Title: Fight for Identity (The Good Fight 3)
Author: Andrew Grey
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Buy Links: Amazon ; Publisher
Genre: contemporary romance
Length: novel (200 pages)
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
A Guest Review by Larissa
Review Summary: a moving story with a not so black and white conflict
Blurb:
A Book in the Good Fight Series
Will Martin’s racist father, Kevin, hates Native Americans and wants to keep them off his property, never mind that part of the ranch land is sacred ground for the Sioux. When they request access for prayer, Kevin refuses—but Will doesn’t share his father’s views. Ever since he first saw Takoda Red Bird during one of the Sioux sacred ceremonies, Will has been fascinated. He grants the tribe access.
Takoda defies Kevin on a regular basis. He often sneaks to the sacred site on the rancher’s land for prayer and knows Will has seen him there. When, out of spite, Kevin places the land up for auction, Takoda knows it is time for action and bands together with Will to stop the sale.
In the fight that follows, Will gets more than he expected. He starts out helping the tribe preserve their identity… and ends up finding his own.
Review:
The Fight for Identity is the third book in the Good Fights series. I admit, I haven’t read the previous books, though now they are high on my ‘to read’ list. It is a story that moved me with its plot and the romance. (Yay! Hawt cowboys too!)
The story starts in the past, when a teenage Will is curious about the fight between his father, Kevin, and grandfather and sneaks out of the house to see what all the fuss is about. The fuss is a Native American ritual on sacred ground that is part of land Will’s grandfather owns. It is there that he briefly meets Takoda.
Years later, after Will returns home from his studies he meets Takoda again, who’s gone against Kevin’s explicit wishes to pray on sacred ground. For as long as Will can remember his dad has harboured an intense hatred for the Sioux, but he doesn’t know why and his dad will not tell him. Kevin is ever the stubborn, heard-headed cowboy who keeps everything close to his heart. This puts him at odds with Will on top of Will’s sexual orientation. Things escalate quickly when Will gives his permission for Takoda and his tribe to hold the ceremony. The question is: can Will, Kevin and Takoda move past their differences for some much needed healing?
The Fight for Identity is a sweet, moving story with an interesting conflict at its heart. While it’s clear that Will’s dad is a racist when it comes to the Native Americans, nothing is clearly black and white here and that is what I loved most about this story.
Will’s dad is a jackass bigot, but he’s not painted as the great big bad evil beyond redemption and Takoda and Will the bright shining heroes. There are two side to a coin as we find out. Kevin might just have a reason for his hatred, but is he going to be able to let go to do some much needed healing?
Apart from the plot of Will’s dad and Will’s troublesome relationship with his dad, is the budding romance between Will and Takoda. They are strapping young men, independent, proud and strong. Takoda even more so than Will and it was sweet, fun and romantic to see how they moved together and grew throughout the story. If you want to know more, especially how they can steam up a trailer, then you just have to go and get this book!
Like most of Andrew Grey’s stories, The Fight for Identity was well written. Racism is not an easy topic to spin a story around without it becoming very black and white or giving the story a preachy quality. There was a good balance there with the right amount of angst so as not to turn the story into a daytime soap. The author writes in such a way that the reader has sympathy with all characters not just the good guys.
The Fight for Identity is most definitely a story I can recommend. It has hawt cowboys (always very important), wild Indians and an interesting plot and a steamy romance. What more is there to want?