The second book is a continuation of the story of Gray Eagle and Alisha Williams, and a very compelling one at that. However it is riddled with problems, as is the first one. Cliches abound, stunted, elementary dialogue, and continuous continuity errors, ie: in the first book, the raid on the fort takes place 28 days after Alisha's recapture. At the beginning of the second book, it is 18 days. Three moons till the joining, then one, then two. Punctuation in mid-sentence is distracting. The continual angst is no doubt an early '80s requirement, but, OMG, it reads annoyingly. He loves me, he loves me not. He wants me, he wants to kill me.I don't understanding why, knowing the language barrier is the cause of many problems and Gray Eagle understands English, the Indian doesn't ever come out and tell Alisha he understands, which only feeds her paranoia.
Improbable phrases for the time period - "No more freezing up," "Leaving her hanging." "Has me plenty worried." "Never stood a chance with him." "Played into his hands." "How much information did he spill to him?" "...remained glued to the spot." "Of of the blue." "Come to grips." "What was she trying to pull off?"
Alisha continually vacillating between loving Gray Eagle and hating him; between suspecting him of loving her to him wanting to kill her. That gets old fast and it's rife throughout this volume.
She took her forced exodus to the camp of Brave Bear much too easily for my liking and she fell in love with him instantly, AND she walked away from him as easily.
This STORY makes me want to read on, not the writing, as there were many things that bothered me. The omniscient POV gives too much away before it should.
Gray Eagle overhears EVERYTHING!!
Problems aside, the story keeps me reading. The four stars are for that reason. On to Forbidden Ecstasy.
I gave this story 4 stars and that is for the story itself. Compelling all the way through, enough to make me want to read the entire series - I am a sucker for a series.There are problems with the writing, but I have attributed that to the "era" in which it was written. This was published in 1981, according to the back matter in the ebook. Though I wasn't reading romance novels at that time, I suspect, rather strongly, that publishers published using a more liberal acceptance quotient.
This was produced by Kensington Zebra as a mass market paperback. There were some severe editing problems. I don't know if they occurred during e-book formatting or were actually present in the printed version. Such things as abundant misspelled words outside the generally accepted range, odd font characters such as upside down question marks, exclamation marks mid-sentence, double periods, captitals in mid-sentence and myriad other problems in that vein.
Many paragraphs contained endless sentences beginning with I, she, he, their. One paragraph had 8 sentences beginning with He. Makes for choppy reading.
Some phrasing struck me as much too modern for the period. "Miss Goody Two Shoes" came into being with "The History of Little Goody Shoes," which was published in 1765 by John Newbery. Savage Ecstasy takes place about that time. It seems a bit of a stretch that the heroine, Alisha, would be familiar with the phrase.
"Knight in Shining Armor" came into being in the 1790's.
"He is handsome and cool." Cool is definitely 1950s and '60s.
"Save face," was used repeatedly, to mean save his (the Indian chief's) reputation. I'd only heard it with reference to losing face in the Chinese culture and upon research, I found that the phrase never appeared until the June 1899 edition of The Harmsworth Magazine.
"Fill you in on." Sounds too modern to me, though I couldn't find any origin for the phrase.
Same with "Go easy on you."
"Serious gravity of her situation," begged my answer, "That's the best kind."
"Winning him points," again sounded an odd phrase to use in this historical.
None of the above phrases are deal breakers, but as someone who reads historicals and writes them, it is important to me that the tenor of the book is set by the phrasing.
The omniscient point of view is very cumbersome and something I suspect a publisher would never allow a writer to do today. I admire Ms. Taylor for her mastery of it, but it makes the reader a mere spectator, removing us from everything that is happening, much like watching a play with a narrator.
Omniscient is the epitome of "telling." With phrases like, "She had no idea what her actions would cause." "She didn't know why..." "She was unaware of the stares..." "She didn't realize..." "Little did she know," the reader is made aware of coming plot points that, in my humble opinion, we shouldn't be. I'd rather have the story unfold, without me knowing something, but not knowing quite what.
The reader is clued in that there are things that will happen without any lead up to them in story form.
I found the setting of time (1760's) lacking, particularly in dialogue. There was little effort made to account for social mores. Even in the wild and woolly west, people behaved in certain ways, either by the dictates of their religion, or possibly their upbringing. An officer says, "When I head back to the colonies." Alisha, the heroine, says, "Believe me, I would grab the opportunity." She is an English woman of breeding. "There only one catch." "She's crazy about him."
