REVIEW: Rule Breaker by Lora Leigh

In Rule Breaker (Breeds #29) by Lora Leigh, Rule Breaker is a Lion Breed who has seen his share of pain and suffering. He’s made up his mind that if he ever senses his mate, he will do his best to turn the other way so outside forces can’t hurt her. Rule thinks his strong attraction to Gypsy is just that–attraction, not mating heat. But he simply can’t tell for sure until all hell breaks loose and he’s involved in a fight between his closest Breed members and Gypsy herself. Will the animal inside him give him the truth and the strength to do what’s right?

‘This was his mate. She was the man’s woman. The man’s heart. But she was the animal’s mate, and here, at this time, the animal ruled.’

Gypsy Rum has been involved with the Breeds since she lost her beloved brother when she was fifteen. With parents that seem to barely tolerate her and a younger sister of whom she’s overly protective, her friends in the Breeds community are her only source of compassion. Guilt still plagues Gypsy over her brother’s death and has driven her to make choices to help others any way she can. Her party girl image serves her well in her cause until Rule Breaker turns up in her life. Gypsy is drawn to him like no other. She doesn’t trust easily, and especially not bossy alpha males who want to take over her life completely. But will the pull toward Rule be too strong to deny?

‘She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Couldn’t believe she was actually throwing away her chance for redemption, for forgiveness–she was throwing it away for this Breed and a pleasure unlike anything she had known before.’

Rule Breaker is book twenty-nine in the long running Breeds series by Lora Leigh. Rule and Gypsy’s romance is complex, dark and extremely sexy. Being that this is so far into the series, it would be easier to understand the characters and the background of all of the Breeds if you have read any previous books. I unfortunately had not, so it was tough to find my way through the complicated maze of people and betrayals. I persevered and can say I am glad I finally made it to the end and got to see Gypsy and Rule’s HEA.

The storyline was quite interesting, I thought. Gypsy lost a close family member when she was a teenager and had to basically deal with that loss on her own. It changed her completely and she went on to try to help others in need. She never wanted to feel helpless again and became a strong, independent woman. Rule Breaker’s life is woven into Gypsy’s in a way that doesn’t become fully apparent until the end of their story. It’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Really…you’ll see! And the sexual tension between the two of them was very intense (and explicit). It made for some funny moments and some seriously hot moments as well.

The book starts off with that horrendous event and flashes forward to nine years later. There are still glimpses into what went on that fateful night throughout the story and we finally get the answer to who double-crossed who at the end. Admittedly, it is a rather *ahem* lengthy novel at almost four hundred and fifty pages. There probably were some scenes that could have been cut to make it more cohesive. But there were a lot of political and personal dealings going on behind the scenes between the many characters that add a lot of layers to the story. So, with such a complex plotline, I suppose I do understand why it was so long.

Overall, I think fans of paranormal/shifter romances will like Rule Breaker. Like I said, it would benefit the reader to check out other novels in this series before jumping in first. But, if like me, you start with this one, just be patient and you’ll get into Rule and Gypsy’s story before too long.

Book Info:

Publication: February 4th 2014 by Berkley | Breeds #29

Lion Breed and enforcer Rule Breaker has just a few rules he doesn’t break. Not for anything. Not for anyone—like never have sex with a woman outside his own breed, especially a human woman. Especially someone too helpless, too fun loving and too full of life to ever be able to protect herself, let alone help him to protect her.

If the damned animal inside him insists on a mate, then why pick her? A woman who is an easy target and who can be used as a weapon against him at any time.

But what he suspects is mating heat may not be that at all. Just his animal instincts rioting, pacing, irritated whenever he’s away from her.

Okay, he can handle that.

What ensues is a fiery affair that breaks all the rules of mating heat and will eventually endanger his mate with the very rules designed to protect the Breeds—for she’s possibly been working against them…