Desire Untamed Audiobook
By: Pamela Palmer
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
Published by: Tantor Audio 05/14/14
Desire Untamed Audiobook Sample
Reviewed by Ml Simmons
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
Author Pamela Palmer
I graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Industrial Engineering and went to work for IBM. I still devoured books (almost exclusively romances) and even tried writing one, but after the first exciting chapter I had no idea what to do with my characters. I set aside the dream of writing for a few years, though I continued to create stories in my imagination. Then one night as I did the dinner dishes, one of those daydreams became too big to keep in my head. I had to write it down. This time, however, thanks to the recent opening of a brand new library in my neighborhood, I discovered a wealth of books on plotting and character development and realized I could learn how to turn scenes into books and craft entire stories. The process was neither fast nor easy, encompassing four manuscripts, half a dozen partials, and years of hard work before I sold my first book. Fortunately, I had a lot of encouragement along the way. With my very first book I finaled for Romance Writers of America’s most prestigious award for unpublished writers, the Golden Heart. Each of my subsequent books also became a Golden Heart finalist, the third winning the award outright.
Narrator Rob Shapiro
Rob Shapiro got his professional start as an entertainer doing stand-up in Minneapolis while still in high school (the Children’s Theatre Company & School of Minneapolis). As a voice-over artist, he can be heard narrating such audiobooks as the bestselling The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick, Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan, and the fantasy noir Low Town by Daniel Polansky. He performed several seasons of radio comedy on Minneapolis Public Radio and voiced the titular lion in Leo the Lion. Rob is also a musician and composer; with his critically acclaimed band, Populuxe, he has released two CDs—A Foggy Day in Brooklyn and Deep in an American Evening . . .—and the EP, Daphne. He is one half of the Velvet Collar, who released their first record, Double Standard, an unlikely collection of cover songs by the Stooges, Hoagy Carmichael, and the Gershwin Brothers, among others, in 2011. Finally, Rob is a business consultant and software system designer, specializing in desktop publishing and workflow efficiency, with clients and implemented systems spanning the globe.
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.
Reviewed by Ml Simmons
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