Savage Books In Order

Publication Order of Savage Books

Savages is a series of romance novels written by Cassie Edwards. The novels explore the love affairs that bloomed between Indians and White settlers back when the United States was first forging its identity.

+The Story

Cassie Edwards is an American author. However, her grandmother was Native American and that might explain why she is so obsessed with their culture. Edwards has written over a hundred novels during her long career and most of them feature romantic relationships between white women and Native American men.

In fact, Edwards has been accused of being formulaic on numerous occasions, the result of her penchant for recreating the same romantic scenes and settings using different characters.

It could be argued that, after a career spent writing about Indian/American romance, Edwards was bound to start repeating herself. There are only so many variations that can be generated from the concept of white women falling in love with Native American men.

The Savages series began publication in 1993. The books did not age well. Readers that stumbled upon this series in the early, the mid and late 2000s had already encountered Cassie Edwards’ more contemporary works.

As such, to their sensibilities, the Savage series, in particular, the earlier novels were little more than a poor imitation of Edwards’ later work.

The books are definitely a perfect fit for Edwards’ bibliography. ‘Savage Illusion’, the first novel in the series, follows the exploits of Jolena Edmonds, a woman whose trip through the Montana Territory takes an unexpected turn when she meets an Indian warrior that sets her heart ablaze.

Jolena and Spotted Eagle believe they were made for one another. But an enemy seems determined to separate them forever.

It is generally agreed that ‘Savage Illusion’ is a stellar start to the Savage Series, at least by the standards of Cassie Edwards. For an author who has spent her career telling stories about white women falling in love with Indian Men, ‘Savage Illusions’ comes as a bit of a surprise because both its protagonists are Native American.

Jolena Edmonds was raised by white settlers but she originates from the Blackfoot Clan. The author’s willingness to explore the romance between Native Americans during the days of the White Settlers initially suggests that the Savage series might take an interesting turn.

However, ‘Savage Spirit’ immediately squashes those notions by introducing a Kickapoo Chief that falls for a white woman and then steals her from her family.

And ‘Savage Secrets’ only continues this trend with its story of Rebecca Veach, a white woman whose search for her outlaw brother brings her into contact with a Native American warrior of considerable renown; she struggles with the idea of giving herself to him.

A further exploration of the Savages Series doesn’t change this pattern, though Edwards’ has one or two installments in which a white man falls for a Native American woman.

As such, it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to suggest that if you’ve read any of Edwards’ other works, you have read the Savage series. Her heroines are described as strikingly beautiful, strong-willed women.

They always struggle with their feelings for their Indian lover. Despite the romantic nature of the Savage series, the brutal nature of relationships between White Settlers and Native Americans isn’t ignored.

The author doesn’t necessarily delve into the minutiae of the conflict between these two groups of people. But she explores enough aspects that it becomes obvious why her white heroine and Native American hero cannot be together, not unless they are ready to defy convention and overcome the resistance raised by their respective families.

While the woman is always hesitant to accept her feelings, the hero rarely struggles with this challenge. In fact, he typically wastes no time in dragging the heroine away from her life and essentially holding her captive until she accepts his advancements.

It isn’t lost on Edwards’ readers that a lot of her heroines seem to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Not only do they show a disturbing willingness to forgive the brutal acts of the hero and his people but the fact that their Native American lover has forced them into sexual servitude rarely impacts their feelings for him.

The Savage series is saturated with sex, hence the ‘erotic romance’ categorization. Some people have also called these novels bodice rippers. Even though they are supposed to be part of a series, most of these Cassie Edwards novels are actually standalones.

There are enough details about life on the frontier to suggest that Edwards does research for her books. However, there are also plenty of errors regarding the traditions and culture of Native American tribes, which means that the author’s research was probably only surface level.

The books have been criticized for their stilted dialog, awkward sex scenes and poor punctuation.

+The Author

Cassie Edwards is an American author that was born in 1936. Many of her books were published by Signet Books. However, the publishing company dropped her after credible plagiarism accusations were leveled against her.

Edwards has been writing romance since 1982. Her literary efforts have earned her accolades like the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Prize. A Wife with two sons, Edwards was a biology teacher before she went into publishing. Her woes began in 2008 when a blog presented evidence of widespread plagiarism in her works.

+Savage Illusion

Jolena Edmonds is a Blackfoot Indian. However, as her name suggests, she was raised by White Settlers. Jolena knows almost nothing about her people because she’s never had the opportunity to live among them.

All that changes when she takes a trip through the Montana Territory and meets Spotted Eagle. Jolena realizes that the Native American has the power to set her body alight.

And she would be more than happy to give him her body and soul. But someone is determined to keep them apart.

+Savage Secrets

Rebecca Veach went into the wild of the Wyoming Territory to find her brother, an outlaw. She did not expect to be captured by Blazing Eagle. She certainly did not expect him to ignite so many desires in her.

Now Rebecca wants to give herself to this Native American warrior. But she doesn’t know how he will react when he learns about her quest.