Review: Untouchable by Linda Winstead Jones

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Description: For the Emperor of Colymbyana, no bride can compare to Sanura, an exotic slave with the power to see into men’s souls. To touch her brings incredible pleasure-and certain death. Even for his brother, who loves her ardently. This is their story.

The Fangirl’s Review: B+

This was a really enjoyable fantasy romance. It takes place within the universe created in a couple of Jones’s other series, so I occasionally felt like I was missing some backstory while reading this one, but Jones does a great job of fleshing out the ‘verse and the history without degenerating into expository dumps.

The main characters, Prince Alixandyr and Sanura, are both interesting and likable. Alix is much more developed and deep as far as characterization goes; his internal battle between good and his shadow self was really intriguing. Sanura is great, but I feel like Jones just skimmed the surface with her. I get her motivations, but I just wish there had been a bit more.

This book touches on something that I find kind of controversial in romances, the idea of women as possessions. Sanura was born and raised to be a man’s prized possession. And while Jones does make sure the reader knows that Alix and eventually Sanura know that ownership of another human being is wrong, there’s also a heavy element of sexual/romantic possession in the story. Though he may not own her as a slave, I was still left feeling like he owned her sexually. I won’t go any deeper into this, because I can’t without spoiling the end, but I’m really on the fence about that. And I like it. I like being torn between feeling uncomfortable and being turned on by it, heh.

I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for more of Jones’s novels, because I really like her writing style and her solid worldbuilding.