Book 1), Wild Card (Elite Ops

Nathan Malone is a Navy SEAL. He is leaving his new wife, Sabella. Nathan's mission was to rescues three girls from a Colombian drug cartel, uncover the mole, and get out. Instead Nathan is captured and almost every bone in his body is broken. Nathan is lucky to be alive. Nathan has a new identity...Noah Blake. Nathan is fine with never seeing his wife again but when he learns that Sabella is in trouble with the Black Collar Militia, he can not just stand by and do nothing. Only how long with Nathan let Sabella believe that Nathan is dead and there is only Noah?

Wild Card makes me want to sign up for my own Navy SEAL man. This is one steamy read. Noah and Sabella sizzle together. Sabella is one strong woman. She is Noah's type. I am surprised however that Sabella did not realize that Noah was her husband sooner. I love that Sabella was loyal to her husband and did not just give in to Noah instantly. She did fight her desires for him in memory of her husband. However, it would be hard to resist for too long with a guy like Noah, especially when he is tempting Sabella along the way. After reading this book, I will now have to go back and read all the other books in this series.

This one is a keeper. One of those books that you can't stop reading and then find yourself sad as you approach the end because you don't want it to be over. Wild Card is a beautiful romance with scorching hot love scenes, plenty of action and a sexy alpha male hero that literally jumps off the pages at you. Bound in leather chaps and just daring you to get on the back of his Harley. What an escape.

Navy Seal Nathan Malone was happily married to his young wife Sabella. His last mission was supposed to be simple, infiltrate a Columbian drug cartel and rescue three young girls. But things went disastrously wrong and Nathan finds himself at the hands of Diego Fuentes the evil crime lord. He is held captive for 3 years, pumped full of experimental drugs, tortured and beaten beyond recognition. When he's finally rescued there isn't much left of the man he used to be. Scared inside and out, Nathan now feels that he's too damaged and violent to ever return to his wife and joins a team of covert ops. After several reconstructive surgeries Nathan Malone becomes Noah Blake aka Wildcard. The man his wife loved is now gone forever.

Several years later a new mission (ironically enough) takes Noah back to his hometown and puts him undercover as a mechanic in Sabella's garage. He'd assumed that after 6 years his wife would have moved on with her life but she hasn't ever let Nathan go. After learning of Nathan's death Sabella didn't leave the house for 3 years, barely functioning, she dreams of him. There's is a love that will last forever, she tells herself. Only after almost losing their home and business does she manage to pull herself together enough to rejoin the world. Sabella initially has no idea that the sexy new Harley riding mechanic is her dead husband but something draws her to him and awakens feelings she had thought long buried. Nathan is stunned that Sabella isn't the agreeable little wallflower that he remembers as his wife anymore. Where did this tough, no nonsense woman come from?

This establishes the characters into their plotlines and that's when the story really gets going. The sex scenes are amazingly hot but they are also filled with such tenderness and longing that you will simply sigh. Lora Leigh pushes the boundaries further each time Noah and Bella are together and just when you think they couldn't possibly do anything else sexually, that it's just going to be another sex scene, she manages to make it different and even more exciting. The running internal dialogue is also well done here and heartbreaking as Noah struggles with the ghost of the man he used to be and Sabella tries to not let on that she knows who he really is. The endings full of suspense and I wasn't certain until the last few pages if our couple would truly get their HEA or if our testosterone filled hero would leave again.

For an erotic Romance this is a very involved story and surprisingly long at 415 pages. Lora Leigh however had me enamoured from beginning to end and I feel that this is some of her best work. The unconditional love between the main characters was beautifully written, the story interesting and suspenseful. My only complaint would be the few sloppy mistakes overlooked by her editor.

This is a story that I won't soon forget. Highly recommended.

It's now been a few days since I finished reading Wildcard and an interesting thing has happened. I can no longer remember the sex scenes but I still find myself thinking about the love story.
Go Siorai, Forever my soul.

Sabella Malone had been incredibly happy married to her SEAL husband Nathan until the day came when she was told he wasn't coming home from his latest mission. For the first three years, she couldn't function. She kept having these horrific nightmares that were filled with blood and death, but always had the feeling Nathan hadn't perished. She felt he was hurting and that she was his lifeline, but never that he had actually died. When the garage was in danger of going under, she was forced to pull herself up, and start functioning again. Belle couldn't allow something that Nathan loved be taken from her. She had already lost too much.

Nathan Malone had been to hell, and when rescued, he wasn't sure he could survive the torture he had endured. Only the thought of his soul mate Sabella, and his memories of their short two years together got him through. A part of him wanted to go to her, and be with her, but he didn't think she could handle the changes in him. Due to the physical torture, he had undergone so many surgeries that he lost count. He barely resembled his former self. The mental torture had changed him also. He was no longer Nathan Malone.

It had been six long years since he had seen his Bella, but when his team was notified of the danger surrounding her, he was about to confront the past he had forced behind him. Nathan was shocked when he saw Bella. He had expected her to grieve, and then move on with her life, but obviously she hadn't. She was still missing her husband. Apparently she like he, remembered the vows they exchanged Go siorai - forever...................

I have read all the books in this series, and this is my favorite by far. Bella and Nathan make such an appealing couple. Even though they got to spend only a couple of years together, and didn't know each other as well as they thought, the love was so powerful - was a bond that could not be broken. Even though it may sound like an old cliché, in this emotional story love does conquer all. Very erotic and sensual read with enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Sabella Malone had been incredibly happy married to her SEAL husband Nathan until the day came when she was told he wasn't coming home from his latest mission. For the first three years, she couldn't function. She kept having these horrific nightmares that were filled with blood and death, but always had the feeling Nathan hadn't perished. She felt he was hurting and that she was his lifeline, but never that he had actually died. When the garage was in danger of going under, she was forced to pull herself up, and start functioning again. Belle couldn't allow something that Nathan loved be taken from her. She had already lost too much.

Nathan Malone had been to hell, and when rescued, he wasn't sure he could survive the torture he had endured. Only the thought of his soul mate Sabella, and his memories of their short two years together got him through. A part of him wanted to go to her, and be with her, but he didn't think she could handle the changes in him. Due to the physical torture, he had undergone so many surgeries that he lost count. He barely resembled his former self. The mental torture had changed him also. He was no longer Nathan Malone.

It had been six long years since he had seen his Bella, but when his team was notified of the danger surrounding her, he was about to confront the past he had forced behind him. Nathan was shocked when he saw Bella. He had expected her to grieve, and then move on with her life, but obviously she hadn't. She was still missing her husband. Apparently she like he, remembered the vows they exchanged Go siorai - forever...................

I have read all the books in this series, and this is my favorite by far. Bella and Nathan make such an appealing couple. Even though they got to spend only a couple of years together, and didn't know each other as well as they thought, the love was so powerful - was a bond that could not be broken. Even though it may sound like an old cliché, in this emotional story love does conquer all. Very erotic and sensual read with enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Wild Card picks up with the rescue of Navy SEAL Nathan Malone. The problem is that Nathan has been tortured and drugged so long will he ever completely recover? Nathan is convinced that he no longer exists as the man as many once knew and loved so he assumes and new identity and has them notify his wife that he has died. But, the one thing he has never forgotten is his vows to Bella and his love for her. So while he is a new, harder man, Noah will have a hard time with his latest assignment. Now Bella is directly in the path of a terrorist organization (the Black Collar Militia) and Noah will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

Bella has mourned Nathan for three long years, and then she decided to do everything she could to save their home and business. She struggles with dating, as she still feels connected to Nathan, even though she never let him see the real inside of her. But now the mysterious Noah is stirring up all those feelings, and leaving her unsettled in her life and thoughts.

Will Noah and Bella allow their fiery passion for each other to fulfill its destiny or will the Militia kill them all first?

Let me start by saying wow, wow, wow, as that is all I could think of when finishing Wild Card. I have to admit I think I cried for the first 50 pages of the story. Ms. Leigh goes down a darker path in Wild Card than she has in many of her other books; she deals with the aftermath of torture and almost hopelessness.

Tanya
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Really liked this Nathan / Noah charater. Only draw back was that it took 'years' and some sort of immediate danger to his wife for him to wake up. Also found it hard to believe that he would not personnelly check up on his wife during this period. All is not OK at home and he seems surprised that his friends and family did not protect Bella as he thinks that they should have.

Nathan's life ended when he was captured / drugged and almost killed in the events from the Seal Series. His body survied and he has been crawling out of the hole ever since. Did not want to reconnect with his wife because - well can't really explain that one.

New bad guys, wife / brother-family in danger. Nathan - now called Noah is on the team. Of course the love for his wife has always been there and roars to life. But Noah still feels that he is not good enough for her and when this mission is over, he'll be walking away.

Bella was very young when they married. She has grown up alot and is willing to fight for what she wants both business and pleasure.

Overall really liked this story, even though Noah was a dunce thinking he would ever re-walk away from Bella. Not too much mystery to the 'bad guys' but some good suspense and 'danger' thrown into this love story.

418 pages.

Dear Berkley: I believe you are making a ton of money off Lora Leigh's work. Please spend a bit of that profit hiring a better proofing editor. Print and kindle versions are missing at least 2-3 pages of her storyline on page 300 destroying any hope of pulling off a credible climax to the book. Lora Leigh's books are worthy of better. When I read them, I immerse myself in the Breed world and any mistake on your part pulls me from the story (bad bad), had me rereading to see if I missed something (no), and then having to use my own imagination to fill in the blanks (irritating). Hence, see one disappointed customer that is ticked she paid 8 bucks for a book that's ratings are being destroyed by your error. Do better next time. Sincerely, disgruntled customer

Dear Lora Leigh: I love your Breed world. You have a fan for life for this series. Good, bad, ugly - I buy these books. Word of advice: Please take a moment to edit and track your storyline. My first complaint: Mica and Navarro do not talk to each other to resolve any major emotional difficulty. You did an excellent job of putting their emotions out there and letting them bleed, but you didn't have them talk to each other for a resolution that would allow them a deep, intimate emotional connection. Throughout the story they bicker and have irrelevant dialogue. Characters must change and Navarro does, but he never confides in Mica. Instead, they had fabulous sex multiple times (my compliments on that) and Mica settles for "I Love You" and we're done. No, we are not. To top that off, you allow Cassie to hijack the story at the end instead of allowing your characters to perform the central action, then add a useless epilogue that did nothing to resolve these problems. Further, I never got the urgency or the plot behind why the bad guys wanted Mica so bad. As a hostage for trade, that didn't work so well. Also, I suspect something was intended to threaten Cassie, but that information didn't come across. Those reasons needed to be layered better to pull off the utter threat and urgency of the first twenty pages of the book. I waited and waited to see that and didn't. Also, I'm so sorry to say this - the Brandemire plot with all of Sanctuary's spies made the Breeds look weak and incompetent and it was annoying as heck. Frankly, I gave a sigh of relieve that he died and you'll move on to something else in the next book. That said, my compliments on the physical relationship between Navarro and Mica - well written as always. Sincerely, your loyal fan

Note to readers: Of all the problems, the Berkley issue with the copy edits was the MOST annoying, so be prepared when you pick up this book. There's great sex, lots of action, a huge mistake and no real emotional resolution.

I don't know what it is about this book, but I can't get it out of my thoughts. I have very conflicting feelings about it. I know that it is considered erotica and it is that, but I realized it would have been a better romance had it not been. She focused so much on the sex, I wanted more adventure/romantic suspense. I feel like had she gone that route with the story then it would have been more of a 5 star read for me. As for the hero, I liked him and then I didn't like him at times. I won't go into the whole plot, but it infuriated me that he wanted his wife to move on with Noah yet he didn't "really" want her to get over Nathan. Sure, he had the whole alpha-male thing going on, but at times it felt like he was a brute/jerk to the heroine. As for the sex scenes, I wanted him to be more loving/gentle with the heroine. As for the story, it felt believable to a point, but the whole whore's dust and lasting effects on Noah (he had a raging hard-on most of the time) pissed me off as did the female villian. It knocked the believability factor (which attracted me to the book in the first place) down for me. I will say one thing, scenes from this book will stay with you long after reading it.

