Tallchief

by Sharon Sala and Dinah McCall

Book Overview

Determined to forget the only woman he has ever loved, Morgan Tallchief vows to protect the returned, but still troubled, Kathleen Ryder, who fears that her enemies will prevent her from staying with Morgan.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061084441
• ISBN13: 9780061084447
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: HarperTorch
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

I Loved This Book!

I won't go over the plot as others already have. Morgan was a wonderful hero, in the true sense of the word. He was strong, brave and quick to defend his family. He was also sensitive and didn't hesitate to show his love. Kathleen has been through enormous upheavals in her life yet managed to raise an incredible child. The only thing that rang untrue is that it was always the FBI that moved them, the FBI who made all the decisions, the FBI agent who handled everything. The U.S. Marshall Services handles the Witness Protection Program and they were never mentioned. This book is definitely a keeper!

A fast paced, emotionally intense, thoroughly romantic book

Dinah McCall AKA Sharon Sala has created another wonderful emotional roller coaster of a book with TALLCHIEF. Morgan Tallchief was on top of the world. Only eighteen years old and a record breaking runner with Olympic dreams he has a beautiful girlfriend who loves him with all her heart and his future looks bright. Then all of his dreams are shattered when his legs aren't quick enough to save the girl he loves from a fiery death. Grief stricken he joins the Navy to escape his heartache.Sixteen years later Morgan, now an accomplished artist and former Navy SEAL, is living an isolated life until the day Kathleen comes back from the dead with their daughter in tow. All of the old pain comes back full force when he has to face the fact that Kathleen has been alive all of these years and the one glorious night they spent together as teenagers resulted in the birth of a daughter. Kathleen has been on the run her entire life. When she was a child her father's testimony against a criminal placed their lives in danger and they were put into the the Federal Witness Protection Program. Torn from the boy she loved the only thing that kept her going was the birth of their baby daughter. When her dad dies she believes the nightmare is finally over. She's wrong. She realizes someone still wants revenge when she finds her apartment ransacked and receives a threatening phone call. Because the FBI has closed the case she has nowhere to turn and sets out to find her one true love hoping he will keep their daughter safe. An emotional story from beginning to end, Ms. McCall captures all of the angst and heartache of first love lost and love reborn. The story is told mainly from the hero's viewpoint and what a wonderful viewpoint it is! Her hero defines the term heroic, he's not only brave and strong but he's also sweet, sensitive, loving and vulnerable. A perfect combination, if you ask me. If anybody deserves a happy ending it is this man. The portrayal of the budding relationship between father and daughter is realistic and moving. After reading this story I ran out and bought everything I could find with Dinah McCall/Sharon Sala's name on it (alas, with mixed results).

A intense emotional read!

"Tallchief" is one of Ms. McCall's best books, and I am more convinced that of all the writers I have read in my 20 + plus years of reading romances, she is the one who comes closest to presenting the romance hero as a sensitive caring individual who is not afraid to cry. This is one of Mrs. McCall's strengths. In a recent article, published in the Painted Rock Online magazine "The Rock", I discussed the changing role of the romance hero. Morgan cries many times in this book, but we never see him lose his masculinity. Like, Jackson, in "Jackson Rule", another excellent book by Ms. McCall, Morgan stands out as the true romance hero. I have over the years, rejected books where the male characters are cruel insensitive males who through some miracle suddenly turn sensitive and caring towards the end of the book. To me, this never rings true. Julie/Kathleen/Hannah, too, is a strong caring woman and one I'd love to be in love with me. If a woman would love me with the intensity that she did, I'd probably be married right now. The blossoming of Morgan's relationship with his daughter is another source of delight. Their unconditional acceptance of each other and their growing love is a joy to behold. So what does all this say? That Ms. McCall is a master of characterization. That there is an intensity of emotion and feeling present in her books that can move the hardest heart to tears. That Ms. McCall takes you into the very souls of her major characters and you feel their every emotion, the laughter and the tears. That's why tears come so easily to the reader's eyes! As a male reader and aspiring writer, Ms. McCall is a writer who makes the years of criticism I suffered from those who don't understand my love of the romance novel, worth ever negative comment. Ms. McCall, I await your new book! Wayne Jorda

Love lost, love found in a setting of suspense and intrigue

Once again Dinah McCall (Sharon Sala) has given us a bigger-than-life hero in a poignant story that will break your heart before making it soar. Morgan Tallchief has settled outside Santa Fe after his service as a Navy SEAL. The only peace he knows comes as he loses himself to the images he creates on canvas. Little does he know that one of his paintings holds the key to the loss of his beloved Kathleen. When he saw her die in a fire that destroyed her family's home, his life was over, too. Now, after sixteen years, she has stepped out of the aftermath of a raging sandstorm and into his arams. And with her is a beautiful black-haired girl with Kathleen's blue eyes...the daughter he didn't know he had. The Witness Protection Program had used the fire to move Kathleen's family and give them yet another identity. The death of her father a few days before has closed the FBI's file, but a chilling phone call lets Kathleen know that she is not yet free. There are intriguing twists and turns and interesting supporting characters along the way as the action moves from New Mexico to Washington D. C. to Oklahoma and back to Santa Fe. The power of love from past generations guides Morgan as he protects the future of his family and Kathleen finds a way to hand down her original identity

A woman thought dead returns to the man she loves

----- TALLCHIEF Dinah McCall Harper, Apr 1997, $5.99 Morgan Tallchief is that rare teenager who knows what he wants in life and seems to own the universe. He is doing well in school and shows Olympic level promise as a runner. He already has found his love of a lifetime in Kathleen Rider. Everything in Morgan's idyll life suddenly supernovas when Kathleen dies in an explosion. Morgan emotionally dies with Kathleen's death. Seventeen years later, Morgan continues to drift through life when he is confronted with the second shock of a lifetime. Kathleen, with their teenage daughter, has reappeared into his life. Morgan demands an explanation and learns that Kathleen is part of the Witness Protection Program ever since her father testified against a mobster on that fatal night. She tried several times to sneak away in order to see Morgan, but between the FBI and her father, she always failed. Since her father's recent death, she is no longer part of the program so she finally has returned to her one true love for protection from some unknown assailant who wants her dead. Morgan plans to do whatever it takes to keep his beloved with him forever. TALLCHIEF is an exciting romantic intrigue that demonstrates that true love never dies. However, it seems a bit odd in this era of instant communication (phones, modems, etc.) that Kathleen was unable to make any contact to her beloved if she really wanted to. This minor flaw does not take away from a great story line that is fast-paced and action-packed. However, it is the eternal love between the two huggable lead characters (readers will feel Morgan's angst as if it was their own) that turn Dinah McCall's tale into a must read for fans of contemporary and suspense. Ms. McCall (AKA as Sharon Sala) has moved closer to the top row of contemporary authors. Harriet Klausner -----