There is something irresistible about Emma Reynolds -- some thing Jake can't live without. Hiring her as his son's nanny will keep her close. And warm. And under watch. She's the first human to stir something in Jake, something he's never felt before But Emma may not be at all what she seems. And what's raging between them is pure animal instinct -- out of control, burning wild and as hot as the lick of a flame.
Comment: I've got this book since it was released. It is one of the few English written books I actually bought at a bookstore and didn't order on line. At the time I was really following the author's work and the second I saw it, I grabbed it. Then other books came in the way and my taste for the author's writing had a decrease and it got lost in the pile. Well, not lost, just....a bit overlooked.
I meant to read it last month but there wasn't time, so I put it as the first of August.
This is the third story in the Leopard series. It's the story of Jake and how he grew up to be vicious and cold but found people to help even when telling himself he was using them.
There's Emma, someone he rescues after a car crash and from that moment on he wants to own her but doesn't realize how far his feelings have gone until things can't turn back anymore.
To be honest, I liked this book enough. I'm at a place in my reading preferences where this author's stories no longer play an important part like they used to at some point in the past. My issue is, and has been all this time, the same. The characters just can't seem to be happy and relaxed. Al the times they do things that are meant to be funny there's always this feeling it's all an act and there to just fill the space.
I know the author's goal with her books is to tell things from a darker point of view, it's just the way her writing is wired apparently. But this gets boring and repetitive after a while.
This book, however, was easy to read and apart from the sex scenes - which I skipped mostly - the story moved along quite well. There's still the darker vibe in the story, the male protagonist acts like a caveman lots of times but considering I knew sort of what to expect, this one wasn't so bad. Fans surely loved it.
I liked the protagonist, Jake, despite his obviously Neanderthal tendencies, hidden under the guise of a leopard, but still. When he wasn't bossing around everyone, he was quite likable mostly because of his past, which we see in the first chapters. That shaped him into the person he is, even if his inner self is fair and helpful. I'd like to think anyone would be able to see bad influence for what it is, but the believable part in all this is how we can't always ignore the impact of what others do to us has in our mind. So I get hi even though I wish he could have been more balanced when dealing with Emma, for instance.
Emma is very likable, just like any heroine by this author, she is an innocent, quiet thing, but with something strong too. She acts almost complacent towards Jake before sexual attraction comes up. I found that behavior a bit stupid but even more annoying is how she can't resist him further along. I know, it's all part of the leopard tendencies, but can't women have more self will and intelligence to try to stay away from dangerous men?
These two together seem OK, of course, although I always find this author's couples unbalanced or maybe it's just the way she portrays them together. Jake and Emma don't seem to have much in common in terms of interests but they are put together because it all fits conveniently for the story's purposes...I mean, we see them for the role they are playing but that's it. I think there's a bit of a lack of more depth to the characters.
In fact, I found troublesome how Emma's past relationship was so minimized and seen as lacking interest to the story, it seemed that if that was so, why making her have one in the first place...just to be a means to compare with her and Jake together? Oh well...
Still, I think this book was OK enough because like I said, I managed to read the story fast enough too. I can't really remember anything from the first two stories in the series, which I've read five years ago I think, but I recall being bored at some points and with this one I only avoided the sex scenes, which were more of the same and meant to fill the space in my opinion.
In the end, an interesting enough read, many things to wonder about in terms of execution, still a good surprise after a while without anything by the author.
Grade: 6/10
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