Wild Card by Lora Leigh
4 1/2 stars

Lora Leigh has a reputation for writing books that are so steamy it is a wonder your hands don't singe while reading her books. This book while not as erotic as some of her books sure packs a lot of heat, too! In this novel, Navy SEAL Nathan Malone goes on a mission to rescue 3 girls but the mission goes wrong and he is tortured and maimed. When he is finally rescued he has changed into a man dark and ashamed. He decides not to contact his wife, who already believes he died. After reconstructive surgery, Nathan, now known as Noah, finds his way back to his wife where he is involved in another mission.
Bella does not realize Noah is actually her husband and feels guilt over her attraction to him. But soon Bella realizes that Noah is her husband. However, she knows that Noah intends to leave her again once his mission is completed. As you can imagine there is a lot of tension between the 2 until the confusion of the situation resolves itself. This novel has a lot of drama, heat, and anguish. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

Reviewed by Steph at Bookaholics Romance Book Club

This story happens at the same time and is somewhat related to Isabelle and Malachi's story from "Tied With A Bow." This was not as good as the others but it kept you on the edge of your seat. Jonas did it again with the matchmaking. His mate's sister Diane was getting a bit reckless so he found the breed to mate her with and it so happens it was one of his right hand men Lawe Justice. They are on their way to help his twin and the group with him at the Navajo Nations where they are trying to find Gideon and the missing test subjects to find out a cure to help Jonas's daughter Amber because she is getting sicker now and Jonas will do anything in his power to find a cure to save her life.

SYNOPSIS:
Sabella Malone was only 20 years old when her Navy SEAL husband left on a mission and never returned home. Six years later Bella is managing to hang on to her garage and her home by the skin of her teeth. When her brother-in-law Rory hires a new mechanic Bella takes one look at him and wants that man gone from her life. The trouble is that Noah Blake isn't even remotely what he seems to be. It's up to Noah and the other members of the Elite Ops team to uncover the leaders of the secret vigilante group who are killing both legal and illegal aliens and the undercover government agents trying to infiltrate their organization.

OPINION: My rating for this book is actually 3.5 stars.
Can a book have too many sex scenes in it? My answer here is an absolute yes. The beginning of this book was wonderful. The ending of this book was wonderful. Those were the parts where there was an actual plot which was being carried out. The rest of the book was nothing but one sexual episode after another between Noah and Sabella. It got REAL old for me. Okay, he was tortured, he was brooding, he was dark, he was trying to hide a secret. She was tortured, she felt guilty because she was attracted to him, she wanted to remain true to the only man she loved, her husband. I got it. But the sex just went on and on and on and on. Noah had been force-fed a drug for 18 months while he was held captive that was the equivalent to the drug used to make dates more "willing". (You know what I mean but the the store software doesn't like reviews with the word "r**e" in them.) When he had an adrenalin rush because of danger he became aroused to the point of being tormented and in extreme pain. Trouble was, he was always having one adrenalin rush after another. The scene where he had been cut and was bleeding profusely and yet they still had sex while he bled all over the place just wasn't a turn-on for me. All I could think about was having to try to get the bloodstains out of those sheets. Eewww!

RECOMMENDATION:
The idea behind this series is excellent. We met all the members of the Elite Ops team in this book and I'm thinking they will each get their own book. That's fine by me. I just hope there will be more emphasis on an actual "story" in the other books. I wanted to learn about the relationship between Sabella and Nathan and between Sabella and Noah but I think that could have been accomplished with fewer episodes of JUST sex, sex, sex. Also, I have seen reviews which say this series is tied to the Lora Leigh SEALS series. I don't think that is a completely true statement. Yes, the men from those books are mentioned by name here but that is the only role they play in this book. They are very firmly in the background so you don't need to have read the SEALS books before you start on this series.

Thought dead by his wife and fellow agents, Nathan Malone was actually enduring eighteen months of cruel torture at the hands of the infamous Colombian drug cartel leader, Diego Fuentes. During this time he was pumped full with a volatile aphrodisiac designed to stimulate the victims libido to such exponential heights that they are nearly mindless with lust. Because Nathan was a known SEAL operative, Fuentes believed that if he could force Nathan to break his marriage vows with his beloved wife, than he could crack open the agents mind for more information. Although consumed with need for a woman, Nathan refuses to touch any of the women brought to him thus holding on to the unbending refusal to be with anyone other than woman he loves, his wife Sabella.

Once rescued Nathan undergoes surgery to repair the horrendous damage done to his body. Since nearly every bone was broken without having medical treatment to repair the damage, Nathan's bones have healed incorrectly. The surgery leaves him looking nothing like the man he was before. In addition, due to the unstable nature of the aphrodisiac and the high doses that were injected, Nathan will have to live with the drug circulating his system for the remainder of his life. Now whenever adrenaline pumps through Nathan's body, the drug will trigger and he will become consumed with uncontrollable lust.

When asked if Nathan wanted to see his wife his answer is never. Sabella would be expecting to see the flirtatious, easy loving man that she married. But Nathan is no longer that man. He is cold, unfeeling, unmerciful - a monster. He would terrify her. Nathan would rather remain a beautiful memory for his wife. Nathan Malone is and will remain dead. Having joined Elite Ops, a privately funded mercenary crew of dead men, Nathan Malone is now code name wild card, A.K.A. Noah Blake.

Now, six years since his wife was informed of his death, Noah is back to protect her from a rogue militia group that has targeted her auto garage. Noah will not be telling her that he's her husband and once the op his completed, he has every intention of disappearing from her life once again. But what he wasn't expecting was a hollow shell of a woman where his wife used to be.

Six years later Sabella Malone is still in love with her husband. Her "Irish". Not only does she still wear her wedding band and her husband's old work shirts, but she also has a veritable shrine of pictures of him in her living room. Having finally gained the strength to enter society three years ago, Sabella now dedicates every waking moment working tiresomely to keep Nathan's pride and joy in business - Malone's Garage.

And although Sabella isn't necessarily happy, her life has developed into a safe and predictable rhythm. And steadily through time, Sabella has begun to think of Nathan only most of the time as opposed to every waking second of every hour, of every day. But that rhythm is destroyed with one glimpse of Mr. Noah Blake, the new mechanic hired by Rory. For the first time in six years, Sabella feels an uncurling of warmth deep within where coldness reigned.

Noah meanwhile is shocked at the changes in his wife. Her hair is dark, her nails are chipped, her face and hands are covered in grease and oil, and she is lying beneath a truck working on it's engine. The wife he knew didn't know how to even change her oil much less work on an engine. His wife had been obsessive about her nails and had blond hair. But this is the least of the shockers. Sabella now has a spine of absolute steel and she can say no with strength and has no problem throwing in a strong right hook just to prove her point. His wife is a tomboy.

Yet Noah feels such pain for the woman before him. He had mistakenly thought that Sabella would move on after his death even to the extent of moving away and starting a new life. He was ill prepared for the empty husk of the woman remaining. With that he decides that before the mission is completed and all threats erased, he is going to teach his sweet wife how to love again. Although in doing so, Noah soon learns that his previous determination of leaving his wife after the op is going to be harder than he thought. In addition, little aspects of Noah's personality are still "Nathan" in essence and Sabella is haveing a hard time explaining these pecularities away. The more they spend time together the more Sabella questions Noah's identity. And when realization strikes there is no way Sabella is losing the husband she loves twice.

I absolutely loved this story. I found myself so excited to get home and return to this novel and that feeling really drives home for me the greatness of a book. My heart broke in the begining for both Sabella and Nathan - Sabella for her heartbreaking loss, and Noah's debilitating pride. Yes, the ultimate flaw to Noah was his pride. He couldn't face the possible rejection that he had convinced himself that his wife would feel. And the darkness that was always within was so prominent now that he felt she would truly see a monster where her husband now stood. His shock at Sabella's ultimate strength was gratifying to say the least. And as these to characters fell in love again I was in complete awe of both of them and their strength.

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I realize sometimes a book serves the purpose of moving a series along, however, I can't even say that this installment did that. When I finished the book I felt like it could have been summed up in about half the pages. I thought she was constantly feeding us the SAME information over and over. I understand that writers and publishers want books in series to also be stand alones but for those who have been dedicated to this lengthy series we don't want to constantly be retold what is in the other books. Although there were approx 300 pages it seemed so short. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. It was a nice change to see the couple reacting to the mating process in a different way than the others have. I guess I'm just wanting to see Dane's story and Cassie's story told so badly that I wasn't happy to be reading about anyone else.

Lawe Justice is one of the few feline breeds that hopes he will never find his mate, along with his twin, Rule Breaker. After all, Lawe saw what happened when the Council discovered mates very early in his life and every mated couple he has met since then has not changed his mind. Mates cause Breeds to act irrationally and can risk their sanity in his opinion. What's worse is that if one dies and the other lives, it's a lifetime of hell and loss. That was his opinion before he came face-to-face with the woman who challenged him like no other - his mate.

Diane Broen is a warrior and one who has paid her dues. Now she commands her Uncle's team into dangerous situations and with very few exceptions, her team comes out the winner. Now that Diane's little sister has mated with the Director of Breed Affairs, Diane has even more reason to do her part in helping the Breeds end all threats to them and their families. As they say, now it's personal. Knowing that if she and Lawe ever act on the heat simmering between them it might kill a vital part of her, Diane knows that her largest battle is about to happen - that for her future happiness.

Lawe has finally accepted that not only is Diane his mate, but that he needs to complete the mating and find a way to keep her protected and safe. Too bad that Diane is not on board with that plan. Diane knows that if she allows Lawe to keep her in a safe bubble it will kill the most vital parts of her. Right now both Lawe and Diane are in a race to locate the people who might have the answers to save Diane's niece. Diane and Lawe are after the same thing but they are nowhere near working together as a team. Along with the battle to locate the missing answers, the larger battle between Lawe and Diane will determine if they can be mates who battle together as partners to benefit all or if Lawe's need to keep Diane safe will kill all but a lesser passion between them. Those answers better be found soon because the Council has learned about Lawe and Diane and are already coming for them.

Two strong warriors learn the hard way that sometimes compromise can lead to a passionate love made stronger than ever. Lawe and Diane discover this for themselves in Lawe's Justice. I always knew that Lawe would be in trouble when he found his mate since I first met him much earlier in the books. His strong hope to never meet his mate told me that he would have a doozy of a time when he did: man did he ever. Diane was more than a match for Lawe, she was as much of a warrior as Lawe and has the same type of internal strength and belief in right and wrong. I alternated between shaking my head, laughing and groaning as I watched Lawe and Diane work and fight to find the compromise that would give them both all they ever wanted. Both of them seemed to know where they wanted their relationship to end but the missteps they each made on the way to getting there had me wondering if the end game would be as great as I knew they deserved. I freely admit to cheering when the final fight came and they were both able to accept each other for what they were and what their part in the Breed battle would be. I love it when strong souls find the passion that is waiting for them. Lawe's Justice takes two strong and passionate people and makes them even stronger and much more passionate by uniting them in a love that will help blaze their way forward forever more.

Jo for Joyfully Reviewed

If you are looking for Leigh's three dimensional characters, interesting sub-plots and tantalizing new tidbits about Breeds, you won't be finding them in this book. I have a strong feeling that this was originally supposed to be a short story about Diane and Lawe and, in my opinion, it should have stayed that way. Instead readers are subjected to 300+ pages of the main characters sniping at each other and a rehash of events that took place in other books. If Leigh can't breathe some life into this series, maybe it's time for her to wrap up the loose ends in the lives of her strongest characters and finish up the series. I won't even go into the fact that her books continue to be plagued by dozens and dozens of typos. She should tell her proofer to get off his/her duff; turn off "spell check" and actually proof-read.

