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Reeducating Rolf

A Viking warrior was sitting in scientist Miranda O'Shea's living room, learning English and marveling over light bulbs. Yesterday Rolf Magnusson had been frozen solid, his body perfectly preserved in a glacial cave, where she'd discovered him. Today, all six feet seven inches of him was hot to the touch - except, unfortunately, for his heart, which remained as ice-cold as he'd been for nine hundred years....

Miranda couldn't just hand him over to science, but exactly what she was going to do with the man who'd gone down in history as the "Plague of the North" stumped even her....

250 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 25, 1994

22 people are currently reading
324 people want to read

About the author

Maggie Shayne

257 books2,574 followers
I live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hour away, in different directions, and not really all that big by most standards, though they both seem humongous to me. I look out my window to see rolling, green, thickly forested hills, wildflower laden meadows and wide open blue, blue skies. My road is barely paved. The nearest neighboring place is a 700 acre dairy farm.

My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.

No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)

That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!

And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)

Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.

Glory is not amused.

She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.

My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I

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5 stars
98 (36%)
4 stars
96 (35%)
3 stars
57 (21%)
2 stars
13 (4%)
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3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Saly.
3,437 reviews580 followers
August 1, 2011
I enjoyed Miranda's Viking, it was pretty different, about a Viking hero coming back to life due to the efforts of some archaeologists. It was fun seeing the hero being suspicious at first of the heroine thinking she was someone from the past who had betrayed him and had him banished. He very quickly learns the language and is hidden by Miranda who doesn't want him to turn into a guinea pig. Miranda had a father who didn't like emotion much so she hid it and her bad experience with one man had her scared and wary but she stood up to Rolf.
Enjoyable.
Profile Image for Christine Ashworth.
Author 36 books287 followers
June 2, 2012
Fast paced, with a delicious hero and a down-to-earth heroine, MIRANDA'S VIKING was such a delightful read, that I kept sneaking in pages while I was at work. I didn't have the pleasure of reading it the first time around, so was very pleased when Maggie Shayne decided to re-release the book. With believable scientific detail and fabulous scenery, I enjoyed every twist to this plot and I really appreciated how they got the bad guy in the end. Bravo Ms. Shane!
Profile Image for Laura Lee Nutt.
6 reviews
May 13, 2013
Miranda’s Viking is a lovely tale that crosses time, cultures, and space. Shayne did an excellent job of immediately grabbing my attention, and I was on the edge of my seat all the way through the prologue and at most other parts of this book. It was difficult to put down, and I confess, I shunned other things that needed doing to read it.

Rolf, Plague of the North and the Viking found frozen in a cave and who miraculously survives the nine-hundred years from his time to ours, is a great hero. He’s strong, courageous, and highly intelligent. Most of all, though, he possesses that oh so necessary perception and tenderness that every good romance hero needs if he’s honestly going to form a connection with the heroine and readers. Shayne realistically painted him as a man of his time who wasn’t a bumbling, barracking brute. He was, in essence, believable, noble, and lovable, but not in a teddy-bear sort of way.

Miranda, on the other hand, tugged at my heartstrings the whole way. She beautifully combined wounded, tragic, strength, vulnerability, and tenderness. She was a good fit for Rolf and one of the better heroines I’ve read. Plus, knowing some archaeologists, she fits the part well and actually faces believable challenges like funding and international haggling over artifacts. And I love that, despite her love of the discipline, as soon as she realizes that her Viking Ice Man is still alive, she immediately chooses the humane thing and decides to conceal him from the scientific community so he’s not put in a cage and dissected slowly.

Overall, the book had some technical problems, which is why I am not giving it a full five stars. However, the heart of the story and characters was sound and touching, and it has the best love scene I’ve read to date in chapter fifteen. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Megan.
1,604 reviews56 followers
September 29, 2010
I can’t believe I overlooked this book when I was trying to add all my books to GoodReads.

