Book Review: Bengal's Quest by Lora Leigh

Bengal's Quest
Author: Lora Leigh
Series: Breeds #30
Publication: Berkley (June 23, 2015)

Description: He was a shadow, ever shifting and insinuating, able to blend in everywhere and anywhere. The elusive ideal conceived and created by the Genetics Council, he went by just as many names as he had identities—the last one being Gideon.

Now calling himself Graeme, he hides in plain sight, terrifyingly close to his goal. A rogue Bengal Breed, he has loyalties to no one but himself. And he has a need for vengeance that surges hot and swift through his veins.

Graeme plans to exact an extreme and ruthless vendetta against those who wronged him—Breed and human alike. All will suffer his wrath: those who created him, those who pretended to love him, and those who betrayed him.

That includes the one at the center of it all: a seductive, enigmatic woman helpless against the man whose desire is just as desperate as his need to destroy.

And he’s on her scent…

My Thoughts: Gideon was handed Cat when she was three days old and told to take care of her. She was dying of a genetic flaw and needed all of eleven-year-old Gabriel's knowledge of human and Breed genetics to live. She saved his sanity but, in order to save her life, he had to escape from the lab without her when she was twelve. And, when he freed her from the van taking her to be euthanized, he had to convince her that he didn't care for her - that she was only an experiment to him.

Thirteen years have passed with great trials for both Gideon and Cat. He was recaptured by the labs and faced horrible torture before escaping. Cat was hidden by a Navaho ceremony that had her sharing her body with the spirit of a dead girl and had her living the dead girl's life in the home of a man who hated her.

All along Cat has both loved and hated Gideon. When he comes to her, she isn't willing to trust that he won't abandon her again. When mating heat comes to them, she is doing everything she can to deny it until she can trust him and he can love her.

Outside of that personal drama is the bigger picture of the Breeds trying to forge a place for themselves even though the organization that created them and experimented on them really wants them back under their control.

This book fits well into the series but is much richer for having read the previous books. It would not really stand alone well as the political situation is complex and not a lot of backstory is given.

Favorite Quote:

"She's been deserted all her life, Cullen," Terran snapped, the scent of his anger growing. "Even by him. And by God following suit with everyone else in her damned life doesn't sit well with me."

Turning Terran stomped back into the house, leaving Cullen to turn and stare into the desert, the weight of Terran's words weighing on his shoulders. Because he was right. They'd all deserted her in one form or the other, to save her. But in ensuring her physical survival, what had they done to her heart?

I bought this book. You can buy your copy here.