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June 29th, 1973

Dear Mom and Dad,

The girls and I are ready for our big kayaking trip! We leave July 5th and we’ll be done by the 9th. So hopefully you’ll get my letter before I make it home, all stinky and unwashed from our four day adventure. We did a training class at the University on how to use our kayaks, which we rented from the sports facility, and I’m feeling pretty confident. I actually really like it. If I can save up enough money I’ll definitely consider investing in one.

I’ve packed up enough food, my camping gear, water, and all my safety supplies for this trip, so no fretting, Mom! I’m set to face off a bear should it come to that (just kidding, don’t have a heart attack). I’m really excited for this trip, and I’m bringing my Polaroid camera to take pictures that I can send with my next letter.

I know with my first year at school being behind me, you want me to finish up somewhere closer to home, but I’m happier now. I love my new life, and when I go into the wilderness, it helps me forget the heartache I went through. Please know that I’m happy and I promise I’ll visit later this summer.
I hope you and Dad are doing okay.

Please know that I love you both and I’ll call when I get back from my trip.

Lots of Love,
Kate



Trigger Warning:

This book is meant for mature readers, 18+.
Rowe is a 75K+ word romance that contains some scenes and situations that may be upsetting for some readers. Includes several triggers and sensitive material such as: sexual assault, dubcon/noncon, violence, and other possible triggering elements.

Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with any of the above. Thank you.*

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2022

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About the author

Dylan Page

7 books1,011 followers
When Dylan was younger, she always had an aspiration to tell stories. But before she even knew how to write, she would draw them out. Her mother always encouraged her, and bought her piles of blank notebooks for her to draw out the stories she imagined in her head. Her dad encouraged her to use her words instead. Over the years, he pushed her into writing clubs and bought her notebooks so she could fill them with endless short stories.

When Dylan isn’t busy writing, or spending time with her two boys, she likes to play guitar, piano, and paint. Mind you she’s not good at it, but she likes it nonetheless!

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 438 reviews
Profile Image for Mareeva.
381 reviews8,012 followers
June 3, 2022
2.5 stars

Since the weird synopsis gave us NOTHING... I'm gonna confuse everyone even further.

This book with no context:

description
description
description

🛑MINOR SPOILERS🛑

➥ Nothing happened for most of the story except the heroine being useless & annoying. Y'all remember that stupid chicken from Moana? That's kate.

➥ She really rubbed sticks the exact same way for weeks tryna make a fire....a literal caveman had to point out to her that she might wonna change techniques, as common sense dictates when you fail repeatedly. Finally something resembling a bulb lit up in her brain.

➥ The language barrier STAYED A FUCKING BARRIER. Because a bitch still has no clue what anyone ever said. Kate kept speaking to the primitive hero in English like he'll understand, instead of finding better ways to communicate (even though she REPEATEDLY said she needed to find one). GO ON THEN, no one is stopping you except your own complaining.

➥ The chapters were extremely, painfully long which is just amazing considering this is what each one was like:

Rowe: "KAYD DICKLESS😏😙"
Kate:
description
(that's how our mans pronounces "Kate" and "tickles" in case you were wondering)

Everyone in the cave: *indistinguishable casual grunting between each other*
Kate sitting in the corner:
description

The search party: *Calling out Kate's name* *desperately trying to find her*
Kate:
description

Random human specimens (civilised & not): *tryna kill or rape her*
Ka- aaaaah whatever you already get the point

Almost every chapter was filled with unexplained caveman talk/behaviour and Kate either sitting and thinking about everything she doesn't understand (BECAUSE OF COURSE WE CAN'T ALREADY SEE THAT) or.......sitting and crying.

I could've read the book in Latin and it wouldn't have made a difference since I didn't get shit anyway (technically I think I get it....but also do I?). Except Latin would be more bearable, at least I wouldn't be able to understand the annoying ass heroine as well😍

Over all, If I compare this to some of the other caveman romances, this was very mediocre.

➥ What I enjoyed:
we all had crosses to bear... like me having to deal with the fact that a primal caveman was hunting me down so he could impregnate me.


PS: what was the point of setting this in the 1970s if it was completely irrelevant?
Profile Image for  ⚔Irunía⚔ .
431 reviews3,973 followers
Shelved as 'not-for-toffee'
June 2, 2022
okay, i never do that, but to hell with that. i just read an absolute masterpiece of a review for this book that points out the shortcomings of the story which the author must work on should ponder long and hard over, sleep on it, reflect on the analyzed feedback long and hard again, and repeat the cycle religiously until she gets inspired and feels ready to give us something to think/clutch our dusty pearls/gush about as opposed to ranting/wanting to bang the characters' heads against the wall and shake some spark into them.

to cut a long and kinda traumatizing story short (disappointment and unfilled expectations suck): i felt the nagging urge to share this review with you guys and give myself the so needed closure. i felt this review on so many levels because the last three books i've read by this author produced a hollow feeling of disappointment and similar concerns in me (and there was a short time when i was Dylan's big admirer. good times).

