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60 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed Yet Again, April 29, 2010
This review is from: Wild Fire (Leopards, No 4) (Mass Market Paperback)
I tried to give Ms. Feehan the benefit of the doubt after the brutalization of the female lead in Hidden Currents and purchased Wild Fire, as I have been a longtime fan of her Drake Sisters and Carpathian series and her stand-alone titles. However, I was again disheartened by the vivid descriptions of abuse of women in this book.
Most of us read paranormal romance for a good story, chemistry between the leads and as a little romantic vacation away from everyday life. The last thing I want to read about is some guy slitting a woman's throat, while having sex with her in front of an audience, after having brutalized her with a whip. (I wish I was joking but this was actually described, rather casually, on page 276 of the paperback. I seriously thought I was going to lose my dinner on that one.) Sadly, this wasn't the only scene that was unnecessarily explicit. The female lead was later savagely beaten and had her "feminine mound" and breasts intentionally clawed up by a leopard shifter.
As readers, we all comprehend that there are bad people in the world, including sadists and serial killers. However, we definitely don't need to be beaten over the head with graphic details thrown for shock value into a book we have bought for entertainment and we don't need to pay for them. We can get all the free reality checks we could ever need and then some by just turning on the news.
When I purchased Wild Fire, I was looking for a little romantic escape, but what I got was a mediocre leopard shifter romance strongly overshadowed by brutality and violence. It was a big disappointment.
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
long and no surprises, April 28, 2010
This review is from: Wild Fire (Leopards, No 4) (Mass Market Paperback)
possible spoilers in this review
first I gave this 3 stars because its not bad..its just not great. I'm one of the few that actually liked Burning Wild. I think Feehan made the writing darker to represent the wild leopards so I was able to deal with and enjoy it. Wild Fire doesnt do that. Conner Vega is the leopard that spent time with Drake in the US. He has returned to the amazon for a mission from his acting boss Rio(the first leopard book.)Coming back to the amazon means Conner has to deal with the mate he left behind-Isabeau Chandler. He betrayed her for a mission and as a result she did not accept him.
Ok so thats the set up. Unfortunatly, the story then gets long winded and boring. There are descriptions of the amazon and wildlife that were there for setting but too much to be of interest to me. Rio is in charge of the unit since Drake is MIA getting his legs fixed and i loved seeing his character again and watching his relationship with Conner. Feehan does a great job showing their friendship and how much they mean to each other. This was odd to me at times though since Elijah is on the team as well but readers are rarely given any dialogue between Rio and Elijah.(Elijah is brother to Rachel who is Rio's mate) Another sore point is the lack of mention of Rachel almost until the very end. Rio is in this so much you would expect him to mention at least missing his mate. (Isabeau is described as having tawny hair and half way through has red hair.)
Isabeau and Conner's relationship for some reason also never seemed real to me or maybe I just didnt see the love develop between them. I felt it on Conner's part with the whole you are my mate but not much on Isabeau's behalf since she is about to go fertile. Her feelings came across more as sexual than anything. at points this was a frustrating read because while there was action at times, the story would then be weighed down by meaningless dialogue as the characters rehashed stuff verbally that had already been spelled out in detail with the narration. Just an ok read,another chapter in the leopard story but not really memorable.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Disappointed, surprisingly., May 19, 2010
This review is from: Wild Fire (Leopards, No 4) (Mass Market Paperback)
Well, I have been a Christine Feehan fan for awhile and I have read all the books in all the series. I have been critical of the last couple of books in the Leopard, Drake Sisters and Game Series (Did not a lot of Burling Wild (Leopard Series #2) did not like the hero Jake Bannaconni ((However, Books #1 Wild Rain (Rio) & this Book #3 Wild Fire (Connor)-I liked!!!) and I absolutely did not like Hidden Currents (Drake Sisters #7). Game Series Book #8 Street Game, was just OK , also did not like the Hero, Mac. I love's me an Alpha Male, don't we all or we would not read these books, but they were not Alpha they were A$$es to me atleast, there is a difference. By the end of some books you grow to love or respect them (For example the de la Cruz brothers from the Dark series) for me that never happended with Jake and Mac from the other series.
The last few books in the (Carpathian) Dark Series have !Rocked! for me. Loved them they are my favorites in the long running series, you should check them out!!!
For Wild Fire, I thought Christine Feehan toned down the violence toward women (especially from their own men!!). What there was I thought was well written. The book was a little long due to descriptions of Rain Forest & yes, the fierce unblinking gaze of the leopard for the hundredth time, but I really liked the well written characters and their interactions together and seperate, the good guys and the villans (and dang they were really villians). What really made the book for me was the hero Conner and the heroine Isabeau. I liked their relationship and how it developed, they had already met and been together so they drew on that past experience but not so much it got boring, and the progression of them coming back together I liked how it unfolded. The action was great, and I like how the hero said at the end that it was a humbling experience, even though of course he won and the scenes where the Leopard Men had to help each other when in need were great, even when it was a kick in the rear for being stupid. Trying not to spoil the book for anyone, since there are so many spoilers in other reviews. This book will stand on its own and as a part of the series, and introduced characters I want to read about again and now cant wait for their books.
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