The Peacemaker

Warriors Of The Wind #1

by Chelley Kitzmiller

Major Jim Garrity needed a clean slate. After being unjustly court-martialed for the murder of four Yankee soldiers and narrowly escaping the hangman's noose, he sheds his identity and heads west to live among the Apache. As Shatto, he finds solace among his adopted brethren. But the new influx of settlers and soldiers into the Arizona Territory spells danger for the Apache people.Independence Taylor blames herself for bringing the small pox into her home that led to her mother and brother's deaths. Abandoned by her grief-stricken father, she undertakes a dangerous journey to join him at his military outpost to beg forgiveness. En route, her military escort is attacked by Apaches. She has been advised to take her own life rather than be captured, but Shatto intervenes before she can pull the trigger.Indy's initial fear of the mysterious Shatto is tempered by the bargain he strikes with her father to subdue the warriors by training a select group of troopers in Apache warfare. Imbued with the power of the wind spirit, Shatto attempts to bring peace to the troubled land.As tensions mount between the settlers and Apache, so does the undeniable attraction between Shatto and Indy. Can the would-be lovers broker peace...or will chaos rule and destroy their burgeoning passion?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Westerns, Native American, Western Romance

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

A California native, Chelley Kitzmiller lives and breathes the Wild West. She travels the West doing research, decorates her home with everything from a cowhide ottoman to a window valance of antique spurs and frames her own Western photography. She’s known and loved a host of Western movie stars such as Jack Palance, Harry Carey, Ronda Fleming and others. She says, “I’ve had quite a ride and the saddle ain’t even broke in yet.”
As a teen, she hated history. The teacher was only interested in students memorizing names and dates; nothing about what motivated the people to do the things they did.
Her favorite historical romance is Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers. When she read it, she didn’t know that the historical detail was factual and only later discovered the truth and realized that she’d gotten a painless dose of history. SSL was her life-changing experience; it made her want to pen her own historical romance and give to others what Rosemary had given her: history wrapped in an emotional action-packed story.
In her pre-published years, Chelley founded the Orange County RWA Chapter, finaled in RWA’s Golden Heart Contest, organized the Amtrak Love Train (Google the film documentary Where The Heart Roams), organized writers’ conferences, wrote book reviews for Publishers Weekly and had her own book review columns in two major newspapers.
After publishing four books with NAL and Harlequin, Chelley took a long break to help in her husband’s business, open two bookstores, work as an editorial assistant on nine books for Fern Michaels and one for Lauraine Snellng, learn photography and start a pet rescue. Through it all she wrote and still writes magazine and newspaper articles and grants for the pet rescue.
These days she splits her time between writing, RVing and rescuing pets with her daughter, Gina (www.Haveahearthumanesociety.org ). Interact with Chelley on Facebook, Twitter @chelleykitzmlr and sign up for her newsletter at www.chelleykitzmiller.com.

Reviews

[LadyCalico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast moving Western adventure/romance, with the adventure being more interesting than the romance, which is fine by me. There was a lot of danger and excitement to keep the story moving and the protagonists in peril until the end. My favorite thing about this book was that it had an original story instead of just another re-write of the usual dozen or so romance novel generic plots. My least favorite thing about the novel was the snobby bitchy heroine, who treated her most loyal friend in the book as if Pru was made of excrement. Not only were Indy's nasties indeed difficult to bear, but she was dense enough to blame others for her own short-comings. When she wallowed in self-pity over the other women in the fort never including her in their circle of friend, she instantly attributed it to the fact that her father was so unpopular, like it would never occur to her that maybe it was because they'd witnessed her being so down-putting and snippy with the first and only woman with a kind enough heart to befriended nasty old her.

[Lisa C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a terrific book. I don't give out a lot of five stars because they have to be exceptional and this book was. It was one of those that stays with you after finishing it. The handsome hero has a rocky past but now has to come back to his former world to help the Native Americans not be annihilated by the white man. The heroine, strong and smart falls for him but doesn't realize it. Her military father, in charge of keeping the Indians in line, was mean, arrogant and a horrible person.

There's plenty of emotion between the characters, lots of action, some romance, drama, sex and it all flows together well in a story that is not typical. I'm glad I found this author and will continue to look for more of her work.

[Skye Hegyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a really long time since I read any historical romance. It’s not my favorite genre, and I tend to be picky about the books I read within the genre, but I always seem to find good books when I do read it. This one was no exception. Dealing with a Native American tribe I know little about and their relationship with the nearby town, this tale was a mixture of romance, action and redemption with a hint of mysticism from the Native American tribe.

[Angarad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original, keeps you guessing and waiting for more, the peacemaker was a very pleasant read.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Vanilla," Shirley Temple version of ex-soldier/turned Apache and back to ex-soldier who entwines himself with the colonel's daughter in old west. ugh. Nothing to see here.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Peacemaker caught my eye because I thought it would be a fun throwback to my earliest romance books. I haven’t read a Native American themed historical romance in years and was hoping for a nice change of pace. I didn’t get what I was looking for out of this book.

