Night Raven

by Elaine Barbieri

Although Raven is drawn to the beautiful woman doctoring his battle wounds, the beautiful white woman is his sworn ememy as an Apache and he abducts her as a hostage to escape his captors, but he soon finds himself falling for his gentle captive. Original.

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

391 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2000

About the author

AKA Elaine Rome

Elaine Barbieri wrote over thirty historical novels that have been published worldwide. She was certain young adult readers would enjoy the excitement of historical romance if given a chance, and she welcomed the opportunity to write Miranda and the Warrior for this new audience. Elaine lived in northern New Jersey with her husband and family, and with Harrison, a demanding male who she is sure would be the ultimate hero -- if he weren't a cat.

Reviews

[MelissaB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night Raven is an enjoyable Native American romance but the characters and story are not fleshed out well - so read this one for a quick love story set in the west, not for historical detail or characterization. The hero, Night Raven, is a Sioux warrior who is wounded while attacking a fort. He is brought inside the fort where Edwina, the heroine who is a doctor, saves his life. The fort commander wants Night Raven to live so he can have him hanged later and show what a great Indian fighter he is to his superiors back East. The heroine fights to save Night Raven's life while protecting him from soldiers at the fort who think the only good Indian is a dead Indian.

Night Hawk recovers from his wound and escapes with the help of his friend, a young white boy named White Bear by the Sioux after Night Raven saved his life and took him to life with his people. During the escape, Night Hawk takes Edwina captive. He has seen this woman in his dreams and knows she is part of a destiny he must fulfill, though he is not sure exactly what part she plays.

Night Hawk takes Edwina to his village where she is hated by the women who are still grieving for their men lost in the fort attack. Night Hawk protects her from his tribemates while he tries to seduce her. He does not harm the heroine but he makes it very clear that he wants to sleep with her. They do start a physical relationship that brings them close during the night hours but their differences remain during the day when Night Raven treats her coolly. He is very torn between his growing feelings for Edwina and his visions which he thinks are telling him not to trust the white woman. There is a great conflict between the worlds they came from, which is very hard for them to overcome. Just when Night Raven and Edwina are getting closer, she needs to go back to fort to save her friend's life - which Night Raven takes as a sign that their time together is supposed to end. But don't worry, he comes back for her!

I enjoyed reading this love story, the pace was fast and the story was good. The characters were not fleshed out much beyond the slice of life we read about during the story, especially Edwina's life - I did not know much about her upbringing besides her father was a doctor. But I didn't really care because it was still a good story. The ending felt a little bit rushed, I would have liked a more detailed epilogue but we do know that Night Raven and Edwina are together in his camp and happy together. If you enjoy Native American romance, grab this book for light, fun reading and a sexy hero!

[Terryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained. He is an Indian who was injured and captured by the Bluecoats when the Sioux tried to raid the fort. Unfortunately for the Sioux the fort had cannons and destroyed that attempt. She is a doctor at the fort who is told to save the life of this one particular Indian. A young white boy approaches the fort and the bluecoats believe his story allowing him access into the fort and the doctor. Unbeknown to the Bluecoats he is a friend of the Indian and within a few days he helps the Indian escape. The doctor is taken as a prisoner. Events follow and the visions of the Indian are set in motion. HEA ending. Will probably read again.

[Andria Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.5 ⭐!!! This was fun, though slightly cheesy and predictable for the bad guys, it was an easy two hour read that I just flew through! Though the ending felt a bit abrupt, and some of the writing could definitely be cleaned up with a bit of editing, I loved the characters.

TW: sexism, racism, light swearing, mention of murder, child kidnapping, and racial slurs

[Lady Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 / 5 (rounded down)

Admittedly, this was a bit more annoying to get through than I would've expected, especially considering that I've quite liked Ms. Barbieri's works so far.

However, in this book, she pushes the narrative of being "enemies" too much onto Night Raven and Edwina, to the point that I don't really buy them as being in love because they don't take the time to actually get along and revel in that. Also, the switches to other scenes in the story, back and forth across the chapters, just gets irritating after a while.

Since I did manage to make it through this read, I will give it the three stars that it deserves, but this is due to rounding down instead of up.

Sorry, not sorry. *shrugs*

[Marie-Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick read.

[Maura · Rating 1 out of 5]

It wasn't the worst book, but on the whole I disliked it. It didn't feel romantic. The first half of the book, the hero is pretending to be unconscious all the while loathing and lusting after the heroine doctor, Edwina. Edwina for her part has noticed that Night Raven is handsome, but she's professional - there is no lusting. Even after she is kidnapped, I never really feel like Edwina is anything but terrified of her situation, but Night Raven keeps loathing and lusting. Then, the sex scene comes at us with the subtlety of a brick. This is definitely dub-con, if not non-con. By this point, we know that this is what Night Raven wants, but at no point do I feel like Edwina had been built up to this...no desire or lust on her part at all. And then she submits, does as he asks and doesn't resist, lets him do what he wants and she loves it. She puts up a slight resistance afterwards, angry that she enjoyed it, but that's it. Even later, there is little romance in their love scenes - all powerful desire (and Edwina is obviously enjoying herself) but the only resistance she puts up is refusing to admit how much she wants it. All this time, I feel like there's no love between the characters, only a need to be in control. He keeps getting upset that she isn't "submitting" to him.

I'm okay with the occasional dub con (not so fond of obvious non-con) so this one was iffy for me...But what really irritated me was Night Raven's coldness, Edwina's seeming unaffectedness at being kidnapped, raped and held against her will and the fact that Night Raven views Edwina primarily as his possession for most of the book. It just didn't FEEL like these characters were in love.