Savage Desire by Constance O’Banyon, a 1983 Zebra historical romance, marks the point where the author began to find her voice.
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Savage Desire by Constance O’Banyon
Rating: 
Published: 1982
Illustrator: Ray Kursar
Imprint or Line: Zebra Historical Romance
Book Series: Savage Lagonda #2
Published by: Kensington
Genres: Historical Romance, Native American Romance, Western Romance
Pages: 478
Format: eBook, Paperback
Buy on: Amazon, AbeBooks
Reviewed by: Blue Falcon
TOTAL SPOILER ALERT ⚠
The Book
If One Can Keep an Open Mind, Saage Desire Is a Very Good Book
Savage Desire, Constance O’Banyon’s second book, is where she started to hit her stride as an author. Ecstasy’s Promise, her first book, was okay, but this is the book where the author, Ms. O’Banyon, would begin to emerge.
The Plot
The Prince and The Golden One
We meet Tajarez, the hero of Savage Desire, as the book opens. Tajarez is the prince of a tribe of Indians known as the Lagonda, who trace their ancestry back to Egypt. The Lagonda live in a location known as the Seven Cities, which may or may not have actually existed.
Tajarez is driven in part by a prophecy that he will meet and fall in love with a woman known as “The Golden One.” However, he’s not entirely sure such a woman actually exists.
One day, Tajarez rescues a woman who has been kidnapped by two “evil Indians.” At first, he is resentful of this filthy burden. But after she cleans up, he realizes that she is “The Golden One” of legend.
Her actual name, serendipitously enough, is Mara Golden. Mara is immediately attracted to Tajarez after she meets him. She immediately falls in love with him, and he does with her. Soon, they make plans to marry.
As always occurs in romance novels, the path to true love doesn’t run smoothly. Because if it did, these books would have page counts in the single digits.
People-Based Issues
Mara and Tajarez face challenges to their love, both human and cultural.
Human Problem #1:
Tajarez’ cousin, Anias. Anias is intensely jealous of everything about Tajarez: Tajarez’s wealth, his power as the son of the King of the Lagonda tribe, and especially his love for Mara.
Near the end of the book, this manifests itself in Anias severely wounding Mara’s bodyguard, killing his uncle, Tajarez’s father, King Hamez, and kidnapping Mara.
Anias is eventually killed by Tajarez, but not before causing tremendous pain to both Tajarez and Mara.
Human Problem #2:
Tajarez’ former lover, Tanka. She tries to kill Mara, causing injury to Mara, and later conspires with Anias in his kidnapping of Mara, although she somewhat redeems herself by freeing Tajarez to kill Anias.
Societal Issues
Then there are the cultural issues.
Cultural Issue #1:
As prince of his tribe, Tajarez is used to his orders being followed without question. Mara, however, is a young woman with a brain and a mind of her own, and she is not willing to blindly agree chapter and verse with everything Tajarez says. This causes problems for the couple.
Cultural Issue #2:
According to Lagonda law, the woman the prince marries must be a virgin. The same rules don’t require that the prince be similarly virtuous. (I could go on about the hypocrisy of that, but that is for another time.) Mara gets kidnapped several times.
However, after one kidnapping, Tajarez refuses to speak to her, believing that she was raped and is no longer a virgin. At this point, Tajarez offers Mara the position of his mistress, which she angrily refuses.
Later, Tajarez has Mara examined by a midwife to prove that she is still a virgin, an act that angers Mara greatly.
Cultural Issue #3:
When Mara becomes pregnant, Tajarez becomes angry over the possibility that the child could be born with white skin. Apparently, he didn’t consider that if he married a woman of a different race, this could happen.
He leaves Mara for several months to pout—for lack of a better expression—about this potentiality. Eventually, Mara gives birth, and the children—twins, a boy and a girl—are born with golden honey skin.
After a while, Tajarez comes to his senses and feels ashamed of his feelings on the subject.
The Upside
The book hits a lot of the right emotional notes. Both Mara and Tajarez love each other, yet both have difficulty adjusting to the fact that they are not of the same culture and that there are differences that need to be overcome.
However, they do truly love each other deeply and passionately, and it is a beautiful love to see and read about.
Enjoyment of this book may require one to accept the existence of the Seven Cities of the Lagonda, but if one is willing to do that or put that aside, it is really a beautiful book to read.
The Downside
There is very little sex.
Sex
Worse, the little sex there is is not very descriptive.
This book is almost chaste enough for a parent to give to their child if the child displays an interest in romance novels.
Heat Level
Since this book has love scenes, it doesn’t qualify as a “clean” romance according to our “6 Levels of Heat“. And although we’re labeling this one as sweet, it’s colorless, flavorless, and has zero calories.
Violence
There is violence in Savage Desire, including murders, stabbings, assaults, and kidnappings, but none of it is depicted in graphic detail.
Bottom Line on Savage Desire
If you are looking for a hot, steamy, passionate romance, look elsewhere. Savage Desire by Constance O’Banyon is a soft, lyrical romance novel—but more importantly, it’s a very good read.
| Rating Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
4.5 |
| Characters |
4.5 |
| Writing |
4.5 |
| Chemistry |
3 |
| Fun Factor |
4.5 |
| Cover |
4.5 |
| Overall: | 4.3 |
Synopsis
GOLDEN GODDESS
Abducted by two brutes, frightened beyond despair, beauty Mara Golden was elated to be rescued by the tall dark Indian. His bare chest was smooth and rippled with muscle. Soft buckskin hugged his long lean legs, and all she desired was to be crushed in his strong protective arms. She had been courted by countless suitors—but she had finally found her true love…PASSION’S PRINCE
Each night Tajarez, the future king of the Lagonda tribe, dreamt of the magnificent Golden One. She had the beauty of a sunset, skin as white as a dove, hair like spun gold. It was fate that he finally found her. But they could never share the conventional joys of love — they would only be joined forever in raging SAVAGE DESIRE.Savage Desire By Constance O’Banyon
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