Elizabeth Lowell used to do it so well - that kind of manic intensity, where the hero can do the most awful things because he believes it in the heroine's best interest and while you are immersed in the book, you believe it too. However in this book, the premise that Nathan Malone lets his wife of 2 years believe he is dead, and only returns SIX years later, because she is in danger, just doesn't work for me. For one thing he becomes insanely jealous of her commitment to her dead husband (him) and we are asked to believe that neither of them so much as looked at another person in the intervening time.

But it wasn't the improbability of the plot that bothered me so much, as that the repetition of key themes and phrases wore thin 'I'm not your husband' her husband frequently declares, and 'Nathan Malone is dead.' But Sabella, our heroine, no fool, realizes very quickly that this new man, with the totally different name of Noah, is, in fact Nathan. nstead of saying anything about it to him, they just keep having the same arguments of who is more committed to whom. She very reasonably says, even if you are a new man in my life, are you offering me any more stability or commitment than my husband did? and of course that makes him go off on the deep end.

I didn't mind Sabella, who at least had the excuse of being 18 when we first met her, but the hero, as either Nathan or Noah, was just annoying. I didn't believe him or feel his angst. Instead I just wish he would stop lying to himself and Sabella and get over it. Also, the whore's dust drug line - that didnt' work either! So I'm rating this a C.

....this, IMHO, was one of Lora Leigh's poorer works. And having read every single one of the Breed books to this one, I feel I have some creds to make comparisons.

If I were to rank Navarro's Promise in the list of the current 17 Breed novels and 5 anthologies, this one would rank near the bottom. (I put Elizabeth's Wolf at the top)

Typically there were typos and grammatical errors in this book...more than were evident in the first mass media books starting with Megan's Mark. But that was not my main reason for giving this a low ranking: the story line just didn't "grab" me as it had in other Breed books. The characters weren't that interesting, acting out with seemingly little reason...or if there was any, then only LL knew; it wasn't made clear to me.

As usual when the story lagged there was a sex scene, and given the weak plot there were plenty of those! Even randomly adding new characters for possible future books doesn't save this one.

In defense of the author, it has to be difficult to grind out so many books a year. Her series run concurrently! IE: in 2011 alone, there were new books released in the following series:
Jan-Bound Hearts;
Feb-anthology;
Mar-Elite Ops;
Apr-Breeds;
May-Bound Hearts;
Jul-anthology;
Aug-new Sin series starts;
Oct-Breeds;
Nov-feline anthology;
Dec-new Nauti series starts

I guess LL never sleeps - or does she have help writing all these?

I picked up this book solely on the positive reviews it received. The reviews talked about the plot and the fact that the book had several things I need in my romances; fidelity, love, a HEA, and some slammin' action between the sheets. This book delivered. I fell in love with Noah, with Bella, even with Nathan's brother Rory a litte bit. The way he and Bella ran the garage after his brother was gone - so poignant! There was plenty of action, and it made sense to the plot, it wasn't just to keep the two lovebirds apart. I really liked how Bella realized how much she had hidden from Nathan during their marriage, and her realization that, yes, eventually, she and Nathan would have worked it all out. That made his capture and torture that much more sad, because even in romances, things sometimes hurt and may NOT be for the best. A true redemption novel and I loved it.

I really did not like this book. Reading it was like having my teeth pulled with pliers! I understand now why the Breed Series is always a hit & miss with me. This is definitely a miss. And also why I have not read all of these books.

Way 2 much repetition with what we were already told about the plot,(within this book) what is going on, & the why. It just kept coming up so much that 80% of this book was a rerun. And because of this there was hardly any dialogue between the characters and way 2 much of the main characters in their own heads. (This is so irritating). Another irritating factor is when something has been clearly brought up and rectified, some seemingly alternate view is thrown into play and then Mica would totally forget about what was just done or said between her and Navarro. Like it never even happenend! Thus bringing up the same issue yet again. This had me shaking my head and wanting to smack Ms. Leigh. Oh and did I mention that the chemistry between Mica and Navarro was totally non existent. They had chemistry only because u were "told" they did. Not because u felt or saw it.

Also the Brandenmore guy.. okay how the heck did this guy keep getting out of his cell in a highly secured facility? I know it was said that they had spies, but seriously if u know there is a threat, as highly trained & deadly as the Breeds are, u mean to tell me they could not rectify this to the point where @ least the people living in this facility are not threatened? Again? Whatever.. Not buying it. Also there was alot of mis-spellings in this one and sometimes scenes would jump where I would have to re-read the scene to make sure I did not skip something.

If u are a fan of this entire series and u have read all the books in order then u will probably love this one. But there is nothing in here that we haven't been shown before. Just different characters.
If u are like me and have read only a few do to disliking some of the stories, then I would not recommend this read.

It would have been nice if these two people, who supposedly deeply loved each other, had ever made love in the entire book. It was having sex, although what they called it was much more crude. The sex scenes were graphic, raunchy, disgusting & in parts downright sickening such as the scene that comes near the end of the book. The language in these "sessions" was filthy. I'm not a prude by any imagination but most of this book left me sick to my stomach. And the sex scenes took up most of the book. The plot of the book was....I'm not sure there was one. Noah wasn't a particularly likeable person & Sabella was sort of wimpy. She let Noah basically take over her business, her home & her life. When I first started this book I thought I'd found a new author & had planned to buy the previous books. Not a chance now!

I am a fan of the Breed series; I always count the days and mark my calendar for release dates. Lora Leigh is an imaginative and entertaining author, but her publishing company needs to be replaced. I've overlooked reversed words, words out of context, unstructured sentences, etc., but a complete scene missing - come on, and at the ending of the book. Not only was a scene missing, but the ending seemed rushed and the rescue was confusing - slam bam thank you.... It seems as though there has been a rush the last two books (Navarro & Styx)- they just seemed minor characters to use as fill-in until the stories are completed for more popular characters. I'm looking forward to Lawe & Diana's story - hopefully it will be complete and NOT in hardback.

This is my second attempt at reading one of Lora Leigh's books. Unfortunately, this wasn't the book to pick up because she stretches the believability factor to the nth power. Ms. Leigh's overall character and plot development is like watching someone pull a rabbit out of hat and hoping things will fall together magically.

For one thing, her hero is a Navy Seal who owns and single-handedly operates a service station in the middle of Texas. If that's not a fish out of water! Last time I checked, Navy Seals like most military units live on military bases not in BFE. Obviously Ms. Leigh has been neither, but she tries to use both as a cheesy and contrived excuse for throwing her long seperated and suffering husband and wife back together. As a business owner there is no way someone can sanely do both occupations successfully and so hands-on, which is practically proven by the heroine when she becomes emotionally incapacitated and runs the business into the ground. And we're expected to believe this Navy Seal who leaves on convert missions at the drop of a hat can do it like washing his hands? If you bought this hook, line and sinker I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

Admittedly I was surprised by the sex scenes. They were rather racy, but didn't turn me off. Sex is as sex does. What I had a problem with is the instaneous attraction between the hero and heroine especially when neither of them were likable. I would've liked a scene between the pair before he changed, so I could understand what was so special between them instead of choppy flashbacks. The way the story is developed, the hero realizes he never really knew his wife or she him. Also, the new and improved hero was too hard and domineering from the jump, while the heroine's backbone didn't exist. But one kiss and those Irish eyes of his and the heroine was on her knees. Puh-lease. Considering Leigh made half of the town Irish, she should've been on her knees every five pages.

I've tried Breeds and now Elite Ops...put a fork in me.

I don't even know where to start. I have read just about every one of Ms Leighs books, but this one takes the cake. I had no idea how she was going to have a "new" romance in this story, but boy she accomplishes it and good.
Ms Leigh is known for gut renching emotional stories, but this one just tore my heart out. This is about Nathan Malone which we read some about in the previous book about Ian and Keira. Hes tortured horribly and is finally rescued but is really messed up and doesn't feel he is the same man that is wife Bella knew and didn't want to put her through his recovery, so they told her he died and inside so did she.
Finally 6 years later she is tring to move on, and in walks Noah Blake who is undercover and there to protect Bella.
She can't understand why she feels this instant attraction and need to be with him and of course the guilt she feels. Oh man you just have to read this story. To me its like an onion, and I know that sounds corney, but there really are so many layers to this story and how it slowly is peeled away and they find out they are totally diffrent people than they were and thats ok because there love never died.
I just can't encourage you enough to read this book, it definatly was one of her very best, and I can't wait to read the rest of the broken men find their true love that will mend their broken soul.

This story is one that stays with you for a long time. I enjoyed this book immensely! I loved Noah's protectiveness, possessiveness & major alpha ways though I wasn't a fan of his earlier choices. I loved Bella's loyalty, strength & spirit. They have an amazing bond & their love went beyond measure. My heart broke for Bella & what she had to endure. I also felt for Noah & his family. This story has everything I look for... immeasurable love, great connectivity, extremely hot sex scenes, captivating storyline & loads of action. It's my first book from Ms. Leigh & it won't be the last, for sure!
Highly recommended!

SOME SPOLIERS... PLEASE BEWARE!!

Having just finished Navarro's Promise, I have to say that this particular book by Ms. Leigh is not one of my favourites. I was terribly disappointed with the fact that some chapters made absolutely no sense. For example, from page 299 to the end of the book, it appears that there is information missing. One minute Mica and Navarro are kissing in the hall, then they are in a bedroom, where all of a sudden Philip Bradenmore shows up...? Really? How does this happen? Do the publishers/editors not pick up on these discerpenices? I read that passage several times to ensure that I hadn't missed something.

Then there is no mention of where or what happend to Ely; no one seems overly concerned about her whereabouts...really after everything that Ely has been through, no one gives a damn.

The ending of this book was simply boring.

I am happy to say that Philip Bradenmore is FINALLY dead!!! I couldn't be happier about that. I personally was feeling that that particular storyline was way overdue to be done with. Dragged out longer than I feel was necessary, epecially since there was NEVER anything new coming from the evil bastard.

I am a huge fan of the Breed Series and was looking forward to reading this particular book because I was hoping we would see a bit more of Cassie, even though the book in and of itself was about Navarro and Mica. I have to say that this particular novel by Ms. Leigh was a let down and I hope that her future novels will be back up to par.

I would really hate to have to give up this series or begin to feel that it's time for Ms. Leigh to wrap things up where her Breeds are concerned.

What? That is how I felt reading this book. I have read the whole series and the Breed books are the one I buy new as soon as they come out! Not anymore! What happened? The plot went no where that you could follow, it kept repeating itself. And Diane just came off as whinny! Give me a break. They rehashed her feelings over and over again. To be free. Oh grow up nobody is freaking free get over it! And I am so tired of buying books and getting no where with this plot about Amber. Really! These books use to stand on there own and go on my keeper bookshelf, but now I will wait until the library gets them and check them out. Geesh!!!!!

Thanks to all of you who wrote about the missing pages. I do not read any reviews until after I read the book so I didn't know about the missing pages until last night when I finished the book and went what the heck happened. I didn't even think of missing pages as that has never happend to me in a book before.. I just assumed I couldn't figure it out. Nice to know I am not crazy. I felt the book itself was a let down. It was like neither of them really cared if they mated fully or not. At least with Del-Rey and Anya you could feel the passion and intensity of their feelings for one another. Not here for me anyway. Oh well this one goes in the not to be read again for a long time.... if ever...pile..

I had my doubts about a book dedicated to Nathan. He seemed so broken, and I was afraid that his wife (who had thought he was dead for years) might have found love elsewhere. I was also iffy about a new identity, it seemed a little to me like lying to his wife Bella.

Now having said that Lora Leigh really ties in a great plot and the amazing healing ability of love. I consider this book an extension of the seals series, however it starts a new arch of books Elite Ops that stars men like Nathan who have lost everything.

