BENGAL’S QUEST (Breeds #30) by Lora Leigh-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 23, 2015

He was a shadow, ever shifting and insinuating, able to blend in everywhere and anywhere. The elusive ideal conceived and created by the Genetics Council, he went by just as many names as he had identities—the last one being Gideon.

Now calling himself Graeme, he hides in plain sight, terrifyingly close to his goal. A rogue Bengal Breed, he has loyalties to no one but himself. And he has a need for vengeance that surges hot and swift through his veins.

Graeme plans to exact an extreme and ruthless vendetta against those who wronged him—Breed and human alike. All will suffer his wrath: those who created him, those who pretended to love him, and those who betrayed him.

That includes the one at the center of it all: a seductive, enigmatic woman helpless against the man whose desire is just as desperate as his need to destroy.

And he’s on her scent…

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REVIEW: BENGAL’S QUEST is the thirtieth, full length installment in Lora Leigh’s adult, contemporary BREED erotic, paranormal romance series focusing on a government experiment that went horribly wrong. Years earlier, trying to create the ultimate warrior, scientists combined animal DNA with human embryos resulting in a species that has been feared and tortured since their inception. This is NOT a series about animal shifters, but a series about a hybridized species of human and animal. With the release of BENGAL’S QUEST we are introduced to the newest development in the Breed creation whose DNA has been altered following birth. This is Gideon/Graeme, and Cat/Claire’s storyline. Both of their stories have been building throughout the series.

SOME BACKGROUND: Cat was born human with a genetic defect but through injection of Bengal DNA, Cat’s own DNA began to change. Using Navajo magic, the soul and personality of a dying young girl was placed into Cat thus rendering our heroine with a dual personality and the introduction of Claire. Through the years, Gideon has been tortured in both body and mind, and in this our hero’s dual personality leaves questions about his true identity and his personal quest. One side of Gideon is a warrior named Graeme; the other side is a beast who is determined to destroy everything that threatens his mate and the people he loves. What we have is a storyline about one lifelong search for the truth; two people fated by DNA, and four personalities that will see heartbreak and dissolution of family and friendships.

Told from dual third person perspectives BENGAL’S QUEST follows Gideon as he continues to protect the woman he claims as his mate, while keeping his true identity a secret from the people in charge. Gideon has been working behind the scenes to wreak havoc and vengeance upon the Genetics Council that destroyed so many lives, but disguised as his alter ego Graeme, he continues to work closely with Bureau of Breed Affairs in their attempts to locate the other missing Breeds. What ensues is a dark and dangerous game of push and pull between Gideon and Jonas; and Cat’s determination to prove that she is capable of protecting herself from those wishing to do her harm.

The relationship between Cat and Gideon begins four days following Cat’s birth. Gideon fell in love with the small child he had sworn to protect, and through the years Cat’s dependency upon ‘G’ was that of a child to a parent; a sister to a big bro. But Gideon knew Cat was his mate from a very early age, and our ‘anti-hero’ walked away in the hopes of protecting Cat from future harm. The $ex scenes are erotic, intimate and animalistic. Gideon’s need to claim Cat will be met with trepidation and heartache.

BENGAL’S QUEST is the culmination of several storylines where the truth behind Gideon’s secrets and past life are revealed. Gideon has been a shadow; an enigma throughout the series. He is a Bengal Breed whose nature has been changed by experimentation and torture, but a man whose desire to help comes across as interference and threatening. The ensemble cast of characters brings together several of the previous storyline heroes and heroines including Jonas Wyatt as the acerbic director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs. Jonas’s position as Director is often questioned but rarely denied.

With the release of BENGAL’S QUEST and RULE BREAKER (#29) Lora Leigh has answered many questions, and revealed the truth behind the secrets and lies that continued to build throughout the series. If you are a fan of Leigh’s BREED series, these two books are must reads; the previous revelations, identities, and cryptic clues will be acknowledged, answered, and disclosed-that is not say that everything will fall into order, but with this particular ARC of the series, many questions have finally been answered.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy