Rule Breaker

This was a typical Lora Leigh Breed book. There were pages upon pages of the description of the physical acts of arousal. Any emotional response to attraction was deeply buried underneath the physical.

The main characters were Gypsy Rum McQuade and Rule Breaker. Gypsy is twenty-four and is the victim of a trauma she suffered when she was fifteen. She was abducted, abused, almost raped, and watched the brother who was like a father to her killed in front of her. She was rescued by the Breeds but was deeply damaged. She was certain that her brother's death was her fault - an opinion confirmed by her family who left her alone to grieve. She has been working secretly with the Unknowns to protect the Breeds.

Rule Breaker is a lion breed and is show more determined never to give in to the mating heat. He watched his mother be tortured to death in the name of scientific research because she was mated to a Breed. Rule has decided to run if he should ever feel any twinge of the mating heat. However, his lion has other plans. His lion has been keeping the fact that Gypsy is his mate from him until Rule gets too close to her to run. Neither Rule nor Gypsy are going to surrender to the mating heat without a fight.

During the last couple of books, the main plot has been to find someone who can help Jonas's daughter Amber survive the injection that an evil scientist gave her. Jonas is searching for a Breed who knows the formula for the injections and, hopefully, knows a cure. Jonas, being a master manipulator, has plots within plots going on. But Rule, Gypsy, and various others also have plots and secrets.

Early on in the story, I decided to give up on trying to figure out who knew what and who was keeping what a secret. Many of the plot twists building through the last couple of books were resolved here. And, naturally, Rule and Gypsy come to terms with being mated.

If you are looking for a book with intense sexual scenes, this is one for you. It might be better to be familiar with the overall story arc from previous books. But this one can be read alone as an intensely erotic paranormal romance. show less

I love Lora Leigh's books but for some reason I fell behind with Rule Breaker. I have no clue why either. Usually when her books come out I run and get them so I can know what's going on in my Breeds world. Like I said, no clue!

Okay, I'm lying...

Have you seen how large this book is???? It's 450 pages with pretty small print. I love getting a bang for my buck just like the rest of the world, but with the amount of books that I want to read, I just don't always have time for the big ones and they get pushed to the side.

Like Rule Breaker did for 2 years.

The sad part is that I really enjoyed the story once I made myself read it. Liked it enough that I wanted to read Bengal's Quest right away. Then I remember that Wake a Sleeping Tiger show more doesn't come out till October 4th and it's in hardcover with means I won't get it till 2017. So I'm thinking I might want to spread them out a little bit more. Bengal's quest can wait for the winter.

I really like Rule. He's tough but has a heart. One he tries to hide, but often can't. At first I wasn't sure about Gypsy, she seemed...something! As the book went on I learned more about her and her family and my opinion changed.

I started to see the real Gypsy!

So much happens in the story that at times you start to wonder...who was that just now talking again? I think it needed a little less intrigue, and more romance. Leigh might have been able to cut down around 150 pages.

I would like to say I'm exaggerating, but I'm not sure I am.

Even with too many pages, it's a good story and I'm happy that I read it. Their story needed to be told and I was here to hear it. Rule Breaker did leave you wondering about so much that I hope will be answered in the next books. The good thing is that with how long it will be before I read the next book I most likely will forget all the questions I had.

Reviewed for Romancing the Readers Blog:
http://romancingthereaders.blogspot.com/2016/07/book-club-thursday-clearing-off-...

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Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A traumatized woman meets a man who was equally traumatized in his past and has refused to accept a mate. Will they both be able to let go of their pasts in order to have a future together?

Opening Sentence: Gypsy stared at the file her Coyote abductors had possessed.

The Review:

When Gypsy Rum McQuade was 15, she saw her brother – who had been more like a father to her – killed before her very eyes. Believing herself responsible for his death, when she was old enough, Gypsy began working for a secret group that has sworn to protect the Breeds who need its help. She’s now 24, still working for The Unknown, and still carrying the guilt of her brother’s death on her shoulders.

Rule show more Breaker has never wanted a mate and has sworn to himself that he will run if he ever does come in contact with her. He’s become obsessed with Gypsy and is very relieved that neither of them shows signs of the Mating Heat, so he feels the coast is clear to pursue her. As their relationship becomes more and more involved, they will each have to let go of their traumatic pasts if they have any hope of working as a couple. Will they be able to do so, or is their relationship destined for failure?

I really struggled with coming up with a rating for this one. I think my true rating would probably be 2.5 stars because there is a lot I didn’t like. I was, however, interested in what was going on, and it made me curious about the rest of the series, so I rounded up to a 3.

I have not read the previous books in the series. I was lucky enough to find a synopsis of the overall story to this point, but even with that, I was confused. There is a lot going on here, and it’s very hard to keep track of. It doesn’t help that there are some editing issues, which repeatedly had me rereading sentences to double check what just happened. Suffice to say, this book is not for those new to the series!

