Savage Dom (Savage Island Book 1)

I usually read 1-3 books per day, depending on my schedule. For a book to take me three days is unprecedented, but that’s exactly what happened with this book. Reading the prologue, I was a bit confused but thought it would work itself out a little further along. Nope, it didn’t. The more I read, the more confused I became. Don’t get me wrong, the story, once I got into it, was a good read and the relationship between Cy and Harper, is chemically charged within their survival story. But the who and why that kept nipping at the back of my mind kept me from devoting my attention to the details I normally pick up on. And then just about the time I thought I couldn’t take it anymore and REALLY wanted answers, clues were delivered in a most brutal way imaginable. Now I’m left with a cliffhanger. I hope I don’t have to wait long for the next one because this just about drove me nuts.

~~ 4.5 PRIMAL STARS! ~~

“I’m the predator and she’s the prey.”

I am OBSESSED with survival romances and SAVAGE DOM by Jane Henry about two castaways who are mysteriously stranded together on a remote caribbean island was absolutely mesmerizing!

PREMISE:
Harper Lake, a fiercely independent journalist who has devoted her career to championing women’s rights, ends up in dire straits after she wins an all-inclusive cruise vacation but gets left behind on a deserted island! However, when all seems lost, she finds an unlikely savior in Cy, a gruff, growly military operative who has no clue how he ended up in this island but all he knows is that something is definitely amiss. Strange things are happening and his gut tells him they are being watched. But by whom? And now after witnessing four others castaways die before his eyes he’s not about to let this ornery, defiant beauty die on his watch! As a man who commanded army of men, he’s deeply dedicated to discipline and order and is used to being obeyed. And has little tolerance for this haughty, mouthy beauty who doesn’t have a clue how to survive on this island, but at the same time, she poses a challenge that tantalizes him more than he cares to admit.

Meanwhile, this bearded brute’s bossy, overbearing ways goes against all of Harper’s feminist ideals, yet she needs this big, strong cavemen’s finely honed survival skills to keep her alive! And when they reluctantly team up to get to the bottom of the happenings on the island, and hopefully find their way OFF of it, their sizzling friction erupts into raw, primal passion! But can Cy keep them both safe from the sinister danger that runs amuck on their tropical island “paradise”?

MY MUSINGS:
This wildly addictive, brilliantly penned first installment in the Savage Island duet is teeming with steamy romance, palpable tension, spine chilling suspense, adrenaline pumping drama and intrigue, and RAW, UNBRIDLED sensual interludes! While not necessarily dark in my opinion, it was chock full of adrenaline pumping twists and turns and I was totally entertained from start to finish!

Ms. Henry’s writes the most scintillating erotic romances and Harper and Cy’s chemistry is COMBUSTIBLE! Their attraction is primal. Explosive. And defies all reason. I found their animalistic sexcapades deliciously titillating, and as always, this author intertwines highly arousing power exchanges with aching, exquisite emotion that leaves you breathless and PANTING for more.

EEEP! Cy is an unapologetic alpha male TO THE MAX. Big and brutish, with a heavy hand yet a ferociously protective and gentle side too, he will make you quiver and swoon aplenty! And Harper brings out his possessive, fiercely doting nature. He not only wants to dominate, punish and spank her to tears, but with all the strange, inexplicable things transpiring on the island, he will not hesitate to lay down his life to shelter this fragile creature.

As for Harper, she’s a wonderfully spunky heroine and certainly no helpless female! She’s a bit of a control freak who has worked her entire life defending the plight of repressed women yet in an ironic twist of fate she finds herself being rescued and then bossed around and kind of manhandled by this barbaric “ogre.” There is just something about this SAVAGE DOM that awakens her submissive side and has her secretly craving his domination. And as time goes on, all consuming feelings spark between them as she finds a perverse pleasure in being subjected to Cy’s stern consequences when she pushes his buttons by daring to defy him.

These two are clearly polar opposites in every way but circumstances have drawn them together and their red hot attraction cannot be contained! And as the story unfolds, an unbreakable bond is forged between these two unlikely allies who are forced to rely on each other for their very survival. Ms. Henry does a spectacular job with the stranded island plotline that has these protagonists falling in love amid unspeakable odds as they stave off starvation and try to solve the shadowy mystery of how they ended up on the island …and why. As their sexual tension reaches a fever pitch so does the danger and subterfuge, and I was truly on pins and needles throughout trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Oh and it ends on a CLIFFY so make sure you dive into SAVAGE LOVE right away!

THE NARRATION:
Read to us by one of my favorite male narrators, D.C. Cole, he truly breathes life into this mind-bending survival romance! His deep, growly voice and commanding inflections embodied Cy’s macho alpha male, take no prisoners persona to a T. He was feral and predatory yet also sweet and nurturing, and he did a wonderful job seguing into the female role of Harper too! I could truly listen to Mr. Cole narrate the phone book and would be transfixed! His magnetic performances never fail to make me tingle from head to toe. Bottom line? He did an incredible job with this first installment and I can’t wait for him to sweep me off my feet again in book two.

Highly recommend!

