Reading Group Guide
ABOUT THE
TITLE
After the fierce Kickapoo Chief Fire Thunder rescues
his little sister from a circus sideshow, he retaliates
by kidnapping the carnival owner's beautiful daughter,
Kaylene. But instead of despising her as he does all
enemies, Fire Thunder's heart burns with a new and
unexpected passion, a passion called desire...
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Cassie Edwards was always a voracious reader of
gothics and mysteries until a friend loaned her one of
her newest "finds" in reading... an historical
romance! Always having loved history, and... passion,
Cassie became immediately hooked on reading historical
romances which one day led her to write her own. Since
then she has seen 53 of her titles published and there
are now more than nine million of her books in print.
Being drawn into the mystique of Indian lore, Cassie
found her true passion... writing Indian romances.
Cassie's Indian romances have appeared on bestseller
lists all across the country, including USA Today's list,
as well as Waldenbooks and B. Dalton's top ten. She has
also won the Lifetime Achievement Award and the
Reviewer's Choice Award from Romantic Times for
her Indian romances. In addition, the readers of Affaire
d'Coeur voted for Cassie as one of their top ten
favorite romance writers.
Having lived in St. Louis for thirty years, raising
two boys there, Cassie and her husband returned to
Mattoon, Illinois, when Charlie retired from teaching.
Cassie's dream home is in the rural area of Mattoon,
where an occasional curious red fox ventures onto her
sundeck and peeks through her glass sliding door into her
office. Serene, and as one with nature, it is a perfect
place for Cassie to create her Indian novels. Writing
them is her tribute to the fine people of our land, who
have suffered so much injustice.
Cassie's "Wild" series, which she writes
exclusively for Topaz, concludes with Wild Whispers,
her May release, and an exciting, new Indian series
begins for Topaz when Rolling Thunder, the first
book in the new series, is published in November 1996.
There will be many, many more Indian romances after
that, as she endeavors to write about every major Indian
tribe in America.
AUTHOR
INTERVIEW
Always working with me to think up new ways to make my
Indian series more intriguing for my readers, Audrey
LaFehr, my editor, suggested a new approach. Audrey said
that it would be interesting if I could write about three
Indian tribes in a trilogy, in which each tribe would be
connected somehow... would interact... from book to book.
I liked the idea. I liked the challenge of doing
extensive research to see which Indian tribes could
interact peacefully. I had to make sure that each tribe's
locale was nearly the same, so that they could move from
village to village without the miles between each being a
hindrance to the stories.
I had to make sure that the customs of each tribe did
not clash. Also, I had to choose three tribes that had
peaceful relations with the white settlers since in my
Indian romances the heroines are white...my hero, Indian.
When I was finally able to weave all of these things
together, thus began my trilogy that began with Wild
Bliss, about the Chippewa Indians, followed six
months later by Wild Thunder, about the
Potawatomis Indians. Wild Whispers, written
about the Kickapoo Indians, concludes the trilogy, and
although each book has a new hero and heroine, the
stories of White Wolf and Dawnmarie, which began in book
#1, is concluded.
Wild Whispers begins in Texas in 1854. Chief
Fire Thunder of the Coahuila Thunder Clan of Kickapoo has
traveled far from his homeland in Wisconsin to get away
from the white people who pushed his Kickapoo people from
place to place. He has led his people to Mexico where
they have become a rich tribe who own vast herds of
Longhorn steers.
Fire Thunder becomes intrigued with Kaylene, a
green-eyed white woman he sees traveling with her
father's carnival. He can not rest until he has this
woman.
Many obstacles stand in his way of approaching the
woman in a friendly way. Her father abducts Fire
Thunder's small deaf mute sister to use in his side show
in the carnival. Fire Thunder saves his sister, and at
the same time abducts Kaylene.
From there they fight many battles together, both
personal and otherwise. In the end, Fire Thunder helps
Kaylene open up mysteries to her past that she never knew
existed. Kaylene helps Fire Thunder learn how to trust
again!
And White Wolf escorts his wife Dawnmarie to Mexico,
where she fulfills a prophesy that her mother had told
her about in Wild Bliss, which, in turn,
finalizes everyone's stories in the trilogy.
Wild Whispers not only concludes my trilogy,
but also my Topaz "Wild" series. But that
doesn't mean that my Indian series, as a whole, is
concluded for Topaz. A new, intriguing Indian series
begins! The title of each book will be taken from the
name of the hero of each book. For example, Rolling
Thunder, my November Topaz release, is the story of
Rolling Thunder, a Comanche Indian chief, and Tanzey
Nicole, my heroine.
The next book will be Black Lance, that name taken
from Black Lance, my handsome Chippewa warrior hero.
I hope you will enjoy reading about these newest,
handsome, intriguing Indian heroes, and their feisty,
strong-willed, yet sweet women!
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
- In Chapter One of Wild Whispers, there
is a mention of Fire Thunder's special powers.
Discuss what his special powers are.
- In Wild Whispers, some Indian words are
used and translated into English. Would you like
to see more Indian words used in Cassie's Indian
romances for Topaz, or do you think the use of
them interferes with the flow of the story?
- Wild Whispers' Indian hero, Fire
Thunder, has blue eyes. Does he get the from his
mother or father? Do you find blue eyes on an
Indian intriguing?
- What wild animal is used as a pet in Wild
Whispers? Do you enjoy the use of pets in
historical romances?
- Through most of Wild Whispers my
heroine's mother's true identity is kept from
her. Discuss what happens when she discovers who
her true mother is, and what disease her mother
is afflicted with.
- Kaylene, my heroine in Wild Whispers,
feels torn about her feelings for the man she had
always thought was her father. If you had been
treated as badly as Kaylene by your father, would
you be as generous in your feelings toward him?
Discuss Kaylene's deep, compassionate traits.
- When Fire Thunder places Kaylene in the cage in Wild
Whispers, did you think his treatment of her
is too harsh? Did you think less of Fire Thunder
for having done this to Kaylene? What is his
reason for placing her there? Could you love a
man as easily as Kaylene loves Fire Thunder, her
enemy, after she is released?
- My hero is both strong and gentle. Do you like
these traits in an Indian hero? Discuss Fire
Thunder's most endearing traits.
- Discuss how Ms. Edwards integrates her Indian
research into her Indian romances. Do you think
there should more research? Or less?
- How does Fire Thunder fall in love with a white
woman after having grown to be so distrustful of
all whites? What person in his past helps him to
accept the fact that he is lost, heart and soul,
to a white woman?
- Fire Thunder has led his Kickapoo people from his
homeland in Wisconsin to Mexico. Discuss how he
adapted to this new life and his relationship
with the Mexican government... and why the
Mexican government was so eager to allow the
Kickapoo Indians a safe haven in the Mexican
mountains.
- Discuss how well Ms. Edwards combined three
different Indian tribes to make her trilogy work.
What made it work?
