Megan's Mark

Fundamentally, this book lacks consistency.

At first it seems to be about two strong alpha personalities and the sexual battle royale between them. Braden is a Breed - a genetically engineered blend of human and lion, battle trained, superhuman, but ruled by animal urges. Megan is a tough cop with extensive military training whose incredibly strong empathic powers prevent her from working in teams, or in large cities...forcing her to live and work as a lone wolf. The early action-packed sequences between the two are all about their powerful sexual attraction building through a contest of wills.

And then Megan turns into a fragile weakling and Braden takes on the role of a tutor or protector. After Megan fearlessly investigates a murder scene and twice fends off mysterious Breed assassins (killing a couple of them along the way) her character does a 180. We are expected to believe that actually, she can't continue the investigation because she is so averse to exposing herself to painful thoughts and emotions. Suddenly it's Braden's job to push her forward and encourage her and tell her she can do it, while Megan cowers in fear and whines shrilly about how crippling her empathic abilities are. Braden is going to protect her and teach her and deliver some tough love, while Megan resists and trembles and cringes her way through it.

Sexually, the contest of wills degenerates just as completely. Braden seems at all times totally sure of himself and his desires, a guy who's confident in the bedroom because experience has told him that he should be. Megan thinks that oral sex is really risque and whenever Braden brings up even minimally kinky sexual scenarious she calls him a pervert. She's clueless and naive. There's no contest at all, actually.

The thing is, long after it's screamingly obvious that Megan is a pretty weak and fragile sort of person, most characters in the book continue to act as though she's the tough, independent heroine she seemed to be in the beginning - Megan herself included. While she becomes weaker and more subservient by the page, everyone around her claims that she's a "warrior" or "impossible to subdue."

Braden seems to think he's imposing his will on Megan via his violent, dominent sexuality - but that's a hoax too. Mostly because Megan's resistence is a sham, but equally because Braden is so concerned about respecting her and encouraging her to be a free and independent woman. The brutal, dominating animal is mostly talk - deep down, he's a supportive partner, an idealized and bland mate of the 21st century.

MEGAN'S MARK is ultimately so confused, with so many glaring contractions between who its protagonists actually are and what they are supposed to be, that it's hard to enjoy. The positive elements of the book - like the gross yet hot sex hormone Braden secretes from a gland under his tongue - are lost in the wreckage. ( )

Megan's Mark
4 Stars

Synopsis:
Megan Fields, an empath who has a hard time shielding herself from the emotions of others, finds solace in the peace and quiet of the New Mexico desert until the day she finds the bodies of two breeds. As a sheriff’s deputy, Megan is partnered with Braden Arness, an arrogant feline assassin, in the search for the killers. Megan and Braden clash in every way but must learn to trust each other because someone is out for Megan’s blood.

Review:
Definite improvement in terms of plot and writing over previous books in the series. The sex scenes are still steamy with a capital S but are not as overwhelming as before, more information is provided concerning the Breeds’ life in the labs and the story is more action than character driven.

Nevertheless, the characters are very appealing even if they could be more developed. Megan is a kick butt heroine and is a match to Braden in every way. They are both adrenaline junkies and their extrasensory powers are complimentary. One aspect of Megan’s character that bothered me was her constant rejection of her abilities and Braden’s attempts to help her in this area. While Braden is not my favorite Breed, he is still a super-hot alpha male and he truly cares about Megan. It did annoy me that he was constantly trying to dominate her but she could definitely hold her own against him.

Similar to Elizabeth’s Wolf, the villain is seriously sick and disturbed but once again there is not enough detail regarding his actions and his obsession with Megan as well as his spies at Sanctuary. The final confrontation with him is, however, quite satisfactory.

The character who interests me the most is Jonas and I really want to know more about him, especially following the cliffhanger at the end, which I hope will be developed in the next book.

This is a decent read and from all reports it is all uphill from here. ( )

I say I like erotic romance, but now I wonder. I don't like Lauren Dane, Maya Banks or, apparently, Lora Leigh. My claim is looking kinda baseless. More research is in order.

Anyways, the book. Oh, the book.

Megan's Mark starts off well. Megan Fields is an empath working as a sheriff's deputy in the nice empty New Mexico desert. The blessed lack of people and action leaves her at peace, leaving her free from the overload of feeling other people's emotions.

When she checks on a SUV left in a washed out canyon, however, that quiet is gonzo.

Embroiled in a shoot-out after discovering the bullet-riddled vehicle contained two dead Breeds, Megan has to make a run for it with Braden Arness, a law enforcement agent of some sort, and a lion Breed. Someone's out to kill Megan, and Braden is the man assigned to keep her alive.

