Leopard’s Prey (Leopard People #6) by Christine Feehan
Paranormal Romance
May 28, 2013
Jove

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “For your information, lookin’ good and relyin’ on your charm only carries you so far.”

Remy Boudreaux,  a leopard shapeshifter and New Orleans police homicide detective has his hands full when a series of horrific murders bring up memories of a killer from the past. Is this a copycat or has a serial killer begun hunting the bayou once again? Add in the fact that it was his sister, Saria, and her best friend, the newly arrived Bijou, who found the first body and Remy is hell bent on finding this killer before he sets his sights on those Remy loves.

Bijou Breaux has returned to New Orleans to settle her infamous rock star father’s estate and to take her singing career down a different path. Having bought a jazz club, Bijou seems ready to make New Orleans her permanent home again. Seeing Remy again brings back the intense crush she had for him as a child. Now, as an adult, Bijou see’s Remy through a woman’s eyes and likes very much what she sees, but trust is not something she gives easily.

Remy senses there is more to Bijou than meets the eye. His leopard is going insane to claim her even though Remy isn’t even sure she’s a shifter. When information comes to light that Bijou has her own problems that may shed light on the serial killer haunting the bayou, Remy decides to kill two birds with one stone. Find the killer and make Bijou all his own.

Leopard’s Prey is the sixth book in Christine Feehan’s Leopard People series. Though it’s part of a series and slightly expands some previously seen character’s storylines, it can be easily read as a stand alone.The premise of this story revolves around Remy Boudreaux and Bijou Breaux. Many readers, this one included, have waited a long time for Remy’s story. A leopard shapeshifter who takes being an alpha to the extreme, his need to protect is embodied in his life choices-a long stint in the military and now a homicide detective. From the first moment Remy sees Bijou again, his leopard fights him tooth and claw to get to her. This confuses and angers Remy as he is always in control of his leopard and his life. Combine that with a series of intriguing main conflicts, this should have been an action packed high octane romance. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver.

I found Remy to be an exhausting and somewhat unattractive personality. He is a mega alpha. He spends a majority of his time chasing or chastising Bijou; showing extreme jealousy when someone else even looks at her and always angry that she doesn’t say how high when he says jump. Of course, we are assured that this is because Bijou is his mate and he will be much better once she accepts him.

Uh huh.

Bijou started out interesting and I thought I would really like her. But as the story progresses, we never really get to know her. She has her moments of independance, but too often she just lets Remy have his way, providing minimal fuss. And the trembling. She was always trembling about something. She is overwhelmed in here and I believe that was the fault of Remy. His personality almost engulfs her.  We don’t really see her as a separate entity and that was disappointing because the first five books in this series had such dynamic male and female leads that were well defined and separate individuals.

The sexual scenes between Remy and Bijou was also a complete turn off. Especially the first one. Remy knows Bijou has no idea she is a leopard and that she is also a virgin. So what does he do? He has rough sex with her over and over the entire night but chooses not to tell her why she can’t seem to control her libido around him. Or rather, he uses his raging libido as an excuse to keep her in the dark.

 He was far too experienced not to recognize that she was innocent., but his leopard didn’t care, and neither did hers. His hand moved over her of their own accord, shaping all that soft exposed skin. His. She was his, now and for all time. […] He had to kiss her. Had to touch her. Their choices were long gone.

The old, “I can’t control myself” excuse. And this sets the scene for them. Long, rough, hard sex and no explanations. It’s only when Bijou experiences her first shifter change and her leopard furiously rejects Remy, striking out at him in anger, does he finally realize he may have handled the whole situation badly and attempts some damage control.

 The female whirled around, ears flat to her head, snarling , warning him off. He kept a respectful distance. Bijou was totally angry at him and her cat protected her, even to warn off her mate. […] He cuffed at her, letting her know he found her alluring and beautiful. She snarled again and took a swipe…

 

Usually Feehan writes some very sensual and heartfelt scenes, but there is a lack of emotional connection in here that made me question the relationship. Feehan doesn’t even try to romance this couple. Remy wants Bijou and Remy takes Bijou. Repeatedly. Very physical (though we aren’t gifted with extreme visible scenes) with multiple descriptions of how bruised, marked up, and tired Bijou looks from the constant sex.  How Remy can’t wait to be inside of her again.  I honestly never felt anything between them beyond a physical attraction. Every time they think about each other, it’s in terms of how beautiful and sexy they are to one another.  I was never convinced Remy ever stopped seeing her as a child or that Bijou ever stopped seeing Remy as her knight in shining armour. The plot and main conflict suffer because of this. Both were underdeveloped felt rushed under the romance.

The multiple mysteries of the storyline are confusing. As the book focuses on Remy and Bijou, we only get bits and pieces of those storylines and the various wrap ups were anti climatic. We don’t get enough information to any of them to make the plotlines easy to follow. A lot seems to happen off scene. Even the serial killer was a let down as his reasons for killing people is just weird. The ending comes hard and fast, leaving me feeling like I missed a crucial element in the story.

The main problem I had with this story and Feehan’s work in general is that her heroes fall into one of  two groups. Always the extreme alpha; they will either be somewhat calm and view their females as an equals, or overly dominate and force their will upon their females. You never know which type you’re going to get from book to book and it makes for uneasy reading. This one fell under the second category of heroes and was disappointing.

Overall Rating: D

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