Review & Giveaway: Rule Breaker by Lora Leigh

Rule Breaker
Author: Lora Leigh
Reviewer: Jen Twimom
Rating: B

What I’m Talking About:

Yes… Rule Breaker is the twenty-ninth title in Lora Leigh’s Breed Series (this includes all of the novellas). I know that sometimes I can’t believe I’ve stuck around with this series for this long. But I just can’t quit it. It’s my crack. And while there have been some not as great titles in recent history, I am happy to report that Rule Breaker is an exciting and passionate story – better than the last few.

Nine years ago, Gypsy Rum McQuade was kidnapped by council Coyote Breeds and forced to watch her big brother murdered. If not for Jonas and his Breed enforcers, she would have been raped and killed as well. Since that time, Gypsy has blamed herself for Mark’s death, and has aligned herself with a secretive Navajo group, collecting intel in hopes of redeeming herself.

Rule Breaker is one of Jonas’s top enforcers and is set to take over as Investigative Commander of the Bureau of Breed Affairs and head the offices in New Mexico. Jonas needs Rule to find an informant (for the Unknown, a group of six Navajo of legend), while Gypsy, along with her sister Kandy, are suspects. Rule wants Gypsy with a fierceness nearing obsession, but he is convinced she is not his mate because he is not experiencing the signs. Meanwhile, Jonas is convinced the Unknown exist and are protecting the people and answers he needs to save his daughter, Amber.

Rule Breaker is a MUST read for fans of the Breeds series; however it is a climatic story and one really needs to be up-to-date with the current over-arcing storyline before picking up this book. The story picks up with Jonas trying to find a way to save his adopted daughter, Amber. He believes the answers are with a group of individuals who escaped Breed Labs long ago. The search for these individuals has been the focus of the storyline since Jonas’ book. Finally, the pieces all fall into place, and readers are rewarded with some answers and long-awaited action.

Rule and Gypsy have a passionate and heart-felt romance. While their courtship shares similarities and repeating-themes from earlier couples, Ms. Leigh created enough differences that I was never bored with the pair. I felt that their problems were uniquely their own, and the heartache was poignantly real. While Rule doesn’t believe Gypsy is his mate, it is obscenely obvious to everyone else. The way he handles the moment when he begins to realize Gypsy is his mate was utterly fantastic for the fact that it was so heartbreaking. And while other stories have left me wondering why a Breed doesn’t immediately experience the mating hormone, Rule Breaker, gives readers a unique and interesting explanation for his situation. Overall, the pair’s interactions, dialogue, and actions were refreshingly straight forward, making for an engrossing read.

This is a longish story, and while much of the second half is filled with hot smex scenes, there is a LOT going on. The story puts to rest (I think) the Amber storyline, but I believe there is still much that can/may occur at the Navajo Nation. However, that could all change with the next story. Unfortunately, there were parts of the story where I was completely confused as to who knew what and who did what. I felt that during these moments, the writing was a bit too vague for my liking. However, unlike with previous books, I was able to get past the confusion because the overall story was exciting.

In the end, Rule Breaker is a pretty good story filled with intense emotional interactions. Whether between Rule and Gypsy, their own self-reflection, or Gypsy and her family, the conflict felt tight and sincere. I am pleased that the story made significant headway in one of the extended story arcs, but it was a bit long and at times cryptic and vague. The sex scenes were on par with those in the past books, but honestly, they seemed to get a bit lengthy and repetitive for me. However, the overall romance and storyline were entertaining and satisfying for this longtime fan.

Rating:  B Liked It – Recommend

About the Book:

Lion Breed, Rule Breaker had just a few rules he didn’t break. Not for anything. Not for anyone.
#1. Never have sex with a woman outside his own subspecies, especially a human woman.
#2. Never, at any time, accept a mission concerning a female when Jonas Wyatt stinks of a lie.
#3. Run don’t walk, skip or stumble. Run, hell for leather away from any female, human or breed, when his desire for her appears, in any way, to have so much as a single sign of Mating Heat.

Now, the woman believes he’s mated, is too helpless, to fun loving and too full of life to ever be able to protect herself, let alone aide him in protecting her.

If the damned animal inside him insisted on a mate, then why pick the woman it did? One that could be struck out at, at any time?

But, what he suspected was a mating, may not be. No swollen glands? No heat? Just his animal instincts rioting, pacing, irritated whenever he’s away from her.

Okay, he could handle that.

What ensues is a fiery affair that breaks all the rules of mating heat and will eventually endanger his mate with the very rules designed to protect the breeds when Jonas learns she’s possibly been working against them.

Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Berkley
Series: Breeds #29
ISBN: #978-0425265451
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format(s): Hardcover (448 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher/NetGalley

Purchase Info:
Rule Breaker (Breeds #29)

Reviews in the Series:
Dawn’s Awakening by Lora Leigh (Breeds #14)
Lion’s Heat by Lora Leigh (Breeds #21)
Styx’s Storm by Lora Leigh (Breeds #22)
“Primal Kiss” by Lora Leigh (Primal) (Breeds #23)
Navarro’s Promise by Lora Leigh (Breeds #24)
Lawe’s Justice by Lora Leigh (Breeds #26)
Stygian’s Honor By Lora Leigh (Breeds #27)
“The Devil’s Due” by Lora Leigh (Enthralled) (Breeds #28)

Giveaway:

Thanks to the publisher, Berkley, I’ve got one copy of Rule Breaker to giveaway. To enter the contest, complete the Rafflecopter form AND leave a comment answering the following question: The Breeds aren’t true shifters, rather human/animal hybrids. This is one thing I love about them. What is one of your favorite features of shifters or Breeds?

This contest is open to US Mailing Residents ONLY. Open to readers, 18 years or older, who are legally allowed to participate in such a contest as allowed by their local laws. All federal, state, local, and municipal laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. By participating in the contest, participants agree to be bound by the decisions of the contest sponsor. Prize will be delivered by the publisher. I am not responsible for items lost in the mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you have troubles with the Rafflecopter form, please email me at twimom227 (at) gmail (dot) com.