This is by my favorite author and is still one of my favorites. This is borderline PNR . There is no time-travel (as one might suspect with this title), but the Viking hero, Rolf Magnusson, was frozen in ice in his time and thawed out (in more ways than one) by Miranda O’Shea in present day. Miranda teaches Rolf English and the many modern conveniences of today, which leads itself to many humorous moments. But don’t’ be deceived, this is no ordinary romance with humor (and a some-what weak plot, being far-fetched and all) there is plenty of very believable romance and passion. Rolf and Miranda come off feeling very real and believable.
Profile Image for Janet Juengling-Snell.
327 reviews32 followers
July 20, 2012
This is my first time reading anything by Maggie Shayne. I decided to give it a try because I hadn’t read anything like the preview had described. A group of archaeologists find a frozen 900 year old Viking hero and he then comes back to life after a series of mishaps. Sounds interesting… And it was. It had everything, action, adventure, mystery and romance. It was fast pace and fun. Watching Professor Miranda O’Shea teaches Rolf Magnusson, our Viking hero, to speak English and adapt to our world and time. I totally enjoyed this fairy tale of a story.
Profile Image for K. Anna Kraft.
1,176 reviews38 followers
July 26, 2025
Rereading this book reminded me of why Maggie Shayne is and always has been one of my favorite authors. This is her at her best. The premise is fun, the characters are thoughtful, and while the story delves into some heavier elements, it itself never feels heavy. It was a refreshing break from the multi-volume epics and quirky, heavily pop-culture influenced books that I've been reading lately.

And in keeping with my personal little habit, I've arranged my takeaway thoughts on this story into a haiku:


"We keep on living,
But we’re as good as frozen
'Til we heal what’s passed."
Profile Image for Amelia Elizabeth.
231 reviews16 followers
May 21, 2012
This is by far one of my favorite books. I just re-read it again this weekend. I can't really tell you why I like it so much, but I keep coming back to read it again. One of the things I do really like about the book is the development of Rolf's English. Maggie Shayne did a good job of showing his progression of learning from simple phrases to longer sentences and from broken English to pretty near perfect.
Profile Image for Kai Gutierrez.
10 reviews15 followers
June 20, 2008
I love it! Especially the part when Miranda overcame her fears because of an ice man turned hunk..haha! I'm ahuge Maggie Shayne fan.
Profile Image for Mary.
117 reviews7 followers
July 9, 2012
Very good book....could't put it down!
Profile Image for Kip Etavi.
5 reviews
October 1, 2012
Light romance with fun characters that was enjoyable quick read.
Profile Image for Trisha.
19 reviews43 followers
November 24, 2014
I liked this book alot. Maggie does a great job of making Rolf realistic. I like the storyline because its different and you don't see a ton of stories like this one. Very original!
Profile Image for Michelle Drake.
44 reviews3 followers
February 22, 2014
This was the first book I've read of maggies and wow what an awesome read, I've now downloaded some of her other books and hope they are as good as this one :)
20 reviews
August 25, 2022
It’s been a minute since I reviewed a romance novel, but I recently moved, and the process of packing, sorting, and culling my books made me think I should take a break from Destiel and read some of my books, perhaps in order to cull them further.

I won’t be culling this one.

This week I read Miranda’s Viking by Maggie Shayne. It is Silhouette Intimate Moments #568, from May, 1994.

I haven’t had a lot of luck with rereading category romances. They don’t hold up well. But this one was a true gem.

The story is about Miranda, an archeologist, who discovers a frozen, 900 year old frozen viking in a cave. He is accidentally defrosted and comes alive.

Rolf is shocked to find himself in the 20th century but adapts quickly. Like…. freakishly quickly, becoming fluent in English literally overnight.

Miranda, of course, is a “modern” woman and the book makes great pains to make sure that’s clear, highlighting her intelligence and career focus.

There is a mystery too, as some shady folks in the scientific community are intent on taking claim of Miranda’s discovery.

The book is a little unrealistic, especially in terms of Rolf’s character, and some of the scientific and historical stuff is sketchy, but that’s all fine.

The 90s style feminism is kind of jarring, juxtaposing Miranda’s theoretical independence with her need to be rescued by Rolf, her lack of sexual confidence, and Rolf’s bodice-rippy behavior early on. The book attempts to address this by making consent be a major plot point, but I think her general “purity” vibe and Rolf’s posessiveness kind of undermines the message. But, it was the 90s, so points for trying, I guess.

