Dakota Child (Love Inspired/ Historical Series)

In Dakota Child Linda Ford creates a beautiful story of love and redemption that transcends the romance genre. Set in the 1890s in North Dakota, Dakota's child tells the story of Vivian Halliday and Billy Black. Vivian is a single mother who dares to claim her child and seek the child's father so that her child might have an honorable future. Billy Black is the town misfit who lives alone on his farm with his unstable mother. This story delves deeply into each character's painful past as they learn to face the future. Their conflict is not with each other, but with the outside world that seems to judge and shame them. As their relationship forces them to grow as individuals they learn to face their fears. They also discover that they may have judged others as much as they have been judged. Linda Ford's books are automatic buys for me, but I hadn't pulled this book off my shelf when a friend recommended Dakota's Child. The friend isn't a Christian and in her words, never reads inspirationals. But she picked up this book and is encouraging everyone she knows to read it. As she said, "It is a wonderful story. A beautifully done romance." The entire book was wonderful, but I was especially moved by the final scenes. I won't spoil it by describing it here, but I cried at the beautiful portrayal of grace and redemption that far exceeds the typical romance Happily-Ever-After. Thank you, Linda, for another wonderful story.

Excellent story line with main and secondary character development throughout. A +++. Too many of these types of books today stop short on plot and character development, and pound us over the head too many times with the main theme. Not here. You get a fast paced action-packed adventure without the classical lily-white virginal main female character. Refreshing. All thumbs and fingers up! More please!

It is a very sweet love story. It has an excellent plot and great characters - It is a page-turner !!! If you like tender historical romance this book is for you!

In Dakota Child, Linda Ford, who has written over twenty published novels, weaves a story rich in tenderness that depicts the struggles of two "misfits" in 1890s America. Though they see themselves as flawed, Vivian Halliday and Billy Black are willing to lay aside their own desires and dreams to protect those entrusted in their care. Young, unwed Vivian is lost in a blizzard with her two-month-old son, Joshua. A huge but kind man rescues them and shelters them in his home until the weather improves. Wary but grateful Vivian is surprised when she realizes he's Big Billy, a childhood acquaintance, but she panics when his screeching, emotionally unstable mother, dubbed Mad Mrs. Black by taunting town folk, reacts hostilely toward her. Determined to confront and wed the man who seduced her and fathered her infant, Vivian confesses her sin and guilt to Billy. He agrees to help her by taking her to town to find the man, an act he'd normally shun to avoid reoccurrences of the ridicule he and his mother suffered due to her erratic behavior and his large size. In town Billy and Vivian are dismayed to discover her potential husband-to-be has gone away for an undisclosed period of time. With no place else to go, she and Joshua return home with a reluctant Billy, who knows their presence will upset his mother. His concerns prove true, for Mrs. Black wants Vivian and the baby gone and makes sure everyone knows it. Billy takes on the role of peacemaker but secretly wishes that Vivian and Joshua would stay. And Vivian learns to appreciate Billy and doesn't want to leave, but she must for Joshua's sake. Dakota Child deals with several issues: the guilt, shame, and fear that results from bearing a child out of wedlock, the lack of rights and other difficulties foundling children face, bigotry and cruelty toward people who are "different," unprincipled men who steal from the innocent, and unforgiveness. Through their trials, our hero and heroine continually turn to the Lord in prayer, and even when Billy offers up a desperate, selfish prayer, his frailty only makes him more precious. I definitely recommend Dakota Child. It's a testimony of God's provision and forgiveness, and the power of unconditional love that works to change people's hearts and lives.