Obsession Untamed by Pamela Palmer
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Book two in the Feral Warriors series
Publication Date: July 2009
ISBN: 978-0061667527
Page Count: 384
My Rating: ★★★★

Summary

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 . . . Every time she closes her eyes, Delaney Randall suffers another nightmare. A brutal serial killer has found his way inside the tough, take-no-prisoners FBI agent's head. Now she lives the murders through his eyes, from his deadly approach to his victims' screams—until the night he breaks into her apartment and she fears she's going to be the next to die. But the man who snatches Delaney from her home isn't the murderer. He's Tighe, a dangerous Feral Warrior who needs her and her visions to stop the rampages of a creature as inhuman as he is evil. Tighe has little use for humans, but as he and Delaney join forces to track the dark fiend, he falls for the intense beauty and becomes wild with an obsession as untamed as his heart.

REVIEW

In the previous book, Desire Untamed, all of the Feral Warriors had their soles split in half when the mage, Zaphene, had them cloned through ancient mage magic. All of the other clones were killed in the battle at the end of that book except for Tighe's. His clone, for whatever reason, seems to have a higher intelligence and will to survive than the others had, and is currently out waging destruction on the general populous. It seems to know it needs to stay away from Therians, who would be its natural food source, and instead is draining humans. This attracts the attention of D.C detective, Delaney Randall.

I found Delaney to be tough, dedicated, and possessing a warrior's spirit. After an all too close encounter with the clone - whom the public have dubbed the D.C vampire, believing the atrocities to be caused by nothing more than the State's newest and grisliest serial killer - catching the monster becomes Delaney's own personal mission as well as her duty. It also brings back unwanted memories of her mother's untimely demise.

After surviving the attack she starts to have visions of the clone as he's making his kills. Visions that previously Tighe was receiving through his own connection with the clone. Tighe realizes the visions are now being intercepted by the Fed when, instead of seeing a murder, he sees Delaney suffering one of the paralysing visions instead. He could really use those visions back because killing the clone is the only way to get the other half of his sole back. He therefore has no choice but to track down the cop.

This book had a very different feel to it than the last book. Instead of focusing on magical rituals and destinies, this was more of a romantic suspense, a serial killer manhunt with paranormal aspects and hot, HOT love scenes.

I learned some more details about some of the other members of the Feral Warriors in this book and have a better overall sense of the mythology Palmer has created. Sure, I've read shapeshifter books before, but each author always brings something new to the table and Palmer is no different. I find her take on them very imaginative and a nice mix between the tough, battle-ready warriors and the honourable male immortals who treat their females like precious treasures..

I found the plot really gripping and unpredictable again, and the method of delivery felt fresh and original. The way they were able to track the killer through the visions - even though they only provided glimpses of whatever the clone looked at and were therefore frustrating as often there was nothing there to determine location - was really well-executed. They just needed to catch that one break; to see a building or landmark they recognised to pin him down. And it was a race against time for Tighe, because no one, not even an immortal, can live without half their sole.

The relationship between Tighe and Delaney had good chemistry but it didn't draw me in quite as much as Kara and Lyon's relationship did in the previous book. Their future seemed doomed at times and I had no idea how it could possibly work out; an immortal warrior and a human already her thirties and not getting any younger? I just couldn't figure out a HEA for them at all. I will say that I was satisfied with the conclusion, even as a major bombshell is delivered to the warriors right at the end of the book leading us to wonder what's going to happen next in Paenther's book, Passion Untamed.

4 Stars! ★★★★