Tag Archives: Breeds

DANE’S MARK ( Breeds 33) by Lora Leigh -Review & Giveaway

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DANE’S MARK (Novel of the Breeds 33) by Lora Leigh -Review & Giveaway

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 6, 2024

A decade ago Katy Chavos was a proud misfit who had her heart broken, crushed by a man who drew her close with one breath and pulled away the next. He left a mark she’s done everything in her power to erase. But when Katy’s job brings her back to the hometown she couldn’t wait to escape, seeing Dane again awakens something inside her that won’t be tamed….

Dane Vanderale isn’t like other Breeds. As a hybrid he’s stronger, more primal, and more determined to hide it. He’s also certain that Katy is not his mate—not that that stops him from wanting her with every part of his soul. He knows he hurt her deeply and he intends to make things right, but she is dead set on keeping him at arm’s length.

Despite their painful history, Katy can’t deny the intense attraction she still feels for Dane. And before long, it will be impossible for either to deny the truth that has been in front of them all along….

•••••••

REVIEW: DANE’S MARK is the thirty-third instalment in Lora Leigh’s adult BREEDS paranormal, sci-fi romance series. This is managerial analyst Katelyn ‘Katy’ Chavos, and Breed Dane Vanderale’s story line. DANE’S MARK should not be read as a stand alone as Dane’s story and the story of the Breeds has been building throughout the series, and as this is the first new book of the series in several years, a reread of the last few instalments may be required as a reminder as to what is happening and why. Dane’s Mark skips approximately eight years from start to finish, wherein many other stories and matings have occurred during that particular timeline.

SOME BACKGROUND: Decades earlier, trying to create the ultimate warrior, genetic scientists combined animal DNA ( sometimes several different animals) with human embryos resulting in a species that has been feared and tortured since their inception. With the increase in natural conception of cross-breed species, not only have the Breeds, but humans have become wary of the powerful results.

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives including Dane and Katelyn DANE’S MARK follows the reluctant and acrimonious relationship between our story line couple. For years, cafe waitress Katy Chavos thought Dane Vanderale had been flirting but Dane’s outright rejection sent Katy into a tailspin, and with the help of someone else, Katy left her home town of Broken Butte, New Mexico, only returning a different woman eight years later. Now twenty-nine years old, Katelyn is a managerial analyst for the Breeds Tech-Corp, and Dane has continued to struggle with his attraction to a woman he did not believe to be his mate but his rejection was slowly killing the woman he loved, a rejection that would ultimately reveal the existence of a number of original Breeds, all with a deeper connection to our story line couple.

The world building is detailed, and complex revealing a more intricate and exhaustive history of the Breeds. Dane and Katelyn’s mating or mate rejection will expose decades of secrets and lies, power and control, betrayal and vengeance, and the history of family and relationships including those long thought gone. As the heir and descendant of the first Leo, Dane has been forced to keep the secrets from the human public but it is the secrets that are about to be exposed in an effort to protect the Breeds, themselves.

The relationship between Katelyn and Dane is tempestuous and heart breaking. Dane refuses to accept Katy as his mate thus ensuring Katy will continue to suffer with his rejection and perceived betrayal. As a Vanderale, Dane has been taught never to reveal the existence of his Breed connections, and in this, his mate quite possibly will pay with her life. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative with references to the many Breed anomalies, and mating habits.

There is a large ensemble cast of powerful and familiar secondary and supporting characters including the return of the original Leo and his mate Elizabeth, Graeme Parker, Jonas Wyatt as well as the introduction of Katelyn and Dane’s large extended familes they knew nothing about.

DANE’S MARK is an emotional and heart breaking story of rejection, and the fall-out of decades of secrets and lies. The premise is comprehensive , captivating and compelling and sets the tone for several new series arcs with the introduction of many family members; the characters are desperate, charismatic, dynamic but broken; the romance struggles in the face of constant rejection and pain.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

#1 New York Times bestseller Lora Leigh is the author of the Navy SEALS, the Breeds, the Elite Ops, the Callahans, the Bound Hearts, and the Nauti series.