The world building relied on a bit more info dumping than I like. A few instances of POV from a lion Breed named Rothgar Bewcastle Jonas Wyatt provide long bursts of backstory on how the Breeds were forged of animal and human DNA in labs and treated inhumanely, long-winded descriptions of the Mating Heat, and so on. After each of these, I expected to see stardust, a rainbow and "The More You Know" emblazoned across my reader.

The first half of the book sets up the action plot. It's not quite suspense, as we know who the bad guy is. We know it's her father's friend, Senator Mac Cooley, and that he's got her surrounded. We're just waiting for Megan to learn how to control her empath abilities and figure out that Cooley's the bad guy.

All of a sudden, it's time for the sex plot. Have you seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail? You know that part of the climactic battle scene when it suddenly changes to the colorful screen that says INTERMISSION? The sex is like that. I kept humming that organ loop to myself while reading it.

The action just stops, and Tab A, Slot B sex commences for the bulk of the rest of the book. And, speaking of tabs:
Horror swept across his face as she felt the change. The swelling of the already thick crest, the extension reaching out, locking onto the back of the pulsing muscles that gripped him, feathering inside her, pressing firmly into a spot that sent sensation crashing through her mind.Penile barb, ladies and gentlemen, penile barb.

Another common claim of mine, that I don't read for prose, might also be false. This took me days to read because the mechanical sex prose, coupled with some very purple metaphors, kept yanking me out of the book. One egregious example: His hand landed on her ass once again as she felt the fiery head of his cock breach the virgin portalThis lead me to create a new game for roadtrips: "Sex metaphor, or World of Warcraft quest?" Certainly "breach the virgin portal" sounds like something I did in the Caverns of Time.

Then, as quckly as the Sex Phase began, it ended, and the action plot is wrapped up in a 10-15 page fury of action, leaving just enough dangling to seed a sequel. Um, WTF? WTB smooth transitions, PST.

I'm sad to say that I did not enjoy the book. I did enjoy the action sequences immensely in a Michael Bay things go A-SPLODE sort of way, but they weren't woven together well enough with the sexxoring to hold my interest. I have the next few books in the series, as I grabbed them all when they were free, so I may try the next one. As it stands, however, I did not like how she wrote the sex scenes, and they took up much of the book.

Note to Author: Vaginal lubrication is not opaque and white. Repeatedy calling it "cream" turned my stomach. Opaque and white means the girl's got an infection. Those do not make for sexy cunnilingus. Jus' sayin' is all.
( )

Megan Fields, has the ability to feel the emotions of those around her. So she isolates herself in a small remote area of New Mexico, where she can be near those that she has grown up near to. So when danger finds her, and some coyote breeds after her life, she is saved by Braden Arness, who is a lion breed. From the first moment that Braden sees Megan, he feels the most strongest feelings of desire he has ever experienced, and knows that she feels the same, and its only a matter of time before he claims her as his mate, if only he can convince her to surrender to the insatiable passion that they both strongly feel for one another....Megan's Mark is the seventh in the Breeds series by Lora Leigh. Megan's Mark is a powerful story of a woman who hates the gift that she has been given, and has never been able to learn to control it, and a danger that could threaten her and everyone in her life that she cares about, unless both Braden and Megan uncover the truth before its too late. I found Megan's Mark an insatiable read, full of steamy romance and thrilling excitement and so intriguing it will delight every one of your senses. Another winner from Lora Leigh!! ( )

Ok so this is the first Breed story published by Berkley. We see more of Jonas and his game playing attitude, Tarek and of course Braden. This is also the first story that Elyiana show up in. She is mentioned in The Breed next Door, but she shows up to take blood work and other samples from Megan and Braden. There is also a discussion between her and Jonas. There are any new Breeds introduced in this book but one of the Council members is killed which is always a good thing. Ms Leigh has a gift for writing villains that are so vile and evil that you are cheering by the time that they get what is coming to them. This villain is probably one of the worst so far. It is people like this that make the rest of us ashamed to be in the same species with them. This story is set in the desert so it is well away from Sanctuary. There is only a passing mention of the other Breeds living in Virginia.

I am curious what mission Jonas sent Braden and Megan out on. I am not sure I have read anymore about these characters in the future books. I also am suspicious that Braden maybe a Prime. He displays a lot of the characteristics. Megan is a warrior for all intents and purposes as well as an empath. The first mention of telepathic abilities in the Breeds or the humans. It would be interesting to know if there were any others out there.

There are some really sad places throughout the story. So I would suggest keeping tissues handy. There is also humor and some of the hottest sex written in the mass market today. I was very pleased with this story and look forward to reading the next in the series. ( )