The jokes I could make about beavers ...

Cherished
Elizabeth Thornton
Zebra Historical Romance

No disrespect to the author, but I am having a very difficult time finding anything relevant to say about this book.  Part of the problem is that I'm in the midst of reading Anna Karenina and while I am only a few chapters in, it is already consuming most of the thinking space in my brain.  The other issue is that I have actually read this book before .  The fact that it took me almost 100 pages to recognize the novel as a "been there, done that"  doesn't say that much about me.  Or about the writing.  How sad.

So, here's the plot ...  Leon has loved Emily from the time they were both children.   A little bit older than his true love, he understood that it was not proper to have impure thoughts about one so young.  To  deal with his feelings, he was mean to her and took every opportunity he could to torture and tease.  When Emily finally turned sixteen and had her coming-out ball, she witnessed Leon in the throes of passion with another woman and became quite distraught.  He followed her, a scene ensued, and they ended up marrying.  Agreeing with her guardian that Emily was too young to be a wife in the true sense, Leon took off to America to make his fortune in the fur trade. 

Flash forward five years.  Leon returns and takes Emily as his own.   There is danger afoot, however, and Leon decides to take his bride to America.  After the requisite amount of drama, (which includes voyageurs, Metis, and a bizarre love triangle)  the couple confess their love for each other and all is right with the world.  Is it any wonder that I forgot this book?  One grizzled fur trader out of five.