One of my favorite series and Leopard’s Scar has now moved up to the top! I honestly don’t know how Christine can pull so much emotion in her characters but she finds a way.

Two very damaged Leopards rely upon each other to get out of a hot zone, with little to no trust they have to utilize their skills to get to safety.

Christine used humor, and compassion to bring these leopards together. Deception and danger around every corner. Each chapter brings them closer together as they face their missions and the realism that they are mates.

Loved every page and wanting more!

LEOPARD’S SCAR-Christine Feehan
Berkeley Romance
ISBN: 9780593547694
November 29, 2022
Contemporary Romance

Venezuelan Jungle, New Orleans, San Antonio, and Russia- Present Day

Meiling Chang stared into the open grave, if you can call it a grave, at the women that had been killed. One of those women had been Libby, her cousin, the woman she had been searching for but she was too late. She is determined to killed the men who did it but as a new man enters the picture and talks to the man in charge of trafficking women, Meiling hesitate. He is a shifter she is sure.

Gedeon Volkov is a man who is feared. He is on a job when he becomes aware that women are being trafficked. One moment he is standing there the next he shifts and his leopard kills the man he is there to do business with. He rushes into the cabin to kill the guards. There are three cabins and as he makes his way to the second cabin to kill the guards, Meiling and him hear the gun shots, they are killing the women. Gedeon’s leopard runs to the third cabin but it is too late, all the women are dead.

Gedeon shifts back to his human form and dissolves in tears. Meiling watched the whole thing in horror amazed that such a dangerous man could care about the abused women. It is then that Meiling sees one of the guards, still alive but barely, reach for something; it is a device to set off some explosives. Meiling steps out of the shadows and warns Gedeon. He sees and hears Meiling and set off to kill her, he leaves no witnesses that he can shift. Gedeon shifts to his leopard and he is off after her away from the bomb but it is too late. He is hurt and Meiling helps him.

LEOPARD’S SCAR is a brutal, raw and violent story. Gedeon has special gifts even for a leopard shifter and Meiling who did not know she had a leopard has special gifts as well. Meiling does not like shifters because of their history of killing their female mates but when she helps Gedeon she realizes that some of them may not be all that bad.

The best thing about LEOPARD’S SCAR is the relationship between Meiling and Gedeon. They start off as best friends and when Meiling’s leopard starts to rise, she goes into heat and their relationship evolves. The story is a stand alone book in Ms. Feehan’s leopard series. LEOPARD’S SCAR is an exciting and interesting book that is worth reading.

One of the best of the leopard series so far. I love Feehan's writing but I have trouble buying into the premise of several of the leopard books. Bad Guys that have a code, so they aren't really bad. But this story was lovely and I genuinely liked Gideon and his Lotus. Their problems were believable, and the choices they made understandable. The settings lent to the plot, and having characters from previous novels make cameo's is always fun

I really enjoyed Leopard's Scar. I felt that it was a great continuation of the Leopard series.
This latest installment of the series started off with really establishing Meiling and Gedeon as independent from any lair and it helped give a fresh feeling to the series. It wasn't until nearly halfway through the book that we actually have any other shifters playing a major role in the story. While it's always nice to "catch up" with previous characters, I think it helped set the characters up as loners. The story also uses that time to build up their relationship. While attraction is instantly mutual, their friendship and business relationship came first which made sense considering the character's backgrounds.
Once they finally give in to their feelings, Feehan brings the steam and it comes across as more authentic and meaningful than instalove stories do.
Feehan fans will love Leopard's Scar and I can definitely see recommending this book to readers new to her stories.

First Impressions
I have to say that when I saw this title on the Netgalley catalog, I was so thrilled and so captivated by the COVER! Of course, I adore this series and it’s one of my favorites from this author, but I knew this one would be an amazing read and I can safely say that I absolutely ADORED this title in every single way. And definitely hits some of my top favorites of the series. This story was highly intense and it really keeps the reader on the edge of their seat all the way. This one will contain some difficult themes and there is a big one that will push the limits of some readers, and even though it did detract lightly from my overall enjoyment, I still loved this book deeply and Christine Feehan handled it very well. We also get to see this book take place in locales all over the world and get some diverse characters and that is always a plus. I dearly adored the way in which this author implemented the story and grew the relationship. This is NOT an instant love type of story, this has much more depth and growth than I ever expected, but Christine Feehan delivers on all counts with this one!

Summary
The gist of the story is that Meiling, is searching for her found family sister who has gone missing in the jungle of South America, and she is determined to find her. But then she discovers her sister and is dead and Meiling is determined to get to the bottom of her death which leads her to an encampment, and through a course of events she finds herself saving the life of a Leopard Shifter, Gedeon. They decide to make a go of a partnership together, in rescuing innocents and bringing criminals to justice. After spending time together for six months, it’s evident that there is much more happening in their relationship that is subconscious but neither of them has acted on what they feel for each other. Gedeon has had to use sex to calm his beast, and even though Meiling has very unique talents in calming his leopard, he still has a fierce need, and unfortunately caving to the need meant hurting the one woman he wishes he could make the final connection with. Tensions build between them and it will take a catalyst to bring these two beings together in the ultimate mating, but will Gedeon be able to rebuild trust and prove to Meiling he is there for good and will stay true to her this time?

