Synopsis

Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold is a story of family conflicts set in Colorado in 1885. Anne Wells has embarrassed her rigidly proper family since she was a child with occasional but grievous lapses from ladylike behavior. They blame those lapses for the disgraceful fact that she is a spinster at 28. Cord Bennett, the son of his father’s second marriage to a Cheyenne woman, is more than an embarrassment to his well-to-do family of ranchers and lawyers – they are ashamed and afraid of their black sheep. When Anne and Cord are found alone together, her father’s fury leads to violence. Cord’s family is more than willing to believe that the fault is his. Can Anne and Cord use the freedom of being condemned for sins they didn’t commit to make a life together? Or will their disapproving, interfering families tear them apart?

Review

4 stars

Just a few words about this one.

First I read it because some friends were raving about Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold for years now.

Did it live up to the hype? Yes and no.

That story is a forced marriage trope. Evolving into more.

Contrary to most romance I have read, even cowboy romances, the author chose to write as people living at the time of the Wild West would have spoken.
That choice, added to the fluid writing, really did wonders to plunge me into that period of time where Native American people were often considered as “Injuns” and could never dream of marrying a white woman without fear for their lives.

I am not naive and I know that racism still exists but there seemed to be no boundaries and few laws to protect Native American at the time.

I had no problem believing that Cord would be beaten even looking at a white woman if not for his extended and somewhat powerful family.
I also had no problem believing that abusive fathers could in fact keep their daughter in their room, starving them into submission.

This is the start of the story: Anne, refusing to marry the intended chosen by her father has been imprisoned in her room for weeks and starved. She’ll escape and end up in Cord’s barn.
He’ll help her but they’ll soon pay a steep and violent price for that help!

The book centers around the social issues of that time, the difference between being a white man and either a white woman or POC man.
But it also focuses on the relationship between Anne and Cord.

Anne is a very strong and modern heroine, perfect for dark and feared Cord. This is also enlightening to see how women were told that you had a marital “duty” and that they were not supposed to enjoy their body or even know that intercourse could be pleasurable!

Cord for all of his reputation of being “savage” and violent was a kind and attentive man. But he has been conditioned by his past, the town’s people contempt and had a very hard time believing that a woman like Anne would want to stay with him.

I loved witnessing this relationship deepening, with Anne pushing Cord and sometimes, bossing him around, never afraid of his reaction whereas even grow men feared his violence.
And I loved to see Cord slowly losing his impassivity to let Anne worm her way into his life and heart.


You also have lots of family drama, an excellent cast of side characters, twists and turns as well as a splendid picture of what it was to live on a ranch in rural Colorado at that time.

I truly enjoyed that story even if I wasn’t awed by it but it’s probably because my expectations were very high. That still remains a book I warmly recommend for romance readers.

Thanks for reading!

Sophie

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9 Comments

  5. I’ve never heard of this one so I’m surprised to see that it’s over a decade old. I’m not usually drawn to historical stories with the American West setting but I am intrigued by this one. I imagine Anne and Cord’s treatment will make me angry, but I do love an against-the-odds story.

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