Romance Book Review: TORTURED By Amanda McIntyre

Romance Book Review: TORTURED
By Amanda McIntyre
Harlequin Spice
4 Heart Review

In a time of chaos, darkness, and violence it is better to live only in the moment, lest your memories eat you alive.

A young woman blessed with “sight seeks vengeance against a tyrannical lord responsible for her mother's murder. Forced to become an executioner's apprentice, she encounters a Roman prisoner who offers her a away to escape her prison and find a future. Torn between desire, duty, and the chance for revenge, her choice to live or die leaves her TORTURED.

First of all, check out that cover! If anyone has ever wondered if covers can sell a book, the answer can be found just looking at Amanda McIntyre's books. As soon as I saw the Diary of Cozette cover, I had to buy it. Had no idea what the book was about, but my mind was made up and to this day I still think that is my favorite cover of all time.

That doesn't make the cover of TORTURED any slouch, it's another winner and perfectly captures the time period and the passion of this book. The Harlequin Spice cover gods are definitely smiling on Amanda since I've seen the sneak peak at her next book, and wowsa! Click here to take a gander at the next cover.

One thing I love about Amanda's historicals, are that they always feature a time period not normally given much notice. TORTURED takes place in the Dark Ages of Briton around 500 A.D.

Another thing I love? Amanda's unconventional heroines. The heroine of Tortured is Sierra, a young girl who will eventually become the Saxon King's Head Executioner. Didn't know women served as executioners? Well they did, and Amanda loves turning this kind of unknown information into a story of passion and love.

Dryston and Sierra's story is both unconventional in its beginnings and lovely in its growth. Inside Dryston beats the heart of a warrior and that of a man who can love deeply. I enjoyed the interchanges between the two as Dryston strove to change Sierra's view of sex as a act of manipulation. A guide to help her rediscover how to live and love, Dryston was a hero through and through.

This is a very passionate and intense book that I easily became engrossed in. If you like your historicals with some real meat to the story and some intense heat, then you'll really enjoy this book.

As many of you know from reading this blog, I do my best to give my honest opinion of books while leaving as much of the story for you to discover as possible. Not only am I seriously against spoilers, but I don't like giving away plot points either. But, I have to say this – the ending to TORTURED was one I found very satisfying. The climax surprises in that it's not typical of romances and for that I literally cheered out loud. I've been waiting to find a book that would go there, and leave it to Amanda to write it!

Visit Amanda's website for information on TORTURED and her other Harlequin Spice releases. Also check out her blog called McIntyre's House of Muse.