Kira MacDonald is in trouble. Plagued by false visions and erotic dreams of a man she-s never met, she fears losing both her psychic powers and her sanity. The cure? Finding and bonding with her mate. The stubborn red-haired warrior might not want one, but fate has other plans, plans that include her rescuing Lucas Gunn.

As the Guardian of his shape-shifting clan, Lucas Gunn lived a quiet, solitary life. Until he was kidnapped, examined, and tortured. Now imprisoned, his only tie to the outside world is the memory of his dreams and the passionate woman who appears in them. He thought she was nothing more than a vision. Then she came for him.

An uneasy alliance, a mating call that won-t be denied, rituals that must be honored, and unrelenting enemies who will stop at nothing to get what they want. It all comes together in the first of Eliza Gayle-s sensational Black Cougar Series. Passion and pride. Duty and danger. In the end, there-s really only one choice-for Lucas.

Lucas – Eliza Gayle (#1 Cougar Series)
February 2010
Paranormal Erotic Romance
E-Book
Phaze
Reviewed by Mandi

Kira is having oh so naughty dreams about a man – a stranger. This man in locked away in a cell and Kira has an overwhelming desire to find him and save him. When she has been in tough situations in the past, she uses her Tallon to open her psychic gift. However, recently that gift has started to decline. She is afraid her step-father will find out her gift is not working well, opening her up to revealing secrets of her clan, which would impose an immediate death sentence. More surprisingly, she is almost positive, the man locked away in that cell is her mate.

Lucas Gunn is a cougar shifter, and The Guardian for his clan. It is his duty to keep his clan secrets but if he didn’t get out of the cell soon, all would be lost. He is barely in control of his cougar and needs to shift soon. He is sharing the erotic dreams with Kira, yet he has no idea who the mystery woman is or why he is seeing her in his dreams.

Kira is a Marine Corps Intelligence Officer and is familiar with many of the larger bases. Analyzing her dreams with Lucas, she recognizes where he is being kept. She rushes in to save him, only for Lucas to think she is one of the bad guys. Lucas overpowers her and makes her help him escape.

Now that they have escaped, neither trusts the other. Kira knows Lucas is her mate, and all Lucas knows is that he can’t keep his sexual feelings for Kira under control. There is also the small problem of the rule that there is to be no interclan dating. When the the people responsible for capturing Lucas hunts them down in Lucas’ home turf, things start to get ugly. He will do anything to protect this sexy, mysterious woman that has grabbed a hold of his heart.

Lucas is a very sexy book – let’s just put that out there. Lucas’ cougar recognizes Kira as his mate, and Kira, with her psychic power knows Lucas is her mate from the get go. Their physical attraction and lust for each other scorch off the page from the first time they meet. They have that – “damn you are so hot, but I don’t know if I trust you” sex. Lucas is total alpha and it frustrates him that he has a red-tempered woman he is so hot after. Kira is no fragile flower and turns into some pretty explosive scenes in the bedroom. Lucas is also close with his half-brother Kane, and it is mentioned that in the past, these two have shared women. Eliza Gayle ups the ante with a little repeat of some Kane and Lucas action in this book, and the smutty hearts out there will be smokin’.

After all the sexin’ there is still a mystery surrounding why Lucas is captured and what they are after. The plot is a little weak and I was confused as to why Kira races to find Lucas, full well knowing he is her mate, and then once she has him back home, is terrified of him and wants nothing to do with him. She is also in a conundrum because once she starts the mating process, if she does not complete it, it starts to mess with her mind. She needs Lucas physically, but her mental process has not caught up yet.

Lucas’ older brother,Malcolm also plays an important role in this book. He is a very cold, cruel character, but there is a twist at the end that will have you wondering if he can be redeemed.

Even though Lucas is light on plot, it has plenty of hot love scenes. Kane’s book is up next and I’m interested to read his story.

Rating: 3/5

Recent Reviews:
Welcome to Larissa’s Life – 4/5
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Come back later today for a chat with Eliza Gayle and a chance to win Lucas!!