Also, there is a character, Jeffery, who thinks that because Alisha has been the captive of Gray Eagle, she is to be used by said Jeffery as well. Though during this period in history women were treated with respect, Jeffery barely knows her before he invites her to share his quarters and his bed. When she refuses him, he gets rough with her and forces his attentions on her. She rebuffs him, and he's angry, but the narrator tells us that he will make her see things his way.
I found that not at all in keeping with what I've read of history, though in isolated cases, I'm sure it happened. However, he had re-captured her from the Indian camp, witnessed the hardships she'd endured, yet sought to inflict more damage by his own actions. All the while, another woman at the fort touted his gentlemanly manner.
There are entirely too many men attracted to her for my taste and vowing, the narrator tells us, to make her their own. They are falling in love with her at first sight, all over the place. Four in all, with one old guy thinking she's quite attractive, but he has a shrew for a wife, which, honestly had to have made Alisha even more appealing. Most only want to possess her, but all love her, at least privately.
Men routinely curse in front of the lady, something that I find difficult to believe they'd do so en masse. Certainly one of cruder demeanor might, but not as a matter of course. Men thought much of their honor in that time period.
The use of Indian words was rampant, and understandably so on one hand, but then there was often no explanation as to the meaning, making it difficult and stunting.
I have read several reviews of this book, where readers decried the story because of the way Alisha was treated by her Indian, Gray Eagle. By today's standards, it would indeed be considered appalling, but one mustn't judge a story set in the 1760s, which depicts events as they actually occurred, by today's standards of behavior. Indian women were submissive, as were white women. Men were the lords and masters of their domains and "ruled" their kingdoms with that authority.
To fault an author for portraying life as it was, as unpleasant as that might have been, is unfair, as Ms. Taylor got the history absolutely correct. It is also patently unfair to critique the book in 2012, when it is 30 years old, because the publishing company "allowed" a style that we no longer see. Ms. Taylor has had 9 NY Times best sellers in her long career, so the lady isn't shabby.
The purpose of this review isn't to criticize, but merely point out the things that bothered me about the book. However, none of them detracted from the story itself, which was strong and compelling, as I've said. I look forward to all of the sequels, which I have queued up on my Kindle.
Star Dancer
The book rambles for several chapters, with no clear picture of who the male lead is, which was annoying. I liked the heroine enough, but with the influx of men, their appearances detailed enough to make you wonder who was actually going to get the girl, I found myself not really caring. After reading 20% on my Kindle, I packed it in.
I have enjoyed reading Madeline Baker's Native American romances. Compelling, memorable. Written in a style that is no longer in fashion, but I love it nonetheless.
I can't believe this is a NY published book. Bad Dialogue, bad plot, uninteresting characters, elementary writing and a personal pet peeveeveryone has a point of view. Awful.
In re-reading this series, I am willingly transported back to a very brutal time in American history. This book, the second in a sweeping saga about three brothers, is spellbinding, breathtaking, and I'm sad that I only have one book left to go. I can't decide which of the three is my favorite, which tells me that they are all favorites. For sure, Pamela Clare is a fave author. MacKinnon's Rangers are spectacular.
I can't begin to say how much I enjoyed this book. The five star is actually a ten star, plus. What rich, wonderful characters. What a fabulous story! I can't wait to read the other two in the series. Just the very best!!
 - Pamela Clare)
June, 2012 - I just reread this series, and enjoyed it as much as the first time, though I did read it with an author's eye this time.There's no doubt that Pamela Clare writes lush, well told stories. This book had me on an emotional roller coaster for the characters.
As with the first book in the series, the only thing I found distracting, was the head-hopping. Again, everyone in the story has a point of view, even minor characters. I'm not sure how this was allowed to get by the editors, but it did and it really detracts from the story.
For that reason, I gave it a 4 instead of 5, because the author, with as many books to her credit, should know that head-hopping is a no-no.
Nonetheless, the series remains one of my favorites and I'll likely read it again at some point.
June 23, 2012 - I reread the story, because I love the story. It's rich in historic detail and the characters are magnetic. Highly recommend for lovers of historical romance.The one niggle I have is the head-hopping. Everyone has a point of view, even minor characters. It is distracting to some degree. One star off for that, because an author should know they are doing it, and shame on the editor for allowing it.
However, Pamela Clare is a fabulous storyteller and this series is one of my favorites.
 - Pamela Clare)
