Welcome to today’s stop on the Transcendence blog tour! I have my review of Transcendence and a fantastic excerpt and giveaway to share with you all!
Title: Transcendence
Author: Shay Savage
Genre: Pre-historical Romance
Release Date: February 2nd 2014
It’s said that women and men are from two different planets when it comes to communication, but how can they overcome the obstacles of prehistoric times when one of them simply doesn’t have the ability to comprehend language?
Ehd’s a caveman living on his own in a harsh wilderness. He’s strong and intelligent, but completely alone. When he finds a beautiful young woman in his pit trap, it’s obvious to him that she is meant to be his mate. He doesn’t know where she came from; she’s wearing some pretty odd clothing, and she makes a lot of noises with her mouth that give him a headache. Still, he’s determined to fulfill his purpose in life – provide for her, protect her, and put a baby in her.
Elizabeth doesn’t know where she is or exactly how she got there. She’s confused and distressed by her predicament, and there’s a caveman hauling her back to his cavehome. She’s not at all interested in Ehd’s primitive advances, and she just can’t seem to get him to listen. No matter what she tries, getting her point across to this primitive, but beautiful, man is a constant – and often hilarious – struggle.
With only each other for company, they must rely on one another to fight the dangers of the wild and prepare for the winter months. As they struggle to coexist, theirs becomes a love story that transcends language and time.
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Oh my gosh!! WOW! Just–wow. I was completely blown away by Transcendence. I loved this book! It was like nothing I’ve ever read before, and I’m still in awe of this story. This is my first time reading Shay Savage, and it definitely won’t be my last. I loved her writing–I’m so impressed with how the author managed to bring a freaking caveman to life in this book, all without much dialogue!
The second I read that blurb, I wanted to read Transcendence so badly. It was so interesting and intriguing, because I’ve never read about cavemen before. I’ve read books where men have caveman tendencies, being all alpha-male, possessive, protective, and mine mine mine, but they were never actually real cavemen. And I have to say that even real live (er–well not live, but you get the idea) cavemen can make good book boyfriends, because I totally fell in love with Ehd! His and Elizabeth’s story was so wonderful to read.
Transcendence is told through a caveman’s, Ehd’s, POV. He’s fairly intelligent for a caveman–he can’t speak or write, but he can communicate and he’s been surviving on his own ever since his tribe was destroyed. But Ehd is getting lonely–he wants companionship, and lo and behold, he finds a young woman, Elizabeth, out in the wilderness. Ehd is so incredibly happy because he’s found his mate. All he wants to do now is protect, feed, and care for his mate, and give her babies. Elizabeth, though, is far from happy. Somehow, this girl from our modern times manages to travel back in time to the prehistoric ages and find herself a mate in a caveman. Through Ehd’s POV, we can tell that Elizabeth is horrified at her predicament, and it’s so, so entertaining to see how she copes with living in the prehistoric era.
This book had it all–a sweeping, heartfelt, beautiful romance, tons of laughs, and a swoony, adorable caveman. This book put me through so many emotions! I laughed my butt off at how much Ehd hated Elizabeth’s chattering, and at their interactions with one another, because they don’t understand each other at all in the beginning. Elizabeth tries to teach Ehd how to talk with her, but all he manages are monosyllables and grunts. But Elizabeth does teach him her name, though since Elizabeth is too much for Ehd to handle, he calls her Beh.
And my heart melted for Ehd, because even though he’s a caveman, and you would think he’d be overly possessive, he’s really the sweetest man ever.
I will provide for her. I will protect her. I will give her anything she wants.
Ehd is fascinated with his new mate–he has no idea where she came from, but now that he’s found her, he won’t let her go. He’s her protector now, and no matter how many headaches her talking causes, he’ll stay with her. I loved loved looooved being inside Ehd’s head. It’s fascinating to go through his thought processes, and since he doesn’t talk, there’s rarely any dialogue. The way Shay Savage portrays Ehd even without dialogue was so impressive. I seriously loved Ehd. I loved that even though he’s a caveman, he’s not so different that we can’t understand him. He’s a man, and he’s got the same traits as other alpha-males, which I found endearing. He’s hilarious sometimes, but at the heart of it all, Ehd is a man who will do anything to protect and care for his mate. And as they spend days, and weeks, and months together, we get to see Ehd falling for his mate. And even though this feeling is foreign to him, he knows he wants Elizabeth to feel the same way about him as he does her.