Indy has decided to go against her father’s orders and join him in Arizona. He blames her for the death of her mother and brother and he’s not interested in any type of relationship with her. He despises her and makes that public knowledge. Despite that, Indy does everything she can to please her father. A character like Indy should have made me feel some sympathy for her but I couldn’t. She was dismissive and judgemental with the only woman trying to befriend her, Prudence. I didn’t like Indy, she struck me as immature and condescending.

Jim is a white man that has been living with an Apache tribe for years. The Apache are his friends but he doesn’t consider himself one of them. He decides to help Indy’s father train a select group of soldiers to fight the Apaches. Jim is a fearsome warrior and 100% alpha male. Normally that’s a favorite of mine but as I got to know Jim I kept thinking that he was too perfect and the guy needed a couple of flaws.

While Jim is training the soldiers he is in the Fort almost daily. Indy and Jim had a spark of attraction when they first met and it quickly builds into full blown lust/love as they spend more time together. Jim can’t stay away from Indy, I have no clue why as I found her pathetic and irritating, but he apparently likes her. Here is where I find Jim’s major flaw. He has been celibate for 6 years. This guy is crazy horny. On more than one occasion he has to run away from Indy because he fears he might rape her. He considers mastrubating to take the edge off but decides that’s beneath him. When they do have sex the foreplay is him warning her that he can’t control himself. Indy is a nervous virgin and he doesn’t even try to be gentle with her. It’s hard, fast and over very quickly. I love romance and hot sex scenes in my books, this was disturbing, not hot or romantic.

Jim and Indy were very one dimensional characters and I didn’t care for either one of them. Despite their claims of love, I never felt the romance between them. The rest of the book is full of action and danger but it was just as unbelievable for me. I felt like someone made a list of all the elements which can make a romance book great and then tried to force all of them into the story. It didn’t work. Basically it was a weird romance, lots of crazy drama, total plot chaos near the end and then all the loose ends were tied up into a pretty little HEA package. I just wanted it to be over so that made the end my favorite part of the book.

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Peacemaker by Chelley Kitzmiller is the first book in the Warriors of the Wind series. is a historical romance set after the civil war, while the Native American population and the new settlers were at in their own war. Independence Taylor is the daughter of a military officer. She has defied his orders and come to the Arizona Territory to take care of him, even though he seems to blame her for the deaths of her mother and brother. En route, her group is attacked, and they are rescued by Shatto, a warrior who has often helped the military base nearby. Indy's father is less than thrilled by her arrival and the current state of affairs. The military men under his command have no faith in him, since he relies on military teaching that do not apply to warfare with the Native American tribes. Soon her father must compromise, and Indy discovers that the mysterious Shatto is really Major Jim Garrity, who narrowly missed being hung for a crime he did not commit. The ongoing danger and the attraction between Indy and Jim keep rising throughout the book, moving them all towards peace or utter chaos.

The Peacemaker does a good job of imparting some information about the beliefs of the Apache people, describing the divided loyalties of its characters, and building the characters in a realistic way. The lifestyle and attitudes of the military base seemed very accurate and realistic, as did the danger of the time. However, there were definite moments that made the book feel like it was trying to be christian fiction, and others when the mystic power of the wind came to surround Jim. I also felt like some sort of explanation or final conflict with Indy's father was lacking, it felt like I was cheated out of some resolution there. The same goes for Jim's military complications, it seemed a little too easily wrapped up, but there were some difficulties on the horizon. I think my favorite bit of the book was the romance that is begun between secondary characters.

The Peacemaker was not a bad book, but I do not think I will be recommending it to many people either. I think 'meh' or 'okay' might be the best words to describe it. It was fine for a day's reading to break up the more intense books I have been reading lately, but it did not leave me feeling satisfied or eager to discuss the book either. If you have nothing to read and are looking for something to fill the gap, then feel free to read. However, if your top be read pile is as large as mine, I say skip to the next book.

[Terryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

He had been unjustly court-martialed for the murder of four Yankee soldiers so he escapes and begins to live among the Apache. He becomes known as Shatto. She decides to travel to see her father the Colonel at the military outpost. On her way the Apache attack the wagon she is in but then another Apache group saves the day, Shatto being among them. She does not realize at the time that he is actually a white man.
Shatto strikes a bargain with her father to subdue the Apache warriors by training a select group of troopers in Apache warfare. She falls in love with him but later she is taken by an avenging Apache. He sets out with his new formed Apache fighters to track them down and rescue they hostages. HEA ending. Just read it again for the second time.

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 2 out of 5]

A highly adult book, but this one was pretty poorly executed. The level of violence doesn't match the romantic nature of the book. The characters don't always act like they should for the historical setting. The conveniently white Indian was a bit too much as well. I remember there being a couple of unnecessarily crude words (historically correct, but still jarring).

[Linda Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

great read.