Ecstasy Untamed by Pamela Palmer
Avon (Oct. 25, 2011)
Mass Market: $7.99; ebook: $7.99
ISBN: 9780061794735
Favorite Lines: “No, it wouldn’t, which has forced the Mage to get creative. They’ve tried stripping the souls of the warriors, they’ve tried creating clones. A few weeks ago, they created a wormhole into the spirit trap, hoping to end the existence of as many of the warriors as possible. Two fell in–Tighe and Hawke.”” (p. 63, egalley)
They are called Feral Warriors—an elite band of immortals who can change shape at will. Sworn to rid the world of evil, consumed by sorcery and seduction, their wild natures are primed for release…
Shattered by recent nightmarish events, Hawke feels his bond with his animal spirit weakening—and once it breaks, he’s finished. The arrival of Faith sends his life spinning even further out of control, for although she delights him and enflames his deepest primal passions, she’s promised to Maxim, the newest Feral Warrior.
Faith is drawn to Hawke from the start, but Maxim holds her in his thrall and has secretly bent her to his malevolent will. Though gravely damaged, Hawke is the only one who can end Faith’s slavery and protect the Feral Warriors from Maxim’s evil designs. But first they both must embrace the wild . . . and surrender body and soul to a forbidden, all-consuming ecstasy.
Ecstasy Untamed is book six in Pamela Palmer’s Feral Warriors series. It’s also my favorite book out of the series. However, if you have no experience with the series you may want to start with book one.According to Pamela Palmer’s website:
Eons ago, before the rise of human civilization, two immortal races battled the Daemons for control of the earth. The Mage, or magic ones, and the Therians, the mighty shape-shifters. Though traditional enemies, the Mage and Therians banded together to overcome the High Daemon, Satanan, ending his reign of terror and destroying his armies. The cost of victory was high. To win that ultimate battle, both races were forced to mortgage nearly all their power. Only one Therian among each of the ancient lines of shape-shifters was left with the power of his animal. Nine remain.
Warning: expect alpha’s with eye-roll worthy names.
Each book in the Feral Warriors series focuses on a different warrior. Book one set up the world, introduced the chief of the warriors and placed his woman as the Radiant, or head of the society. Afterward, each book told the story of the different warriors finding their mates. The relationships could be based on an instant attraction or a friendship that gradually advanced to more.
Ecstasy Untamed takes the route of a woman finding an instant attraction to a warrior. The wrong warrior. For the story to work, Palmer had to tread carefully. It would have been so easy for her to create a TSTL heroine or a love triangle. As far as I’m concerned, neither happened.
Faith is a great heroine. She has an inner strength that is marvelous. She is willing to bend, but certain actions by her possible mate immediately set of warning bells causing her to make a decision. Her actions immediately following the decision weren’t the brightest, but I don’t know anyone who would have guessed the events which followed.
And that right there is why I enjoyed Ecstasy Untamed so very much. I didn’t know what to expect–other than a happily ever after, which at times seemed far-fetched. My emotions while reading the story jumped from anticipation to excitement to confused to blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I was all over the place.
In the end, the thing that makes a great romance novel is the characters. The story must answer at least one important question. Do I care if the characters are happy together? Sure there are other factors such as the pacing of the story, action, word choice and how I relate to the characters. The key, though, is whether the characters are worthy of love. Sometimes just one character is worthy, but in Ecstasy Untamed both the hero and the heroine deserved to be happy…wait for it…together. They got each other. They were willing to support one another and did not try to change the other.
I will be rereading Ecstasy Untamed soon. What did you think about it?
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