Series: Gray Eagle #1
Published by Zebra on March 12th 1996
Genres: Historical Romance, American West, Native American
Pages: 528
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
ISBN: 082175453X
Savage Ecstasy by Janelle Taylor. It was like lightning, the first time they looked into each other's eyes: Gray Eagle, the captured Indian brave, and Alisha, the beautiful young settler. As the proud Oglala warrior was being tortured by his white captors, only Alsiha seemed to notice he was a human being - handsome and strong, and one who took her breath away.
But if Alisha could have read Gray Eagle's thoughts she would have been even more disturbed...Because from the moment he saw her, the Indian knew he had to possess the fair-skinned one - and his life would not be complete until he had made her his slave!
Summary
From the moment that Gray Eagle and Alisha met, there was something more between them. Gray Eagle the son of one of the most respected chiefs, and a proud indian brave was captured by white settlers and tortured and would have been worse off if it hadn’t been for Alisha who protected him, fed him and gave him water when she could. Alisha doesn’t understand the animosity between the whites and the indians, she only sees two groups of people that are the same in many ways. But Alisha is about to be caught up in the middle and changed forever. When Gray Eagle escapes, and vows retribution, his people come back to the fort with a vengeance. Only a few survivors live…and Alisha is one of them. Gray Eagle wants her for his own. He sees something more in Alisha, but as the son of a powerful chief, he is already promised to someone else. He knows he can only keep her as his slave even though he wants so much more from her. But Gray Eagle will have to learn some tough lessons if he wants to keep the woman he loves by his side…
The Hero
Gray Eagle is a powerful and distinguished Oglala warrior. He is handsome and strong and virile, he is the leader for his people and is proud of his heritage and fights to protect his people from those that would destroy them. Gray Eagle is being put in a tough position. After he gets kidnapped and rescued by his best friend, there is only one person he wants to go back for Alisha. Alisha a woman who treated him with kindness and protected him as best she could. He knows that it will be hard on her, but he can’t deny the connection he feels with her. Gray Eagle was a character that takes time for you to like. He makes quite a bit of mistakes, and is forced on many occasions to do what is right in the eyes of his people and culture and not what he truly wants. We see how he is split apart in his feelings for Alisha and his duty to his people as the son of the chief. He could take it a bit too strong in many ways and that is where I had issues with his character but in the end he proves to be decent in many ways.
The Heroine
Alisha, lost her parents after moving to the America’s from England. They came here for certain freedoms but gave their lives early on. Alisha was raised by her loving uncle. Alisha is not like most of the other settlers. She doesn’t see the need for any violence, she sees beauty in the earth and can’t even understand the need to destroy the forests. I liked how much she feels in every aspect. She is kind and giving and compassionate. What I truly admired about her is how she handles being captured. She doesn’t moan and complain all the time about it. She tries to be accepting of her new life as much as she can anyway. She doesn’t understand why Gray Eagle is so cold in some ways and warm in others. Its not until the end of the story that she comes to understand Gray Eagle in ways she never understood before and is willing to stand by him despite how he treats her. I love how loyal and true her character is.
Plot and Story Line
So I picked this book up because one, I have been wanting to pick up this author for a while now and I have been wanting to get back to more native american themed romances. Two, its part of a buddy read in a goodreads group and was very curious about this one. Now I do want to say that this story does have a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but then this couple have FOUR books, but its not like a crazy one….its more of a “happy for now” feel instead of a happy ever after ending that I would normally prefer. Even though I had some issues with this book, I am definitely curious to see how their story will play out. Now the story sets off when Gray Eagle is captured by the settler. Now their treatment of him is pretty horrible and Alisha she really shows her true colors here. She is the ONLY one that believes he shouldn’t be treated the way he is. We see her courage from the beginning and I loved that. We do see the chemistry these two have, but even in the beginning you get a sense its so much deeper than that. But we also get a taste of what harsh feelings there were between the whites and the indians. In fact, its the one aspect of the story I really LOVED!! There is quite a bit of conflict, and its not very easy to read at times but it felt very realistic. Gray Eagle is very torn between his culture and his feelings for Alisha. But I honestly had many issues with how he treated her. I kept with the story, because quite frankly….it was a page turner. But Alisha doesn’t treat him very well toward the middle….and its like a bitter fight between these two back and forth. What changes for them though, is when Alisha runs away after gaining respect and trust from not only Gray Eagle but most of his people as well….and when he finds her, he is forced to make a difficult choice in her punishment. Needless to say, what happens in the end here is what truly won me over to make this an okay read for me. Alisha learns the truth of Gray Eagle’s position, his culture. I liked seeing how she forgives here, and become more accepting of Gray Eagle in a way she never could have before. So even though I had issues with the angst between the characters for most of the book, I am intrigued by future books.
The Cover
I like the native american theme of the cover, with the beads and the teepee like backdrop. It has the older romance classic feel to it.
Overall View
Savage Ecstasy is a story of finding love and redemption is the worst sort of circumstances…and learning to fight for what is most important!!! An emotional roller coaster of a ride.
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Well hell, now I want to know about what happens at the end. The rest of the book too, but you have me curious about what happened.
There used to be many of these, but I have not read one in ages,
Great review! I am in love with this cover and have actually been craving a cliffhanger?! Weird I know but this sounds GOOD!!