Beauty for Ashes (Rendezvous)

By Win Blevins

Book Overview

Win Blevins' Beauty for Ashes continues the saga of the legendary mountain man and trapper Sam Morgan blazing a trail across the old west, from the award-winning author Win Blevins.

Trapping beaver was the major source of income for mountain men in the Rocky Mountain West of the 1820s -- the luxuriant, sought-after pelts could make a man rich. But it was a dangerous way to make a living: winter blizzards, hostile Indians, sickness, and starvation lurked at every point of the compass. Only a special brand of man could survive it all.

After making a harrowing 700-mile journey alone and on foot from the Sweetwater River in Wyoming to Fort Atkinson on the Missouri River and finding a home in the fur trade, young Sam Morgan is becoming just such a man. Followed closely by Coy, his faithful coyote pup, and trapping with a brigade of mountain men, Sam seeks more than furs and wealth. He is searching for the love of his life, the Crow Indian woman Meadowlark, and with his companions -- the French-Canadian Gideon Dubois, the mulatto Jim Beckwourth, and the Pawnee Third Wing -- he heads for the Wind River country and the village of Meadowlark's people.

Sam is put to every test in his journey to the Crow village: fights with Pawnee, Lakota and Blackfeet; captivity and escape from a Sioux camp, buffalo hunts, and the distrust of Meadowlark's family and tribe. He endures the sweat lodge and Sun Dance ceremonies that test his beliefs and self-confidence, and concocts a last-ditch, daring, and foolhardy scheme to win Meadowlark's hand.

For all its page-turning action, Beauty for Ashes is the unforgettable story of a boy who becomes a man by necessity in the cruel, beautiful, unexplored wilderness of the Old West.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250305101
• ISBN13: 9781250305107
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Excellent novel of Mountain Man life

I very much enjoyed this second book in the Rendezvous series. The authenticity was excellent throughout and it's evident the author knows his stuff. But beyond that it's a really good story. Interesting plot that continues to move forward and doesn't get bogged down. The excellent and varied characters draw you in to their relationships and made me yearn for more. Fortunately, I'm in luck since there are several more books to the series. I also wanted to write this review to warn you not to read the next review. It contains a blatant spoiler which can ruin both this book and the next in the series.

I love interracial love stories

Especially during the Fur trade era. This was the first western book I have ever read. I have the first one, So Wild a dream and the third one Dancing with a Golden Bear. So far the second one is the best one. I didn't like the third sequel, because well, the marriage between Sam Morgan and Meadowlark, does not last. She dies in Dancing with a Golden Bear. Which is why I like this book, because it has a happy ending.

beautiful love story

This is a gorgeous love story between a white man and a Crow woman. Great emotional depth and wonderful depiction of Crow culture. I'm going to get the first book in this series right away.