– Customer review on 07/06/2006

When I make choc-chip cookies they are mostly choc-chip and hardly any cookie. Well, that’s what this book is like: mostly sex with a bit of plot. I’ve read one of Leigh’s short stories, which had a lot more plot than this novel, and a lot more humour, so Leigh obviously has more to offer than she does in ‘Tempting the Beast’. The Feline Breeds series is about the hidden results of genetic experiments. One such result is Callan Lyons and his ‘tribe’, whose DNA has been genetically enhanced with that of various big cats. Journalist Merinus Tyler goes in search of Callan, to bring him into public knowledge so that he can be protected from the council, the people who had started the program. Instead, to both their bewilderment, Callan and Merinus find themselves involved in a mating frenzy—and herein lies the majority of the plot—as soul mate discovers soul mate. Leigh shows a lot of promise in her characterisations, and Callan is something special, but be warned, if you don’t like explicit sex or explicit language, you will probably not enjoy this book.

– Customer review on 29/05/2011

Merinus Tyler is a talented journalist, a real professional who always gets her story. That is, she gets the story when her overprotective father and six feisty, interfering brothers aren't hampering her, insisting she stay out of trouble and away from dangerous situations. But dangerous situations make excellent copy. Merinus works for the National Forum, where her oldest brother Caleb is editor-in-chief, and she is obsessed with a lead on a potential story. She had seen a photograph of a man, Callan Lyons, who was the product of a genetic experiment. He had been conceived in a test tube, carried to term by a surrogate mother, Dr. Maria Morales, inheriting the genes of the animal his DNA had been altered with - a lion. He looks like a normal man, has the feelings of a man, but has all the instincts and hunting abilities of a lion. He was bred to be a killer; an almost perfect weapon to be used by the military. Dr. Morales had been a very close friend of John Tyler, Marinus' father. After Morales' recent death, a murder, all her papers, including the genetic project's documentation on breeding, were sent to Tyler, at her bequest. Reading these papers, Merinus saw a photograph of Lyons and couldn't get his face out of her mind. She desperately wanted to meet him, ostensibly to learn about his life, and to persuade him to come forward to testify against the secret Genetics Council, which had conducted so many illegal experiments and caused so much suffering. Kane Tyler, one of Merinus' brothers, an ex-Special Forces commander, finally agrees to accompany his sister, doubting very much if she will get her interview with the reclusive Lyons.

– Customer review on 18/04/2010

This is the book that started the whole breed series. Callan is the leader of his pride and Merinus is his curious mate and it's not long before these two characters are involved in a heated affair but then they find out about the mating heat. The whole concept of the breed society is a fascinating storyline and highly addictive. Lots of sizzling love scenes, intense feelings and emotions, evil monsters and constant danger are all a part of this fantasy world. Amazing read.