I want her; I know I do. It is far beyond not wanting to be alone anymore. I want her – only her.
I will do anything to make Beh mine.
I freaking adored Elizabeth! I honestly feel that if I were to somehow end up in prehistoric times, I’d react like Elizabeth does, and that’s why I found her so relatable. She’s absolutely terrified of what this caveman will do to her, but she’ll do anything to survive. And so Elizabeth and Ehd clash all the time. Mostly it’s hilarious to read about, but sometimes it’s heartbreaking to see Elizabeth rejecting Ehd over and over when all he wants is to protect and provide for her. But they really do fall in love. I thought it was beautiful way the way they fall in love, because they can’t really communicate with words, and so their actions define them. They fall in love with each other for who they are, and nothing else.
“Beh…” I pull her close and run the end of my nose over hers. Beh takes a long, deep breath before she settles her head right next to where her hand is splayed across my chest and closes her eyes.
I know the heart beating below Beh’s palm belongs to her.
Transcendence tells a tale of a kind of love that surpasses, transcends, time. It didn’t matter where or when Ehd and Elizabeth came from, because they fell for each other despite all the setbacks that could have made them hate each other. Luckily, we do get answers about Elizabeth’s time traveling, but at the heart of this book is a beautiful love story. I completely fell in love with Transcendence–I highly recommend it! It’s so unique and refreshing, and the beautiful love story will sweep you away.
Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.
Looking down at my mate, my fingers reach out and brush strands of her beautiful long hair away from her forehead. The softness distracts me from her sorrow, and I pinch a few of the strands between my fingers to hold them out and look more closely. The firelight brings out the slight tinges of red in a few of the strands, but it is the texture that intrigues me the most.
As I look back at her face, I can see she is still frightened. Releasing her hair, I reach up and let the tips of my fingers touch the tear stains on her cheeks. I feel like crying for her—lost and alone out on the steppes. I touch slowly her cheek and jaw before my hand finds her shoulder and the incredibly smooth tunic covering her. Like her hair, I find it fascinating. I have never felt anything as smooth and soft. It’s lightweight, too—as if it were made from strands of a spider’s web.
I stroke her hair again to feel the difference between its softness and the texture of the clothing and find myself again fascinated by how soft and beautiful it is. I know I am very lucky to have found such an attractive mate though I am really just thrilled to have another person with me. As I take a deep breath, I inhale the scent of her hair, and the combination of sweet fruit and possibly some kind of flower confuses me—it is still too early in the season for buds to be blooming. Pulling her close to me, I run my nose from her hairline to her temple.
Definitely fruit.
She tenses again, and I’m reminded that she is sad and frightened about the loss of her people. I look into her eyes and tilt my head to the side, wanting her to know I understand. I touch my nose to her temple again—gently bumping her skin in a show of companionship.
Her tongue darts over her lips, and she makes her rhythmic sounds again. She is not as loud this time, but the noise is strange and unfamiliar to me. I continue to watch her closely until she stops making the sounds and lets out a long breath. She sniffs and turns away from me again but seems to have settled down somewhat.
I lay my head next to hers and strengthen my grip around her body. I keep my eyes open and watch the entrance to the cave until I hear her breathing slowly and regularly with sleep. Only when I’m sure she is no longer awake do I allow myself to do the same.
Shay Savage lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, two children, and a variety of household pets. She is an accomplished public speaker, and holds the rank of Distinguished Toastmaster from Toastmasters International. When not writing, she enjoys science fiction movies, and loves soccer in any and all forms. During the fall, she coaches her daughter’s soccer team. Though she currently works in the technology field, her school background is in psychology, and she brings a lot of that knowledge into the characters within her stories.
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Prize: 2 Paperback Copies of Transcendence, 5 Ebook Copies of Transcendence, and 2 Ebook Sets of Shay Savage’s Books (Surviving Raine, Otherwise Alone, Otherwise Occupied, Uncockblockable, Otherwise Unharmed, Transcendence.)
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