let's be honest here, all of this author's post-debut novels are boring as hell 🌚 (sorry hell bestie i meant no disrespect) even if all of them follow religiously the same good, old and super alluring formula of possessive/obsessive guy (most likely a bit rapey) + good girl/damsel in distress (most likely embarrassingly accepting of any predicament since the very first second it hits her) (p.s. mina aside. that gorl has been groomed nicely, she's a judgement-free zone).

the definition of boring varies from person to person, but am i willing to concede that point? i don't think so. ✋🏻

to get to the root of the problem, one has to reflect on the question of what exactly made their Torment duet such a success. focus all the wheels in their mind on trying to see what lies on the surface with a pick-me-up facial expression.

ultimately, it's not about the particular formula (there are lovers/readers for any kind of formula. any formula has a certain appeal and can find an audience), it's about the context in which the formula takes root and exists, credible psychological portrayal of characters and how well the tropes are written, how much they fit the story and how interesting their execution will prove to a reader who seeks to feed their need for trashy entertainment and retain some class in the process (since we're being honest and do not try to pretend we all gathered here to enjoy "high literature" and sophisticated discussions).

smut is good but it's not the only whale that trashy entertainment stands on. otherwise, it just turns into a plain bad book/smut-fest and no one wants to read PLAIN anything, let alone plain bad.

it breaks my heart to see PLAIN BAD instead of trashy bad (that i'm willing to love and hype up unapologetically as y'all know)✋🏻
Profile Image for Sonia.
1,035 reviews1,306 followers
July 7, 2023
My first Dylan Page book, which I enjoyed, but I have questions…

It’s been a while since I read a “language barrier” book (I’m looking at you Golden Dynasty), so I was suuuuuper excited to dive into this one. Although I have questions, I still found myself enjoying the book overall (analytical Sonia needed to leave the room in order to fully enjoy it 😂). I found myself giggling… when I think I wasn’t supposed to giggle 😂😅.

Kate (19), Stephanie, Lisa and Jen go on a kayaking girls’ trip. It’s 1973, so access to modern technology isn’t available. No GPS, no cell phones, no MapQuest lol, no Internet. The girls have to study maps; you know those things we used to look at a lot before GPS came into existence😅? As they’re waddling through the waters in their kayaks, they approach the infamous Headless Canyon, and things get crazy asf😬- and they’re able to survive😅 (my anxiety 📈). When Jen (their “leader”) takes off, the girls follow suit, and they get separated. Kate survives, but the fate of her friends becomes unknown😏.

She gets rescued by this huge, 7 ft man😳 (after rightfully winning her from another man- a battle to the death🫣), and this man treats her like gold.

Rowe (mid 20s maybe?) can’t really communicate with Kate. But his interest and obsession with her well-being becomes evident the moment he rescues her and takes her with him to his tribe. His tribe leads a primitive lifestyle; however ,he makes sure that Kate feels welcomed.

What I liked/loved-(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
—how swooooony and protective Rowe is 🥰🥰🥰. This man will do anything for his woman. We never hear his thoughts, but luckily, his face is VERY expressive. Even his grunts show the way that he feels towards her. He worships her and treats her like she’s glass (well… until he f’s her, then all bets are off 🤪🔥). Sigh. Considering he’s grown up in the wild and doesn’t have the vernacular needed to survive in her world, he does whatever he can to communicate ❤️

—how obsessed Rowe is with her. It’s related to the swooniness of him. I love that it’s almost like he was waiting for her 🥰❤️. So no OW for him 👏🏻

—the smexxy times 🔥. Sure, Rowe’s a V (I thought…), but my gosh, he’s a quick QUICK 👀 study 😉. He learns Kate’s body and physical cues to understand when she’s into something, even the words she uses that he doesn’t know he’s able to connect to her pleasure (like the f word lol). He has amazing 😮‍💨 🥵

—the n0ncon/dubcon scenes. Rowe doesn’t know the meaning of no (bahahaha, I mean, literally since he doesn’t speak English 🤪). Kate might try resisting him, but if he wants her, he’s gonna have her 😈💅. No f’s given 💁🏻‍♀️

—the br€€ding aspect. I love books with this. Again, it’s related to the previous point, but I can always appreciate when an H shoves 🥛 back in to maximize conception 😉

—the connectedness and family-feeling in the tribe. These people welcome Kate easily, and they all know that she’s Rowe’s. On top of that, they also figure out ways of communicating with her so that she can feel in the loop. When one girl tries to unalive her, she ends up turning around by the end ❤️. I also found myself 😩🥺 during certain parts

—the angsty parts. There could’ve been more, which I’ll mention down below, but I appreciated what we got.

