With Untameable Revenge by A P von K’Ory
Author Me Professionals Press, 2024
Adrian Xerxes Cranford – gorgeous, seductive, domineering secret operative for the Crown, licensed to kill and more that willing to use that license – has succeeded in rescuing his beloved Leontine Nigella Boswell from the clutches of the Phantom, a mysterious underworld figure of deep-rooted evil and almost unlimited power. He and Leo have also suborned the Phantom’s influence over his children, Brad and Ambrosia. But creatures like the Phantom (who turns out to be Leo’s distant relative) do not accept failure. Adrian and Leo know that it’s only a matter of time before he comes after them, and the ones they care for, unless they destroy him once and for all.
With Untameable Revenge, the fourth book in A P von K’Ory’s Untameable series, leads the reader through their perilous plan to punish the Phantom for abducting and terrorizing Leo, and ultimately, to eliminate him. Like the previous book, Her Untameable Lust, this one includes a good deal of action, including some disturbing violence. It also depicts the growth of Leo’s and Adrian’s relationship, while highlighting the barriers, especially lack of trust, that constantly threaten to derail their love. Leo’s abduction forced Adrian to recognize how thoroughly dependent he has become on his Gorgeous Ice Block lover. This realization is anything but comfortable for a man who previously used women for pleasure then discarded them to get on with serious business. Leo, likewise, has survived her abusive childhood by building walls around herself and her heart. Now she’s exposed, needy, struggling to cope with Adrian’s absence, not to mention his habitual failure to be totally honest.
Leo seems more willing to admit that she can’t live without her Dark Demon. Nevertheless she can’t—or won’t—just sit on her hands as he has ordered, while he’s off luring the villain into his snare. When the Phantom’s minions kidnap her beloved younger sister, Leo goes to the rescue, with disastrous consequences.
The Untameable series features a world of extremes: extreme wealth, extreme violence, extreme passion. When viewed or described from the outside, this world seems unrealistic. When you’re reading one of A P von K’Ory’s sagas, though she somehow manages to pull you in and make you believe. Certainly I believed in Leo’s and Adrian’s love, despite the over-the-top manner in which they express their desire. The erotic scenes in With Untameable Revenge are frenzied, obsessive, extravagant in their language as well as the activities described. Does real people actually behave this way? Probably not. Still when you’re in the grip of the story, you accept Leo and Adrian on their own terms.
With Untameable Revenge ties up the series quite neatly, while linking it to von K’Ory’s Golden Shana saga. I couldn’t decide how I felt about the cameo appearances by characters from her previous books. For one thing, Shana and Roman, whose tortured and intense relationship fueled the earlier series, now seem almost domesticated. One wonders if Leo and Adrian will similarly mellow over time.
In any case, this novel provides a pulse-pounding but ultimately satisfying conclusion to this series, with a happy ending any romance reader will appreciate—even if they’re a bit squeamish faced with all the darkness to be traversed to get there.
1 comment:
Thank you so much, Lisabet, for your generous nature and support over the years and your friendly exchange of emails that never fail to make me smile with joy while shaking my head in wonderment at the sheer luck of having met and bonded with you.
Above all else, thank you for your unique selflessness, especially in assisting authors like me. I treasure this most in you.
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