A review and a half: An Inconvenient Mate and Lawe’s Justice by Lora Leigh

Note: these reviews won’t make any sense if you haven’t read this series. You should go and start from book 1 Tempting the Beast and take notes along the way (if you do that, let me know because I’m having trouble following the chronology).

This review is a little different than the usual. First, I’m reviewing An Inconvenient Mate, a novella part of an anthology, and then, I’m reviewing Lawe’s Justice the last novel from the Breed Series. The main reason for this is that both stories “happen” at the same time, meaning that the timeline between one and another is almost the same. The other reason is that I read them both almost on the same day.

An Inconvenient Mate is the 25th book in this series; at this point you would think that I should be tired, and after Navarro’s Promise I almost quit; but my self-nagging personality made me go and buy Tied with a Bow, the anthology where you can find this novella, and give the series yet another chance. I’m glad I did it because this story is good, maybe not first-books good but at least good enough to keep me entertained.

The novella is about Malachi and Isabella. Malachi is an agent in the Bureau of Breed Affairs; he is part of a commission visiting a Native-American Reservation petitioning access to the Reservation to look for a rogue breed.  Or so they say. Isabella is the daughter, granddaughter and niece of the Elders and also works as a secretary for the Elders’ Board.

Malachi and Isabelle met in a Bar. She was there with her friends when she saw Malachi across the bar. He had just arrived to town for the meeting with the Elders Board. Their eyes met and it was instant attraction, then Malachi “smells” Isabella and realizes that she is his mate, all the possessive thoughts begin and well, you know the drill. What’s interesting is the way in which the hero assumes the mating heat. Twelve years have passed since the Breed existence was made public, during those 12 years the breeds have learned a lot about their kind so the mating is no longer a surprise or something that they don’t know how to deal with.

In my opinion this novella is worth just for the fact that works as a link between the previous story and the next.  We also get some glimpses of the next main characters so when you read Lawe’s Justice you won’t feel lost.

In sum, An Inconvenient Mate is a nice story. Lora keeps high doses of spice and the characters are likeable. But beware, none of the issues from the last books are solved and the story arc that started books ago (Jonas looking for a cure for his daughter) is pretty much still there.  But the best thing is the cover, quite an improvement for this series!

Grade: 3

Sensuality: McBurning
Purchase: Amazon

Now with the other part of the review, Lawe’s Justice. This story is about Lawe Justice, the other part on the law enforcer’s duo and twin brother of Rule Breaker (yes, those are their real names). The heroine is Diane, Jonas’ sister in law and a strong character who also happens to be a soldier.

Lawe and Diane know each other and they both know they are mates. Lawe has known for a while but their respective jobs have been in the middle of their relationsip. Now Diane is in change of looking for some people that can give them answers about a possible cure for Jonas and Rachel’s child (and Diane’s niece). But she is not the only one who is after those people, a rogue breed is on a killing spree and Diane is no safe. There is also some suspicion about Diane’s team because she has been having accidents in the past months and the evidence is pointing toward her own people as the culprits.

Lawe is not trilled about the risks that she is taking with her life and he no longer can fight the need to mate her. Diane is even less trilled about the mating because she considers female mates weak women caged just to keep them safe.

Their struggle to mate, Diane following a leak and Lawe following Diane to protect her, are the book’s focal points. It was refreshing and entertaining to read. The sex is super hot but their relationship is ever hotter and their dynamics interesting.

There is another subplot that is quite appealing: Gideon, the rogue breed. I think that we read about him a long time ago but I am no sure. Could he be the same one that Cassie encountered before? Anyway, his story is terrible. Others breeds have suffered but what he went through was beyond anything I could imagine. His POV serves as a complement to Lawe’s story. We also get some background from both characters.  I am really looking forward to reading more about Gideon, and I hope he can get his much deserved HEA.

More than half of the story is set in Widow Rock, a Native American Reservation. In that town is where An Inconvenient Mate and Lawe’s Justice’s stories connect and it’s a hot spot for the Breed community right now. Some of the old characters are there visiting, which is a nice way to bring continuity to the series and to keep in touch.

Several things work beautifully in this book. First, we finally see a resemblance of a solution for Jonas and Rachael’s predicament. The way the female mates acted was also refreshing and just what Diane needed to witness in order to move on with the mating. Lawe and Diane as lead characters were also nice. Yes, there is hot sex and mating heat but that doesn’t necessarily cancels them as fighters or make them uneven participants in all that’s happening around them.

On the other hand, we still don’t have any of the story arcs previously introduced solved. And Ms. Leigh yet again creates a new story with Gideon as protagonist (although if Gideon is who I think it is, he is not exactly new to the series). On the plus side, this book gave me hope, hope that old plots will be solved soon.

Grade: 3.5

Sensuality: McBurning
Purchase: Amazon

Review by Marie

Synopsis:

Isabelle Martinez was instantly fascinated by the sexy Coyote Breed she met at the bar, but her sensual flirtation with him was cut short when she saw the man who'd attacked her arrive at the bar. 

Breed enforcer Malachi Morgan was entranced by Isabelle's mix of shyness and boldness, and he was determined to chase and play with his sensual prey. But he could tell she'd been hurt before by a man, and he vowed that Isabelle was now his to protect and love, even as if it meant going against her family and his orders

An Inconvenient Mate by Lora Leigh

Berkley Trade; November 2011

Synopsis:

Diane Broen's lived to protect her younger sister Rachel from harm. But now that Rachel has been mated off, Diane's occupied herself with less fulfilling tasks at the Genetics Council--until she's paired with a new team member, a Breed male notorious for his attitude, and a touch that makes her recoil.

Lawe isn't thrilled with her either. A lion at heart, he prefers a lair of solitude. When it comes to females, he'd rather snarl than purr. And while fate may have paired them to fight on the same team, neither is willing to admit to the obvious: the mating heat between them is positively incinerating.

It's only when danger threatens that they make a hotter-than-hell connection--one so explosive it could destroy them. Or, as providence reveals, bind them together, forever.

Lawe’s Justice by Lora Leigh

Berkley; December 2011