
Nathaniel
I tried to post this on the GH discussion forum but things went haywire, so here it is.
This is just for fun. Note:
- Nathaniel is missing. I’m going to assume he’d get everybody’s vote, so I asked him to step aside. He didn’t mind at all.
- The men are in no particular order, and I did that on purpose.
- Just the Wilderness novels and The Gilded Hour men are represented.
- You can vote for two, and only two, men.
If there’s somebody I should have put on this list (I’m almost sure there must be) please say so in the comments. In fact, any comments at all are welcome.
I plan other polls (and I’m open to suggestions on more):
- Your favorite women
- Character you’d like to have dinner with
- The worst of the bad (men and women who you love to hate)
- The person you’d most like to see star in his/her own novel
I’m really looking forward to your comments.

This was amazingly HARD. Such an embarrassment of riches. Rob made me laugh and his death made me cry. Ben was such an interesting character with a fascinating backstory and I loved how easily he fit into Paradise.
Other polls : scene that made you laugh the most, scene that brought tears to your eyes, character you wanted to shake the hardest.
Great poll suggestions, Petzi. Thanks!
Hannah needs her own book. We have no idea what happened to her for the 10 years she was gone. Plus, I am clueless about American history during that time out west. It would be a fascinating story.
It was hard to choose! Simon Ballentyne has always been my favorite and I’m so glad that Aunt Quinlan talks about him so fondly. I always wondered what happened to him. I really like Jack Mezzanotte and look forward to more about him and Anna. I also wanted to vote for Rob McLachlan and Ben Savard, wonderful men, so different from each other. I’ve had a warm place in my heart for Daniel Bonner, and was so happy that he and Martha found love and happiness with each other. Thanks for letting us see Martha again in 1883! I was deeply saddened about the family members who died in the Civil War. I had anticipated that some might be caught up in the War, but so many . . .! Thanks for letting us keep in touch with the family in The Gilded Hour!
Shelley — Thank you. The reason I jumped ahead so far was that I didn’t want to have to go through the Civil War with the families. When I was constructing the backstory, I tossed a coin to find out who would live and who would fall in the war. I almost gave up, because the results were so awful. But in the end I decided that it was more truthful to the spirit of the story to be consistent. So many young men died. It would be inauthentic to protect the Bonners and Savards and Wolf families from that reality.
Well, I thought I’d have to give up! I had such a hard time picking just two. Apparently, after all the deliberation my choices fell into the top two anyway. :)
I loved Rob too; always wanted to know more about Blue-Jay; and for some reason, never cared much for Strikes-the-Sky.
Hawkeye, his story before Into the Wilderness – his growing up in an Indian Society, his meeting and love affair/marriage with Cora, role as Nathaniel’s Father. would again make absorbing reading. how happy i was to have an opportunity to vote for Hawkeye. Bears, because who could not love him as a character. His strengths, his loyalties. his growing up into what was becoming a white man’s world. Bears has his own story, but his is overshadowed by the strength of Nathaniel’s life and adventures. these are my choice of favourite men, and also whose stand alone stories i’d love to read. so much more could be brought out by their story, like more of Robbie, who as a character i loved, for much the same reasons i loved Bears – but with Bears we see him having to intergrate into a white mans society.
I agree with Petzi, that was a difficult choice. In the end, I went with Daniel and Oscar. Daniel, even though I know he ends up with Martha, he seems the most like Nathaniel, but with his arm the way it is, a whole other set of challenges to overcome. Oscar, even though he comes across a good guy from the little we see of him in the book, I’m guessing there is more to him than meets the eye.
These are great insights. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Such a HARD question! I had no trouble identifying Daniel as my first choice. It is inspiring how Daniel deals with the loss of use of his arm, and his constant pain. He is honest, courageous, and plain spoken. I was so glad when he and Martha found each other. Second choice was much more difficult. I wanted to choose them all! I finally checked off Luc Scott-Bonner. I just always liked him.
Now, this question asked about favorite guys so that’s what I answered. Who would I like to hear more about? Different question. To that I would answer: Hawkeye, Ben Savard and Jack Mezzanotte. I can pick three because it’s not the real question!