—I found myself giggling😅. I’m not sure if this is DP’s usual MO, but there were times I giggled at what was happening. I didn’t mind it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Things I didn’t like/love (you’ve been warned about spoilers)
—the setting. Why is it set in 1973? Am I missing some major historical reason as to why DP chose that year, besides the lack of technology? I’m racking my brain here (wracking? Whatevs, you get what I mean)

—how quickly Kate caves in 😒. She fights against Rowe br€€ding her for like .5 seconds and she always caves in. Then she just accepts it 🤦🏻‍♀️. What happened to not having a baby out on the wild? Sigh… even when…

—there are people looking for her, she just GIVES UP? What about her parents? Her friends? They’re also lost. It didn’t make sense 😐

—how dark it turned at the end. I mean, I had a feeling that the initial fighting and unalive scenes we encountered would come and bite them in the @$$, but man… things took a turn🥴

—the lack of communication. I get it. It’s not like they meet and suddenly the “me Tarzan you Jane” aspect leaves, but they REALLY don’t talk much 😬like. Really 😳. I know it’s not gonna be at the level of Golden Dynasty, but maybe them speaking more than those few words would’ve been nice

—this could’ve used more angst. A lot of it was surviving day-to-day… in a primitive setting, which is cool, but I wanted the emotional angst that this situation should’ve had more of 😏

—it ends like an HFN, not true HEA. The epilogue was only a few months after the ending of the book 😐

—the “making fire” scenes. Come on Kate! Do something 😂😂😂

—I wish we had a note from the author explaining things to us (like the reason why it’s set in 1973)

Overall, I enjoyed it. I was glued to the pages. There are triggers, which I’ll list below (like I usually do)

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd (in the normal sense)
-cheating (not between MCs- the h was cheated on by her ex bf and best friend. She remembers it a few times in the book)
-violence/bloodshed/death
-OM- attempted assault on the h by two poaching assholes. The H takes care of them 😈💅good riddance 🤬
-assault of other characters/r@p€ (a lot)
-dubcon/noncon
-spanking/p slapping
-hunting of a buck by poachers
-virgin H/non virgin h ETA the author said he wasn’t a virgin in an author takeover… I swear he was! Lol
-HFN ish/epilogue a few months after the end of the book
Profile Image for Isabella. R.
929 reviews1,735 followers
July 8, 2023
3.5 Crumbled Like A Cookie Stars ⭐

Rowe was certainly different. Primitive, saucy and a little strange. Admittedly if I wanted to be ravaged and knocked up against my will, Rowe would be top of the list. He is one determined caveman!

We all had crosses to bear… like me having to deal with the fact that a primal caveman was hunting me down so he could impregnate me. So he could deal with me giving him a hard time about it.

Kate is a college student on a kayaking trek with 3 friends. But when it all goes pear shaped, Kate finds herself rescued, only to be taken by a caveman intent on keeping her. It's a total world flip.

I dunno, Kate quickly climatized to her new existence even with the language barrier and lack of modern things a little too quickly. I mean she's living in a cave, and fire is something she introduces. It's freaking odd that there is no real attempt to escape.

But there is no denying that Rowe is the highlight. If anyone could make you want to leave your old life behind it's him. Lusty, demanding and besotted. And once he decides that breeding is at the top of the agenda, his antics are hysterical...and very hot. 🥵

To me there were many plot holes and I could have done without the brutality from a rival clan. But if you're here for the originality of this story, it was worth the read. And admittedly, I'm looking forward to the next installment.
Profile Image for Rain.
1,900 reviews28 followers
June 26, 2023
*4.5* He reached out, his finger lightly running along my cheek, and murmured, “Kayd jugra Rowe.”

I inhaled this story until about the 90% mark and then it got really, really dark. Spoilery TW at end of review.

Setting is the 1970s, somewhere in the western United States, four college girls go river rafting and take a wrong turn. One ends up at the mercy of a tribe of very unique individuals. This is her story.

Tarzan/caveman H
A lost tribe
Primal
100% language barrier
Virgin H
Strong FMC - her actions felt realistic
Giant growly MMC - overbearing, sensitive and loving
Lots of graphic descriptive sex
Public sex
Breeding kink
Found family

“Ugh, you can’t be annoying one minute and then super sweet the next. It makes it hard to be mad at you,” I tell him as he moves to the other side.

“Rowe gwukh Kayd,” he practically purrs in my ear, making me shiver.

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” I say, still unsure what that word meant.


I had to leave my over-analyzing reading brain on the shelf for this one and just enjoy the original storytelling.

It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, more of a very sharp ledge. HFN. Can’t wait for the next book in the series.

TWs because they’re brutal: Spoilers below.
*
*
*
Multiple people beaten to death.

Rape of women & young men (not main characters) I really don’t know why the author felt that scene with those teenage boys was necessary.

The last 10% of this book almost completely ruined it for me. WAY too dark. I’m still rounding up to five stars for pure enjoyment for the rest of the story, and the unique premise.
Profile Image for ↬ Ⓛ.
322 reviews474 followers
June 28, 2023
Imagine if Shay Savage & Dylan Page team up together where Transcendence & Rowe universe collided, that shit be lit!
Profile Image for Seikai.
91 reviews149 followers
June 3, 2022
I feel like I should have loved this. Another time travel-esque story with a romance between a modern girl and a possessive caveman who single mindedly wants to impregnate her and blasts through all manners of consent 👁👄👁. Unfortunately, as much as it pains me to say this, this story fell flat for me.


Kate, the heroine:
I couldn't relate to this girl at all. Which is kind of a huge part of reading these "normal girl time travels to a primitive world" stories. Kate was probably the most useless and boring girl you could possibly read about in one of these stories. I'm not saying she has to be a survival genius that succeeds in everything she attempts. But the trick here is that she should attempt to do something. I got whiplash from how fast she decided to just give up and not get rescued. I guess almost getting raped by random poacher hillbillies after getting abandoned by cave people = giving up the rest of humanity and rejecting your previous life and civilization and never seeing your parents again?