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Berkley/Random House is graciously offering a paper copy of DANE’S MARK by Lora Leigh to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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Wake A Sleeping Tiger (Breeds #31) by Lora Leigh-a review

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WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER (Breeds #31) by Lora Leigh-a review

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 21, 2017

On a moonless Navajo night, the recessed Bengal Breed known only as Judd became Cullen Maverick, grandson to one of the Chiefs of the Six Tribes of the Native Americans.

Bengal genetics, usually so fierce as to be labeled primal, was recessed so deep inside Judd that no hint of it can be found. A phenomena so rare it’s been notated only a few times. And there’s no way, it’s believed, to force those genetics free once they’ve disappeared past the genetic level.

Now, as commander of the Navajo Covert Law Enforcement Division in Window Rock, New Mexico, Cullen leads his six agents in protecting the treasures of the Navajo Tribes by ensuring they remain safely in Navajo possession.

Added to this mix is none other than the delicate Window Rock police detective determined to stick her pretty little nose in his business.

And once Cullen realized the animosity that keeps flaming between them is far more than he imagined, then the Primal Breed that’s lurked inside him comes out to play. And when that beast decides to make itself known, Cullen suddenly remembers all the reasons it was better off sleeping.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER is the thirty first installment in Lora Leigh’s contemporary, adult BREEDS erotic, paranormal romance series focusing on a government experiment that went horribly wrong. This is Bengal breed, and commander of the Navajo Covert Law Enforcement Agency Cullen Maverick (aka Judd Cross), and Covert Ops agent Chelsea Martinez’s story line. WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although I recommend reading some of the earlier story lines for back story and cohesion. Each chapter throughout WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER begins with a journal entry focusing on the Primal Bengal male by Cullen’s brother Graeme Maverick.

SOME BACKGROUND: 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 DNA. Lora Leigh adds some background to the series with an introduction about The World of the Breeds and a prologue (2) focusing on the The Breeds and the Primal Breed.

Told from several third person points of view including Chelsea and Cullen WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER follows the acrimonious relationship between agent Chelsea Martinez and Cullen Maverick. Cullen is a recessed Primal male whose Breed genes have not completely manifested throughout his lifetime but something about Chelsea Martinez calls to Cullen’s inner tiger – a call Cullen has ignored for far too many years. But a price has been placed on Chelsea’s life following the rescue of a young child with connections to the local cartel, and Chelsea has been targeted for by an unknown source. What ensues is the search for the people responsible for the continued threats and attempts against Chelsea’s life, and Cullen’s realization that Chelsea is the mate that calls to his heart.

The feline Breed is a rarity but even more so are the recessed Primal Breeds and Cullen’s atypical genetics have forced our story line hero to ignore the clues as it pertains to his mate. Once married to a woman who had no hope for survival Cullen pushed aside his feelings and emotions until the woman he has known for most of her life walked away and stirred something deep within Cullen’s beast. The threats against Chelsea increase, and the people responsible are not necessarily the obvious choice ( although as a reader, the guilty party was quickly deduced but not for reasons that are readily apparent).

WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER is a detailed story line and a change of pace from the confusing and convoluted story line thrown at the reader in Bengal’s Quest (Breeds #30). There is a large cast of secondary and supporting characters including several familiar previous story line couples and characters including Cassie Sinclair and Graeme Maverick. WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER, as per Lora Leigh’s style of writing, ends with a bit of a cliffhanger and some revealing information about new characters related to some of our favorite families. There are moments of heartbreak and betrayal; romance and love; tragedy and passionate loss. The premise is intriguing and intoxicating; the characters are colorful, animated and dynamic; the romance is provocative, seductive and intense. WAKE A SLEEPING TIGER is a nice change of pace from the author’s recent baffling story lines.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

About the Author

Lora LeighFOLLOW Lora: Website /Goodreads /Facebook/

Lora Leigh lives in the rolling hills of Kentucky, often found absorbing the ambience of this peaceful setting. She dreams in bright, vivid images of the characters intent on taking over her writing life, and fights a constant battle to put them on the hard drive of her computer before they can disappear as fast as they appeared. Lora’s family, and her writing life co-exist, if not in harmony, in relative peace with each other. Surrounded by a menagerie of pets, friends, and a teenage son who keeps her quick wit engaged, Lora’s life is filled with joys, aided by her fans whose hearts remind her daily why she writes.

