fine people of our land, who have suffered so much injustice.

Cassie's "Wild" series, which she writes exclusively for Topaz, concludes with Wild Whispers, her May release, and an exciting, new Indian series begins for Topaz when Rolling Thunder, the first book in the new series, is published in November 1996.

There will be many, many more Indian romances after that, as she endeavors to write about every major Indian tribe in America.