Louisiana, 1780. Lucienne, a French Acadien girl transported to a new homeland, ponders her future:
Grandmother reads the tea leaves, and the tea leaves are never wrong. Lucie is to marry. She yearns for a man whose heart swells at the sight of a beautiful bird, but her current suitor, like all the others, is bland, boring, and unimaginative. Her brother reminds her there is no prince coming to sweep her up on his steed and gallop away with her.
Oh, but there is. Kas Braun is tall, blond, and handsome, the owner of a magnificent black stallion who is partial to fair maidens. And Lucie is partial to horses. Princes, too. But truly, she must marry so as not to be a burden to her family, and princes do not marry poor Cajun girls.
Kas would laugh to be called a prince, but there is some truth to it. His father is a wealthy indigo planter, owner of slaves and great wealth which Kas is meant to inherit. Kas refuses. He wants nothing to do with slaves or indigo and means to raise horses instead.
Where will the maiden and the prince meet? Under a willow tree in darkest night as the Spanish soldiers search the area for smugglers. Kas smuggles to raise funds to finance his horse ranch. Lucie and her brother crave the danger, the challenge, the pure fun -- until the Spanish recognize them and they must flee to save themselves.
Ah, poor Kas. Like many doltish heroes, he does not understand why Lucie, who clearly likes him, a lot – she kisses him like she is a siren and he her captive – tells him to go away. Au revoir, she insists. How is he to persuade her he is the man for her while they dodge the Spanish Commandante’s soldiers?
Genre: Historical
Grandmother reads the tea leaves, and the tea leaves are never wrong. Lucie is to marry. She yearns for a man whose heart swells at the sight of a beautiful bird, but her current suitor, like all the others, is bland, boring, and unimaginative. Her brother reminds her there is no prince coming to sweep her up on his steed and gallop away with her.
Oh, but there is. Kas Braun is tall, blond, and handsome, the owner of a magnificent black stallion who is partial to fair maidens. And Lucie is partial to horses. Princes, too. But truly, she must marry so as not to be a burden to her family, and princes do not marry poor Cajun girls.
Kas would laugh to be called a prince, but there is some truth to it. His father is a wealthy indigo planter, owner of slaves and great wealth which Kas is meant to inherit. Kas refuses. He wants nothing to do with slaves or indigo and means to raise horses instead.
Where will the maiden and the prince meet? Under a willow tree in darkest night as the Spanish soldiers search the area for smugglers. Kas smuggles to raise funds to finance his horse ranch. Lucie and her brother crave the danger, the challenge, the pure fun -- until the Spanish recognize them and they must flee to save themselves.
Ah, poor Kas. Like many doltish heroes, he does not understand why Lucie, who clearly likes him, a lot – she kisses him like she is a siren and he her captive – tells him to go away. Au revoir, she insists. How is he to persuade her he is the man for her while they dodge the Spanish Commandante’s soldiers?
Genre: Historical
Used availability for Gretchen Craig's Lucienne