Nathan, now Noah, starts placing himself back into Bella, now Sabella's, life. Lora Leigh once again wrote a great romance novel. I usually keep to the paranormal romances, but Leigh provides a wonderful exception. This is a classic love really does exist and it conquers all. For those of you who don't believe in happy endings realize that Leigh doesn't provide a happy ending, only an exceptional beginning to a new life.

Read it as a stand alone or a continuation to a different Seals story. I can't wait for the next Elite Ops man.

I have never read a better military romance book than this one right here. It was so real and gut wrenching but completely perfect! I loved the charcters and their amazing strength. its better than any nicholas sparks book & needs to be made into movies. I bought every paperback and I am excited to read them all!

I'm a big fan of Lora Leigh's Breeds series, and so it was a huge disappointment to find that Lawe's Justice was so disjointed and certainly not edited well. Many times throughout the book, a concept would be stated and then in the next paragraph, it would be stated again using the same terms, just in a different sentence structure. It's like the author had two different ways to express an idea, and in editing they never stripped it down to the chosen phrasing. I also found that the same word was repeated more than 6 times in the same paragraph...somebody needs to break out the Thesaurus and avoid such annoying repetition.

While the editing mistakes were very distracting, the biggest disappointment for me was the muddled storytelling. From the beginning of the book, there were references to multiple off-stage female characters who were not named, only described. Often, these were referred to as "she" without stating which of the several off-stage characters the "she" actually referred to. With several flashbacks from Lawe's point of view and from Gideon's, there was little effort made to correlate the two experiences and explain if they were both remembering the same person or persons. This book attempts to integrate Lawe's history and Gideon's, but it just doesn't come together smoothly at all.

In summary, I gave this book 2 stars because at least it furthers the continuing plot for the breeds story arc. For me, that is its only redeeming quality. Here's hoping that Lora and her editors put much more effort into crafting the next installment. If not, I will stop wasting my money and chalk this up to a ruined series.

I have been a long time fan of the breeds series and have always been so excited to find out what happens next and I have to say that this installment in the series was awful. There was little to no plot, was very slow, and very repetitive. I mean, I get that the guy is angry but we don't have to reiterate it every other sentence! I didn't even finish the entire book. I found someone who wrote a synopsis of the book and moved on to the next one

Dead men stay dead. At least that is the motto of the six `dead' men of the Elite Ops. WILD CARD is the first book of this new series and features Nathan Malone, who readers first met in Lora Leigh's HIDDEN AGENDAS.

Nathan Malone died at the hands of the sadistic drug lord Diego Fuentes. It is in the files and it is public knowledge. The funeral was planned and held and his widow grieved. Six years later Noah Blake roars into Alpine, TX on the back of a Harley. Bearded, blue eyed, and alpha to the bone, Noah is on a mission - to find the murderous faction of a white supremacist group hunting illegal aliens, and to connect with one Sabella Malone. Not necessarily in that order.

Sabella Malone loved her husband Nathan with every single beat of her heart and every breath she ever breathed. When he died six years ago on a mission she thought she would die with him so great was the pain she felt. For years nothing mattered; but when her world didn't end, Sabella slowly learned to live again. Dating men but not allowing them close to her heart, Sabella is stunned at the heated attraction she instantly experiences with the new mechanic her brother in law hired behind her back - Noah Blake; blue-eyed Noah Blake.

Noah rides into town under the deep cover of his mission. His eyes are looking for the only woman he has ever loved and when he finds her under the engine of an automobile, he recognizes that Sabella has changed. What he doesn't realize is that the Bella he knew is not the Sabella of today. Intrigued and unable to contain his desire, Noah sets out to insinuate himself in Sabella's life - at least for a little while - because once the Elite Ops' mission is complete, Noah Blake will have to disappear.

While reading HIDDEN AGENDAS, also by Lora Leigh, my heart hurt for the Navy SEAL so abused but still so steadfast in his wedding vows to his wife. I yearned for his book and for his happy ending. Not one word of this highly emotional and addicting novel, WILD CARD, has disappointed me. Noah Blake, while a changed man, continued to be true to his wife and though six years had passed, almost three of them spent recovering; Noah still honored his wedding vows. A more perfect character I have yet to meet.

WILD CARD is an intoxicating first installment of a brand new series. The words flow, the emotions are raw, and love is in the air. Add in the danger of Noah's mission and I could not have asked for a better book. I can't recommend WILD CARD enough. It is ultimately one of the most satisfying books I have ever read penned by this prolific and talented author.

Unfortunately I will have to say that Navarro's Promise is one of Leigh's weakest books in the Breed series. As mentioned by multiple reviewers, there is an entire section missing at the end. the store should immediately get a correction to upload on Kindle. The story makes no sense and Leigh seems to just randomly add new characters for possible future books. Time for this series to end so let us find a mate for Cassie and be done! I was also disappointed with Jonah,s story. He deserved a better storyline and mate. The author seems like she is just churning these out now and is no longer invested in the storyline. Sorry but this just my observation. It is really a shame as the theme was really fun and enjoyable read about three books ago.

No offense Lora but it did take me 100 pages to get into this book. I have read EVERY other breed book you've written and nearly all your others. To say I'm just a fan of your work would be an understatement. I abso-freaking LOVE your stories. I had really looked forward to this book in hope that the story line would be continued and grow. You delivered on that. We get to see a progression that promises to make the next books very exciting. Also, there weren't nearly as many typo's and inacurate info in this book. That was a definate plus. I guess I just had such a hard time warming up to Lawe and Diane. I did finally get into the story but I had to force myself to continue to read until that point. I really want to see Cassie and Dane's stories. I probably won't be content until one of their books are released. We've been waiting sooooo, sooooo long for those 2 stories that I fear when they are finally released we will be dissapointed. I guess Gideon was ok and now I'm kinda interested in him too. Well, we will just have to wait for the next book and see how the story progresses.

I will since Bared To You I have been trying to find a decent book to about measure up to that one. This is it. From well written to a decent plot, this is probably one of the best I have read. I was able to really immerse myself in the pages and I read it non-stop. The only reason I have given it a four instead of five is because there was a lot of words and sentences that were repeated several times that started to become too repetitive. Also the mention of Noah 's want was getting annoying. I get it. We all get it. He wants and needs Sabella because of what happened to him during his capture.

Other than that, sex scenes were written excellently as well as dialogue and the over all story. I'm not a big fan of the western sort of theme, but it was interesting to read. Chaps are just not sexy to me.

I'd definitely recommend the book.

I was gifted this book. If I could give this book a ten I would. Holy moly what a awesome book. It was intense, thrilling, exciting. I absolutely loved Noah and Sabella and their chemistry. I would highly highly recommend this book.

Nathan Malone lived a nightmare in prolonged captivity at the hands of a Colombian drug cartel. Pumped full of an experimental drug designed to stimulate the victim's libido to an uncontrollable level, he never broke his commitment to his beloved wife Bella, although the pain was torturous.

Once rescued, he knew he could never return to Bella, else he would put her in danger from the villains that nearly destroyed him once before. Her only chance is if they believe him dead.

And so Noah Blake was born. With a new face and a new name, he can operate under the radar as part of an Elite Ops unit to bring the cartel down.

Now danger threatens Bella regardless of Nathan's absence from her life. To save her, he must go undercover as Noah Blake, sticking close to her side even while trying to keep his emotional distance, knowing they can never be together again. Easier said than done...

Lora Leigh launches her brand new book series, ELITE OPS, with lead character Nathan Malone/Noah Blake, best known for his appearances in the TEMPTING SEALS stories she has published. ELITE OPS is the start of a new saga, but is very much connected to the SEALs books Leigh's fans know and love. They even share a mission similar to the Durango team from those previous books, but with a different team of special agents, all of whom have left their previous lives for an existence based on complete anonymity.

The men of ELITE OPS have lost everything - family, lovers, anything to do with their previous lives. All of them have assumed new names, and none of them form emotional attachments.

Yeah, right. *grin* This wouldn't be a Lora Leigh romance if they didn't have emotional attachments, now would it? LOL

OK, so they aren't supposed to have relationships. That doesn't stop them, though, it only provides delicious obstacles to the happy ending we all know will be at the end of these tales. And so readers enjoy watching men who have steeled themselves against love fight a losing battle as they come face to face with the women who not only complete them, but challenge them, meeting them as equals in this battle of hearts.

The romance between Bella and Nathan/Noah in WILD CARD is all at once heartbreaking and uplifting. Nathan is a man who loves so absolutely that he can never be with a woman other than his Bella, no matter that her love is forever lost to him. He'll do anything, sacrifice everything, just to keep her safe and happy, no matter the cost to himself. His heart and soul yearn for the woman he loves, until what little resistance he had mustered crumbles beneath the weight of their mutual desire.

Bella is just a beautiful character. I'm not talking about looks, although obviously she is lovely, judging by the description of her in the book. Her personality is what really makes us believe that a man like Nathan could not only fall in love with her but forsake all other women in favor of Bella. Of course, she has done the same thing for her Nathan. No matter that she has been told he is dead, somehow her heart never quite believes it, and she cannot move on - until Noah Blake appears on her doorstep.

What ensues when these two are finally reunited are some emotionally charged, scintillating love scenes that will have you squirming in your seat even while you are reaching for tissues to dry your eyes.

Over the years, Lora Leigh has developed into an author adept at playing readers' emotions as easily as she might a musical instrument, and never has this been more evident than in the heart-stopping romance in WILD CARD.

**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

Connected Stories:
Honk If You Love Real Men
Dangerous Games (Tempting SEALs)
Real Men Do It Better
Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs)
Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs)
Rescue Me

I voluntarily received a copy of this book for an honest review. WOW. LOVED THIS STORY. My heart broke for Sabella, she loved her husband, but Noah is tearing down her walls. What will happen when she finds out the truth.

I really liked the storyline and the characters are very appealing. But the book was about 1/3 too long because of all the repetitious sex scenes. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't bother reading these books if they didn't have sex scenes galore in them! But in this book, it was essentially the same act with the same lead-in and the same words used to describe the deed. B-O-R-I-N-G. I understand the message here, Noah had been pumped full of drugs by his captors so he really had little control over his urges. But it seems the drug also sapped his creativity cuz we just got same-old-hard-and-fast every time.

But the series looks like it will be a good one, and I look forward to reading the stories of the other hotties on the Elite Ops team!

I'm a big fan of Lora Leigh's Breeds series, and so it was a huge disappointment to find that Lawe's Justice was so disjointed and certainly not edited well. Many times throughout the book, a concept would be stated and then in the next paragraph, it would be stated again using the same terms, just in a different sentence structure. It's like the author had two different ways to express an idea, and in editing they never stripped it down to the chosen phrasing. I also found that the same word was repeated more than 6 times in the same paragraph...somebody needs to break out the Thesaurus and avoid such annoying repetition.

While the editing mistakes were very distracting, the biggest disappointment for me was the muddled storytelling. From the beginning of the book, there were references to multiple off-stage female characters who were not named, only described. Often, these were referred to as "she" without stating which of the several off-stage characters the "she" actually referred to. With several flashbacks from Lawe's point of view and from Gideon's, there was little effort made to correlate the two experiences and explain if they were both remembering the same person or persons. This book attempts to integrate Lawe's history and Gideon's, but it just doesn't come together smoothly at all.

In summary, I gave this book 2 stars because at least it furthers the continuing plot for the breeds story arc. For me, that is its only redeeming quality. Here's hoping that Lora and her editors put much more effort into crafting the next installment. If not, I will stop wasting my money and chalk this up to a ruined series.

I have been a long time fan of the breeds series and have always been so excited to find out what happens next and I have to say that this installment in the series was awful. There was little to no plot, was very slow, and very repetitive. I mean, I get that the guy is angry but we don't have to reiterate it every other sentence! I didn't even finish the entire book. I found someone who wrote a synopsis of the book and moved on to the next one

Dead men stay dead. At least that is the motto of the six `dead' men of the Elite Ops. WILD CARD is the first book of this new series and features Nathan Malone, who readers first met in Lora Leigh's HIDDEN AGENDAS.

Nathan Malone died at the hands of the sadistic drug lord Diego Fuentes. It is in the files and it is public knowledge. The funeral was planned and held and his widow grieved. Six years later Noah Blake roars into Alpine, TX on the back of a Harley. Bearded, blue eyed, and alpha to the bone, Noah is on a mission - to find the murderous faction of a white supremacist group hunting illegal aliens, and to connect with one Sabella Malone. Not necessarily in that order.

Sabella Malone loved her husband Nathan with every single beat of her heart and every breath she ever breathed. When he died six years ago on a mission she thought she would die with him so great was the pain she felt. For years nothing mattered; but when her world didn't end, Sabella slowly learned to live again. Dating men but not allowing them close to her heart, Sabella is stunned at the heated attraction she instantly experiences with the new mechanic her brother in law hired behind her back - Noah Blake; blue-eyed Noah Blake.

Noah rides into town under the deep cover of his mission. His eyes are looking for the only woman he has ever loved and when he finds her under the engine of an automobile, he recognizes that Sabella has changed. What he doesn't realize is that the Bella he knew is not the Sabella of today. Intrigued and unable to contain his desire, Noah sets out to insinuate himself in Sabella's life - at least for a little while - because once the Elite Ops' mission is complete, Noah Blake will have to disappear.

While reading HIDDEN AGENDAS, also by Lora Leigh, my heart hurt for the Navy SEAL so abused but still so steadfast in his wedding vows to his wife. I yearned for his book and for his happy ending. Not one word of this highly emotional and addicting novel, WILD CARD, has disappointed me. Noah Blake, while a changed man, continued to be true to his wife and though six years had passed, almost three of them spent recovering; Noah still honored his wedding vows. A more perfect character I have yet to meet.

WILD CARD is an intoxicating first installment of a brand new series. The words flow, the emotions are raw, and love is in the air. Add in the danger of Noah's mission and I could not have asked for a better book. I can't recommend WILD CARD enough. It is ultimately one of the most satisfying books I have ever read penned by this prolific and talented author.

Unfortunately I will have to say that Navarro's Promise is one of Leigh's weakest books in the Breed series. As mentioned by multiple reviewers, there is an entire section missing at the end. the store should immediately get a correction to upload on Kindle. The story makes no sense and Leigh seems to just randomly add new characters for possible future books. Time for this series to end so let us find a mate for Cassie and be done! I was also disappointed with Jonah,s story. He deserved a better storyline and mate. The author seems like she is just churning these out now and is no longer invested in the storyline. Sorry but this just my observation. It is really a shame as the theme was really fun and enjoyable read about three books ago.

No offense Lora but it did take me 100 pages to get into this book. I have read EVERY other breed book you've written and nearly all your others. To say I'm just a fan of your work would be an understatement. I abso-freaking LOVE your stories. I had really looked forward to this book in hope that the story line would be continued and grow. You delivered on that. We get to see a progression that promises to make the next books very exciting. Also, there weren't nearly as many typo's and inacurate info in this book. That was a definate plus. I guess I just had such a hard time warming up to Lawe and Diane. I did finally get into the story but I had to force myself to continue to read until that point. I really want to see Cassie and Dane's stories. I probably won't be content until one of their books are released. We've been waiting sooooo, sooooo long for those 2 stories that I fear when they are finally released we will be dissapointed. I guess Gideon was ok and now I'm kinda interested in him too. Well, we will just have to wait for the next book and see how the story progresses.

I will since Bared To You I have been trying to find a decent book to about measure up to that one. This is it. From well written to a decent plot, this is probably one of the best I have read. I was able to really immerse myself in the pages and I read it non-stop. The only reason I have given it a four instead of five is because there was a lot of words and sentences that were repeated several times that started to become too repetitive. Also the mention of Noah 's want was getting annoying. I get it. We all get it. He wants and needs Sabella because of what happened to him during his capture.

Other than that, sex scenes were written excellently as well as dialogue and the over all story. I'm not a big fan of the western sort of theme, but it was interesting to read. Chaps are just not sexy to me.

I'd definitely recommend the book.

I was gifted this book. If I could give this book a ten I would. Holy moly what a awesome book. It was intense, thrilling, exciting. I absolutely loved Noah and Sabella and their chemistry. I would highly highly recommend this book.

Nathan Malone lived a nightmare in prolonged captivity at the hands of a Colombian drug cartel. Pumped full of an experimental drug designed to stimulate the victim's libido to an uncontrollable level, he never broke his commitment to his beloved wife Bella, although the pain was torturous.

Once rescued, he knew he could never return to Bella, else he would put her in danger from the villains that nearly destroyed him once before. Her only chance is if they believe him dead.

And so Noah Blake was born. With a new face and a new name, he can operate under the radar as part of an Elite Ops unit to bring the cartel down.

Now danger threatens Bella regardless of Nathan's absence from her life. To save her, he must go undercover as Noah Blake, sticking close to her side even while trying to keep his emotional distance, knowing they can never be together again. Easier said than done...

Lora Leigh launches her brand new book series, ELITE OPS, with lead character Nathan Malone/Noah Blake, best known for his appearances in the TEMPTING SEALS stories she has published. ELITE OPS is the start of a new saga, but is very much connected to the SEALs books Leigh's fans know and love. They even share a mission similar to the Durango team from those previous books, but with a different team of special agents, all of whom have left their previous lives for an existence based on complete anonymity.

The men of ELITE OPS have lost everything - family, lovers, anything to do with their previous lives. All of them have assumed new names, and none of them form emotional attachments.

Yeah, right. *grin* This wouldn't be a Lora Leigh romance if they didn't have emotional attachments, now would it? LOL

OK, so they aren't supposed to have relationships. That doesn't stop them, though, it only provides delicious obstacles to the happy ending we all know will be at the end of these tales. And so readers enjoy watching men who have steeled themselves against love fight a losing battle as they come face to face with the women who not only complete them, but challenge them, meeting them as equals in this battle of hearts.

The romance between Bella and Nathan/Noah in WILD CARD is all at once heartbreaking and uplifting. Nathan is a man who loves so absolutely that he can never be with a woman other than his Bella, no matter that her love is forever lost to him. He'll do anything, sacrifice everything, just to keep her safe and happy, no matter the cost to himself. His heart and soul yearn for the woman he loves, until what little resistance he had mustered crumbles beneath the weight of their mutual desire.

Bella is just a beautiful character. I'm not talking about looks, although obviously she is lovely, judging by the description of her in the book. Her personality is what really makes us believe that a man like Nathan could not only fall in love with her but forsake all other women in favor of Bella. Of course, she has done the same thing for her Nathan. No matter that she has been told he is dead, somehow her heart never quite believes it, and she cannot move on - until Noah Blake appears on her doorstep.

What ensues when these two are finally reunited are some emotionally charged, scintillating love scenes that will have you squirming in your seat even while you are reaching for tissues to dry your eyes.

Over the years, Lora Leigh has developed into an author adept at playing readers' emotions as easily as she might a musical instrument, and never has this been more evident than in the heart-stopping romance in WILD CARD.

**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

Connected Stories:
Honk If You Love Real Men
Dangerous Games (Tempting SEALs)
Real Men Do It Better
Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs)
Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs)
Rescue Me

I voluntarily received a copy of this book for an honest review. WOW. LOVED THIS STORY. My heart broke for Sabella, she loved her husband, but Noah is tearing down her walls. What will happen when she finds out the truth.

Navarro Blaine is a wolf Breed with recessed genes created to be the ultimate deceiver. He is stuck in limbo not fully human, not fully breed. He has the unique ability to maneuver the human and Breed worlds. Navarro is also an Enforcer for the Breeds. It is his job to protect the Breeds and their secrets. However, there may be one person that comes before the Breeds in his mind: Mica Toler. He has been attracted to her for years and promised her protection. Unfortunately, it may be her heart that needs protection since this Breed seems incapable of love.

Mica Toler has been immersed in the Breed world since she was a child. Being best friends with Cassie Sinclair has its positive and negatives. Mica is loyal to the Breeds but there is one in particular that has her heart. Mica has been in love with Navarro since she was sixteen and she has attempted to steel her heart against him. Mica learned early to keep her emotions under control because Breeds can sense the slightest upset. She knows for a fact if she was his mate he would know it and be unable to stay away from her.

Mica becomes a target; hunted by the Council Breeds. Navarro made her a promise and he intends to keep it. As Mica and Navarro spend more time together the harder it is to deny the attraction between them. No mating hormone means no mating right? There is no denying they want each other but is it forever? Navarro should watch his back because he's not the only Breed with feelings for Mica. Can these two decipher this mating madness before it's too late?

Navarro's Promise is highly erotic absorbing tale from Lora Leigh. With twenty-four books in a series it can become hard to keep it fresh but Ms. Leigh manages it with ease. Navarro and Mica bring us another new facet to the mating process. Their attraction is immense; no one is denying it but themselves. A question is posed: if you think something strongly enough can you make it true? All of the Breeds are tortured but Navarro's scars are buried within and he intends to keep them there. It's easier if he doesn't have to open up; it makes him less likely to get hurt but it doesn't keep him from hurting others. Mica has loved Navarro for so long but knows the tests show they are not mates so she has had to lock down her emotions, bury them in a sense because they can never be returned. When these two finally get together only Mica is left with mating symptoms. She is mentally and physically suffering while Navarro is free from the symptoms. Essentially they've mated but are not mated. I truly enjoyed most this story. I loved Ms. Leigh's new spin on the mating process and I loved Navarro and Mica's internalization of their emotions. Of course, I also loved the sizzling sex between these two. Ms. Leigh absolutely knows how to give her audience memorable erotic scenes. More importantly she weaves erotic and emotion beautifully.

What I did not like are the glaring mistakes. I'm not usually a person that has a problem with a few typographical errors but the errors in Navarro's Promise are unforgettable. When you are so into a book and you know it's getting close to the end your heart rate increases; you can't wait to find out how this couple is going to end up together and see the bad guy get his just desserts. But then...Your heroine gets pushed up against a steel wall by your hero, you flip the page expecting scorching banter that will lead to a passionate mating but instead you get an immediate climax, and discover you are in the bedroom and not the lab. Does this sound a bit confusing because it was for me, not only was it confusing but it was disturbing to realize that pages must be missing from this fantastic story. The climax of a story is suppose to be the penultimate moment but in Navarro's Promise the reader gets yanked out of the story at this critical point and forced to use their own imagination to resolve what happened in the missing parts. I am a huge breed fan so I can live with this disturbing tragedy and will return for the next Breed novel. However, if I was reading a Breed novel for the first time I do not recommend starting with Navarro's Promise. This series is a distinctive winner and I wouldn't want someone to judge it on the horrible mishaps that happened with Navarro's Promise. What was a fresh brilliant story became unsettling and sad at the end because of this mistake.

If you are a fan, Navarro's Promise is a provocative and steamy standout in the breed series with unfortunate errors. If you are new to this series I advise you to start from the beginning with Tempting the Beast. From the beginning you will learn the ins and outs of the Breed world. Discover the many villains and fall in love with all the characters.

Miranda
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I really liked the storyline and the characters are very appealing. But the book was about 1/3 too long because of all the repetitious sex scenes. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't bother reading these books if they didn't have sex scenes galore in them! But in this book, it was essentially the same act with the same lead-in and the same words used to describe the deed. B-O-R-I-N-G. I understand the message here, Noah had been pumped full of drugs by his captors so he really had little control over his urges. But it seems the drug also sapped his creativity cuz we just got same-old-hard-and-fast every time.

But the series looks like it will be a good one, and I look forward to reading the stories of the other hotties on the Elite Ops team!

Really, really poor writing! I have NO idea how this book could have received so many 4 and 5-star ratings. The grammar, sentence structure and plot development were all dismal. I couldn't even finish the book; I gave up about 3/4 of the way through.

I strongly suggest that this author get a really good editor before she publishes any more books.