There are two sex scenes in the book, both of which were surprisingly spicy for what I’ve come to anticipate in rereading these old books. They were pretty graphic, if flowery, and they went on long enough to not feel rushed. They were very enjoyable.

Maggie Shayne went on to write dozens of romances, and won several awards. This book won the 1993 New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Award for Best Long Contemporary. It is available as an ebook as well as through various online sellers in numerous print versions ranging from about $5 to $70, although I didn’t find one with this exact cover in my brief search.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It’s a quick, fun read, and much better than several other category romances I have reviewed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Deanie Nelder.
1,131 reviews25 followers
January 24, 2023
Emergency room staff have a saying -- "you're not dead until you're warm and dead," meaning that hypothermia can make people appear dead when they're not. While this shouldn't apply to the corpse of a Viking warrior hundreds of years old, it does in Miranda's Viking, when lab sabotage allows the body of Rolf Magnusson to warm up and come back to life.

The good: Miranda is a great character, and her assistant is absolutely awesome. Her relationship with Rolf (who is overbearing at times and has a tendency to jump to conclusions), ends up being very positive, after a lot of misunderstandings and problems.

The bad: Miranda's (pre-book) date rape (not with Rolf) is not handled well at all. Maybe that's because this book is twenty-ish years old. I like the psychological ramifications/PTSD in the story, but her attacker should have had to face the consequences of his actions long before.

Still, overall, this is a very good book and one I don't mind reading again.
Profile Image for Raine.
37 reviews
March 1, 2018
Loved it, with Maggie Shayne's books you never know what you are going to get other than quality and a great story. But what else matters?
4,540 reviews29 followers
May 27, 2021
Decent plot. Mostly holds up to re-reading after all these years.
Profile Image for Mary.
Author 16 books57 followers
January 4, 2016
I have this book in the original paperback and recently craved yet another read but didn't feel like going through my stash to find it, so took a chance and typed it in on Amazon. Lo and behold, it's out for Kindle! Yay! Miranda is a much-degreed professor working with her father, a cold and unfeeling parent if there ever was one. While working with him on his life's work, researching the travels of an ancient Viking, they find more than they ever dreamed - the corpse of the man himself, frozen in an ice cave.

The body is safely - or so they think - ensconced in their home lab, at least until thieves break in. In the struggle, the controls to the lab are knocked off kilter. No one realizes that this Viking is thawing out. And very much alive.

I love this book, have loved it since I first read it. I love how the man begins to learn this new world, I love the tragic secret Miranda is hiding and how it confuses her Viking, I love the explanation she works out so no one will guess who he is or where he came from. (Or will they?) I love the mystery of why the house was robbed in the first place and what the thieves were after. I love discovering who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are - although one of them is clear from the beginning, a necessary bit of the plot. If you have never read it, I encourage you to jump in and enjoy the ride.
Profile Image for Theresa.
4,123 reviews16 followers
January 21, 2016
Loved it. Exactly what I was looking for in a ‘frozen in ice love story. It didn't just start in an ice cave and leave never to return, but the whole story revolved around the frozen hibernation as Rolf learned to adjust in his new world. There was lots of good, authentic historical info about the Vikings also.

The main plot wasn't very original, but the details, characters and situations were so interesting it didn't matter. Then when the action returned to the arctic cave system I was drawn into the exciting conclusion.

Miranda I understood. For all the belittling and lack of support, she turned out to be a very strong woman. But Rolf, for such a smart guy he wasn't very fast at catching on to her phobia. He let he’s arrogance stand in the way and he definitely was oversensitive about his history.