I literally started raging when she just kept quiet and hid away while the rescue search team called out her name FOR DAYS and risked their lives on a cannibal-filled island just to save her. DID IT NOT EVEN OCCUR TO HER THAT EVEN IF SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE RESCUED, SHE SHOULD AT LEAST LET THE RESCUERS KNOW WHERE SHE LAST SAW HER FRIENDS SO THEY COULD GO SAVE THEM?!!

Of course, later on she finds the sleeping bag of her friend in the hands of the cannibal rapist tribe, and only wonders briefly if her friends managed to escape a horrible fate at the hands of these monsters. Too bad there was nothing she possibly could have done to have gotten them rescued earlier, huh? 💀

She spent most of the book lazing around and contributing almost nothing to anyone's survival. She literally compared herself to a useless spoiled fat cat. I don't know if I should commend her for at least being semi-self aware of her status as a useless blob of flesh, or smack the shit out of her for being so boring and not doing anything about it. Her main contribution was trying to get a fire started, which she never even managed to do, and another caveman had to be the one to actually do it properly. Yes, a technologically impaired caveman who literally never started a fire before finally took pity on her and did it the proper way the first time he attempted it 👏. I was also extremely impressed that Kate made zero effort to ever try to find better ways to communicate with the tribe, seeing as how she decided to stay with them and even have babies. No attempts to learn their language by drawing images and learning their words were made. That takes a special level of DEDICATION to her creed of laziness. Honestly, her main contribution in this book was probably just being pretty and giving Rowe sex and babies 😑. Whatever inner feminist is still left within me withered and died when reading about Kate.

Rowe, our hero:
Oh Rowe, you horny bastard that only looks at outside packaging. It was basically instalove for this guy, and he stalked Kate even at the beginning and stole her ribbon to mark her as his mate. I loved the hot noncon and dubcon from this horny boi. He literally had no fucks to give about forcefully tattooing Kate as his mate and repeatedly raping her to the point where she tries to hide from him. Luckily for him he chose a woman that tried to stop the raping in the most half hearted manner possible and gave in to his forceful baby making very quickly. (In her words: “Oh, fine! You want a baby? Okay then, Muscles. We’ll have a baby!"). Despite liking his possessive manner and forcefulness, I didn't really get a distinct personality from him. All I got was that he was mostly horny all day.

The ending section suddenly turned dark, and there was a bunch of rape and death when the enemy tribe kidnaps the heroine and the other women of the tribe. It was honestly kind of out of the blue, and it didn't really make sense to me why the captors were so tolerant of the heroine and didn't do anything to her. I would think they would have still raped her, regardless - certainly they would have over the two young boys? A lot of questions were left unanswered, but I'm guessing the fate of the other girls will be explored in sequel books. I'm pretty sure shy girl Stephanie will get her own caveman romance book, anyways. Hopefully she'll be less useless than this heroine.

Safety:
* Heroine is NOT a virgin. Is mentioned to have had a few partners, and had an ex boyfriend that cheated on her with her best friend. She was celibate after that.
* Hero is a virgin. Unsure if he had other experiences for him to learn how to please the heroine or if he was just that in tune with her reactions 👀.
* No cheating
* RAPE OF OTHER WOMEN AND BOYS. Not the heroine, but the others are raped by an enemy tribe.
* Lots of noncon and dubcon. The hero really doesn't care if the heroine says yes to sex or not. He goes at it like a rabbit and doesn't stop.
* Purposeful and forced impregnation by hero to heroine.
* HEA with no epilogue, heroine pregnant at the end.
Profile Image for buket ˖⁺‧₊❀₊‧⁺˖.
696 reviews913 followers
March 19, 2024
dnf at %90

listen, if i were abducted by an alien tonight i would be totally okay. you’re my soulmate? yup that’s fine. we’re gonna live on this primitive planet? i’ll miss some things but that’s okay too. but, living a primitive life, here on earth? ✋🏻 no. i was born in right generation👍🏼 i love rotting in bed all day and scrolling tiktok. i love my overpriced coffee and books. also, i love my mom✋🏻 i’m not gonna let her believe that something killed me in the wilderness when i’m actually close to her🙄

so let’s imagine;;;

you’re hiking with your three annoying friends⛰️ there’s no gps, navigation or internet since it’s 1973(for some reason)😔 you got separated from your friends and something found you👀 something is actually someone🫣 some primal tribe in the middle of the forest 😦 his tribe loves you(most of them) and wouldn’t let you escape😑 then be breeds you(that was hot but also dubcon)🔥and later the moment he released you, you were almost raped by human men but he saved you🙄some lovey dovey scenes and rescuers came🙏🏼guess what? you didn’t go with them😒 think about your poor mother you dumb bitch☹️

theeeen the horror movie starts✋🏻 i knew from the reviews that the last %20-30 was bad but still…what was the point? the kidnapping, deaths, beatings, rape???? like what did the author think😒 i couldn’t even finish the book and now i’m sick to my stomach. i could give this 4 stars for rowe’s sweetness but last chapters ruined it
Profile Image for Jenn (The Book Refuge).
2,090 reviews3,180 followers
June 17, 2022
Umm.. I don't quite have words for how much I didn't vibe with this book... like.. it went from mildly interesting, to absurd, to disturbing and then another 100 feet further.

