Maggie Blackbird

I read a lot of historical romance.  One problem I’ve encountered is finding books starring Indigenous heroines.  Continent doesn’t matter.  I’m game for North America, South America, Africa, Australia, etc.  After digging and digging, I came across a few authors who write aboriginal women in starring roles.

Vella Munn:  I featured this author in another post.  She writes contemporary and historical romance.  I fell in love with her Soul Searchers series:  Soul of the Sacred Earth, Blackfeet Season, Cheyenne Summer, and Daughter of the Forest.  In her Soul Survivors series, two of the four books star aboriginal heroines.  They are:  Spirit of Eagle and The River’s Daughter.

I highly recommend her work.  She captures a time period of long ago with real characters and believable dialogue.  Her research is impeccable that she weaves seamlessly into the story.  Sometimes her settings feature Europeans, while other books occur when only Indigenous people inhabited North America.

Rosanne Bittner:  She is one of my favourite authors and I can’t say enough about her Mystic series:  Mystic Dreamers, Mystic Visions, and Mystic Warriors.  The Lakota are featured, along with Buffalo Dreamer, a holy woman with strong visions.

Song of the Wolf is a stand-alone book.  This is no longer in print so you’ll have to head over to amazon or other online sellers to get yourself a copy.  I supplied a link for amazon.ca where I got my copy.

Janelle Taylor:  She’s known to write historical romance about the Native Americans, but her heroine’s are mostly non-native.  However, I did find a couple of books that feature Indigenous women in the starring role.  I finished Lakota Winds and and Lakota Dawn in the Lakota Sky series.  There is another book, but the heroine isn’t Lakota, so I passed.  Ms. Taylor did promise a fourth novel but I’ve yet to come across it at Kobo.

In her Gray Eagle series, I found two books starring native women:  Bittersweet Ecstasy and Forever Ecstasy.  These are in my TBR pile, which is growing longer every day LOL.

Also in my TBR (to be read) pile:

Beverly Bird:  These books are no longer in print, so you’ll have to hunt them down at used book stores online.  I found mine at amazon.ca.  The first is a series and has two books:  Comes the Rain and Touch the Sun.  The other, Walk into the Night, is a stand-alone.  At Ms. Bird’s Harlequin page, she seems to focus on contemporary romance now.

Susan Edwards:  Her White series has two books that I found featuring native heroines:  White Dusk (Book Two) and White Shadows (Book Three).  She has begun writing her Spirit Walker series and has two books available right now:  Summer of the Eagle and Autumn Dreams.

Jenna Kernan:  This author has written two books staring native women:  The Warrior’s Captive Bride and Running Wolf.  She also writes contemporary romance starring indigenous heroes (there also might be native heroines but I’m not sure).

Kristen James:  I found one book by her called The River People.

Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear:  These are two are award-winning archaeologists who write about the First People of North America from a long, long time ago.  I’m talking mammoths running about LOL.  I’ve yet to dig into their North America’s Forgotten Past and the Morning Star Trilogy.  Nor have I had a chance to explore their web site.  I am very much looking forward to reading what they’ve published.  This is the icing on a delicious cake:  a time when the ice bridge was crossed and The People began migrating south.  I’m not sure if these are romances, but I’m willing to give the authors a try.

If you’ve read any historical romances starring aboriginal heroines that aren’t posted, please comment and let me know.  I’m always wishing to expand this list.  Right now I’m on the lookout for a historical romance set in Hawaii featuring a native woman.