Tender Ecstasy, the fifth book in Janelle Taylor’s Ecstasy series published by Zebra, is not as fun as its predecessor, but still a worthy entry in the series.
Tender Ecstasy Rating: 
Published: 1983
Illustrator: Walter Popp
Imprint or Line: Zebra Historical Romance
Book Series: Gray Eagle/ Ecstasy Series #5
Published by: Kensington
Genres: Historical Romance, Native American Romance
Pages: 462
Format: Paperback, eBook
Buy on: Amazon, AbeBooks
Reviewed by: Blue Falcon
TOTAL SPOILER ALERT ⚠
The Book
This review is of Tender Ecstasy, book #5 in the “Ecstasy/Gray Eagle” Native American series by Janelle Taylor.
The Plot
After the prologue provides a backstory, we move into the main story. Tender Ecstasy begins approximately 14 years after Bittersweet Ecstasy ended.
Bright Arrow, is the son of Alisha Williams/Princess Shalee and Gray Eagle. He was a child, in the previous books, and now as an adult is the hero of this book.
While on a raid, Bright Arrow and his braves rescue Rebecca Kenny. Rebecca is the daughter of Joe Kenny and Mary O’Hara. He led Alisha’s ill-fated wagon train out west. Mary O’Hara, Rebecca’s mother appeared in book #2, Defiant Ecstasy.
Bright Arrow saves Rebecca from being raped by a soldier. He 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.
Bright Arrow takes Rebecca to the Oglala camp. There, things get even tenser as a secret about her is revealed. This exposes things that Gray Eagle in particular doesn’t want to be known.
Eventually, Rebecca is allowed to stay with Bright Arrow as his slave.
Another storyline in Tender Ecstasy involves the Oglala’s ongoing war against whites and soldiers. On a scouting trip, soldiers from a nearby Fort Dakota capture Bright Arrow. 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, and Rebecca is rescued. She reunites with Bright Arrow and they are happy.
For now, anyway.
The Upside
All of the good qualities of Mrs. Taylor’s writing are here: the descriptive style, the emotionalism of the characters, and the depth of historical research.
Rebecca is a likable and sympathetic character.
The Downside
All of the worst of Mrs. Taylor’s writing is, sadly, also on display in Tender Ecstasy. 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.
Sex
The love scenes are pretty mild here. Warm, but not hot.
Violence
There are a few killings. Both Alisha and Rebecca are slapped by male characters.
The violence is not super graphic, but it’s there nonetheless.
Bottom Line on Tender Ecstasy
I found Tender Ecstasy a bit of a comedown from the previous installment in this Janelle Taylor‘s series, Brazen Ecstasy. But it’s still a good book.
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| Overall: | 3.7 |
Synopsis
Twenty years had passed since the embers of desire first sparked between the handsome Indian Gray Eagle and his alluring white beauty Alisha Williams. Now it was time for their son Bright Arrow to savor the delights of ecstatic pleasure — and suffer the agonies
of forbidden love…In a wagon train deep in Sioux territory rode Rebecca Kenny, the most ravishing woman Bright Arrow had ever seen. Her soft perfect curves were an intoxicating blend of innocence and seduction that drove him mad with desire. The hot-blooded brave had to have her — but wisdom demanded that he slay the enticing creature along with all the other white invaders.
The bronze-skinned youth killed her companions — but fate commanded that he save Rebecca, capture her, torment her…and soar with her to the dizzying heights of blazing TENDER ECSTASY
TENDER ECSTASY BY JANELLE TAYLOR
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