Fave Scenes: 1) the glass of water, the bathroom, the funeral and learning to sail.
Profile Image for JAC, Loner, Loser and Complicated Mess.
67 reviews1 follower
May 26, 2016
I loved this book. It's one of my all time favourites. Miranda is an archeologist that discovers the body of a perfectly preserved Viking warrior in a deep cave in Greenland. She brings him back to her lab in the States to study but there are others who want the Viking for themselves. When Miranda foils an attempt to steal the ice man she discovers that the freezer she is keeping him in is damaged and the Viking is now thawed out and not too happy.
Now despite some very unlikely and unrealistic elements in this story, if you can suspend your imagination it's a fast paced and entertaining book that is thoroughly romantic and enjoyable to read. I have an original copy and I re-read it every couple of years.
Profile Image for LJ.
3,159 reviews305 followers
July 7, 2008
Miranda's Viking - G
Shayne, Maggie - SIM 568

A Viking warrior was sitting in scientist Miranda O'Shea's living room, learning English and marveling over light bulbs. Yesterday Rolf Magnusson had been frozen solid, his body perfectly preserved in a glacial cave, where she'd discovered him. Today, all six feet seven inches of him was hot to the touch --- except, unfortunately, for his heart, which remained as ice-cold as he'd been for nine hundred years.

Miranda couldn't just hand him over to science, but exactly what she was going to do with the man who'd gone down in history as the "Plague of the North" stumped even her.

Completely unrealistic and a good romance.
Profile Image for Patricia.
24 reviews19 followers
February 21, 2015
I found it a very enjoyable read. I wanted to be an archaeologist once (still do, deep down), so I found myself connecting with Miranda's character; the thrill she feels when learning about, and discovering, old cultures. I also love the little bits of Old Norse language and history weaved into the story. I was learning a bit of Old Norse, while the character Rolf is learning English. It was like the movie Encino Man, but with a gorgeous Viking, and a much better teacher for the newly resurrected Ice Man. Miranda's Viking is filled with thrills, chills, discovery, and love, a book any romance novelist junkie would love. Two thumbs up for Maggie Shayne.
Profile Image for Amber.
1,717 reviews43 followers
June 15, 2016
I've gotta be honest, if anybody but Shayne had written this I wouldn't have liked it nearly as well. There are just plot points and tropes that usually make me roll my eyes in here and...somehow she made me okay with it. Mostly. There was at least one eye roll. But she has this knack for making me really like her characters and always has. Even though I figured out the bad guy pretty quick I just *liked* this story. Recommend.
Profile Image for Mary.
Author 16 books57 followers
January 4, 2016
A frozen ancient body, a robbery, and gauge for the freezer in which the body lays somehow gets broken. What is an ancient body to do but thaw? While some may scoff at the ease with which the Viking learns languages, I know someone who does this very thing, and almost this fast so I didn't even have to suspend disbelief. I've seen it.
Profile Image for Peggy.
231 reviews
September 20, 2017
Wow what a great story this was I loved it so heart touching.
Funny at times but still the love of Miranda and Rolf her Viking is truly wonderful he taught her to be free to love to let go of her fears but most of all he loved her I think from the start he loved her.
Another great one from the great author.
Maggie Shayne dose it again with a great book.
Profile Image for Savanna.
53 reviews
December 30, 2014
This was a well written romance book! It was basically the plot to Encino Man, but instead of Brendan Fraser being a dumb caveman, he was an intelligent Viking with the language skills of Daryl Hannah, the mermaid.

There could have been a bit more steaminess to the romantic passages, but it'll do, pig.
Profile Image for Teresa Bowen.
104 reviews2 followers
November 18, 2019
4 dragon brothers after being captives for centuries of servants to another clans cruel leader are finally free. The eldest one goes to find them a castle for their clan of 4. Each story is of one of the brothers and they are fast paced and really good. I enjoyed all of them
199 reviews2 followers
September 19, 2014
How'd I miss this one?

One again I found another one of Maggie's books that I missed reading. And I am soi glad I found it. The tale of Miranda drew me in and had me believing Vikings could come to life.
Profile Image for Ruth.
1,046 reviews
December 16, 2010
good. cute fun read. a couple times I wanted to smack both of them upside their heads - but then the story would not have been the same.
Profile Image for Holly Bargo.
Author 42 books145 followers
September 14, 2014
Excellent

Ms. Shayne makes the improbable probable in this book, without descending into farce. The content is well written and cleanly edited, a major plus.
96 reviews3 followers
March 30, 2016
Le titre est plutôt trompeur : il s'agit d'un Harlequin et non pas de la SF. J'ai bien ri tellement c'était cliché, mais je n'y ai pas vu d'autre intérêt.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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