This felt like a formulaic trash novel produced by a writer who is under deadline or quota for number of books produced. Hard to feel anything for the characters and the writing was repetitious. Not much plot when you really evaluate it. Stopped reading about halfway through because it was just a waste of reading time. Wouldn't throw it down in disgust...just wasn't impressed at all by pretty much anything in the book. Personally, I would not purchase again if I had known it would be like this.

I have read at a lot of Lora Leigh series including: Bound Hearts, Breed, Legacies, Men of August, Nauti Boys, Wizard Twins and Tempting SEALs (a lot of the characters from this series were in this book) ~ But this is my favorite Lora Leigh book ever....It is the only book I have ever given 5 stars to. If the rest of the book is in this series are 20% as good as this one -then this will become my favorite series (currently Bound Hearts). I have just downloaded next novella in the series, Night Hawk ~ it is available free from this location us.macmillan.com/author/loraleigh.

Oh Wild Card (Elite Ops, Book 1)! This is Lora Leigh at her finest. This book started my relationship with the author. And I must admit that lately that relationship hasn't been very satisfying. But I picked up Wild Card the other day and I remember what it was that I fell in love with.

This is Lora Leigh at her finest. Noah Blake/Nathan Malone is a the sexy Alpha with a heart for just one woman. He is the reason I read romance. The plot can be some what complicated as you follow "both" of his lives. But you are so in love with him, and you feel his pain and Bella's struggle.

This book brought me tears. I love both Nathan and Bella. The book works because you are committed to both these people. You understand why he left and couldn't return, but you mourn with the woman who loved him. You hate him for coming back and stand up and cheer when she torments him with his pickup truck.

In Lora Leigh fashion, these two smoke up the sex scenes and there are times when you need a fan, and sometimes you just have to walk away and have a cigarette. Noah Blake is one of the only heroes who can rock a beard for me. Their chemistry is intense and will leave you begging for more. This is not a book it is a full out love affair.

There is a plot of danger that surrounds the situation and Nathan gets to be badass Ex-SEAL/EliteOps warrior. As this is the first book in her Elite Ops series you also get to meet her next line up of heroes.

Reading her Navy SEAL series before this book helps as that's where Noah Blake appears and you get the background on the capture that leads him to Elite Ops. You will also see Ian and Kiera from that series.

The romance, the love story, the feelings this book evokes overshadows the plot, but you are on such an emotional roller coaster you don't mind at all. What you focus on is where these two started and how they grew. There was growth and progress and both parties had to face who the were and who they had become. You reach the highs and lows with them and cheer on the impossible happily ever after.

This is the book I pick up when I'm in need an intense Alpha hero who knows the meaning of loving someone with your soul. Go Siorai!

I was so excited to read this book but what I found was that I just couldn't fall in love with it.
Nathan, a Navy SEAL, goes off on a mission that goes very badly. He leaves his wife beyind, Sabella, who is mistakenly told that he is dead. She begins mourning him. Two years later he is rescued from his torturous existance and decideds at that point not to return to his wife, but insead to start a new existance as Noah. (This was the point in the book when I started not liking Noah.)
A mission sends Noah back to his small town in Texas where he gets work, with his new face and identity, working for Seballa who is now running the former Nathan's garage.
It is a really fascinating premise but what I found is that in addition to Leigh's trademark love scenes, and no one does them better than Leigh, the characters have the same conversations over and over agian. They must have the same arguement ten times in the book and it just seems to go on and on. We await Sabella's revelation for 3/4 of the book and her reaction just doesn't seem realistic.
If you love Leigh, as I do--especially her Breed series, you won't love her any less after this but it is not my favorite.

I have been faithfully reading the entire Breeds series starting with Callan and Merinus story. Now that I have finished Styx's story, however, I find myself reluctant to even bother purchasing "Navarro's Promise". I only hope that "Lawe's Justice" won't come with as many negative reviews as I am anxiously awaiting to read Lawe's story. I've been a huge fan of Lora Leigh not only with her Seals series, but with The Elite Ops and Bound Hearts but I can see where there is a shortfall in editing work as well as confusion in storyline. All her series, at one point or another, have this problem. Too sad...

I enjoy a good romance even when the plot devices are obvious, but this story just asked for too much suspension of disbelief. On top of that, I found the climax (see what I did there) of the relationship to be ridiculous and off-putting. If you can turn a blind eye to the aforementioned issues, the writing itself is fine and the story does have some steamy moments.

I was so excited to delve into another smoking hot Breeds story, only to be severely disappointed. I found myself irritated - not so much with the story itself but with the editing glitches and huge missing section!! These issues totally ruined my enjoyment. I must say however, the parts I was able to read/piece together were promising and still better that some other "complete" stories I recently read. When Navarro said, "spread your legs baby," I was feeling it, but the editing killed it. Note to Ms. Leigh - Get A New Editor!

I stumbled on Lora Leigh's "Megan's Mark" and became hooked. "Dawn's Awakening", "Harmony's Way" were all very enjoyable reads with clear plot lines, character development and adventure. Wow what a let down "Navarro's Promise" was. There was minimal character development, especially disappointing as Mica is meant to be Cassie's best friend and yet I cannot recall reading anything else about her except in "Elisabeth's Wolf". Clearly LL is taking her readers for a ride and relying on their loyalty to keep producing the same plot lines, just with different characters (and cashing in). It is particularly disappointing to see what she how she has mangled to individual stories of favored characters, such as Lawe.

I highly advise borrowing this book from the library, or buying it secondhand.

Let's all hope that LL doesn't make an absolute mess of Cassie's story ... if it ever comes.

I purchased a hardcover copy of this book from a book club. When I was reading it I discovered that near the end of the novel there is something missing. Mica is in the basement and pressed against a steel wall being kissed by Navarro. The next thing you know they are in bed together. How did they get there from the basement upstairs and into the bedroom?!!! Believe me, I emailed my book club to inform them as the details of the book they gave stated that the book had 368 pages.

Who'da thought that a writer of erotica would come up with a modern romance about everlasting love?

Did I say I absolutely loved the things I hated in so many of the author's previous novels? The small-town politics. The southern melodrama. The screaming hysterics. Well. I absolutely loved them all in Wild Card.

But most of all I loved that Sabella could commit forever to Nathan and mean it. And vice versa.

I'm not saying the book is perfect. By any means.

Hotness afficienados might say that the hotness takes a while to get going and that it's just slightly repetitive. It would have been nice if Bella had swallowed just once. Or that exactly the same phrases occur in different places in the novel. And really why on earth would the bcm want Sabella's auto repair shop. But that's it. That's where I stop.

This story is going straight on my keeper shelf.

This story was amazing. After reading Lion's Heat, I knew that I had to get Lawe's Justice. At the beginning of the story we get an introduction of how the breeds were experimented with. The scientists would take women and inject breed sperm into them, and then when they gave birth take their babies and experiment on them. Lawe and Rule are twin brothers who witnessed their mother's vivisection. She was vivisected because she mated with a Coyote Breed (Elder). Lawe and Rule had to act like they didn't care and like it didn't bother them, but they swore revenge on the people who had killed their mother.

Diane Broen is a trained leader. She took over her Uncle's team after he died. Diane has always protected the people she loved. She protected her sister Rachel when she was young. Her parents died and she always looked after Rachel. She got her Uncle to train her and became a part of his team. She may be a female but she goes as hard as the men. Diane is strong-willed, quick, intelligent, and a kick ass fighter. She has fought all of her life and has never had anyone tell her what to do until Lawe comes in.

Lawe and Diane met when they were captured and tortured and Lawe knew from that moment that she was his mate. He tried to deny it for a long time, but it eventually caught up with him. Diane and Lawe have this fire cracker chemistry that will make you melt. Diane has always longed for someone she could love, someone who would fight beside her, be her partner. At first Lawe wanted to keep her locked up so she couldn't fight. Fighting is a part of who Diane is and he had to learn to accept that.

Amber, Diane's niece is in danger. She was injected with a serum that will kill her if she doesn't find Fawn, Honor Roberts, and Judd. Fawn and Honor were injected with the same serum and survived it. They are the key to Amber's survival.

Gideon is a Breed who was injected with Fawn's blood in order to save his life. He swore revenge on her because he wanted to die. After he was injected with her blood, he was caught by the scientists and taken back to the labs for experimentation. They experimented on him and cut him open over and over again. All Gideon wants is revenge, and he thinks that Diane will lead him straight to Honor and Fawn.

Diane and Lawe learn to work together as partners and become one. They are the perfect match for each other. Both are warriors, both are independent, and both are stubborn. They complete each other. I thought that this story was very refreshing, lots of sexual tension, emotion, and romance. I love how the author pieced this story together. Very interesting. I had a point to where I got bored toward the end. But I am very glad that I continued to read because the ending is something you don't want to miss! I suggest you read this, you won't be sorry (:

Navarro's Promise by Lora Leigh
Paranormal Romance -April 5th, 2011
4 ½ stars

Navarro's Promise is already one of my favorites in Lora Leigh's paranormal Breed series. Fans will not be disappointed. Navarro is a Wolf Breed with very dormant Breed genes which often make him more human than `animal.'

Navarro is one of the public faces of the Breeds media. He is more human-like than most Breeds. But he was built for deception. His looks, charm and lack of emotion make him more approachable. However, there is one person that he cannot help wanting. Her name is Mica Toler. She is human and the best friend of a very important Breed female named Cassie. Although Navarro and Mica are both deeply attracted to each other they are not mates, or are they?

Navarro while having the super senses and strength of a Breed does not manifest the need for a mate. But when Mica is put in danger Navarro finds protective instincts and a possessiveness that shock him. And feel so right.

Mica has always wanted Navarro, but is scared of being a mate with any strongly dominant male Breed. To add to her confusion, when they are together, she seems to be affected by their time together but Navarro is not. She fears a one sided relationship. Navarro make matters worse when he lies to her about the extent of his Breed skills. Can they afford to have a real relationship in a world filled with danger and a lack of trust?

This was a thrilling romance. I loved how Lora Leigh is adding new changes to the Breeds and how they mate. This confusion between the mating of Mica and Navarro made it very intense as I wanted them to be together but worried that Navarro's recessive Breed genes might prevent this from occurring. I also liked how strong and proactive Mica was. She matched Navarro and didn't let him push her around. I really enjoy reading the about all the tough, sexy and protective male Breeds. But because they are so dominant many of their female partners do not seem to be able to hold their ground against them. While I like this in the bedroom sometimes I find it a bit upsetting otherwise.

As I mentioned earlier, Mica was tough, too. She had been brought up around Breeds all her young life and wasn't about to let them tell her what to do. Mica also had the ability to hide some of her scent (which Breeds can use to tell emotion) which put her on more even ground than previous human heroines. It was fun to read that Navarro didn't always know what she was feeling because I liked that Mica's ability confused him! Of course, Navarro had to work at Mica accepting him as his mate and did this book get super HOT with his brand of `persuasion!' Because Navarro `hid' some of his alpha-ness Mica got surprise after surprise when he finally let it go and pursued her. Oh, yeah!

This was a scorching read with some new twists on the Breeds which made it fascinating to read. I loved the spunky heroine and the sleeping wolf hero that she awakens with a vengeance!

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

I cried, laughed, hoped, dreamed and cried more. I cheered them on and even said a silent prayer as if I had something at stake. Never has a book made me feel so much. The sex scenes are a bit much, but it's who this author is and I'm ok with that. It's the whole story and characters that melt into your heart. Off to read book 2.

Can this woman ever have a bad day...this book was exciting from beginning to end! I mean there was the right amount of everything, sexual tension, possession, great hero and heroine and the secondary characters were woven into the story beautifully. I cannot wait for her other books in this series.

As usual the sex was intense and hot; Nathan and Bella were explosive together. I love Lora Leigh she is now one of my favorite authors!

Really liked. Wanted more of a roller-coaster ride of emotion and angst like I got with Mercury's war and Coyote's Mate my two absolute fave breed books to date. This was pretty good as well...lots of action and the sensual scenes were scorching and touching. I am dying to read Rule's book!