I'm just.. no.

1 star
3 on the spice scale

TW: Dubcon, rape, coercion, violence, death, forced pregnancy, breeding, and so many more.
Profile Image for Melanie (mells_view).
1,777 reviews364 followers
June 27, 2022
I can’t believe I just let a… a… caveman dry hump the shit out of me, and now I’m checking him out… I need to see a therapist when I get rescued,

This book gave Tarzan/The Hills Have Eyes, but make it erotic romance with a laundry list of triggers. Did I like this book?! I’m not sure. It was fascinating and I couldn’t put it down. If you enjoyed Ice Planet Barbarians, but wished it had more violence/dubious content, then you’ll love this story.


TW: dubcon/noncon, captivity, near death experience, violence, death from brutality, rape, forced pregnancy.. I may be forgetting some.
Profile Image for Intel Chicky Reads Romance (Kara Merideth).
1,846 reviews1,066 followers
June 3, 2022
Story: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trope: kidnapping, language barrier
Angst: 😱😱
Smexy: 🔥🔥🔥

What an unexpectedly awesome read! Totally original, I loved how it took place in the past. Absolutely loved the hero, Rowe, and how head over heals he was. Enjoyed the heroines inner conflict. Super fast paced with tons of action. Loved the little Stephanie breadcrumbs and hoping her book is next!
Profile Image for skye.
501 reviews42 followers
June 4, 2022
DNF @77%

Nah this book lost me after this interaction:

Rowe’s dark gaze flickered down to my stomach and back to my face, his brows raised as if in question, and he looked so damned innocent, like a freaking puppy dog, despite what he’d just done that any resolve I’d had before crumbled like a damn cookie.

“Oh, fine!” I sighed, exasperated. “You want a baby? Okay then, Muscles. We’ll have a baby! But you’re helping with all of it… capiche?”


????????

And for context, "what he'd just done" was get two of his buddies to hold her down kicking and screaming while he fucked her in front of the entire family. Because he wanted to knock her up even tho she said NO in her language AND his.

Nah cuz if it were me I'd whoop his primitive ass into modern day. Go find someone else to make a gweebruh with.

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ anyways I can't get over his stupid ass and her reaction pissed me off too so imma quit here lol
Profile Image for Bex (Beckie Bookworm).
2,154 reviews1,434 followers
July 11, 2022



The year is 1973 and Kate is on a trip with three of her girlfriend's kayaking in the national park when they go off-route disaster occurs and Kate now finds herself being claimed by a male that could be direct from the stone age. Rowe is all growly primitive alpha male he and his family reside deep in the national park and are almost modern-day Neanderthals when he rescues Kate he decides to keep her whether she wants it or not.

I’m slightly torn about this book on the one hand I absolutely adored the premise but I still have so many questions that have arisen because things just were not resolved enough for my satisfaction. I want to know what happened to Kates's friends what about her parents she barely gives them or her companions another thought. I also thought she accepted her new existence very swiftly. Kate hardly makes any move to go home and all I could think was what about her poor parents never knowing what has happened to their child they will never get any resolution.

I mostly liked the majority of this but then those last few chapters felt like an absolute train wreck and it was all so rushed. I also felt it may have been included for major shock value. The included epilogue was also extremely unsatisfying as well.

On reflection this was interesting the language barrier made this fairly unique especially as there was no unrealistic learning it in five minutes. But it also made it incredibly frustrating as we only ever got Kates's perspective hence I never felt like I really got to fully explore Rowe as a separate entity. Overall though this was different and I did like the whole primal caveman aspect of it. The heat was also high with this one it had a very dominant flavour to it so if alpha mine and Tarzan dynamics are your jam this one will definitely be a fit.

Untitled design

Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/63435390
Profile Image for Jena .
2,278 reviews2 followers
June 9, 2022
DNF. Characters were under developed, whatever happened to character development in stories? In any case, couldn’t connect with any of the characters, the writing was rambling and boring, I could not get into the story! . Did this author actually write that amazing book called Torment?

Pros; love scenes were hot!🥵
Profile Image for Tasha.
110 reviews387 followers
June 8, 2022
This story follows Kate, who goes on a kayaking trip with her girlfriends and eventually gets separated from the group. It's 1973, so there's no cellphones or added help. She's alone, in the wilderness, with no protection and the possibility of danger is everywhere.

Then she hears it.

Barking and hollering. Loud screams and calls of the wild. She runs and hides as best she can. Laying as low to the ground as her body will permit. In doing that, all she can feel is the ground shaking with footsteps bounding closer. A fight and victory occur and then he finds her.

Rowe and his family are unlike anything Kate ever seen or heard of. But by some miracle, Rowe takes an instant liking to Kate and wants to protect her at all costs. But how do you communicate when you don't speak the same language? How to do learn from each other when you have different customs? How do you tell someone who doesn't want to let you go that you have a home and family of your own waiting for you? With a whole lot of patience, determination, and body language, that's how! And it is no easy feat.

