A one-time high-ranking member of the Genetics Council, Scheme Tallant's father will stop at nothing to see the Feline Breeds eradicated - even if it means killing his own daughter. After the Feline Breeds' main base is attacked, Tanner Reynolds desires revenge and he knows exactly how to get it. In a bold move he kidnaps Scheme and takes her deep into the Kentucky mountains. When Tanner discovers that Scheme herself is a target of her father's ruthless mission, his vengeance must take a back seat to saving the life of the woman he hopes to claim as his mate.

When the genetically altered Breeds' main base is attacked, Tanner Reynolds retaliates by kidnapping Scheme Tallant, the daughter of the man responsible, until he discovers that she is also a target and destined to be his mate.

2007-11-24 The life and loves of a genocidal pervert.

I'm a reader who finds the Breed mythos more offensive than the smut. But I expect most readers will find the smut more worthy of comment.

Anyway. Here goes. Some major flaws.

Tanner, the hero, repeatedly comes off second best in the mind of the heroine when compared to her first great love, the treacherous Chazz, who is offed without regret in the opening chapters. Sorry. Tanner is one big weirdo. He has watched Scheme have sex with other men for 10 years and has convinced himself she didn't really, really enjoy herself and that he is the one true guy she needs. Of course, Scheme can't tell him that he's some kind of twisted psycho stalker because he's holding her prisoner for the first third of the novel.

Here's what Scheme says about herself.

"All Tanner had to do was withhold one orgasm. Made her wait and then asked her anything. The lives she would have betrayed would be gone forever, because she was weak." (p160)

So by her own admission. Scheme lives through her t.w.a.t. And everything else. Loyalty, honor, is secondary to that.

A fundamental flaw in this novel is this. I don't think the case is made that Scheme is one of the good guys. Ok. Scheme deliberately made mistakes to save lives. But as is clearly stated in the book. Her signature is present on orders to kill innocent Breeds. Scheme has to answer for those actions in a court of law. A Human Rights court. She would fail and be convicted if her only defence was `I had no choice; my father forced me to sign.' Playing the numbers game of `I killed some in order to save others.' is also not a clear defence. The morally correct action for Scheme to have taken would have been to leave her father's organisation completely.

But of course. Scheme was quite happy with her Dad and the upscale lifestyle he provided until he drugged her to abort her child, which happened when she was about 22 yo. Hmm. So all the Breed suffering in the labs meant nothing to her. See what I mean. If some of my pride siblings had been killed with Scheme's consent, and she turned up at Sanctuary, I would make one big fuss, mating heat or not.

I could say a lot more negative words on the world-building. But I won't. Because despite all the offensive stuff this is a thoroughly entertaining read. I didn't really warm to the main couple at all but they are both interesting characters. We get a date in this novel for the events that occur. 2023. Much too short a distance in the future.

Did I mention the smut? There's absolutely tons of it in this novel. I didn't get offended by it at all. I totally admire writers who can churn out 6 or 7 good novels a year.