Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Read!
Review: I picked up this book after a discussion on alt.books.outlander about Gabaldon's beloved Jamie and Claire Fraser being mentioned in Donati's first work. To me, the book started out slow, but once I plodded through the first couple of chapters, I was entralled by Elizabeth and Nathaniel's story. The descriptions of life in America in the late 1700s is wonderful - my only regret is that I didn't read "Last of the Mohicans" before starting "Into the Wilderness". Like Gabaldon, Donati characters are "real" and she elicts strong emotions of love/dislike from her readers. She has a wonderful knack for storytelling and describing both anglo-american and native american (Mahican) life in the wilds of America at the end of the 18th Century. I look forward to the next segment of Elizabeth and Nathaniel's story.
Rating: 
Summary: Vivid, strong and full of emotion! A good read.
Review: I picked up this book the morning we were going to the Adirondecks for our vacation. It's a big book but I couldn't put it down. I e-mailed Sara Donati, the author, to see if she going to be in New York and she answered the next day. There is a sequel and is out in 2000.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME! A REAL PAGE TURNER!
Review: I LOVED THIS EXCITING BOOK OF ELIZABETHS STRONG WILL AND DETERMINATION. IN A TIME WHEN WOMEN HAD VERY LITTLE SAY IN THE WORLD, SHE DEFIED THE ODDS; AND WON! THE LOVE SHE AND NATHANIEL SHARE IS ETERNAL. IF YOU LIKE ADVENTURE, HISTORY AND HOT ROMANCE YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK! IT'S A REAL PAGE TURNER! I AM ANXIOUSLY AWAITING THE SEQUEL.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing, beautiful story!
Review: What a surprise! I picked this book up while on vacation and was immediately immersed in the story. The love story between Elizabeth and Nathaniel is one of the most beautiful I have ever read. I think that Sara Donati is such a skillful writer - she really keeps the story moving. I truly felt as if I was transported to another time and place and I loved it! I just finished the book today, and am planning to re-read it immediately, as I just can't bear to have the book end. I can't wait for the sequel. Read "Into the Wilderness". You will love it!
Rating:
Summary: What a beautifully written book!
Review: If I could give Ms.Donati 10 stars for this novel I would. It was so well written for a first time novel of this length. It took you back in time and you felt as if you were there. The characters were very well developed. I cannot wait until the spring for the next installment. Please keep wrinting Ms. Donati!!
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, heart-stopping suspense, laughter and tears.
Review: I never thought I would love an author's writing more than D. Gabaldon, but I was wrong. The plot weaves character after character into an intricate, well-balanced story that makes you feel involved. The ending dropped off too soon, but I'll just buy the next one. Intelligent and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A rare, well-written, wonderfully engrossing book.
Review: This is the kind of novel it is hard to come by these days. A big, thick, no-hurry, enjoy-every-word-and-detail literary journey. The book is informative, powerful (I gasped at least twice at characters' dialogue), and deeply romantic. The descriptions of unspoiled pre-Industrial frontier wilderness made me wish I could jump into the pages. Nathaniel and Elizabeth are independent, unconventional, intelligent and courageous; and while the story swirls around their dedication to each other and the right to live their lives as they see fit, the book could never be classified as a romance only. Also admirable is that the pair can be vulnerable, and experience emotional and physical hardship, without becoming overly sentimental. Though some story elements are derived from the romance genre, they rarely detract from the overall power of the story (though there is an incident or two that seem a bit too coincidental or convenient). Details of everyday colonial life - from nature to education to contemporary literature to management of the home - are deeply researched. What you take away from this journey is the feeling that you've walked the roads and forests of 1792 Upstate New York for a brief time; and hunger for the sequel!! Since finishing the book a few days ago I've had to break the habit of seeking it out every free minute. It seems a torturously long time until April; and I can even see this story going beyond the next book, into future generations.
Rating:
Summary: I even dreamed I was a character in this book
Review: A wonderful book, I think this is the first time that I dreamed I was a character in a book I was reading. And I had a wonderful night. Can't wait for the sequel, and I like the name "New Moon, Dark Syk".
Rating:
Summary: I didn't ever want it to end!
Review: I still have 100 pages left and already I am missing these characters! I picked this book up on a whim while on vacation, and it turned out to be one of my most enjoyable reads of the year. It is so hard to find really good historical romance writers that I usually stick to contemporary fiction. Donati was a real surprise, along the lines of M.M. Kaye. Most writing is formulaic when broken down, but it takes skill to tell a story well. Elizabeth is fun, and Nathaniel is as sexy as they get. Also, if you like to read about Native Americans in a story setting, you must read John Alexander Thom's Panther in the Sky about Indian leader Tecumseh. It isn't technically a romance (though there is romance involved), but it is a moving and well told story that will never leave you.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable read - charming, informative and mushy.
Review: I was introduced to this genre by reading Diana Gabaldon's books. This is pretty much right up there. It is good reading to escape and at the same time to learn. It is nice to be able to leave the present and go back to the past - even if it is a little over-romanticized. The present isn't romantic enough! Highly recommend Donati's work and await the follow up.
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