I love Lora Leighs books and haven't been disappointed until now. How could an entire section be left out and a publisher not catch it? A few minor errors is understandable but a number of vital pages are missing that leave one wondering, WTF? It's like they had a page limit and just started deleting random stuff that totally ruins the book. You just sit there going, who, what, WTH just happened? I read the reviews on the kindle version advising of the missing pages so I opted for the actual book instead hoping it would contain all the pages and it does not! I am horribly disappointed. Lora Leighs books are always an automatic buy for me but now I'm not so sure. There was a waste of $8.00! I say save your money unless someone takes responsibility for these errors and fixes it.

I just couldn't get into this book. Some reviewers have said too much sex, but this is Lora Leigh! I thought the sex scenes were great, as always for Ms. Leigh. What I didn't like was the ridiculous attitude of the hero. He was out of his wife's life by his own choice and now he is mad she is moving on? With him? Maybe I missed something, but Nathan/Noah really got on my nerves and I had to force myself to finish this book.

I have loved all of Lora Leigh's SEAL books but this is my current favorite. It kicks off a new spin-off series from the SEAL books featuring former SEALS and other former international military soliders who are now part of a covert mercenary-type team. I'm so happy about that, since now we get more of Lora Leigh's blend of action, sensuality and alpha males. Lora Leigh takes what is a fairly common plot device ("dead" solider husband/boyfriend returns but is it him or some other mysterious figure?) and makes it fresh and new. The emotions feel real (it actually made me cry at one point) and the sensuality is hot, hot, hot! I really love this book.

The last 3 or 4 books of Lora Leigh's have grammer and/or name and now plot errors. VERY disappointing since I used to buy the books as soon as they come out but I find the errors extremely irritating. It is as if the books are not proof read at all! In Navarro's Promise a lot of things just don't make sense.. "You must name that beautiful boy" .. mmmm.. babies not usually named? And yes, pop from lab to after smooch from one line to the next and forces the end of book. Earlier in the book Mica is in a gown on floor and Navarro is pulling the bag with the ammunition closer but in next line Mica takes out a gun and not Navarro? ooookkkaaayyy. I remember reading a previous book where a totally different character's name was used as the heroin. All these little errors just keeps on piling up!

Nathan Malone joined the SEALs; eventually he fell in love with Sabella and they marry. Several years later his Uncle Jordon informs Sabella that Nathan died.

Two years have past since Sabella buried Nathan. He thinks back to the mission that led to his funeral. He was captured by a brutal Columbian drug cartel, who broke every bone in his body and subjected him to tons of Whore's Dust, an aphrodisiac that keeps males hard; but for the eighteen months of his captivity he refused to break his vow to Sabella. He was rescued and healed physically though his body was changed, but mentally Nathan Malone is dead. He left the SEALs and joined Jordon's "dead men" special operations team as a cold killer.

Jordon gives Nathan a file that focuses on Sabella and the Black Collar Militia that hunts illegals to kill, rape, and sell their babies. Almost everyone in his hometown of Alpine, Texas deserted Sabella who after a two year mourning funk has tried to make a go of Nathan's garage. Nathan still loves Sabella, but refuses to tell her he lives as he believes Malone died in Columbia. Mechanic Nathan Hawke obtains work at the garage. His eyes which remind her of her Nathan and his first name disturb Sabella. Worse she is attracted to him. He is stunned to watch his pampered southern belle work as hard as she does as a blue collar mechanic as he never knew she had such skills. As they fall in love, she begins to put together his HIDDEN AGENDA while he and his team seek the Black Collar Militia.

The premise of a Martin Guerre like spouse coming home after being buried is superbly handled leading to the prime couple gaining reader empathy early on. The action is fast-paced and the suspense high. Although the militia at times comes across as inane and the audience never learns why they want the garage, fans will enjoy Lora Leigh's engaging romantic suspense.

Harriet Klausner

The whole concept behind the Elite Ops series is truly original. I couldn't put down WIldcard's story from the first moment.

Nathan Malone is a "dead man," but when he finds out his wife is in the middle of a bad situation he goes back home to protect her, only he's unrecognizable as her husband after the plastic surgery he had to have to heal and be a part of the Elite Ops. Bella feels an instant connection to Noah Blake when he shows up at her garage and tells her he's a new mechanic. Sparks fly between these two all the way through the book, and the love scenes are scorching hot. It's hard to think of too many couples who have this kind of chemistry on the page. Highly recommended!

Others have mentioned that there is a missing scene near the end of Navarro's Promise - and it is pretty disconcerting to suddenly going from them kissing against a steel wall to the bad guy coming out of a hidden panel in her bedroom. Lora Leigh mentions in a forum post at [...]
that this was most likely an oversight somewhere during the editing process. You can find the missing scene by going to Loraleigh.com and clicking on the Navarro's Promise book cover - a link to the missing scene is at the bottom o the book blurb. Hope this helps!

having read all the series about the breeds has been exhilerating the last was a true cliff hanger. there are so many ways she can now go with her story lines. for those who seem disappointed, i think you were expecting the book to not end in a cliff hanger. this one made me literally drool for her next and i can't wait to see how she takes her story line. with native americans now against the council in full force anything paranormoral can happen. all of the boooks by lora have never disappointed me. if the breed series ever ends , may it be many years from now. so i give lawes justice 2 thumbs up and can hardly wait for the next in her series. i'm so invested in her characters.

I have read all of the 23 previous books in this series, and there were definitely some that I thought were just ok. However, I really enjoyed this one. It was fun to read and kept me interested the whole way through!

I was going to mention the same thing as in the review Part of the story is MISSING, but I will add that the villain, Brandenmore dies twice, once at the end of this book & once in the short story in the Primal anthology book which takes place before this book in the storyline, so there are continuity issues.

I've been reading L.L.Breed books since they been out,and they all have great sex scenes and the characters emotions are passionate and strong.I really enjoy this book as well as the rest.So it has a deleted sex scene and missing part of the story,big deal!You guys get on L.L., she made a mistake we're all human.Some of these reviewers act like they can write a book and put plot,sex,and passion on paper,sorry but none of you can write like this woman!If you don't want to pay for the book,then rent it from the library.I really enoyed the passion between Mica and Navarro and can't what for Law's story.

This is probably the most intense book in the series. From the snippets of Noah's personality that were introduced in previous books, I couldn't wait for Leigh to get to his story. I was not disappointed. High marks for eroticism and suspense. I couldn't put it down. Strong female and alpha male characters demonstrate a love that will last forever.

I'll be brief, as I don't think I'm saying anything that hasn't already been said about the book, but the author should fire whoever edits and proofreads her work. There were typos, grammatical errors, extra words, and name mix-ups throughout the whole book. Then at the end it's like there are five pages missing from the story altogether as at one point they're in a basement and the next they're in a bedroom. I hate when I pay good money for a book, especially from an established author, that reads like a draft that no one had the good sense to read through first before they slapped a cover on it and threw it on the store shelf.

I found this for .99 at the thrift store and what a bargain I got. Lots of excitement and steamy sex and Sabella is a strong female lead which I love. And did I mention lots of steam coming off the pages?

I'm now reading a copy of Navarro and Mica's story checked out from my local library, and will be purchasing a used copy from the store soon to add to my collection. It wasn't her best, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Guess I'm just prejudiced where Lora Leigh's Breeds are concerned. I've learned to overlook the editing mistakes in her previous books because I believe it's a small price to pay for her great Breeds. Haven't gotten to the section with the missing pages mentioned by other reviewers, but don't have a problem with it since I can read it on LL's site. Hopefully, Ms. Leigh will never end this series in my lifetime! I'm still trying to find my own Breed... :)

Linda I agree with everything you wrote, I felt like I'd missed a chapter or 2. The story fell apart at the end (where the missing chapters should be). I should have read the reviews 1st before buying, I probably would have still bought the book, but I wouldn't be so disappointed now.

Wild Card is about Nathan a Navy Seal who has to "lose" his life and make a new one as Noah. He is fine on his own until he relizes his old wife Sabella who doesn't know he is still alive is in danger. This book has a lot of sex in it. It seems like it is in almost every other chapter at least.

Lora Leigh is not an author I usually read, but I have really enjoyed this particular series. That said, I was really looking forward to Nathan's story. While it was dark and intense, I wouldn't have expected anything different given what the character had endured. Despite living through absolute hell Nathan remained true to his wife and the romantic in me loved that......so 5 stars for that. My overall rating of 4 stars is because IMO it could have used some editing, there was too much repetition. I found myself skimming just to see how it ended when I got about two-thirds of the way through.

Leigh writes hot sex scenes, but I thought in this book she went a little overboard. Personally I would have rather had more of the story fleshed out instead.

All in all, a terrific read.

Book Radio on XM-Sirius is currently playing this turkey. When it comes on, I change the channel to something else.

I haven't read any of the others in the series, but my opinion based on this turkey is that Leigh is severely lacking in vocabulary and writing ability. Too much F*** and F***ing in the writing--seems like every other word. She has the vocabulary of a 14 year old boy.

Can't wait 'til it's done!

(Too bad I even have to give it one star.)

i agree with others in that there is something is missing maybe more pages needed to be added between mica and navarro in sense that they never really talk or state with one another their feelings but talk with others around them however it was a good story similar to previous books i read print copy

Navarro is a breed that is afraid to give his heart.
He has truly learned to suppress his emotions and with this the animal at his core.

He knows that Mica Toler is his mate but waits to claim her. However, the suppressing of his emotions is playing havoc on the mating dance.

Mica has always been attracted to Navarro but is he attracted to her. She gives in to temptation and kisses him. Lust follows but does love and commitment?

Danger always follows Mica as she is the best friend of Cassie. When under attack does Navarro's protective instinct come to the forefront.

Let me just say just that I would not want to be in the way when he decides to protect what is his.

i must commend and thank lora leigh for another beautiful love story to end all love stories.

i can't get into the story too much bc i just about loved every minute of this book and if i start i wouldn't be able to stop..

i laughed, i cried, i got HOT with a capital H!!!, and i fell in love with both sabella and nathan/noah.

and i fell in love all over again with ms lora leigh!!

the way she crafts a story is almost like magic.. everything just comes together and then BAM.. one of the best love stories i've read in a minute..

this one is definitely a must read!!!

You know, I'm not even mad at LL anymore.... I'm upset with myself for purchasing the book, thankfully it was at a discounted price.

It's been fun while it lasted LL! I hope you get your mojo back but I'm afraid I won't know when or if that time comes.

As usual any story if Lora Leigh's are great and have frustrated. The male Breeds are so irritating but the best characters because of their sarcasm and sexual jokes. So ueah great story yet again, Thank you Lora Leigh.

This book was much better than LL last one, I almost didn't buy this one because of Navarro's promise. It does seem like a "part one" by not having a ending that answered any questions but it was still written well and had suprising few errors.

I have read quite a few Lora Leigh books over the past couple of years. Some of her stuff can be a little thin on the plot line and pretty heavy on the sexual side of the story. Wild Card definitely delivers on the steaminess, but the plot is just as solid.

I am not going to go back over the plot since several people have already done that, but suffice to say this is a well though out, emotional journey that Lora Leigh takes you on. I actually developed a connection to the characters and the storyline was heart wrenching. You can really pick up on the Nathan's tortured nature and you will be rooting for these characters from page 1. Enjoy!

Readers familiar with Leigh's "tempting seals" series will remember the character of Nathan Malone, who remained true to his wife while enduring the most horrific conditions imaginable when held captive by a drug lord who had him so doped up on an aphrodisiac (think PCP mixed with Spanish Fly) that he opts to remain dead to his family rather than return half a man with sexual issues brought on by the many months of captivity and restraint.