This story is so unique and special. It's the first five star book I've read in a while. It was absolutely incredible. The possessiveness and raw primal hunger Rowe feels for Kate is spot on. I see it as a very loose retelling of Tarzan. Though they are in the woods instead of the jungle. And the two stories have very different endings. But it has similar vibes. I really enjoyed Kate, I think she was a great MFC, she was strong and brave and stood up for herself. And Rowe, gah, he stole my heart right away. While he is literally a caveman, he's also a complete golden retriever for Kate. I've read a couple books with this kind of theme before and the MMC was never quite as rough and aggressive as I would imagine, but not Rowe. As soon as they start fucking, they can't stop. Also if you're still on the fence about this book... breeding kink is all I'll say. (chef's kiss)

This is a quick read, honestly that's my only negative about the book. Well, that and the ending was a bit rushed. But I loved this book so much I can get over those things. I just found myself wanting more. And the author has hinted that this will be a character series, whether that means we get to find out what happened to Kate's friends, or more about the other members of Rowe's tribe. I can not wait to see what comes next in this series! You have to read this!!
Profile Image for D.D. Prince.
Author 45 books2,742 followers
June 1, 2022
If you loved Transcendence by Shay Savage and / or if you really just want a j/p growly alpha cinnamon roll caveman in your life that is relentless in his pursuit to plant babies in her... definitely read this.
Profile Image for Stella.
644 reviews291 followers
July 2, 2023
Ice Planet Barbarians but make it Tarzan.
Profile Image for DemetraP.
4,458 reviews
June 1, 2022
The book had some very steamy scenes. But there were so many loose ends and the epilogue was very unsatisfying. I was frustrated at how very little we know.

SPOIELR SPOILER SPOILER

Heroine and her friends go down the wrong river bend while kayaking. They get separated.

Hero finds her after she loses her kayak and is covered in water and brings her back to his cave where he lives with his tribe. We never find out more about hero's tribe or where they came from. They talk and hero frequently walks on all fours with his arms in front like gorillas do. There is a map on the cave wall so there are a few other tribes scattered around. Friendly and enemy tribes.

Heroine finds out he was watching her and her friends and stole her hair ribbon the first night she slept in her tent. He wanted her to be his woman.

She at first is worried they don't understand she is human and wants a pet. They treat her injuries. After a few nights hero holds her down and the tribe tattoos her with hero's marks around her wrists. Obviously she didn't consent to that. She tells him no and he does it anyway.

He touches her to arouse her and then they have sex. She doesn't try to fight him off or tell him to stop. Heroine is not eating very much for days and wants to leave. Eventually hero agrees to take her back. He leaves her in the forest and she finds a group of poachers killing a deer. She tells them she is a missing hiker and they try to rape her. Hero kills them and she agrees to return and live with him and the tribe. She doesn't try to escape again.

She hears search parties calling her name and the names of her friends. She assumes that means they are all still missing. She hopes her friends are alive.

Hero's family visits (his sister and her husband) and they have a baby. Hero loves the baby and spends lots of time with the baby. He tells heroine he wants a baby and she says no. Hero knows enough to know she is saying no.

He spends the next few days trying to get her pregnant. He puts his fluids back inside her after they leak out and elevates her hips after they have sex. She doesn't want a baby and keeps telling him that.

She starts trying to hide from him but he always finds her and he is mad. The tribe members think it is very funny when she fights him and says she doesn't want a baby. So he has two of the other tribe members hold her arms while he rapes her in front of the tribe. And then elevates her hips so he can try to get her pregnant afterwards.

When she finally becomes pregnant the entire tribe is happy. Heroine suspects the only other mated couple is unable to have kids because they have sex all the time and don't have kids.

The enemy tribe invades and a few tribe members are killed. Heroine's friends are brutally raped. They managed to convince the enemy tribe not to rape her. We don't know the language so we don't know what was said but one of the other tribe women offered herself so they'd leave the heroine alone. The other tribe women are covered in bruises and bleeding from their genitals.

Two young boys are also raped by the enemy tribe but they stand up to them and try to save the women. The women sneak the two boys food and try to help them. Eventually the two boys attack the other men to help the women escape. While the women are running away the heroine's tribe arrives. They slaughter the enemy tribe. They can't find the two young boys so we assume they escaped.

While she was stuck in the enemy camp she finds her friend Stephanie's sleeping bag. She hopes they just found it but is worried they killed Stephanie. The enemy tribe liked to collect human heads and kept the skulls. So all of those legends about how Headless Canyon got its name come from the enemy tribe killing people.

Hero's sister's tribe moves into the cave after the big battle. Heroine is pregnant and the tribe just wants her to take it easy. That is how the book ends.

She still can't speak his language. We don't know if her friends survived or not. She is still pregnant and hasn't had the baby so we don't know the baby's name or gender or if she survived the birth. (Hero is a lot bigger than her and possibly a different species so it's not clear if she can even give birth safely.)

I enjoyed the steamy scenes and the hero's determination to make a baby with her but the language barrier never being resolved was really annoying. The tribe's deaths in the battle and during the raid were also really sad and not what I wanted to read in a romance novel.

