Saturday, August 27, 2016

Review: Claiming His Need by Ellis Leigh

Title: Claiming His Need
Series: Feral Breed Motorcycle Club
Author: Ellis Leigh
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: September 8, 2014
Publisher: Kindship Press
ASIN: B00N89EZY2

He waited four hundred years for her...
She only ever wanted to find her mate...
Their time has come.


Gates is a legend among his fellow wolf shifters. For more than four centuries, he's lived without a mate, something nearly unheard of in his breed. He's spent that time mastering the art of the kill, becoming a lethal weapon for the Feral Breed Motorcycle Club, and earning a reputation as the Gatekeeper.

Kaija Wariksen grew up as the Valkoisus pack princess. The Alpha's only daughter and a powerful Omega shewolf, Kaija's beauty and place within the pack hierarchy makes her the focus of desire for many of the unmated males, especially one she's desperate to stay away from. She'd rather wait for her fated mate than be just another bed warmer for a man with more attitude than brains.

But when a territory dispute turns into a kidnapping, Gates and his Feral Breed brothers are called to assist the Valkoisus pack in a rescue operation. Gates soon discovers there's more in store for him than a fight. He finds his mate in the Alpha's daughter, a woman targeted by a mystery sect kidnapping Omega shifters. To keep the Valkoisus pack safe, the Feral Breed must put Kaija in danger, risking the only thing Gates has ever needed, and igniting a rage that could destroy the entire wolf shifter population.


My rating:

This was better than it's predecessor but still firmly in the "meh" territory despite Gates, the guy whose story I wanted to read since he appeared in this (so-far two-book) series, as its hero.

I just didn't connect with the story or the characters. Once more, the suspense element, although barely existent, was the best part of this story. I believe it's (it will be) the best part of the entire series and it seriously pisses me off how undeveloped it is. I know this new world needs to be built and presented to the reader, but still. If Ms Leigh would cut back on the whole mating shtick, although very hot, and much better developped and portrayed in this book (at least there was a connection beyond the physical—partial celibacy helped in allowing the two characters to get to know each other and develop a bond), and focus more on the suspense and the imminent danger to the Omegas, maybe tease a little with possible reasons behind the kidnappings, dangle the bait as to who "the boss" might be, the story as a whole would work much better and be more rounded. Instead, the focus on the mating, the attraction, the craving for sex, makes it all seem a little off. Unbalanced.

Also, developing a couple beyond the bedroom, make the reader feel the connection, show the mental, loving bond developing between them, wouldn't hurt. This whole "fate brought them together so they must now fuck without regard, without actually getting to know each other, they'll spend the rest of their lives together, so they'll have time to get to know each other" is getting old. Fast.



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