Obsession Untamed
Grade : B-

While shapeshifters have appeared over and over (and over) in paranormal romance, Pamela Palmer brings an appealing take to the concept in her Feral Warriors series. Obsession Untamed is not one of those books that features huge innovations, but the author does put a few new spins on shapeshifting, her worldbuilding is highly engaging, and the chemistry between the characters in this book was very hot indeed. Though not without its flaws, I enjoyed reading this one, particularly the second half.

The action in this novel picks up shortly after the end of the first book in the series, Desire Untamed. As a side note: Though you needn't have read the prior book to follow the action in this one, it definitely helps as there are frequent references back to it. At any rate, Tighe, the tiger shifter among the Feral Warriors, has had a portion of his soul taken by a clone. The clone is truly Tighe's evil twin, and if he does not find and destroy it, he may well lose his life.

Things start to heat up when FBI agent Delaney Randall has a run-in with the clone. She is left with the unsettling ability to see things in dreams - bits and pieces of painful visions showing what the clone is up to. Tighe needs Delaney's visions in order to track down the clone. So, even though Delaney is a human and Tighe avoids entanglements with them, he slips into Delaney's home and tries to use mind control on her. When she does not allow him to enter her mind as most humans apparently would, Tighe has to resort to other means. So, he takes her back to the Ferals' safe house.

From this point on, Delaney's life changes. She doesn't know right away what Tighe is or what is happening. As an FBI agent, she is on the path of a killer (how this case got turfed out to the FBI from local police wasn't really explained, but I just went with it) and, though she knows little about Tighe, she finds herself inexplicably wanting to trust him anyway. As the two work together, their reluctance to work with one another is entirely believable under the circumstances, but the very hot chemistry that develops between the two is also compelling. The lust at first sight, "let's make the heroine have an orgasm before she even knows the hero's name" scene near the beginning was overkill, but their interactions later on the book worked much better. There are still a lot of things in this book that are over-the-top, but as the story intensifies, these elements start to work better.

This proved true with the worldbuilding as well. The rules of the Ferals' world are rather complex, and there are a few info dumps. In addition, things felt a little too convoluted near the beginning of the book and I found it difficult to immerse myself in the story until I was several chapters into the book. However, things start to come together more smoothly and the flow improves about a third of the way into the story and I started to appreciate the worldbuilding and the storytelling more. The plot contains quite a bit of violence which some may find upsetting, but the primary focus remains on the hero and heroine and their relationship. The writing isn't as polished as I would have liked, but it's not bad either.

While things started out a bit rough in Obsession Untamed, once the story started to increase in intensity, things came together a bit better and I found myself drawn into an intriguing world full of supernatural battles, magic, and some rather hot alpha males. The very steamy relationship between the leads added to the story as well. The plotting and flow of writing could use a bit more polishing, but Pamela Palmer still tells a good story and since she set up the situation for her sequel in an intriguing manner here, I think I'll have to check it out.

Reviewed by Lynn Spencer
Grade : B-

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : August 27, 2009

Publication Date: 2009

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Lynn Spencer

I enjoy spending as much time as I can between the covers of a book, traveling through time and around the world. When I'm not having adventures with fictional characters, I'm an attorney in Virginia and I love just hanging out with my husband, little man, and the cat who rules our house.
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