Touch A Wild Heart by Vella Munn is about a mixed race daughter of a migrant worker and an orchard owner, and a white man who is determined to have her help in bringing down an unscrupulous coyote, a coyote being a person who smuggles illegal aliens.

At first, it almost seems that the character of Chela is overdone. She seems only to associate with migrant workers and has a marked distrust of anyone else. She is a teacher working with English as a second language students, and during the summer when the story takes place, she makes the rounds of migrant villages and orchards teaching the migrant children and adults alike. In the evenings she helps to coach the only soccer team in the local league in which the boys speak Spanish. She lives alone in a small home which she owns and there are very few people whom she allows to know where she lives.

When Madagan comes into her life, she is immediately suspicious of him. He practically commandeers her assistance, even though he boldly states that there are things he can’t tell her about himself or his goal, including whom he is working for. Chela agrees to help him because she knows what a dangerous man Kohl is and knows he has to be stopped.

Madagan’s plan is to have Chela contact Kohl and pay him to arrange to bring her supposed lover to her from Mexico City. Madagan has a friend in Mexico who is willing to take on the dangerous job of becoming Kohl’s human cargo, and Madagan is putting up the money with which Chela will pay the smuggler.

The author begins to allude to the fact that Kohl knows Chela’s secret and could expose her to everyone. A fact which seems to terrify her.

What kept me from giving this story 4 stars was just that I didn’t think Chela’s and Madagan’s secrets were worthy of all the drama. When they were finally revealed, her character was more understandable, yet I mostly just thought she was a goose and should get over herself.

But the book is quite readable, I think I stayed up rather late to finish it. ( )