Best Books
Rita Runninghorse is about to marry the wrong guy. She has to get away from him. Now. She flees to a guest ranch in Eastern Washington State that offers a safe haven for women in need only to find the owner on a month-long speaking tour. Robert Elliot has one thing on his mind: bronc riding. The Indian National Finals Rodeo is within reach, and he’s not about to let anything ruin his chances of going pro. Not even the woman he finds asleep in the stall of their rankest horse. When Rita’s fiancé discovers where she’s hiding out, she takes Robert’s offer to go with him on the road and prays her fiancé gives up the hunt. Saddled together, Rita and Robert must rely on each other as they go on the road to keep her alive.
Carmen Peone’s latest novel about domestic violence and abuse strikes close to her heart. Her niece’s death at the hands of her husband in Indian Country inspired Peone to craft Broken Bondage “to let women know they are not alone, that there is help, hope in God’s love and guidance, and hope in second chances of love within a healthy relationship. Women need to know they can break the bondage of domestic violence and abuse.”
While the story of Rita Runninghorse in Broken Bondage is fictional, the theme of domestic violence and abuse toward indigenous women is very real and happens at a rate far exceeding the national average. In fact, in 2021, President Joe Biden signed the “Executive Order on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People” (MMIP). Broken Bondage releases on October 3, 2023 and is available wherever books are sold. Learn more at shop.ironstreammedia.com. †
