It will take more than desire to tame the animal within in this Leopard novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan. Leopard shifter Sevastyan Amurov has an anger inside of him that burns so hot it’s almost impossible to control. His barely leashed rage relentlessly threatens to break free, until he meets a woman who soothes his restless soul. Sevastyan wants Flambe …
Sevastyan wants Flambe Carver with every breath. He’s determined that the fiery-haired woman will want to be his completely. But his would-be mate comes with strings attached—a relentless stalker who intends to claim her for his own.
They barely know each other, but with a very real threat looming just out of reach, Sevastyan takes Flambe under his protection. And as their connection grows, the embers of desire sparking between them soon burst into an inferno that will consume them both.
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Full Disclosure, this is the 12th book in a series that I did try to get into, but lost interest in after the 2nd or 3rd book, so much of the back story in Leopard’s Rage felt confusing; I’m assuming previous books in the series set up some of the plot for Leopard’s Rage, specifically that of Sevastiyan’s history.
Parts of Leopard’s Rage pulled me in while other parts pushed me away. I found myself skipping many scenes either because they felt like just more graphic sex that didn’t really support the plot OR contained leopard battle scenes that just didn’t hold my interest (to be fair, I usually skip battle scenes in books as they’re just not my thing). On the other hand I really felt for Flambe, the main leading lady leopard, despite her unfortunate name, and wanted to know that some of her issues were resolved by the end of the book. Not to be too spoiler-y but by the time her issues were resolved I really didn’t care anymore.
This book had so much promise; Flambe’s background as a leading landscape business owner and the descriptions that went with it as well as my initial interest in the main characters just couldn’t overcome the parts that pushed me away.
I think if I had read the rest of the series I would have given Leopard’s Rage a solid 4 stars but as it stands it’s a 3 for me. Christine Feehan’s writing style has much improved in her later books, which is possibly why I did actually enjoy this one more than the first few in the series which had a cheesy 90s-soap-opera-plus-shifter feel to them.
The best part of the book was the preview of Reckless Road, part of her Torpedo Ink series of which I’m a big fan.
This is Sevastyan’s story, Yes its Flambe’s, but if you have read this series you know that Sevastyan is in charge of security for Mitya, His anger and hardness (no pun intended) seem to make him destined for loneliness, or self destruction. Flambe is a strawberry leopard, This is an erotica story with shifters This is a dominant and a submissive. There is bondage with a rope. A rope that van be used for beauty, not just the sexual side. Do I understand this? No, but I do get that there has to be trust, there has to be understanding and Feehan makes that apparent as well as showers the reader with emotions, feelings. You feel the depth of despair, the hope for more, the sense of family and always, always the inner strength of the female, the core strength and integrity of both. As usual I can do with less erotic, but this one truly showed how the ropes were used for so much more, giving me a little more understanding. Thank you Berkley, NetGalley and Christine Feehan for the arc. I freely share my thoughts and opinions.