Product Description

In the space of twenty-four incredible hours, Katarina 'Rini' Herelius finds herself hopelessly in love with an exotic mystery-man with no name or face, and pregnant with his child. More than anything she wants to keep him and her baby, but life has a way of playing the cruelest tricks . . .

The last thing in the world Coleton Lonetree expects to find at the Cardinal Ranch Powwow is the love of his life. But when he takes the guilelessly sensual tourist woman into his arms and kisses her, he knows exactly what has been missing from his empty existence-a woman like her. He is determined to make her his for all time, and stakes his claim in the most elemental of ways.

When she fails to show up for their rendezvous the next day, he is devastated. Despite his desolation over her disappearance, the successful lawyer dreams of the woman from the powwow for seven long months. That is, until he finds her, large with his child, at a colleague attorney's office. He believes she is arranging to turn his baby over to strangers for adoption.

This is one abandonment he will fight to his last breath.

He proposes a marriage of convenience. Rini agrees, on the condition that they have separate beds. But neither can deny their overpowering attraction, a passion that sizzles between them with every look or accidental touch. Over the coming months they realize what they feel for each other is so much more than merely physical, but are terrified to acknowledge it, even in their innermost secret thoughts.

Slowly, they learn to trust.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1500767 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"Nina Bruhns tells a moving story in WARRIOR'S BRIDE with characters of depth and sparks that will be felt by readers." -- Debbie Richardson, Romantic Times Magazine

From the Publisher
More breathtaking passion from the award-winning author of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!

From the Author
WARRIOR'S BRIDE was a very emotional book for me to write. I got the idea from listening to the heart-tugging experiences of an acquaintance. She had adopted a wonderful little Native American boy, but she deeply resented the interference of the baby's tribe. My story is about a man who was adopted into a similar situation, and how it later affected his search for self-identity and love as an adult.

But it's also a very sensual book--a classic intimate stranger fantasy, which is my personal favorite. When the heroine meets the hero at a powwow, she is literally swept off her feet by this incredible man. In one truly unforgettable night, her life is changed forever.

The underlying theme of the book is an exploration of family, what constitutes a family, society's perception of it, and how we react to the stress of not having what we consider a 'real' family. The hero, Cole, is adopted outside of his culture, and resents his biological mother, resulting in a deep feeling of personal rejection. The heroine, Rini, is forced to consider the option of adoption when she finds she is pregnant with no means of supporting the child by herself. Each comes from less than ideal family situations, yet together they face their fears and mistrust, and approach the monumental task of carving out the model of true family they both yearn for. All the while falling in love, of course!

Customer Reviews

A Night To Remember
I have not read Nina Bruhns before, but had heard good things about her writing. So I picked this up and learned that this book had previously won a Golden Heart Award. I felt it would be a good read, and I was not disappointed.
It is about a woman recovering from a bad relationship who meets a man in full dress as a warrior at a Powwow. They have a one night stand, and a baby is concieved. He does not learn about the baby until several months later. He is afraid she will give the baby up for adoption, despite her assurances that she will not. He asks her to marry him, for the sake of the child and she reluctantly agrees. Some of the scenes between them are hot, so if you like your romance with a little spice, you will like this.
The story was emotional, but not a tear jerker. The hero and heroine had to deal with their past before they could go on with the future. It was told over several months, allowing each character to grow gradually, not suddenly. It was a enjoyable story and I recommend it. I am now in search of Ms. Bruhns' previous book, Catch Me If You Can.

Couldn't get past Colton's and Rini's issues
At a summer festival, Katarina "Rini" Herelius falls in love with a disguised Indian warrior. She wants to be with him more than anything, but believes he'll only do to her what her ex-fiance did: cheat on her.

Colton Lonetree didn't expect to find the love of his life at the Cardinal Ranch Powwow, but his encounter with Rini shows him what's been missing from his life. He wants to be with her forever, but she disappears without any explanation.

Six months later, Colton finds Rini at a fellow attorney's office -- pregnant with his child. He assumes she's giving the baby up for adoption, but Rini is only exploring her options.

Through a marriage of convenience, both Colton and Rini learn about themselves -- and each other. There's a strong physical attraction between them which develops into love -- that neither wants to acknowledge because they're afraid of being hurt again. Yet, slowly, each makes an effort to trust.


Stephanie's Review . . .

I was left wanting more with this story.

A pet peeve of mine -- it seems that the internal conflicts between Colton (adopted by a white family, believing he was abandoned by his birth mother, married and divorced at a young age, thus having a fear of rejection) and Rini (rocky relationship with her mother and leaving a womanizing fiance, thus having low self-esteem and a fear of rejection) could have probably easily been talked out. As I read, I just kept asking, "Why don't you two just talk? It's obvious you want each other. Just talk."

I couldn't get past Colton and Rini both being so stubborn. Stubborn to the point of not being willing or wanting to work through their issues. They both want each other to understand, but they refuse to make the effort themselves.

Warrior's Bride
This is an unusual and poignant love-story of two people who fall in love at first sight, are forced apart, then meet again and begin the tortuous path back to love.
On first reading, one finds the story so well-written that one quickly begins to feel surprisingly deeply involved. More careful reading, however, reveals the depth of Ms Bruhns's writing: The hero, Cole, is a Native American, adopted as a baby by a white couple. In spite of the love shown him by his adoptive parents, he has never quite got over feeling rejected by his birth-mother. Ms. Bruhns describes so well - and makes us feel for Cole - how his early sense of rejection colours all his present-day life.
At a pow-wow, Cole meets Rini, recovering from an affair with a despicable womanizer; there is an instant attraction between the two.
After Rini watches Cole do his hoop-dance in Native regalia, they meet outside his lodge, and thus begins their night of love, described most sensitively and lyrically. Trust me, you will fall in love with Cole!
The next morning, when Cole leaves for the dance-circle, Rini promises to meet him there. When she sees him surrounded by charming young Native women, her lack of self-esteem makes her flee, instead of waiting for Cole to notice her and come to her.
Later, we find Rini, 6 months pregnant, at the office of an adoption attorney. Cole, a lawyer, sees her there and, realizing she is pregnant with HIS child, reacts furiously, demanding his child, as he does not want it to suffer, as he did, from being adopted. Rini, unfairly judging Cole by her despicable ex-boy-friend's standards, is equally furious with him, still believing he flirted with the young women.
Ms. Bruhns's great talent as a writer shows itself most clearly in the way she, slowly and beautifully, brings these two antagonists together, and lets us discover and empathize with the deeper reasons for their behaviour toward each other, and how this was shaped by their experiences in the past.
This is not merely a "Romance" story, it is a beautifully written book by a major writer, who happens to write most movingly of love.
Don't let this one get away! Order it from Amazon NOW!