Lion's Heat [Mass Market Paperback]

`Lion's Heat' is more of what we have seen recently from Lora Leigh. This will mean different things to different readers. Those who have loved her recent works will also love `Lion's Heat', and for them a 5-star review is fitting (and this review will probably not be helpful). Those who have had problems with books such as `Bengal's Heart', `Black Jack', etc., will have similar problems with `Lion's Heat', although it is worth a read just to rejoin the world of the Breeds. This review is addressed to the later group.

`Lion's Heat' starts with a bang; Jonas Wyatt, the Director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs, the lion who's story we have been waiting for for so long, meets his mate. His mate, Rachel Broen, also happens to be his new personal assistant. Rachel is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child, but that does nothing to affect Jonas' love. Jump forward several months, and Brandenmore, a geneticist who has tortured and experimented on Breeds, threatens Amber, Rachel's daughter. Jonas brings his mate and her child to the safety of Sanctuary, and little else happens until the exciting conclusion of the book.

The Breeds are one of the most interesting, intricate series out there, which keeps readers coming back again and again. To keep building a world an author must drop clues about characters and future puzzles, which provides a strong background for upcoming books and keeps readers engaged. Leigh does this fantastically, and `Lion's Heat' is no exception. The flip-side to dropping hints is that once the author reaches the book involving a particular character or puzzle, they must reveal the details, and in `Lion's Heat' Leigh almost completely fails to do that.

In past books Leigh has described the Bureau as a mysterious and exciting place of espionage, daring rescues, and black ops. I was highly looking forward to learning more about it here, but with exception of revelation of the Ghost Team, she provides no detail. Her characters are similarly blank. Although Jonas and Rachel are obviously the perfect mates for one another, as individuals they leave a lot to be desired. We learn nothing about Rachel's background or who she is as a person other than the barest of details, and some information about Amber's father and her sister Diana, (necessary because they both show up in the book). Her parents died when she was young, but we don't learn how or what happened to her. She has an exceptional ability to control any outward manifestation of her emotions, but again, the why and how aren't answered. As much as I hate to say it, Jonas is another disappointment. Without the detail that Leigh provided in previous books Jonas would be a blank slate. We learn nothing new about his life in the labs beyond what was discussed in `Harmony's Way', and nothing about his life in the interim. His interaction with Amber was incredibly sweet, as was his determination to spare Rachel from the mating heat. Beyond that though, he lacked the strength and vitality that made him such an exceptional character in other books.

Leigh's books have had problems with editing in the past; the timeline between books has been confusing, world-building details change from one book to the next, and those problems continue. The failure of basic copy editing in `Lion's Heat' however is a new low. There are numerous basic typos; `don't' left in one sentence, `not' not in another, Rachel wearing a "white long sleeved black cardigan", and more. Characters are referred to by the wrong name or title. There are scene continuity errors; first they're in the car, then they're in the room, and just how did that baby fly into a crib without anyone touching her? There are still other plot continuity errors; in one scene Rachel knows nothing about mating heat, in the next Merinus has told her all about it, and then it has reversed again. Thoughts and actions are repeated in the same scene. Punctuation errors abound, and the list just goes on. I can accept the changes in world-building and timeline between books as creative decisions that are a bit annoying, but these editing problems are unprofessional and Leigh owes her readers more.

One of the most frustrating parts of `Lion's Heat', is that it gives readers a glimpse of how good Leigh can be. The first and last few chapters feel like they come from a different book than the rest. The writing style is completely different; they are well written, the plot is exciting, and the characters (unlike in the rest of the book) are interesting. The skill shown in those sections demonstrate why I've found it so hard to give up on Leigh. If you read nothing else, do read those sections; they are fantastic, if it were possible to rate chapter by chapter I would give them 5 stars.

In the end, the hints we get about future books with Styx, Ely, Dane, Cassie, David, and Amber, are enough of a reason for the most ardent fans to read `Lion's Heat', but I recommend starting with lowered expectations.

