Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Review: The Man Within by Lora Leigh

Title: The Man Within
Series: Breeds
Author: Lora Leigh
Read copy: Paperback
Published: October 28, 2004
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
ISBN: 1419951076
ISBN-13: 9781419951077

He had protected her as a child, filled all her teenaged fantasies, and as a woman, he stole her heart. Only to break it.

Now, fifteen months later, the news has released. The man she loves is one of the genetically altered Feline Breeds who have shocked the world with their presence. He's also her mate. The mark on her neck attests to that. The fire that rages in her heart and in her body further proves it. But he hadn't wanted her then; does he really want her now?

Deceit and treachery, born in the past, now haunt the present as Taber and Roni fight to make sense of a sudden bonding. The mating of heart, body and soul as the man and the beast within merge; both battling the forces raging against the union and dominance over the woman he claimed.


My rating:

Roni's been in love with Taber for years, but when Taber one day reneges on his promise to finally act on the blatant attraction between them, leaving her only with a love-bite on her neck, she's devastated and heartbroken.

Fifteen months later it's all over the news. Taber is one of the genetically altered Feline Breeds...And according to that never healed bite mark on her neck, he's also her mate...And also clearly states her as prey for the vindictive members of the Genetic Council.


A bit better than Tempting the Beast, but still much to be desired. At least this one had some fairly good plot in between the "bedroom" scenes, that were still a little too close in between, yet not so similar to make it boring. *big grin*

Once again, the saving grace are the characters. Taber was a little less intense than his predecessor, making the entire experience a little easier to bear and for the reader to glimpse some much needed emotion that was so lacking in the previous book. Well, most of the time he was still pretty much a domineering jerk, but at least he attempted to be civilized about it.
Roni was just Roni, I guess and the reason for Taber's somewhat mellow attitude. With a history of abuse she inspired protectiveness in all around her and despite her initial adversity to the "mating" once she figured out if cannot be helped, she simply went with the flow, instead of stubbornly running away...Which would most certainly have resulted in a chest-thumping, vine-swinging, roaring incident.

The conflict between them was too stretched out, if you ask me, when everything could be quickly and easily resolved with a simple talk. But then we wouldn't have had a story...Oh, well.

My favorite parts were, once more, the scenes with Kane. I love that man. Even an idiot could tell the little digs are just a somewhat perverted form of defense, he's hurting, she doesn't want to talk to him, so he takes it out on all the rest. His eyes tell the whole story, yet everybody still falls for it. I can't wait for his story, the epilogue of this one promises one heck of a ride.



0 comments:

Post a Comment