I looooove Jane Henry’s books. A LOT. Several of them are all time faves that I love to reread. A LOT.
But although I looked forward to this duet, I found myself somewhat disappointed. Just somewhat.
Not the writing, that is excellent IMO, as always.
The wonderfully smooth flow that swirls the reader into the story effortlessly.
And I found with this one I felt the tropical heat, the humidity, heard the rustling of the trees (palms), the waves breaking on the shore, felt Cy & Harper’s desperate fight to survive.
But.
What I found myself slightly disppointed by was Cy’s character. I truly did not find him ‘savage’. To others on the island, yes, but to Harper, not much. At all. I was expecting (based on the title & book description), a Dom much like Adrian in Ms. Henry’s book ‘Island Captive’. Not savage per se but much more intensely dominating & structured in his domination of the heroine. And while Cy does impress on Harper that he’s in charge & does offer some corporal punishment of her fanny, he is much more focused on the romance of their relationship.
Now, I say this again based on MY PERSONAL expectations of the book via the title, description & my experience with reading ‘Island Captive’.
And, overall I liked Harper (h) but I personally got tired of the continual references to how she could defend herself against nearly feral ex-Spec Ops males that hadn’t seen a woman in many, many months & almost every other situation/danger that came up. It just seemed too much as though impressing on the reader how tough & resilent Harper was supposed to be.
Now, if this sounds like I didn’t like this series: I did like it. Enough to buy & read the 2nd one in order to find out how things ended up. But I know I would have enjoyed it MUCH MUCH more if I’d understood that Cy wasn’t a *Dom* but was a dominant male take charge Alpha determined to survive & protect the woman he finds & comes to love.
So, if the reader wants that, this is an excellently written story of a dominant Alpha who subsumes his humanity in order to survive & then, due to love, begins to recover that human portion of himself he cast aside. As well as a strong, resilent woman of today who learns that submitting sometimes, in some ways, to the right person, is the thing she wants to do.
There is danger, steam, love, loyalty, villain(s) the reader hates & an H/h the reader roots for in this tense romance.

Savage Dom is the first part is the Savage Island duet. When Harper receives a letter in the mail telling her she won an all expenses paid cruise, she jumps on the chance, even though she’s a little hesitant. But when one of the stops is to an idyllic island, she gets left behind and needs to fend for herself. Cy has been on the island for longer than he can remember, feels pieces of himself slipping away, but when he sees Harper, a primal urge snaps into place. But things on the island are not what you’d expect. Will Harper and Cy ever make it off the island?

Oh. My. Goodness! My a mind trip! Harper and Cy completely stole the show, and you get wrapped up in their connection that you tend to forget how it all started. While you as the reader might know more than the two main characters, you often ask yourself what’s really happening, or is there something in the air?! Harper is so much stronger than I gave her credit for, and so much braver than I would be in her situation. She doesn’t run screaming, accepts and makes the best of what’s going on, and I love the connection she feels to and around Cy. Think of the best mountain man/survivalist, mix with a military background, plus add in almost Omegaverse urges, and that’s what makes me think of Cy. He’s protective, possessive, smart, so dominant, and on the verge of being savage, but how he treats Harper makes up for any of his brutish nature. I absolutely loved this book! There’s so much going on and so many questions left unanswered, I really look forward to finishing this duet!

4.5 Stars
What a great screwed up, twisted and dark romance and almost like a psychological thriller. It’s definitely original and intense too. I love the heat between Cy and Harper. Their sex scenes are super hot. I can’t wait to read what happens next.

Savage Dom is unlike anything I have read in probably ever. Savage Dom keeps you on your toes, nothing is what it seems, at one point I thought everyone was in a simulator but that got thrown out by the end of the story. I was at my wit’s end trying to figure this story out and then it ended in a cliffhanger (which I knew was going to happen) so I am still trying to figure it out.

Jane always draws you into whatever world she creates but Savage Dom is different. This isn’t your normal romance where the characters meet, fall into bed, and we get romance. This story has so much more in it that you will be scratching your head wondering what can possibly happen next.

I can’t wait to dive into Savage Love. Thank god it isn’t a long wait!

OMG! They say don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, or some old weird saying like that, lol. Harper should have remembered this when she won her cruise……it wasn’t the best thing ever after all……but it did lead her to Cy.
All I have to say about this is…….holy heck…..glad the second is coming quickly. I need to see wth is happening next!
Dark, yes
Delicious, yes
Delightfully Addicting, definitely

Insert all the expletives you could possibly use after reading a mind-blowing book. Of course, with Jane Henry, this is no big surprise. Savage Dom is the first book in her two book Savage Island Duet.

From the beginning of the book, you know something fishy is about to happen. A man named Finley Morose and his military partner, have cooked up a scheme, an experiment. The final part is a woman, and they’ve found her.

Harper is a journalist who writes about women’s rights and feminist issues. She also has guardianship of her 15 year old brother, who became brain damaged in an accident that took their parents. She thinks she’s won an all expenses paid cruise. But things are just too good to be true when she’s left on an island inhabited by men who haven’t seen a woman in years. And things aren’t quite what they seem on the island. But….you’ll have to read this for yourself, and trust me, you want to! 5 Stars? Can I give more?

This was gritty and intense and definitely not your normal everyday adventure. Harper, who has lots of responsibilities and no free time, wins an all expenses paid cruise and decides to take it. After being pampered and waited on hand and foot, she gets off to explore an island…and is left. She comes across Cy, who has been on the island for a very long time, and they end up having an instant, if not at times antagonistic, attraction to each other. They become animalistic together, though they don’t understand why. Or how things are happening. But through it all, they band together as a team. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!!

Three men stranded on a deserted island. One woman, Harper, dropped in their midst. Then there were only two men, Cy and Will with one woman. The men are enemies. They have managed to barely adapt to the devastating conditions on this island. Will they all survive? Which man will claim her? Will she accede to his strength and power? Will she comply with his orders? Will they connect romantically? If they do, will she allow her body to enjoy their love-making? Will they be able to fight hurdles together? Why is this happening? Can they escape? I cannot wait to read Savage Love to find out!