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Bengal’s Quest (Breeds Series #30) by Lora Leigh-a review

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

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository

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…

••••••••••••••

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

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Rule Breaker (Breeds #29) by Lora Leigh-a review and giveaway

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Rule Breaker (Breeds #29) by Lora Leigh-a review and giveaway

Rule Breaker
A Novel of the Breeds #29
by Lora Leigh
Genre: paranormal, adult, erotica
Release Date: February 4, 2014

Rule Breaker Feb 14

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 4, 2014

Lion Breed, Rule Breaker had just a few rules he didn’t break. Not for anything. Not for anyone.

#1. Never have sex with a woman outside his own subspecies, especially a human woman.

#2. Never, at any time, accept a mission concerning a female when Jonas Wyatt stinks of a lie.

#3. Run don’t walk, skip or stumble. Run, hell for leather away from any female, human or breed, when his desire for her appears, in any way, to have so much as a single sign of Mating Heat.

Now, the woman believes he’s mated, is too helpless, to fun loving and too full of life to ever be able to protect herself, let alone aide him in protecting her.

If the damned animal inside him insisted on a mate, then why pick the woman it did? One that could be struck out at, at any time?

But, what he suspected was a mating, may not be. No swollen glands? No heat? Just his animal instincts rioting, pacing, irritated whenever he’s away from her.

Okay, he could handle that.

What ensues is a fiery affair that breaks all the rules of mating heat and will eventually endanger his mate with the very rules designed to protect the breeds when Jonas learns she’s possibly been working against them.

••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: RULE BREAKER is the twenty-ninth instalment in Lora Leigh’s paranormal Breed series focusing on a government experiment that went horribly wrong. Trying to create the ultimate warrior, the scientists combined animal DNA with human embryos resulting in a species that has been feared and tortured since their inception. Hoping to prevent their exposure, the Breeds are hunted, tortured and destroyed by the very people who created them. This is Rule Breaker and Gypsy McQuade’s story.

The call to mate is strong but every once in awhile there are those who refuse to acknowledge the existence of the ONE. Rule knows that Gypsy McQuade is his mate but refuses to stake a claim fearing that he should risk her life and her heart. What ensues is a storyline of one man who cannot stay away from the call of his mate but a storyline where his mate is the number one suspect in an act of betrayal against the Breeds.

With the release of RULE BREAKER Lora Leigh has addressed and answered many of the previous unknowns, quandaries and unfinished storylines. The buildup of a betrayer and the fight to save a young child’s life will come full circle as the reader is pulled into a struggle between family and friends. We are witness to a woman who knows rejection and betrayal at the hands of those that she loves but the pain only intensifies when the truth about her brother’s death and her family’s connections slowly destroy a heart that was broken so many years before.

Once again, Lora gathers many of the previous storyline characters as questions are answered and mysteries are solved. We watch as a father fears for the life of child and mate while another family begins to break apart when the truth is finally revealed.

RULE BREAKER is a must read for fans of Lora Leigh’s Breed series as a number of unfinished scenarios are addressed and the healing process can begin. Lora’s signature style of erotic sex and mating heat is tempered by a slow build up of the relationship between our leading couple. There is a heartbreaking period where you will feel the pain and humiliation for a woman who only wants to be loved but in the end it is the fear of loss and the unknown that will force a Breed male to reject the woman that he loves-even Breed men need a lesson in how to treat their mates!