What I Loved
There were so many aspects to the story here that really worked out for me. I absolutely adored “Leopard’s Scar” and I really enjoyed how this one was written. One of the more unique aspects is that this isn’t an instant love connection. The romance is built over a span of a year, so I really enjoyed that. Most romance authors don’t write longer span periods of a romance happening. What results in this is a solid partnership, seeing Meiling and Gedeon being able to work together as a team before more happens between them. Although there is always the undercurrent of sexual attraction. Their relationship takes a twist with the decisions that Gedeon makes which result in hurting Meiling. But when one of their jobs turns them to Louisianna and the Leopards there, unresolved issues come to the surface. We get to see some of our favorite characters such as Drake, Jake, Tumur, and Alonzo. It was such a fun time getting back to these characters, and seeing them with their mates and families. It was really interesting to see how the romance was built here. I loved the build of the emotion and the sexual tension throughout the story and the climax of the story was one of the best that I have seen in this series. It was so EPIC and so well done. And when Gedeon finally gets his act together, it brings together one of the most captivating and endearing scenes I have ever seen from this author. I was so easily caught up in the intense moment between them, and seeing him finally fight for his “woman” was truly monumental. I enjoyed the grovel, because there was such sincerity within it and I was fine with it not being super dragged out. Grovel’s don’t need to be dragged out, they just need to have honest sincerity and that happened in spades within this story. I also really liked how the danger and suspense plotlines were grown through the story and the way everything comes together.

What I Struggled With
So there is one major aspect to this story that I struggled with and I detract half a star for, and I will be getting into spoilers here, but there is cheating of sorts in this one. Now the cheating happens before they are official together and mated. So its before, but there is an attraction between them so it does happen in the midst of something more occurring between them. So this will really push the boundaries of some readers. Christine Feehan handles this element super well and it did work for me. I did appreciate in the way it was written.

Overall View
I found Leopard’s Scar to be an intense growth of characterizations, plotlines of drama and thrilling edges built up just right, and a sensual affaire of the heart that is determined to push the boundaries in such a way to cultivate the heart of the romance and endearing emotion! ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

Leopard's Scar is a fabulously unique and marvelously heart-wrenching journey that showed me the simplistic and effortless beauty of love and life amid the horror and suffering that will always exist in this world. Good can truly conquer as long as there are people who will choose the hard path to deal with the ugly and fight for the innocent. Allowing evil to fester and grow will only make life harder than it needs to be. I dare you to open your heart and allow your courage and love to out shine and overpower the darkness that surrounds us each day. It will be absolutely amazing what all we could accomplish!

Meiling hides in the shadow and moves with wicked stealth to not only stay alive, but to keep the ones she loves alive and breathing. She knows the danger and darkness that hides around each corner, and she does what she can to shelter the innocent. When her life violently collides with Gedeon, she is at a loss for words, but she will not let him come to undue harm. One simple act of compassion will tear through Meiling's life and turn everyone on its head. Just when the unthinkable happens to Gedeon, an angel is sent to look over an unworthy soul such as him. Can these two people who barely live within the light be able to fight the coming evil that threatens all they hold dear. or will they find themselves thrown head first into the iion's den with no shield or even a sword to protect themselves?

To say I was shocked to discover just who Meiling and Gedeon are is the biggest understatement of the year. I have been dying for Meiling's story, and now I was finally savoring each word. What an enormous treasure to say the least! Gedeon made this story so much more sultry and passionate. While be believes he doesn't know how to love, he couldn't be further from the truth. His heart was just waiting for the right woman to come along. Now that they have found each other, their biggest trial will be to convince Meiling to stay. While he might have captured her heart, she knows that feeiings can get her killed or worse. I loved how Gedeon slowly but surely lured Meiling to him and he refused to let her go no matter what happened. He couldn't bare to be without her. She was his morning star, his heart, and his very life.

What can I say that I haven't already about the incomparable and extraordinary Christine Feehan? She lights up my world with her incredible imagination. Not only that, but she knows just how to rip open my heart and reshape it to her heart's desire each and every time I pickup one of her books. Without fail, she blows my mind and obliterates my heart with her always original and delightfully unique characters who never fail to leave me happy, hungry and wanting so much more!

This was my first book in the Leopard Series, so i went in not knowing what really to expect.

I really enjoyed Meiling and Gedeon's story. It took me a minute to get into the story and I wanted to knock some since into Gedeon, but I really enjoyed the slow burn building of their relationship. Most of these fated love/mates stories are insta love or insta hate. So it was refreshing to see it slowly develop as they became partners and friends first.

I'm curious about the others in the series now,so i will most likely go back and read them now

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. all opinions are my own.

Holy COW! I don't know how else to describe Ms. Christine Feehan's new book Leopard's Scar, than one of her absolute best books!

Leopard's Scar will have you up and cheering one minute, then rearing to go, ready to remove some males' favorite anatomy parts after they are not so kindly removed from our world - and I don't think I have EVER read a Ms. Feehan book that has actually had me wanting to do bodily harm to another person, let alone a GROUP of people.

Ms. Feehan is a true master at bringing out emotions you don't realize you have at the forefront of your mind, so if you aren't ready for a good laugh (you WILL laugh in this book), or throwing things across the room because someone opened a door and disturbed you; or if you're not even in the right clothes and don't want your make-up disturbed from crying too much (because there WILL be TONS of crying), then this book is not for you. However, if you think you can handle these warnings and put your big girl panties on, then this book would be absolutely perfect for a weekend getaway read, and lose yourself for a few hours, and fall in love with an all-new tall, dark, and handsome book boyfriend, by the #queenofparanormalromance, Christine Feehan.

I really enjoyed Meiling and Gedeon's story. This was a slow burn, highly unusual in this more insta-love and fated mates story. It was great to see them become partners and friends before becoming lovers.
The villains were somewhat two-dimensional, but they tend to be so in this series. The continued violence against women is tough to read. Definitely check the trigger warnings because the first chapter is a tough read.
Overall, an intriguing and compelling read I finished in one sitting.

TW: human trafficking, sexual violence against women (off page)

My favourite book of the series. Stunningly original and Leopard Boy and Lotus Blossom were both compelling and dynamic. Loved it.