Tender ecstasy
By: by Janelle Taylor.
Series: Zebra
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 1983
Place of publication: New York, N.Y
Number of pages: 462
ISBN-13: 9780821712122
Table of contents: title: This review is of “Tender Ecstasy”, book #5 in the “Ecstasy/Gray Eagle” series by Janelle Taylor.; title: The Story: After the prologue provides a backstory, we move into the main story. “Tender Ecstasy” begins approximately 14 years after “Bittersweet Ecstasy” ended. Bright Arrow, son of Alisha Williams/Princess Shalee and Gray Eagle, who was introduced in the prior book as a child, is now an adult and the hero of this book. While on a raid, Bright Arrow and his braves rescue Rebecca Kenny, the heroine of the book. Rebecca is the daughter of Joe Kenny, who led Alisha’s fated wagon train west, and Mary O’Hara, who was introduced in book #2, “Defiant Ecstasy”. Bright Arrow saves Rebecca from being raped by a soldier and fights and kills a Cheyenne warrior to claim her. Soon after, Rebecca and Bright Arrow become lovers, although they have differing views of their relationship.; title: Bright Arrow takes Rebecca to the Oglala camp, and things get even more tense as a secret about her is revealed, which exposes things which Gray Eagle, in particular, doesn’t want known. Eventually, Rebecca is allowed to stay with Bright Arrow as his slave.; title: Another storyline involves the Oglala’s ongoing war against whites and soldiers. On a scouting trip, Bright Arrow is captured by soldiers from a nearby fort, Fort Dakota, and Rebecca volunteers to free him; with the help of an elaborate plan hatched by Gray Eagle, she does. The plan is discovered by Lieutenant Timothy Moore, the commander of the fort, and Rebecca suffers a bit. However, in the end, Fort Dakota goes the way of Fort Pierre, Rebecca is rescued, she reunites with Bright Arrow and they are happy. For now, anyway.; title: Upside: All of the good qualities of Mrs. Taylor’s writing are here: the descriptive style, the emotionalism of the characters, the depth of historical research. Rebecca is a likeable and sympathetic character.; title: Downside: All of the worst of Mrs. Taylor’s writing is, sadly, also on display: The arrogant male characters. The physical abuse of women. Mrs. Taylor’s overuse of exclamation points! I found the writing a little shallow and the rescue of Rebecca was a little underwhelming for my tastes.; title: Sex: The love scenes are pretty mild here.; title: Violence: A few killings; both Alisha and Rebecca are slapped by male characters. The violence is not super graphic, but it’s there nonetheless.; title: Bottom Line: I found “Tender Ecstasy” a bit of a comedown from “Brazen Ecstasy”, but it’s still a good book.  (less)