ARC Book Review-Leopard’s Scar by Christine Feehan

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

Animal attraction takes over in this exhilarating Leopard novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.

The moment Meiling sees Gedeon she knows he’s a leopard shifter–just as she knows she can’t trust him. Meiling doesn’t take chances, life has taught her better than that. So why does she find herself rescuing this deadly, gorgeous man, when she knows she’d be better off leaving him to die?

Gedeon is used to women throwing themselves at him, not throwing his injured body over their beautiful, deceptively strong shoulders and carrying him to safety. He might be embarrassed, if he wasn’t so aroused by the very thought of this feisty lotus blossom.

As they strike up a working relationship that suits them both, Gedeon starts to rely on Meiling for just about everything. But when her hidden nature rises to the surface, the connection that links them shifts into an all-consuming desire. And neither will escape unmarked. . . . 

My Review

First Impressions

I have to say that when I saw this title on the Netgalley catalog, I was so thrilled and so captivated by the COVER! Of course, I adore this series and it’s one of my favorites from this author, but I knew this one would be an amazing read and I can safely say that I absolutely ADORED this title in every single way. And definitely hits some of my top favorites of the series. This story was highly intense and it really keeps the reader on the edge of their seat all the way. This one will contain some difficult themes and there is a big one that will push the limits of some readers, and even though it did detract lightly from my overall enjoyment, I still loved this book deeply and Christine Feehan handled it very well. We also get to see this book take place in locales all over the world and get some diverse characters and that is always a plus. I dearly adored the way in which this author implemented the story and grew the relationship. This is NOT an instant love type of story, this has much more depth and growth than I ever expected, but Christine Feehan delivers on all counts with this one!

Summary

The gist of the story is that Meiling, is searching for her found family sister who has gone missing in the jungle of South America, and she is determined to find her. But then she discovers her sister and is dead and Meiling is determined to get to the bottom of her death which leads her to an encampment, and through a course of events she finds herself saving the life of a Leopard Shifter, Gedeon. They decide to make a go of a partnership together, in rescuing innocents and bringing criminals to justice. After spending time together for six months, it’s evident that there is much more happening in their relationship that is subconscious but neither of them has acted on what they feel for each other. Gedeon has had to use sex to calm his beast, and even though Meiling has very unique talents in calming his leopard, he still has a fierce need, and unfortunately caving to the need meant hurting the one woman he wishes he could make the final connection with. Tensions build between them and it will take a catalyst to bring these two beings together in the ultimate mating, but will Gedeon be able to rebuild trust and prove to Meiling he is there for good and will stay true to her this time?

What I Loved

There were so many aspects to the story here that really worked out for me. I absolutely adored “Leopard’s Scar” and I really enjoyed how this one was written. One of the more unique aspects is that this isn’t an instant love connection. The romance is built over a span of a year, so I really enjoyed that. Most romance authors don’t write longer span periods of a romance happening. What results in this is a solid partnership, seeing Meiling and Gedeon being able to work together as a team before more happens between them. Although there is always the undercurrent of sexual attraction. Their relationship takes a twist with the decisions that Gedeon makes which result in hurting Meiling. But when one of their jobs turns them to Louisianna and the Leopards there, unresolved issues come to the surface. We get to see some of our favorite characters such as Drake, Jake, Tumur, and Alonzo. It was such a fun time getting back to these characters, and seeing them with their mates and families. It was really interesting to see how the romance was built here. I loved the build of the emotion and the sexual tension throughout the story and the climax of the story was one of the best that I have seen in this series. It was so EPIC and so well done. And when Gedeon finally gets his act together, it brings together one of the most captivating and endearing scenes I have ever seen from this author. I was so easily caught up in the intense moment between them, and seeing him finally fight for his “woman” was truly monumental. I enjoyed the grovel, because there was such sincerity within it and I was fine with it not being super dragged out. Grovel’s don’t need to be dragged out, they just need to have honest sincerity and that happened in spades within this story. I also really liked how the danger and suspense plotlines were grown through the story and the way everything comes together.

What I Struggled With

So there is one major aspect to this story that I struggled with and I detract half a star for, and I will be getting into spoilers here, but there is cheating of sorts in this one. Now the cheating happens before they are official together and mated. So its before, but there is an attraction between them so it does happen in the midst of something more occurring between them. So this will really push the boundaries of some readers. Christine Feehan handles this element super well and it did work for me. I did appreciate in the way it was written.

Overall View

I found Leopard’s Scar to be an intense growth of characterizations, plotlines of drama and thrilling edges built up just right, and a sensual affaire of the heart that is determined to push the boundaries in such a way to cultivate the heart of the romance and endearing emotion! ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

Title: Leopard’s Scar

Author: Christine Feehan

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Format: eARC

Source: Berkley Publishing Group

Length: 400 Pages

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| StoryGraph| Literal Club

Trigger Warning

Cheating, Violence, Abuse

Series Order

Leopard Series