Megan Fields has been struggling with her empathic abilities for the better part of her life. It was her inability to block other people's emotions that forced her to abandon her life-long dream to work in "serious" law enforcement, so now she makes her living as a sheriff's deputy in a small town in New Mexico.While patrolling the desert, relishing its quietness and lack of thought and emotion, she discovers two corpses in a shot through SUV. Two Breed corpses. Examining the crime scene she quickly comes under fire herself, surviving only because of the timely intervention of Braden Arness, another Breed.Braden knows there's more behind the shooting in the gully than serendipity. Someone wants Megan dead and there's no better was to learn why is that than to stick to her like super glue...And when the Mating Heat suddenly kicks in, playing her shadow is even more pleasurable. But unless they uncover the truth of what Megan has seen to warrant her death, the relationship is bound to be a short one.Okay, so this book is like one of those old movies on a Saturday night, curled on your couch with a bowl of popcorn, perfect to send your brain on vacation. You can just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.I couldn't find anything that I didn't like in this book, except maybe the whole denial/guilt trip Megan had going for her at the beginning. Okay, you feel bad, you think you're a complete loser, we get it, let's move on...But there was nothing extremely great about this book either, hence the average rating.I loved Braden, I love most all of them Breeds, but Braden was the first in this series that really made me laugh. They all have that tortured soul down to a T, but this guy didn't let it govern him too much and decided just to merely enjoy the life he's been given. Some of his one-liners were to die for and I found myself looking forward to his snappy repartees. No matter what, he always landed on his feet, maybe it was the DNA.As mentioned before, Megan was a bit iffy. It looked like Ms. Leigh couldn't quite decide what to do with her. Was she an empath whose ability was more of a curse than a gift, forcing her to live in isolation, avoid confrontations? Or was she someone who liked to be in the thick of it, fighting with all she was worth, loving a good argument as the next girl? The jumping from one to the next was a bit confusing and tiresome after a while.And why do (almost) all heroines have at least one family member in the Special Forces who helped with the Breed rescues? Does that make for a better bonding or something?I'm looking forward to read more about Megan's cousin, the sheriff...And Jonas. What to say about that guy but "When's his book coming out?". Gotta love the guy, although the silver eye thing is becoming a bit of a cliché. It's time for the authors to find some other turn-on attribute.Unlike the previous books where the characters had more or less center stage, this one was a little more action oriented and I must confess I've been itching for a fight (figuratively speaking). The whole Mating issues were put a little aside, not completely forgotten, because the phenomenon is still the driving force of the entire series, but the acceptance came a little easier, letting other particulars of the story emerge and lend a helping hand to the plot.So this time the combination was just right. There was drama, angst, sex, romance and action...If everything were blended together a little better, maybe it would've earned a higher rating.Still, this was a good book not to be missed by the fans of this hot little series. For those first-timers out there, I'd suggest (as always) to start at the beginning and work your way onward.
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.
What do You think about Megan's Mark (2006)?
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.
—Oleta Blaylock
This was as intense as the rest of the books in this series. I did like that Megan had gifts of her own and that Braden's complimented and made her's stronger. The story was made stronger by the fact that it was confined to the one place for the action. All of the women who become mates are strong but are restricted somewhat by their mate but this is not the case with Megan she get to be the woman she has always wanted to be, a kick ass law enforcement officer. This book was a little bit longer and not quite as exsplisite as the one's before it, but it is still a red hot read. One I would recommend to anyone.
—Kerry sullivan
Every now and then, something happens to you that reaffirms your faith in the essential goodness of humanity. A few weeks ago, Choupette said she would like to get acquainted with the Brigade Mondaine series which I have been so diligently promoting in my reviews. I sent her a package of assorted Michel Brice. She asked if I wanted any contribution towards postage, but I told her that I believed that my karmic investment was clear, and I would surely get my reward in due course. I was just curious to know what form it would take.The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)
—Manny
