Bengal’s Quest by Lora Leigh (Breed #30)
Paranormal Romance
June 23, 2015
Berkley

Reviewed by Helyce

This is Gideon’s story. A shadow of a character introduced around book 7 or so, though we really had no idea of him except very softly in the periphery until more recently where he became an important character in the story arc that involved the fight to save Jonas’s daughter, Amber. Gideon, raised in a lab, was given special treatment when a council scientist became aware that Gideon was a scientific genius and likely held the answers to several of the theories the Breed scientists were trying to discern with their torture type testing.  But Gideon was smart enough to know, even as young as he was, that at some point he’d outlive his usefulness and he’d find himself on the wrong end of the lab.  So when the opportunity arose, he escaped, leaving behind his brother and a young female breed named Cat.

Cat could not believe that her beloved G would leave her alone.  She held on to the hope that he would come back and rescue her.  He never did.  So, when she and G’s brother were taken from the labs and it became clear that they were being sent off to be eliminated, she let out the beast within, the beast that G had taught her how to hide, and quickly eliminated the guards.

Now, years later, Gideon is ready to claim the woman who is his mate.  Cat could never have known that giving Gideon her blood would set off the mating heat in him, causing Gideon to suffer for years until Cat was old enough to understand and accept him as her mate as well. He has his work cut out for him though.  Cat doesn’t trust him.  He left her and forgiveness is not going to come easy.If you have not read this series, it is likely that this book will not make much sense to you.  It is definitely not a stand alone in my opinion. The story of Cat/Claire, Fawn, Judd and Gideon/Graeme started in book 7 (I think) when  the remains of three young teens are found in the desert. There is an intricate back story involving a cover up and of course there is much deception and intrigue surrounding it all.  But we don’t see or hear much about these characters for several books until the story arc about saving Amber, Jonas’s daughter, comes into play and our beloved breeds trek back to Window Rock, New Mexico to reveal a mystery and hopefully get their hands on a cure for Amber.

All that aside this was supposed to be the story of Cat reuniting with her beloved G after years of being apart.  She never really gave up on him, the bonds of their mating starting years before she was mature enough to understand why she always knew on some deep level within her heart that Gideon was hers.  As she grew up, she wished for him, called out to him under the stars, begging him to come for her.  He never did. When Graeme shows up, there is something familiar about him and as Cat is around him more and more, and he slowly lets her see his true self, she realizes that this is her Gideon, only she’s not ready to let him in.

I was so excited for Gideon/Graeme’s story.  We’d met him a few books back and his secretive persona promised so much more.  Gideon is special, a breed like no other.  Breeds are not shifters, they do not turn in their animal.  Their animal is simply a part of them; but Gideon has Breed traits I’d not seen before.  I would have loved it if this could have been explored more.  It is clear that Gideon was a scientific genius as he was instrumental in creating the serum that saved Amber’s life. My love of this series has always been rooted to the scientific side of it, but other than being told how special Gideon is, we are not exposed in any great detail to exactly what he can do.  Then there is the mating heat; one of the defining characteristics of the Breeds. When that attraction starts, and that first kiss is given and the hormones are passed from one to the other, they are supposed to be inseparable. While previous books have berated us with this phenomenon, in this story Gideon and Cat hardly experience it at all, ever after we are told Gideon is supposed to have been in heat since the blood transfusion from Cat 13 years before.  Perhaps his advanced physiology allowed him to function but clearly this should have been explained.  Even after they become lovers there is none of the longing that has always been expressed in previous books. This love that started in the labs when Cat was too young to know it, should have been an epic explosion by Breed standards and it so was not!

I have followed this series from the beginning.  Through all the good, the bad, the missing chapters in print books, the horrible editing (or complete lack thereof), the fact that at times there was no correlation between a release and anything that had happened before.  I have stuck it out, and dealt with the disappointment I might feel after finishing a book for the simple reason that I am waiting, rather patiently since we are at the 30th book, for Cassie’s book.  I am holding out because dammit, Leigh has teased us relentlessly with the character named Cassie who is supposed to be so special that I would venture to guess that any diehard Breed reader is only continuing on for exactly the same reason; Cassie’s story.

Dear Ms. Leigh, please do not disappoint us. Please give us the story that Cassie deserves.

Rating: C-

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