SYNOPSIS:
Brandenmore is the evil scientist who happens to be the worst nightmare enemy of the Breeds. He knows that the aging process practically stops once a mating has taken place. It happens to human and Breed alike. He is fanatical in his efforts to come up with an anti-aging serum. Now he has kidnapped Amber, the 4 month old baby of Rachel Broen the assistant to Jonas Wyatt, Director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs. The moment Rachel walked into his office Jonas knew she was the one woman in the world intended to be his mate. Unfortunately for Jonas, Rachel hasn't shown any interest in him at all. Now the only important thing is to get Amber back before Brandenmore does something unspeakable to her.

OPINION:
This is what I waited all this time for? As I began to open this book I had a really strong desire to write a list of what I was afraid would be in the book based on the last many Breed books in this series. I did not write that list. I should have because I would have been right. How sad! To those of us who have been with the Breeds series from the beginning the story featuring Jonas was supposed to be something special. Sorry, didn't happen here.

How many times now have we been through the dance/party/political gathering/ which featured THE DRESS which was chosen by the man to be worn by the female who didn't want to attend the party? How many times was he so aroused by the sight of her in that dress that he satisfied HER sexual frustration (whether or not she was feeling sexually frustrated) but not his own? And she always let him? How many times have we been through the exact same sex scenes but just changed the names of the two people? How many times for a male to say I.Love.You.I.Live.For.You, only to have the female character think to herself that he could never love her? This book is riddled with editorial miscues; Rachel and Jonas talking on the front porch of the cabin then Rachel and Merinus talking ABOUT Jonas on that same front porch without the author ever moving Jonas out of the scene, the sex scene that started in the afternoon with the babysitter watching the baby and then they wake up and its morning. The levitating baby from the car to the house. The fireplace which magically becomes a double sided fireplace late in the book. The message to Rachel's sister which is their code for "HELP", but which is never once mentioned again. Words left out of sentences, awkward sentence structure. Page 313, this line all by itself, "There was still had time." What? I could actually go on. And even on some more. My point is this: If I had been really engaged by this book and really enjoying it, would I have noticed and been ticked off by all these mistakes?

I realize that I haven't spoken about the plot of this book except in a rather oblique way. I'm sorry about that, but I'm sure there will be many other reviews which will touch on that aspect of this book. I do want to say that I was left with a very strong "cliffhanger" feeling simply because so many questions were left unanswered.

RECOMMENDATION:
Now this is a hard one. I'm glad I read it because now I can happily go away from this series and it won't bother me one bit. There are no other characters I'm interested in, none that I want to read a story for. Somewhere along the way this series turned into a cookie cutter. I don't like that. If you want to read this book, please do. Personally I think you should read the first four or five, find characters you especially like and concentrate on the books dealing with them. I just have to tell you that the books are very uneven in their quality. This should have been a blockbuster because we have all wanted to read what made Jonas the way he was. For me, it reaffirmed my feeling that it is time for me to move on.

I had decided that I would not buy anymore breed books for a while, because they have become so homogenized. The same thing over and over, but this was Jonas's story and I have been fasinated by him for a long time. I really didn't know what to expect but surely with his character so well known and deeply drawn, it could only be good.

But what do we get? The same thing, mating heat, boy and girl worrying about why they are attracted to each other. Yuch!!!! Be glad you have such a good reason for getting it on and dive right in. That's what I would do. To know he would be faithful and devoted and I would be the same, far outweigh my fear that it is induced by a virus. We are compatible, that's more than I can say about most people who date out there.

Lora Leigh is an excellent author, look at some of her other novels and you will see. But she doesn't seem to take the time to write a good story with these romances. Rachel is a good character, but she is pregnant with another man's baby!! Was she raped? Was she forced to spit out her birthcontrol pill? She works for Jonas and he has the hots for her from the beginning, but he fights the heat and bonds with the unborn baby. I just felt Jonas deserved a great woman who would recogonize her worth and know that she could and would be whatever he needed to balance the hardness he is forced to show in his battle for the breeds. In other words a unique woman not a cookie cutter woman with low morals and very little self esteem.

I have loved the premise of these stories all along. I really try to understand where they are coming from and how hard they fight to be as human as they can. In some instances more than human. But book after book it is always the fighting to get their mate to accept them. Finally forced to give in to the lust that consumes them.

This book is O K, not great as I hoped, not even good, just O K. If you can borrow it do so. If you have the 7.99 just buy it. But don't expect any new developements.

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