It has to be said: the names in this book are just ridiculous. We have Rule Breaker, Gypsy Rum, her sister Kandy Sweet, and their parents Hansel and Greta. Anytime someone’s name was mentioned, it triggered eye rolling, and it just took me right out of the story.

There were also a couple scenes that made me uncomfortable in regards to the Mating Heat. I’m probably looking too much into it, but I did not like the idea that the Mating Heat makes it so you’re so turned on, you can’t say no even if you wanted to. There’s a scene where Rule has done something that greatly upsets Gypsy (and with good reason), but the next time they see each other, they can’t keep their hands off each other even though Gypsy is still hurting from what happened previously. It’s obvious they’re meant to be together and everything’s technically consensual, but there was just something about it that made me uncomfortable in a few scenes. Maybe I need to read the rest of the series to understand it better.

All of that aside though, I did like the characters and wanted them to find their happily ever after. The side characters present in the story made me want to know more about them by reading their stories. So, it would seem that Lora Leigh did well in igniting curiosity in me even though I wasn’t thrilled with many aspects of this particular book. I would say if you’ve made it this far in the series, you should probably read this one, but it could cause some eye rolling and confusion at certain times.

Notable Scene:

“Your parents will be here soon.” Jonas spoke from beside her once again. “My team has just loaded them into the heli-jet.”

They would be here soon.

They would be so angry with her.

Oh God, what if they didn’t let her go home? What if they didn’t even want her anymore?

“They’ll hate me. Momma and Daddy will never forgive me for this,” she told herself, unaware she was speaking aloud, that her words were breaking the heart of the new director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs. “They won’t even want me to come home now. How could they ever want to live with me after this?”

Where would she go?

She was only fifteen, and no one would want the girl who had helped Coyotes murder her brother. Because everyone loved Mark.

He was everyone’s best friend.

How could anyone ever love the awful person who had enabled those filthy animals to kill him?

“How could they ever want me to be home?” she whispered again, laying her head against the wall beside her and staring into the darkness once again.

Maybe if she was very, very still, if she tried hard enough, she could just disappear into that darkness and never have to exist ever again.

“I promise you, Gypsy, your parents won’t blame you,” he lied to her again. “But if that ever happens, I swear to you I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Do you hear me, sweetheart? You have only to contact me, I’ll never desert you.”

She heard the words and he probably meant them. But he was so brave, and just like that Breed with those bright, bright blue eyes who had shot the Coyote, Grody, he was strong, and he knew how to protect everyone.

Even stupid, weak little girls who didn’t know how to stay home instead of risking everyone they loved.

She didn’t deserve his protection.

She didn’t deserve anyone’s protection.

FTC Advisory: Berkley/Penguin provided me with a copy of Rule Breaker. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

~ 3 Breaker Stars ~

Rule Breaker is book 29 in the Breeds series. I enjoyed Rule Breaker, but it did not stand out as the earlier books did when I started this series. Nothing new happens with the mating, it's the same scenario’s as all the other books just with different character names. The story lines are a little more complex and we finally get some answers.

Gypsy was ok. She is fierce enough to try and spy, gather info and cover it up as a party girl. Rule has had my attention since he was introduced, well all the breeds have. Their is just something about Jonas’s men.

Ms. Leigh did not disappoint in the sex. She can write a sex scene like no other! Their is some major heat in this one.

The story had some other elements that show more fascinated me. The side characters for one. Dog, Dane, and Cassie we get to see different sides of them. My heart broke for Cassie and the life she has to lead. I can’t forget Gideon. We finally learn who he is, what he’s done.

Rule Breaker was a good read in the Breed series. It helped close out some older chapters that have been around a little to long. I’ll probably keep reading, but won’t be dieing to bump up the next story on my every growing read pile.

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This book is everything I have come to expect from a Breeds novel. It was fast paced, tense, erotic, and action packed. I loved seeing how Rule's inner lion plotted against the man who would sabotage things. Seeing Gypsy learn and see the truth of things was very satisfying. The ending has me panting fir more. I want to learn how Amber fares, and I'd really like to see both Dane and Gideon's stories.

This was incredibly good, but the Breeds' whole plot and schemes are starting to get a little too overwhelming to sometimes grasp while reading the books. The chemistry between Rule and Gypsy was awesome, as was Gypsy's backbone and strength.

Rule Breaker
3 Stars

The good: We finally get some closure to baby Amber’s storyline, which has been dragging on for several books. There are some developments in Gideon’s story and the secret of Judd’s identity is also revealed although it is unclear whether this is important or not.

The bad: Complicated sentence structure, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of events, excessive repetition of plot points and character traits, and a convoluted and confusing storyline, which means it’s virtually impossible to keep track of who’s who and what’s what.

The ugly: The character names in this one are simply ridiculous. Lawe Justice and Rule Breaker were bad enough, but now we have Gypsy Rum, Kandy Sweet, Hansel and show more Greta …. seriously?

All in all, its time for this series to come to an end. If I weren’t so interested in Cassie’s story, I would probably have called it quits already. show less