Up and coming author Shewanda Pugh has a potential hit on her hands with her debut novel Crimson Footprint. The novel is a love story whose main character, Deena, has to make a decision between what makes her happy and what makes her family happy. Other issues such as interracial dating, cultural values, teen promiscuity, and inner city living are also addressed.

The reason I said “potential hit” is because there were a couple of instances where words were left out and I had to read back over pages to understand what the author was trying to convey. There was a part in the story where the author possibly had a couple of ideas on how the scene should play out because the scene happened twice with two different outcomes. That did not take away from the story, though.

I was impressed by the amount of thought and research that went into Crimson Footprint, as the mention of several different Japanese customs is not common knowledge. The ending of the story was left open, but I don’t feel that a sequel is needed. I would recommend Crimson Footprint to anyone who likes a good romance. I especially like the fact that there is more going on in the story besides a girl meeting a boy and falling in love. -Sistah Nakeshia