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kathydavie's review against another edition
2.0
Sixth in the Leopard paranormal romance series and revolving around a loose alliance of leopard shifters seeking to civilize crime. The couple focus is on Cat Benoit and Ridley Cromer/Eli Perez.
My Take
Gag. It started out so well with a heroine who saves herself and does all she can to ensure she continues to be safe. She's in a captivating environment with entertaining scenarios — hey, I've fantasized about living in a warehouse! — and an appealing range of minor characters.
Okay, so Ridley is a not-so minor character and sounds pretty hot! Ooh là là! This white knight also provides Cat with several happy firsts that made me feel so good. Positives that are helping Cat experience more of a normal life.
Then the inciting incident destroys everything for Cat. Feehan certainly got my dander up, that the police would put Cat's life in such jeopardy, that they could be so stupid!
Feehan uses third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Cat's and Ridley/Eli's perspectives, which does enforce that saving grace that Eli actually wants to talk, even when he makes these lame assumptions about Cat's actions. He wants honesty...as long as Cat does what he wants.
And the sex. I'll tell ya, I got through this story in record time because I kept skipping pages and pages and pages of sex. Snicker, I did like Cat's comparison of what Eli does for his job as being similar to a prostitute.
What?? What's with the DEA not knowing about her "mother"? First they do, and now they don't? Gimme a break. As for Eli's not "getting" how smart Cat is? Duh... Of course, the "stupid" goes on with that lame meme about Cat trying to entice but not really knowing how and Eli thinking she doesn't want him. That scene where Eli is so angry with Cat. Then there's the I-must-be-corrupt-too meme. Oy. And ya wonder why I kept skipping chunks of this...when it reads like chunks Feehan threw in because...oh yeah, I should write this... Oy vey.
Okay, so Rafe has his fingers in a lot of, ahem, pies and is based in New Orleans. How is it that Rafe has such in-depth contacts in Texas as well? Sure, she's told us that Rafe works three different states...and I guess we'll have to guess that all of Texas is one of 'em.
Feehan was good at keeping us unaware of what Cat knew about Rafe. Feehan also had Cat wanting to help Rafe. This angle would have worked so much better if Cat had been conflicted throughout the story. Only Feehan dumps this bit in here toward the end. And it only makes Cat seem lamer.
I love the sound of Eli's house...it's the porch. I love porches.
The Story
She's still not safe. Cat will never be safe. She knows this, for Rafe Cordeau has a long reach.
The Characters
Catarina "Cat" Benoit escaped her "guardian" in New Orleans and is hiding in Texas, working as a barista, and taking any and all defense classes she can afford. Her stepmother, Tracy Benoit, is/was a drug addict and prostitute.
Eli Perez is a DEA agent and a leopard shifter. Emma keeps his ranch house in shape and stocked.
Malcolm Hardy is Cat's martial arts instructor in his late sixties with a warehouse. The very zen Ridley Cromer is a new instructor whose day job is working security. Hardy's clients include James Marley.
Poetry Slam is...
...a coffee house/bookstore where writers and poets come to read their work once a week. David Belmont is the owner. Bernard Casey is a regular at the slam with his poetry. Some of the customers include the obtuse Jase Fulton.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Detective Frank Tuttle is a major jerk. Brady O'Connell is Eli's boss.
Drake Donovan is a leopard shifter who had worked with Eli in Borneo. Jake Bannaconni is a wheeler dealer billionaire with a ranch neighboring Eli's. The pregnant Emma is Jake's wife (Burning Wild, 2). They have two children: Kyle and Andraya "Draya". Joshua Tregre, Elijah Lospostos, and Trey Sinclair are part of Jake's shifter crew. Elijah is also the head of his own crime family and has done business with Rafe.
Rafe Cordeau is a rogue leopard shifter and the head of a crime family based around Algiers in New Orleans. His men include Marcel. April Harp had once worked for Rafe.
The Han Vol Dan of leopard shifters is when a female becomes aware of her inner leopard. Dr Mulligan is a shifter himself. Dr Mason. Liam must be some sort of medic.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a range of browns from the deep black-brown of the background that forms the canvas to that close-up of the muscled Eli's tattooed shoulder with the snarling leopard's face. A narrow strip of leopard print forms the right border of the cover. At the very top is an info blurb in white. The author's name is in orange across the top of Eli's shoulder. Below and on the left is an epigraph in white. The title is in a bright green angled across that side view of Eli's ribs. At the bottom, in white, is another info blurb on the left and the series info on the right.
