When Celeste Reed steps off the boat in the fledgling colony of Kenya, East Africa she finds out the man that she was to marry doesn't even care to get to know her let alone listen to a word she says.

Life is miserable and then he has the nerve to die leaving her to run an estate without any money. It seems he spent all he had to impress the colony and she was just part of the package.

Africa is unforgiving to the weak, but it can be the people that you least expect that make it.

And then there's Edward.

This title was previously published. It has been revised and re-edited for Red Rose™ Publishing.

Rating:

Reviewer: Valkyrie's Lady

“Celeste, I’ve arranged you a good marriage,” her father had said. “I know you haven’t thought about it much, but to tell the truth, I don’t have the money to support you nor to pay a dowry. Lord Marquardt is a large landowner in Kenya. He’ll see you taken care of better than your prospects here. Even with both of us working, you know we can hardly keep body and soul together.” So begins the long trip to Africa for Celeste Reed. To a husband who didn’t loved her, who had a mistress already and who cared nothing for her but to sire an heir.

Celeste couldn’t speak any of the tribal languages, became pregnant early on and became a widow at the age of 19. This is the story of her life on 25,000 acres in Africa among several tribes. She had nothing, was left with the acreage and no money; but somehow, through her mindset, she and her son managed.

Samburu Hills was quite interesting. It explains a lot of the cultures of the area of Africa where Celeste lived. The characters were quite well developed, the plot very interesting (with an unexpected explanation of something near the end that surprised me!). And I truly enjoyed the plan of letters written to Celeste’s friend, Francis explaining the goings on and how she dealt with the problems alone in Kenya.

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