During the first half of Into the Wild Wind, I just couldn’t get enough of the hero and heroine. Here, it seemed, were two people just falling in love; neither one was trying to overcome a horrible childhood, or a disastrous first marriage. Then the characters began to make stupid decision after stupid decision, and by the end I had lost almost all interest in them. What a disappointment!

Hannah Wright’s fiance left New York for San Francisco two years ago, and she has had no word from him. She is desperate to find him quickly, but it is too late in the year for an overland journey, and she can’t afford passage on a ship. However, her father was a sea captain, and she is a skilled navigator. When her cousin George, who is first mate on the clipper ship Windfire, tells her that his ship needs a navigator, Hannah decides to approach the captain and ask for the job.

At first, Captain James MacRae just laughs at Hannah. But then he tells her that she can be his navigator – as long as her father agrees. James figures no man would ever let his daughter do such a thing. But Hannah’s father has never liked her missing fiance, so he agrees to allow Hannah to serve as navigator. Secretly, he hopes that she will fall in love with the handsome, virile captain during the course of the trip.

And that’s just what she does. The first half of the book takes place in the voyage from New York to San Francisco. This part of the book is exciting, fun and romantic. The dialogue sizzles. James and Hannah lock horns constantly, and it’s fun to see the arrogant captain, who never intended to fall in love with anyone, fall hard for Hannah.

And then they get to San Francisco and the book begins to sink. Hannah steadfastly refuses to consider marrying James, even though she loves him. Instead, she stubbornly insists that she will marry her fiance, a penniless man who is consumed by gold fever. Huh? Why would she do this? She claims it is because she loves James so much that she won’t be able to bear seeing him leave on voyages again and again. The obvious solution is that they have a little talk about this, and then decide to travel together as husband and wife. This would be much too easy, so Hannah lets James leave her in San Francisco. Then she feels sorry and follows him back to New York. In case you think I’m giving too much away, rest assured that this information is revealed in a prologue at the beginning of the book, so the reader knows what to “look forward to.”

By the time Hannah got back to New York, I was thoroughly annoyed with her. Her behavior didn’t get any better after that, and James’ behavior was even worse. By the end I hardly cared what happened to them, which was really a shame considering how likable they were at first. So if you have lots of time and money, my recommendation is this: Buy the book. Read the first half. Put it down when the ship reaches San Francisco, and make up your own satisfying ending.