The title is how Eli wants Cat to feel about his home, that it's her Cat's Lair.
My Take
Gag. It started out so well with a heroine who saves herself and does all she can to ensure she continues to be safe. She's in a captivating environment with entertaining scenarios — hey, I've fantasized about living in a warehouse! — and an appealing range of minor characters.
Okay, so Ridley is a not-so minor character and sounds pretty hot! Ooh là là! This white knight also provides Cat with several happy firsts that made me feel so good. Positives that are helping Cat experience more of a normal life.
Then the inciting incident destroys everything for Cat. Feehan certainly got my dander up, that the police would put Cat's life in such jeopardy, that they could be so stupid!
And it's not even this blatant betrayal and lack of concern for her life that ticks me off so much as Cat's and Eli's behaviors for the rest of the story. He's crassly dominating, and she keeps giving in to him even though she has good reason not to. Even though she continuously tells him she doesn't trust him."Tuttle suddenly hissed. 'You're committing suicide.'
'That's one way to look at it. Another would be that you and your fellow cops murdered me.'"
Feehan uses third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Cat's and Ridley/Eli's perspectives, which does enforce that saving grace that Eli actually wants to talk, even when he makes these lame assumptions about Cat's actions. He wants honesty...as long as Cat does what he wants.
And the sex. I'll tell ya, I got through this story in record time because I kept skipping pages and pages and pages of sex. Snicker, I did like Cat's comparison of what Eli does for his job as being similar to a prostitute.
What?? What's with the DEA not knowing about her "mother"? First they do, and now they don't? Gimme a break. As for Eli's not "getting" how smart Cat is? Duh... Of course, the "stupid" goes on with that lame meme about Cat trying to entice but not really knowing how and Eli thinking she doesn't want him. That scene where Eli is so angry with Cat. Then there's the I-must-be-corrupt-too meme. Oy. And ya wonder why I kept skipping chunks of this...when it reads like chunks Feehan threw in because...oh yeah, I should write this... Oy vey.
Okay, so Rafe has his fingers in a lot of, ahem, pies and is based in New Orleans. How is it that Rafe has such in-depth contacts in Texas as well? Sure, she's told us that Rafe works three different states...and I guess we'll have to guess that all of Texas is one of 'em.
Feehan was good at keeping us unaware of what Cat knew about Rafe. Feehan also had Cat wanting to help Rafe. This angle would have worked so much better if Cat had been conflicted throughout the story. Only Feehan dumps this bit in here toward the end. And it only makes Cat seem lamer.
I love the sound of Eli's house...it's the porch. I love porches.
The Story
She's still not safe. Cat will never be safe. She knows this, for Rafe Cordeau has a long reach.
The Characters
Catarina "Cat" Benoit escaped her "guardian" in New Orleans and is hiding in Texas, working as a barista, and taking any and all defense classes she can afford. Her stepmother, Tracy Benoit, is/was a drug addict and prostitute.
Eli Perez is a DEA agent and a leopard shifter. Emma keeps his ranch house in shape and stocked.
Malcolm Hardy is Cat's martial arts instructor in his late sixties with a warehouse. The very zen Ridley Cromer is a new instructor whose day job is working security. Hardy's clients include James Marley.
Poetry Slam is...
...a coffee house/bookstore where writers and poets come to read their work once a week. David Belmont is the owner. Bernard Casey is a regular at the slam with his poetry. Some of the customers include the obtuse Jase Fulton.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Detective Frank Tuttle is a major jerk. Brady O'Connell is Eli's boss.
Drake Donovan is a leopard shifter who had worked with Eli in Borneo. Jake Bannaconni is a wheeler dealer billionaire with a ranch neighboring Eli's. The pregnant Emma is Jake's wife (Burning Wild, 2). They have two children: Kyle and Andraya "Draya". Joshua Tregre, Elijah Lospostos, and Trey Sinclair are part of Jake's shifter crew. Elijah is also the head of his own crime family and has done business with Rafe.
Rafe Cordeau is a rogue leopard shifter and the head of a crime family based around Algiers in New Orleans. His men include Marcel. April Harp had once worked for Rafe.
