Bengal’s Heart

Breeds, Book #14

Feline Breeds, Book #12

By Lora Leigh

ISBN# 9780425229026

Author’s Website:  https://loraleigh.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Cassa Hawkins has always been a supporter of the Breeds.  She was trying to rescue a pride of Bengals from a lab in Germany, but she trusted the wrong person.  She got her husband, Douglas, on her team, but he betrayed her.  He watched with joy and excitement at the torture and murder of the Breeds in their death pit as Cassa tried to save them in vain.  One Bengal survived and he killed Douglas.  Cassa knew she was next, but he spared her.  He told her that he owned her and that she owes him and when he calls for her she must come and do whatever he tells her to.  She tasted his blood as it dripped down his face.  It was an act that bound the two together in a way they never expected.

It’s been eleven years since Cabal’s rescue.  Cassa has been living on the Breed compound.  For the last eleven years she has been reporting on the Breeds, making sure she puts them in a good light.  The two suspect they are mates, but Cabal can’t quite forgive her for her part in the death of his pride.  She looks on in pain and jealousy at all the women he’s taken to his bed as he ignores her.

Now there is something going on in the town of Glen Ferris.  Someone is murdering the men that were involved in a Breed massacre over two decades ago.  The killings appear to have been done by a Breed, but if the media finds out it could be detrimental for the future of the race.  Jonas has put Cabal on the mission to find the killer and to cover up the murders in the meantime.  Their killer is careful and precise, and has somehow found a way to leave no scent behind.  The killer has been sending emails to Cassa showing her the murders and where they have taken place.  The Breeds have tried to block the transmissions, but have been unable to.  They know there is a reason the killer is drawing in Cassa and they fear for her life.  Can Cabal get over his past and protect his mate or will he forever be left to live without the one woman meant for him?

Coming up with a rating for this book was a bit odd for me.  I did enjoy the book and I didn’t want to put it down, but yet the storyline really wasn’t all that great.  I found it was an okay read, but nothing more.  I’ve seen several negative reviews of this book by people upset how Cabal treated Cassa.  That actually didn’t bother me as much as the writers of those reviews, probably because I’ve seen much worse in the series.  Callan was terrible in the first book, Tempting the Beast, and I almost didn’t continue the series because of how bad that story was!  I don’t think Cabal meant to be harsh to Cassa.  He was conflicted by his own emotions and honestly just wanted to protect his mate from the danger she unknowingly faced.  He kept things from her that he probably shouldn’t have and wasn’t as comforting as she wanted in the beginning, but he gets better as the book progresses.  I do think they picked some strange times to have sex though … I get that they’re in heat, but still!  The sex scenes became to frequent that they started to be a bit stagnant.

I found the big confrontation at the end of this book felt like a repeat.  It was too similar to the end of Coyote’s Mate, which happens to have been the last book of the series that I read before this one.

And, not that it has any bearing on this book, but the Cabal I had imagined in my mind, looked nothing like the guy on the cover!  The guy in my mind looked a lot more wild and dangerous, not the clean-cut preppy that graces the front of this book.

I did find the murder mystery and “Death” to be interesting, although a bit confusing.  And, we learn about a new Breed classification, primal breeds.

I didn’t like that there was no real resolution to the big fallout between Cabal and Cassa over the secrets he kept.  They had the fight, went to her room and had sex, and then the big climatic scene happened and it was never brought up again.  I also didn’t like all the times Cassa brought up his playboy ways and he never addressed that either.  I wanted to feel more of a love connection by the end of this story, but I didn’t.  I would have liked Leigh to have added some more lovey dovey scenes at the end to leave me feeling all gooey inside.

All-in-all this was an okay read and it was a fast read, but it didn’t draw me in and make me feel as much as some of the others have.