Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors, #1)

by Pamela Palmer

Kara MacAllister thinks she's just an average, small-town pre-school teacher until the night a mysterious stranger shows up at her door claiming she's not only immortal, but the chosen one of a band of powerful shape-shifting males. Lyon steals her away from everything she knows and thrusts her into a world beyond her comprehension, a world filled with magic, nightmares, and perilous danger where Kara discovers an inner strength she never knew she possessed, and a passion in the arms of Lyon beyond anything she ever imagined. As he works with Kara, preparing her to become the source of power for the Feral Warriors, Lyon is swept away by Kara's vulnerable beauty and tempted beyond all reason by a desire he can't deny. But when Lyon realizes his band of warriors has been infiltrated by an ancient evil, he begins to question whether Kara is quite as innocent as she seems. And he begins to wonder if the woman who's stolen his heart is destined to be his salvation...or his doom.

• ISBN10: 0061887714
• ISBN13: 9780061887710
• Publish Date: 30 June 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

Desire Untamed is the first book in Pamela Palmer’s Feral Warriors series, and I’ve had this book in my bookcase since 2012. Thank goodness for the #Romanceopoly Challenge I was able to pick up this book finally. It fulfilled the Bar square on the board since Pamela Palmer shares an initial with me. Our last names both start with ‘P.’

Instead of describing the book within this review, I’m going to go ahead and give my likes and dislikes about the book. I highly recommend reading the synopsis of the book, which offers a quick detail on what the book/series is about if you are interested in reading the book/series.

What I liked about the first book –

1. I loved the idea of Feral Warriors (also known as Therians) shapeshifting into different creatures and are sworn to rid the world of evil. It was different from other PNR books I’ve read.

2. I also loved that the Feral Warriors’ names give away what they shapeshift into the story. The main male character, Lyon, changes into a Lion. His name gives it away, and so does the other characters. The female character in the book had no idea until later what they shifted into because she was thrust into the world of Feral Warriors due to her being the Radiant.

2. In the story, the Feral Warriors have to find their next Radiant, since their previous was killed. The Radiant helps the Warriors shapeshift, and without her, they will go dark and crazy. I loved the idea of this, but I did have a dislike for it too.

3. The steamy scenes between Lyon and Kara are off the charts hot. Be prepared if you do read this book because if you are not used to steamy scenes in PNR, then you may need to prepare yourself mentally. Pamela does a fantastic job with the steamy scenes. Some of these scenes may be too scorching for readers.

4. The ending and how everything finally was revealed. There was quite a bit of action in this book, especially towards the end of the book. I’m looking forward now to diving into the rest of the series.

What I disliked about the first book –

1. The poor Radiant, Kara MacAllister, in the story was ripped from her small-town life and thrown into the world of the Feral Warriors because she didn’t grow up as a Therian. The way Lyon grabs her drove me crazy. It also drove me crazy how Kara reacted at first because she didn’t believe him. She kept running away and getting into danger. Even the other Warriors were getting upset with her.

2. The constant denial of Kara and Lyon not being fated to be with each other. Something happens in the story that throws them off, but that’s due to something sinister happening. 

Overall, this book gets 4-stars, and I recommend it to readers that love PNR. Now, I need to make time to read the rest of the series. 

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This is the first book in Pamela Palmer's Feral Warriors series. I was not familiar with Ms. Palmer until I saw her at a book signing earlier this year. I really liked her and wanted to look her up. When I heard that her Feral Warrior series was going to be released on audio, I decided to wait to give it a listen instead of reading it. I did pick up her Vamp City series, which isn't on audio at this time, and I really liked it, so I was excited when Tantor offered me the opportunity to review these on audio.

I came into this series knowing very little about it. Even though it had been out for a while in books, I hadn't read the reviews. Once I decided I was going to review the books, I wanted to go in with as little outside influence as possible. I just saw that many of my friends read them and saw their ratings and that most of them were high. I knew the books were PNR and they were animal shifters, each male a different animal. I really like the world. It is such a different world than most of the shifter books out there. I mean, there are several things that are common. They can shift into animal, I mean duh. These shifters have an immortal life span, but can in fact die, if a mortal wound is inflicted. When that happens, a new feral of the same animal will take his place. So there will always be one of each of the different animal types.

The heroine in this story, known as the Radiant. She was raised human and knows nothing of this world, but she is essential to the lives of these warriors. The warriors have been looking for this new Radiant since their previous Radiant died. The Radiant, like the warriors, is immortal, but can die from fatal injuries. Because she was raised in the human world, it takes them months to find her and the lack of a Radiant has caused issues with the men. The woman in that position grounds them, helps them keep their "humanity" for lack of a better word. They have also lost their ability to shift, which is their greatest strength.

I won't go to much into the story itself. Let's just say that for the most part, it is suspenseful with some sensuality. There is a section in the middle where I thought the story got a little stuck and I felt that the story should "get on with it already". It was also a little bit predictable. The beginning and okay and the ending was good.

The thing that got me more than anything were the names. Each of the men are basically named their animal. Tighe (tiger), Paenther (panther), Jag (jaguar), Kougar (cougar), Hawke (hawk), Wulfe (wolf), Vhyper (venomous snake) and Foxx (fox). The hero in this book is Lyon, can you guess what he changes into? Also, notice the spelling of the names, which I didn't notice while listening, but does this look familiar? You can see where she gets some of her inspiration.

Overall, I will say that this series that has potential. I don't know how many great series where I've had to convince friends to continue reading past book one. I will definitely give this series more time and books and see how it goes. When reading or listening to a new author or series, I always like to give them at least two and sometimes even three books before I pass judgement.

The narration was okay. I listen to most of my audios at regular speed. I listened to so many CDs from the library before I got into using apps to listen, that I just was used to it. I still listen to my favorite narrators this way. With Rob Shapiro, I felt he read very slow with some long pauses and with a book that had slow parts in it away, it was just not doing it for me.Once I sped it up, it was much better. The different voices are not very distinct and the women's voices are a little feminine, but not much. At this time, he is not a narrator that I will go looking for, but I don't think he detracts from the book once you increase your listening speed.

I like to thank Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.