The Han Vol Dan of leopard shifters is when a female becomes aware of her inner leopard. Dr Mulligan is a shifter himself. Dr Mason. Liam must be some sort of medic.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a range of browns from the deep black-brown of the background that forms the canvas to that close-up of the muscled Eli's tattooed shoulder with the snarling leopard's face. A narrow strip of leopard print forms the right border of the cover. At the very top is an info blurb in white. The author's name is in orange across the top of Eli's shoulder. Below and on the left is an epigraph in white. The title is in a bright green angled across that side view of Eli's ribs. At the bottom, in white, is another info blurb on the left and the series info on the right.
The title is how Eli wants Cat to feel about his home, that it's her Cat's Lair.
birdloveranne's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, but I thought there was an excessive amount of time and space devoted to sex scenes.
qu33nofbookz's review
1.0
If I could give this book negative stars I would! What the hell was Christine Feehan thinking when she wrote this book? The whole thing is filled with rape, abuse, victim blaming and violent men who think nothing of keeping women as sex slaves, grooming them for it even and calling it love. It seems that some of this book was looking to capture the feel of 50 Shades of Grey (an abusive book as well) but goes so far over the mark it may as well be better she hadn't tried. Has common sense gone out the window so far that romance authors are writing about and trying to tell women that abusive and violent relationships are sexy and even romantic as long as the sex is good? I don't read all that many romance novels and I want them to have a plot, this one did not. This book is 448 pages, the plot could fill maybe 40 while the sex is the rest of it and it's very detailed violent sex. If this were a film it would be a rated x porn under the category of fetish rape fantasy.
romancejunkie1025's review
3.0
3.5 stars. a pretty good read but it did get a bit Monotonous with a few scenes and some of the round and round thought processes.
betwixt_the_pages's review
2.0
Cat Benoit has finally escaped the past—and the man who was the source of her nightmares. She’s off the grid, underground but watchful, and creating a new life for herself in Texas, far from the torrid dangers of her native New Orleans. She’s safe. He’ll never find her this time. Cat has to believe that. It’s the only thing keeping her sane.
Yet she can’t escape the attention of Ridley Cromer, the instructor at the martial arts dojo where Cat takes lessons. She arouses the animal in Ridley—and something feral comes to life when their body heat rises. Cat is in no position to let her guard down with anyone, especially someone who could be endangered by her past. But Ridley has secrets of his own—secrets only Cat would understand. If she dares to trust him.
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: Steamy romance scenes; an intriguing, dramatic beginning that peters out as the book goes; a handful of flat characters; not as good as other books from the same author
I feel as if I'm constantly repeating myself in reviews when it comes to the same series/authors. Christine Feehan, being a paranormal romance writer, is even more difficult to write unique reviews for--because her books tend to follow the same plot mountains/rules.
That being said, I've vowed to at least try--and there are a few things this book does that I'm not happy with. Christine Feehan is one of those authors I just can't put down. When I see a book from her I haven't read/is new, I immediately buy it. Now, you have to understand something: I don't read romance. In fact, I really only have two romance authors on my shelves (and I'm talking the hardcore romance genre here, not fluffy ya or novels with romance in them)--Christine Feehan and Sherilynn Kenyon. They're the only two in this genre I've found so far whose books I can't help but devour. I'm not sure why this is--except maybe because usually, they find a pretty level balance between the story, the characters, and the sexy times.
Cat's Lair started no differently than most of Christine Feehan's novels--one character, scared of or running from something/someone, meets another and, despite high levels of nerves and a lot of trust issues, falls into their bed (and in love) with him. Now, usually the plot has a little more to it than this--monsters, scary people, etc. USUALLY, Feehan's books walk the line between "just different enough" and "just another cookie cutter romance." Of course, authors sometimes fall out of their usual habits. Just this seems to have happened here.
About halfway through this book, I noticed two key things:
1. These characters--particularly Ridley/Eli--fall quite a bit flat compared to those from her other books (admittedly, Cat DOES have a very well-developed back story, but......this isn't nearly as much a part of the story as I feel it should have been);
2. There is a LOT of sex........and hardly nothing else happening.
Given this girl is running from her abusive, terrifying past--and the monster man from it--I expected a lot more "action" in the form of character growth, epic fight scenes, that sort of thing. The sort of thing almost ALL of Feehan's novels have, in fact. But lately, it seems the writing style has flip-flopped. Instead of sex being a well-paired side dish for the steamy, action-packed, plot-heavy awesomeness that are Feehan's books...sex is predominately dominating.