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

About the Author

Lora LeighFOLLOW Lora: Website/Goodreads/Facebook/

Lora Leigh lives in the rolling hills of Kentucky, often found absorbing the ambience of this peaceful setting. She dreams in bright, vivid images of the characters intent on taking over her writing life, and fights a constant battle to put them on the hard drive of her computer before they can disappear as fast as they appeared. Lora’s family, and her writing life co-exist, if not in harmony, in relative peace with each other. Surrounded by a menagerie of pets, friends, and a teenage son who keeps her quick wit engaged, Lora’s life is filled with joys, aided by her fans whose hearts remind her daily why she writes.

giveaway

Berkley/Penguin is offering a paper copy of RULE BREAKER to one lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Giveaway is open to US only.

5. Giveaway runs from February 4-8, 2014

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STYGIAN’S HONOR (Breeds #27) by Lora Leigh

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Stygian’s Honor ( Breeds #27) by Lora Leigh-a review

STYGIAN’S HONOR (Breeds #27) by Lora Leigh

STYGIAN’S HONOR is the 27th storyline and August 2012 release in Lora Leigh’s BREEDS series focusing on a government experiment that went horribly wrong. Trying to create the ultimate warrior, the scientists combined animal DNA with human embryos resulting in a species that has been feared and tortured since their inception. Stygian’s Honor reveals the truth behind a series of dead and missing children, and the identities they have been forced to undertake.

Jonas Wyatt (Breeds Director) knows that the answer to his daughter’s pain and recovery is held within the minds of four Breeds long thought to be dead or on the run. And with that knowledge also came the realization that the same four were unaware of the secrets that were buried deep in their minds by the same people who claimed to love them and protect. Hoping to recover the information that could save his daughter, Jonas embarks on a one-man mission that could very well destroy the lives of anyone who interfered including the people who worked for him and the Navajo Nation.

Liza Johnson’s memories were not her own. As the mating heat burned, the flashbacks and pain increased until she was no longer one person but two. And along with Stygian’s love and protection, came the knowledge that the Breeds and the Navajo Nation, may very well have destroyed the person she was. And 12 years earlier, the life she once knew was changed for the life she now led, and only the Navajo Nation knew the truth to her identity and ‘death’.

Stygian Black has been searching for Honor Roberts and Fawn Corrigan, but little did he know that the person who would one day be his mate, is the same person who would lead him directly to Honor Roberts. Stygian has known that Liza is his mate for some time. His fierce need to protect and guard only increased with the mating heat between he and his mate. But Liza’s refusal to accept that she was a Breed mate would force Stygian to compromise his integrity for the woman that was made especially for him. Placing them both in danger, several attempts on Liza’s life would coincide with her exposure to Stygian and the Breeds. But when the Navajo Nation Elders, along with her parents, were called in for questioning, Liza knew that the secrets they refused to reveal would change her life forever.

Throughout Stygian’s Honor another storyline is slow to build. Gideon Cross is still searching for the Breed family that he would die to protect, and Jonas Wyatt will reveal the true nature of Gideon’s supposed Feral Fever. The identity of the remaining 2 missing children from the earlier experiments will come into question, but not before another Breed mate is revealed, and with that, another potential twist in the cure for Jonas Wyatt’s child. The revelation of Liza’s true identity will also unravel the mystery to another missing child.

STYGIAN’S HONOR is another welcome storyline in Lora Leigh’s BREED series if only because it brings us closer to the truth. Still working on discovering the link between Amber’s decline and Philip Brackenmore’s experimental DNA altering drugs, SH brings the reader another step closer to learning the true extent of one man’s evil designs. Lora includes many references to her previous storyline characters, both mated and not, including Dog, Loki, Cassie, Dash, Malachi, Rachel, Fawn and Judd. There is another sub-plot developing with Dog and his crew, but at this point, there is only conjecture as to the nature of their plans.

The relationship between Liza and Stygian was slow to build, as Liza continued to ignore her feelings and the heat building between she and her mate. As a reader looking from the outside, we wonder why Liza is refusing to acknowledge the Breed mating heat, but as a human, we would probably act the same way if we were to be put into such a position. Annoying as Liza is, Stygian will eventually find the mate he has always wanted, and Liza will fall in love with the only man meant for her.

Reviewed by Sandy

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