Profile Image for Sammie Reads.
899 reviews133 followers
July 11, 2022
This was pretty unique, something I’ve only ever read about in one of my favorite romances, Transcendence by Shay Savage. That was time travel and a caveman, this is modern day California (well, 1970s) where the FMC Kate is lost in the National Park (Yosemite?) and is taken by Rowe, a kind of modern day caveman.

His troop/family doesn’t speak English, instead speaks a primitive language, and the only thing he wants is to make Kate (Kayd he calls her) his one and only. I thought the premise was interesting, surviving in the wild without speaking the same language, being attracted to, ahem…*mating with, and falling in love with a stranger who essentially kidnapped you.

The way Rowe treated Kayd, aside from all the primal shit he pulls when she tries to get away or hide from him, was so lovely and sweet!! He’s a cinnamon roll caveman and I was here for it! What I hated was that we didn’t get a peek at their baby! We never got to see them as parents, and I was really looking forward to that! 😢
Profile Image for Jess | jadecanread.
636 reviews110 followers
January 9, 2023
On one hand, I loved the Tarzan trope, enjoyed the story, and was fascinated by the book overall that I couldn't put it down.

On the other hand, I wanted the characters to overcome the language barrier a little earlier and I felt like the overall book left me with a handful of questions?

I both love/dislike how quickly Kate decided she was just going to abandon her other life for this primitive one. The IRL me was like ??? the romance reader in my was like !!! haha.

I think I'd rate this much higher if we got a Rowe POV chapter. I would've loved to know how Rowe's kind came to be? Or what happened to the other girls? Or the two guys that helped the females?

Read this for some caveman, primal loving that's a mashup of Ice Planet Barbarians and Tarzan. Get ready to suspend your disbelief, lots of breeding, dub/noncon, and thriller vibes.
Profile Image for nicole.
265 reviews28 followers
October 23, 2022
This rating is purely based on how addictive this story was.

I couldn’t put it down. I mean take an aggressive, primitive caveman who SPEAKS NO ENGLISH that falls in love with a woman lost on a hike and claims her as his own???? I am weak. And yes I know how insane that is don’t even get me started 😤

But I did have some issues with the plot - AND BEFORE YOU BERATE ME OVER HAVING PLOT ISSUES FROM A BOOK THAT’S TARZAN MEETS ICE PLANET BARBARIANS, THE PREMISE MADE ME WANT MORE FROM IT OK????

The beginning of this book felt like a mini horror/thriller, 4 girls getting split up and lost on their kayaking/hiking trip. I was so intrigued. I got attached to these women very quickly. Stephanie with her quiet and shy demeanor. Jen and Lisa being these confident, strong women. Kate being the glue holding them together. I feel like these ladies have interesting backstories that I wanted more of!

This book focuses on Kate’s journey, when she gets found and rescued by Rowe, a rugged, dominant version of Tarzan.

I wish we could’ve learned more about Rowe’s tribe, either by getting his POV or having someone to translate or something. With the language barrier, I get why it was difficult but omg I had so many questions. How long have they been there? Where were Rowe’s parents? How did the tribes split apart?

Also how wild that Kate just gave up her old life with really no qualms lol like her anxious but loving mom and dad? Forget about em.

Literally the other girls…. GIVE US A LIL INTRO INTO WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? A TINY CRUMB? A SMALL MORSEL OF INFORMATION? I’m fully aware that the other books in this series will probably follow them but ugh a little something would’ve been really nice.

The ending gets very dark, so for sure read the trigger warnings to know if this book is for you.

Overall a short and HIGHLY entertaining read.
Profile Image for Laura.
344 reviews2,288 followers
June 11, 2022
What did I just read and why did I absolutely love it?

I don’t even know how to feel right now. But pure shock that I enjoyed this as much as I did.

I never wanted it to end and I’m still thinking about it…

The only reason I’m giving it 4/5 stars is because I wish the language barrier was breached & the chapters weren’t so long.
Profile Image for TheBookPlatypus.
995 reviews203 followers
June 1, 2022
For a lot of readers, we’ve been searching the internet for a book that was anything like Transcendence by Shay Savage.
And if you’re like me, NOTHING has come remotely close to that 5⭐️ book.

I’m not comparing these two books because both are freaking amazing and both are five star romances for me. However, this is a perfect caveman romance with a modern day woman!

Rowe is set in modern-ish time. (In the 1970’s) and is told strictly through the h POV.
Now I lived in Tennessee near the Smoky Mountains where their is notorious stories about mountain people living there and snatching up people. (Google Dennis Martin boy 1969) The stories have always haunted me and made me very leery and aware when hiking.

This book reminded me SO much of the Smoky Mountains. Mountain people unlike anyone in modern society.
When four friends go on a dangerous kayaking trip, the girls get separated.

This is a love story and a survival story.
I love the way this author wrote the language barrier and the differences of a clan of “cave people” vs a modern day girl.

You will have some dubcon/noncon but between the two main characters, it’s not done out of malice. Rowe claims her, loves her, and wants to start a family with her so despite her trying to communicate “No”, he doesn’t understand and wants a baby with her.
You will get the roughness, dragging by the feet to his lair type of caveman attitude.

Their is brutal noncon/abuse/kidnapping from outside tribes/clan. It was at times hard to read.
Also attempted non con from modern hunters
Gory attacks/fights/deaths.


