Review: The Untamed Vampire by Kate Baxter (The Last True Vampire #4)

The Untamed Vampire (The Last True Vampire #4)
Kate Baxter
Published: May 2, 2017 (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference previous events. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, The Last True Vampire.

Those of you familiar with this series will remember Chelle from her twin brother Ronan’s book, The Warrior Vampire, where we learn she was not turned into a vampire by normal means, but by some ancient magic.

In The Untamed Vampire, we see Chelle struggling to come to term with her “differences” from the other vampires. She has powers that Mikhail, King of the Vampires, and former Last True Vampire know nothing about. She fears if these differences become known she’ll be killed or at the very least ostracized from her people.

Chelle believes she knows where she can find the answers to her questions, but to do so will require her to have three ancient keys, one of which she already has, the other two were entrusted to the care of enemies centuries ago. But Chelle is nothing if not a dedicated treasure hunter and her first stop takes her to the door of the ancient werewolf pack the Forkbeards.

Gunnar, the alpha of the Forkbeard pack, is prepared for anything when he learns a thief has broken into their stronghold. Anything, that is, except for Chelle. When he sees her, his wolf knows that she’s his mate. Simultaneously, Chelle’s tether activates and her soul is returned. While Gunnar and Chelle’s inner beings know that they’re meant to be together, tradition and pack law dictates that their union is forbidden. They’ll have to weigh the risks if they want to be together, for their mating isn’t the only thing causing trouble in the supernatural world.

I was happy that Chelle got her own story. Not only the first female vampire to take centerstage, but I absolutely loved that Kate Baxter decided to go a more traditional route with Chelle’s story and pair her with a werewolf. It’s been quite some time since I’ve read a vampire/werewolf story, and I loved that, for the most part, Kate Baxter doesn’t play with the mythos surrounding these two traditional supernatural creatures.

By letting our knowledge of vampires and werewolves suffice, the relationship building between Chelle and Gunnar could take more focus, which allowed their interactions to be full of quite the heat and tension at times. These two know that they’re supposed to be together. Chelle’s torn because her first goal is to figure out if her differences make her a threat to vampire kind, and she doesn’t want anything to sidetrack that goal. For his part, Gunnar is 100% dedicated to his pack, he’s alpha, top dog (pardon the pun), he struggles with adhering to tradition yet he can’t ignore what his wolf is telling him.

Kate Baxter masterfully sets up things for the next book in the series, The Lost Vampire, just enough to whet my appetite but never taking anything away from Chelle and Gunnar. Also, she furthers the storyline regarding the rising tensions between the Vampires, Berserkers, and the Sortiari. Sides will be chosen and battle lines will be drawn.

The Untamed Vampire, for me, is the strongest in the series thus far. Relying on more traditional mythology really leant itself well to the overall storyline and helped not to overwhelm the story threads that skew a little from what we’re used to. If I still haven’t convinced you about this book I’ll leave you with this: Ancient Viking Warrior Werewolf Pack. Done.

Sexual content: sex