Don't get me wrong! Obviously romance novels are going to be full of naked, sweaty bodies. What sort of romance novel would it be if it weren't? But I love Feehan's writing for the effort she puts into making her stories MORE than sex--the buildup, the drama, the hero and heroine finding themselves and each other OUTSIDE of the bedroom. Feehan, somehow, seems to have lost grasp of this recently.
This was an okay read; I'm just very disappointed. While the emphasis on the carnal pleasure is not unexpected in this genre, I was expecting more from this author.
Yet she can’t escape the attention of Ridley Cromer, the instructor at the martial arts dojo where Cat takes lessons. She arouses the animal in Ridley—and something feral comes to life when their body heat rises. Cat is in no position to let her guard down with anyone, especially someone who could be endangered by her past. But Ridley has secrets of his own—secrets only Cat would understand. If she dares to trust him.
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: Steamy romance scenes; an intriguing, dramatic beginning that peters out as the book goes; a handful of flat characters; not as good as other books from the same author
I feel as if I'm constantly repeating myself in reviews when it comes to the same series/authors. Christine Feehan, being a paranormal romance writer, is even more difficult to write unique reviews for--because her books tend to follow the same plot mountains/rules.
That being said, I've vowed to at least try--and there are a few things this book does that I'm not happy with. Christine Feehan is one of those authors I just can't put down. When I see a book from her I haven't read/is new, I immediately buy it. Now, you have to understand something: I don't read romance. In fact, I really only have two romance authors on my shelves (and I'm talking the hardcore romance genre here, not fluffy ya or novels with romance in them)--Christine Feehan and Sherilynn Kenyon. They're the only two in this genre I've found so far whose books I can't help but devour. I'm not sure why this is--except maybe because usually, they find a pretty level balance between the story, the characters, and the sexy times.
Cat's Lair started no differently than most of Christine Feehan's novels--one character, scared of or running from something/someone, meets another and, despite high levels of nerves and a lot of trust issues, falls into their bed (and in love) with him. Now, usually the plot has a little more to it than this--monsters, scary people, etc. USUALLY, Feehan's books walk the line between "just different enough" and "just another cookie cutter romance." Of course, authors sometimes fall out of their usual habits. Just this seems to have happened here.
About halfway through this book, I noticed two key things:
1. These characters--particularly Ridley/Eli--fall quite a bit flat compared to those from her other books (admittedly, Cat DOES have a very well-developed back story, but......this isn't nearly as much a part of the story as I feel it should have been);
2. There is a LOT of sex........and hardly nothing else happening.
Given this girl is running from her abusive, terrifying past--and the monster man from it--I expected a lot more "action" in the form of character growth, epic fight scenes, that sort of thing. The sort of thing almost ALL of Feehan's novels have, in fact. But lately, it seems the writing style has flip-flopped. Instead of sex being a well-paired side dish for the steamy, action-packed, plot-heavy awesomeness that are Feehan's books...sex is predominately dominating.
Don't get me wrong! Obviously romance novels are going to be full of naked, sweaty bodies. What sort of romance novel would it be if it weren't? But I love Feehan's writing for the effort she puts into making her stories MORE than sex--the buildup, the drama, the hero and heroine finding themselves and each other OUTSIDE of the bedroom. Feehan, somehow, seems to have lost grasp of this recently.
This was an okay read; I'm just very disappointed. While the emphasis on the carnal pleasure is not unexpected in this genre, I was expecting more from this author.
jazzrizz's review
3.0
I forget how these books usually go... 80% sex ... 20% plot
I really liked Jake/Emma turned up in this book, and the small bit of story we got was interesting. I'm really disappointed that we didn't get a bit more story though.
I really liked Jake/Emma turned up in this book, and the small bit of story we got was interesting. I'm really disappointed that we didn't get a bit more story though.
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review
mooncricketjp's review
3.0
I don’t know what it was about this one…Just like all the others, I loved the characters and the story itself but, for some reason, it seemed to be the longest book ever (hence the three stars)…
jnsa84's review
5.0
This book for me was the adult version of Twilight. I absolutely loved it.
I was barely 20 pages into this book and I knew I need to read the rest of the series. Christine Feehan's writing is addicting. If you loved reading Twilight, you will get completely consumed with this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!!
I was barely 20 pages into this book and I knew I need to read the rest of the series. Christine Feehan's writing is addicting. If you loved reading Twilight, you will get completely consumed with this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!!