Miranda and the Warrior

Title: Miranda and the Warrior
Author: Elaine Barbieri
Source: San Jose Public Library
Rating: 2 stars out of 5


Miranda, a painfully proud young woman (who happens to be the daughter of the commanding officer of the local fort) finds herself in a sticky situation: she has been captured by the local Cheyenne, and given as a gift to Rattling Blanket, an old woman who has trouble caring for herself. Her pride refuses to let Miranda do anything except sit and pout, and demand to be taken back to the fort. However, the girl has eyes and slowly falls for Shadow Walker, the young warrior who captured her in the first place and who takes it on himself to show her the Cheyenne way.

Honestly, this book was not that great. It was fun, but not at all believable. Apparently all it takes for Miranda and her captor to fall in love is a week-long trip in which Shadow Walker swings between trying to show tough love (for which Miranda resents him), and showing outright compassion (which just plain confuses the girl). Stockholm syndrome much?

Teens - especially young teens - may like this book; anyone with a little more sense than hormones will find it to be, again, unbelievable. It had potential if it were a full-length romance novel, but as it is, it falls far short of the mark. I can only hope the rest of the line makes up for what this offering lacks.