Dangerous: Savannah's Story

Set in the 1850s, the introductory volume of The Brides of Wildcat County series trots out a bonanza of stereotypes. The title character (born Shelby Amelia Bruneau) is the prima donna daughter of a brutish Georgia plantation owner. Married off to a man she barely knows, Shelby feigns illness to avoid his nighttime advances. She runs away after reading a newspaper ad offering free passage to the ""gold fields"" of California for fine ladies wanting to meet gentlemen suitors. This premise hardly seems tailored for young adult readers, nor does the rest of the plot. Once on board the Panama-bound ship that will take Shelby and the rest of the ""brides"" on the first leg of their journey West, the young woman (who ""has a talent for deceit"") adopts the alias of Savannah and finds herself attracted to Eli, the leader of the expedition. In no time at all Eli has her (willingly) pinned underneath him on a deck chair where ""her lips against his neck felt warm and greedy."" But many miles must be traveled--and a handful of subplots unraveled--before this contentious duo has a final spat and then gets back together. For devotees of adult romances only. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)