This was an emotional story. It was written extremely well and full of tender moments. I’ve been waiting forever for a modern day caveman book to find me and this is it.
I can’t wait to read the continuation of this world.
It does not leave off on a cliffhanger but it looks like the storyline isn’t done. Maybe book two will be from different characters? ❤️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Inna.
1,534 reviews295 followers
June 10, 2022
2.5 stars. This book was decent until the last 20% when the author just destroyed the story with too much depressing shit. I was already questioning why the heroine would choose to live that way, but the ending really made me question the heroine’s sanity. She saw her new “family” get raped and murdered, and she still chose to stay living a primitive life? It made no sense to me why she wouldn’t just try to integrate the hero into her society - instead of continuing to struggle and allowing her family to think she’s dead.

The story really is a lot like Transcendence by Shay Savage - but with a little community of people. It doesn’t take place in caveman days, but rather the 1970’s, with a group of primitive people living in an otherwise uninhabited, and difficult to travel to, portion of the US. The heroine and her friends go kayaking and are lost in the area where these people live, and when she is separated from her friends, the heroine is rescued by the hero and he decides to “keep” her.

I like the idea of this book, but not really the execution. It was just too much drama and depressing crap at the end that made me really feel like the heroine was as dumb as a box of rocks.

Safety: heroine not a virgin, hero’s past unknown, no om/ow drama, no scenes with om/ow, no cheating. There is quite a bit of dubcon - especially when the hero tries to impregnate the heroine. She resists for all of two seconds.

Major triggers: on page graphic details of death, death of side characters, gore, violence, on page rape & sodomy of side characters, pregnancy.

This isn’t a book that will leave you with happy feelings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mandyloves2read.
1,514 reviews165 followers
June 2, 2022
This was such a unique story I’ve never read anything like it before but I loved it! The writing is beautiful it’s emotional and captivating it sucked me into this magical world and I didn’t want to leave! I absolutely loved Rowe and Kate and definitely would love to see more of them but I am satisfied with how it ended definitely wasn’t what I was expecting from a Dylan Page romance but that’s the beauty of this story.
Profile Image for Juju.
308 reviews74 followers
August 9, 2023
This book is very different to what I would normally read.
Its unusual, different, with a 70s setting but primitive love story. We have a very demanding, and possessive Tarzan like hero, f@cks like his on viagra....he definitely has a biting kink!!!! He's a great protector of family, home and his woman. You could really sense the frustration of the heroine, at times, trying to adapt to there primitive ways... surprisingly good read. 😊
Profile Image for Tabatha Reed.
1,556 reviews128 followers
May 30, 2022
I went into this book not knowing much. I’ve never read anything by Dylan Page before but I saw this mentioned in a book group and was intrigued by the concept.

You’ve got these four girls going on a trip in July 1973, then there’s an accident, they end up separated and lost deep in the woods. Kate is found by a primitive group and claimed by Rowe. They don’t speak the same language so there’s a language barrier but they manage to communicate pretty well despite it.

I really enjoyed the story of Kate and Rowe and Kate finding her place among them. We only get a hint of what might have come of 1 of the other girls. It’s clear there are at least 3 primitive groups in the forest, one of which is bad news. The part of the story where h and the other females in their group are kidnapped by the bad group was hard. It makes sense given the circumstances but still difficult.

I loved the interactions between Kate & Rowe, the sweetness and the spice. Rowe was a quick learner 😏. Spoilery things and safety note below
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Story 4/5
Heat 2.75/5
Angst 2.75/5

Medium burn, there’s a bit of exploration before this but H/h have their…umm… wedding night around 38%.

There may be other things I forget to mention but this is what I noted as I read. This story didn’t *feel* dark to me but it does have a plethora of trigger-y things so if you have triggers proceed with caution I can’t say that I covered them all in my notes.

Presumably virgin H
No manwhore
Dub con/Non Con
Primal
Light spanking
Exhibitionism
Public (more on this in safety note)
Forced breeding
Non con not involving H OR h
No sharing
No scenes with h/H with others
No cliffhanger
Very brief separation, twice
HFN

Safety - I’d call this safe in regards to relationship between H/h. The h had some trauma from her ex boyfriend cheating with ex best friend.

It seems standard practice amongst the small group to mate in public - especially in females fertile window. Others don’t typically pay any attention. However there is one scene where h keeps trying to avoid sex bc she’s likely fertile where H has others hold her down for him, no one participates otherwise.

There’s a part near the end where the women are kidnapped by a bad group of primitive guys. One older woman is killed, the other two women raped repeatedly, h is spared because she’s pregnant. It’s pretty dismal before they are rescued.

This has a HFN, in my opinion. The h has clearly decided to stay with H willingly at this point. She’s pregnant. Epilogue takes place in January 1974. I’m definitely curious about what will come of the other girls. How many others are there out there? I’m definitely down to read more!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jessica 🔮.
317 reviews312 followers
June 1, 2022
3 stars.


So much wasted potential.
It started with a bang, the writing was good and the story interesting. Highly recommended Trascendance fans.
If only there was more development and not just the good 'ol insta-love/body betraying sindrome that made the heroine adjust and gave up to her world/life so easily.
That’s probably just me and my picky 🍑 in my usual slump.



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