It's been six years since Nathan "died" and he now works for a clandestine group knows as the Elite Ops, going by the name of Noah Blake. When a white supremacy militia group in his hometown has engaged in murderous "hunts" and now is targeting his former business as a place to launder their ill gotten gains (thus endangering his wife Sabella), he is reluctant at first to take the case. But in the end he does and comes face to face with the independent woman that his wife has become (or was she always like that and he just didn't see it?) He discovers that she has never really gotten over the loss of her husband, and has dated infrequently, while her home is still a shrine to Nathan. He suddenly finds that he is jealous of ... himself? Working undercover at his garage, he's in a position to investigate and protect. But just how deep is the organization in the small town that he loves? As much as Bella fights her attraction to yet another alpha man, she notices some similarities between her new lover and her husband.

Leigh had me hooked and hungering for a story about tortured SEAL Nathan. But unfortunately, this story just did not do the character of Nathan justice. When is too much sex too much? Well, in Leigh's case, it's when the sexual passages outnumber the rest of the plot to the point where they detract from the story. While I usually love Leigh's passionate storylines, this one was just ridiculous - I finally started to skip them altogether because they were so numerous and redundant. I felt like I was reading a horrible Shannon McKenna novel which are virtually plotless. And all that dirty talk just made me want to tell them to hush already and get it over with. The plot itself was pretty interesting (what little there was of it), but all the licking, sucking, talking, nipping, tugging, petting, talking, growling, mewling, talking, spanking, and other assorted verbs just subtract from the flow of the story.

© Tracy Vest, September 2008

Great story, great characters, great sex! I loved this book, could not put it down. I thought both Noah/Nathan and Bella were well written complex characters with a true and unique love story. The story-line was that much better having read the Navy Seals series before it and following Nathan thoroughout.

This is the second Lora Leigh book I have read and I really was hoping this was better than the first,(Wicked Pleasures)but unfortunately, I can't say that it was. In fact, I think the book is borderline horrible.

In my opinion, Noah has few to no redeeming qualities. He, (like the male lead in Wicked Pleasures) is just too damaged/deranged to be attractive.

The sex is good in this book but it can't make up for the fact that Noah betrayed his wife in such a monumental way.

I just do not understand how any reader can find someone like this appealing in any way whatsoever.

I have "Maverick" checked out from the library. I am seriously wondering if I should read it or if it will be a waste of time. If it is, then it is definitely three strikes and Lora Leigh is out! I won't waste my time or money on her again.

Dena

Book Radio on XM-Sirius is currently playing this turkey. When it comes on, I change the channel to something else.

I haven't read any of the others in the series, but my opinion based on this turkey is that Leigh is severely lacking in vocabulary and writing ability. Too much F*** and F***ing in the writing--seems like every other word. She has the vocabulary of a 14 year old boy.

Can't wait 'til it's done!

(Too bad I even have to give it one star.)

i agree with others in that there is something is missing maybe more pages needed to be added between mica and navarro in sense that they never really talk or state with one another their feelings but talk with others around them however it was a good story similar to previous books i read print copy

Navarro is a breed that is afraid to give his heart.
He has truly learned to suppress his emotions and with this the animal at his core.

He knows that Mica Toler is his mate but waits to claim her. However, the suppressing of his emotions is playing havoc on the mating dance.

Mica has always been attracted to Navarro but is he attracted to her. She gives in to temptation and kisses him. Lust follows but does love and commitment?

Danger always follows Mica as she is the best friend of Cassie. When under attack does Navarro's protective instinct come to the forefront.

Let me just say just that I would not want to be in the way when he decides to protect what is his.

i must commend and thank lora leigh for another beautiful love story to end all love stories.

i can't get into the story too much bc i just about loved every minute of this book and if i start i wouldn't be able to stop..

i laughed, i cried, i got HOT with a capital H!!!, and i fell in love with both sabella and nathan/noah.

and i fell in love all over again with ms lora leigh!!

the way she crafts a story is almost like magic.. everything just comes together and then BAM.. one of the best love stories i've read in a minute..

this one is definitely a must read!!!

You know, I'm not even mad at LL anymore.... I'm upset with myself for purchasing the book, thankfully it was at a discounted price.

It's been fun while it lasted LL! I hope you get your mojo back but I'm afraid I won't know when or if that time comes.

As usual any story if Lora Leigh's are great and have frustrated. The male Breeds are so irritating but the best characters because of their sarcasm and sexual jokes. So ueah great story yet again, Thank you Lora Leigh.

This book was much better than LL last one, I almost didn't buy this one because of Navarro's promise. It does seem like a "part one" by not having a ending that answered any questions but it was still written well and had suprising few errors.

I have read quite a few Lora Leigh books over the past couple of years. Some of her stuff can be a little thin on the plot line and pretty heavy on the sexual side of the story. Wild Card definitely delivers on the steaminess, but the plot is just as solid.

I am not going to go back over the plot since several people have already done that, but suffice to say this is a well though out, emotional journey that Lora Leigh takes you on. I actually developed a connection to the characters and the storyline was heart wrenching. You can really pick up on the Nathan's tortured nature and you will be rooting for these characters from page 1. Enjoy!

Readers familiar with Leigh's "tempting seals" series will remember the character of Nathan Malone, who remained true to his wife while enduring the most horrific conditions imaginable when held captive by a drug lord who had him so doped up on an aphrodisiac (think PCP mixed with Spanish Fly) that he opts to remain dead to his family rather than return half a man with sexual issues brought on by the many months of captivity and restraint.

It's been six years since Nathan "died" and he now works for a clandestine group knows as the Elite Ops, going by the name of Noah Blake. When a white supremacy militia group in his hometown has engaged in murderous "hunts" and now is targeting his former business as a place to launder their ill gotten gains (thus endangering his wife Sabella), he is reluctant at first to take the case. But in the end he does and comes face to face with the independent woman that his wife has become (or was she always like that and he just didn't see it?) He discovers that she has never really gotten over the loss of her husband, and has dated infrequently, while her home is still a shrine to Nathan. He suddenly finds that he is jealous of ... himself? Working undercover at his garage, he's in a position to investigate and protect. But just how deep is the organization in the small town that he loves? As much as Bella fights her attraction to yet another alpha man, she notices some similarities between her new lover and her husband.

Leigh had me hooked and hungering for a story about tortured SEAL Nathan. But unfortunately, this story just did not do the character of Nathan justice. When is too much sex too much? Well, in Leigh's case, it's when the sexual passages outnumber the rest of the plot to the point where they detract from the story. While I usually love Leigh's passionate storylines, this one was just ridiculous - I finally started to skip them altogether because they were so numerous and redundant. I felt like I was reading a horrible Shannon McKenna novel which are virtually plotless. And all that dirty talk just made me want to tell them to hush already and get it over with. The plot itself was pretty interesting (what little there was of it), but all the licking, sucking, talking, nipping, tugging, petting, talking, growling, mewling, talking, spanking, and other assorted verbs just subtract from the flow of the story.

© Tracy Vest, September 2008

Great story, great characters, great sex! I loved this book, could not put it down. I thought both Noah/Nathan and Bella were well written complex characters with a true and unique love story. The story-line was that much better having read the Navy Seals series before it and following Nathan thoroughout.

This is the second Lora Leigh book I have read and I really was hoping this was better than the first,(Wicked Pleasures)but unfortunately, I can't say that it was. In fact, I think the book is borderline horrible.

In my opinion, Noah has few to no redeeming qualities. He, (like the male lead in Wicked Pleasures) is just too damaged/deranged to be attractive.

The sex is good in this book but it can't make up for the fact that Noah betrayed his wife in such a monumental way.

I just do not understand how any reader can find someone like this appealing in any way whatsoever.

I have "Maverick" checked out from the library. I am seriously wondering if I should read it or if it will be a waste of time. If it is, then it is definitely three strikes and Lora Leigh is out! I won't waste my time or money on her again.

Dena

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I don't know how Lora comes up with this stuff but please don't ever stop. I loved Nathan/Noah's character and his strength and protectiveness reminded me of Mercury which is my favorite alpha male out of all her books.
The plot was fast pace and the love between him and Bella was oohhh so hot!!
Another must read!!

As more than one reviewer has already pointed out, a chunk of a scene is missing from the book. the store lists the book as having 320 pages, yet my copy has only about 310 pages. It appears to me that someone at the publishing company "lost" several pages of the manuscript, while the book was being printed. So I went to the author's website, loraleigh.com, and there on her frontpage was a link to download the "Navarro's Promise" scene completion. These additional pages seem to continue the scene right after Navarro kisses Mica.

I anxiously await the next book in this series everytime I finish one. Most of the books in this series have been great. This book was awesome. I read it every chance I got and couldn't put it down. After all of the references to Nathan in previous books I was looking forward to his story. This one is a keeper.

I am a long time fan of Lora Leigh. I've read every breed book, even the more recent and less impressive offerings from Ms. Leigh. After the Navarro's Promise SNAFU (missing chapter at critical point towards the end of the book) and the delay in publication, I really expected more from Lawe's Justice. Unfortunately, this book fell disappointingly short.
This book is a cookie cutter reproduction of any of the more recent breed novels. You can basically replace Lawe and Diane with any of the previous breed/mate names and you have the same story. Breed finds mate. Breed resists mate. Mate resists breed. Mating heat is irresistible and brings breed and mate together. Pepper in sex scenes and you have the book. Any real plot is confusing if it exists at all. Is Diane trying to find information to save Amber? How did that effort get lost in trying to avoid Lawe? What a cop out ending.
I have always been curious about Cassie's character and how she will arrive at her "happily ever after" but I don't think I can suffer through however many more of the seemingly "printed just to make a buck" books that it will take to get there.
Ms. Leigh really needs to re-evaluate and raise her game.

If grammar and continuity errors make you crazy, don't even open this book. This book is so full of them that I found myself putting it down again and again in irritation. Verb tense errors, missing words in sentences, just little things like that which pull me right out of a book when I read them. If these sorts of errors are a pet peeve of yours (as they are mine) then just skip this one. In one scene the heroine is sipping her wine in a bar and just a few paragraphs later she is cringing at the bitter taste of her beer. That kind of thing makes me crazy when I'm reading. It just makes me wonder if anyone read this to clean it up before it was printed.
I read a lot of romance novels, and I was looking for a new author since I've exhausted all of my regular ones. Ms. Leigh isn't really my cup of tea, and this many irritating little errors just seals the deal for me and I won't be buying her books again. If she's one of your favorites, you can probably forgive the mess.

This installment was Diane and Lawe's story. Two completely dominate people who have to come together for the mission they are set on, while trying to contain their anger and mating heat away from one another. As danger threatens, will it destroy them or will it reveal what they have fighting against from the start?!

I loved Lawe Justice. He character was so "primal". I loved his thinking process. The way he battles with his inner animal. The way things get heated between Lawe and Diane is what makes this book great. From their fighting and heated arguments or to their lustful and sensual romps in the sheets. Which was written so precisely, it amazes me!

I liked Diane but she kind of got on my nerves at times. You could tell she cared for Lawe but was trying so hard to push her feelings aside. I mean, I understand a women being strong and independent but she took it to a long they increasingly annoying as the book progressed. I felt she could of been a little more understanding about the way Lawe wanted to protect her considering his past and things he saw and experienced. She wants him to sacrifice the way he feels about certain things, but she wouldn't even think about making the sacrifice he wanted for her. But it wasn't too too bad, I could kind of overlook it at times. I still enjoyed her character though. And you have to give her credit...

That is what stopped this book from being a 5/5 stars. The ending, didn't really come to any conclusions. It didn't really tie the main events of this story together, wanting you to anticipate and long for the next book. Which I do. I want to know what's going to happen with everything, especially with baby Amber.

It's a HOT book!
I really connected with the characters, expecially Diane. I wanted to slap Lawe on the back of the head on Diane's behalf, so many times. He was being so male and arrogant! Lawe's only saving grace was that he came to his senses, in the very end and accepted Diane as she is.
They have a sparks flying everywhere in their relationship, with all the emotions in between. It felt good to be so emotionally involved in their happy ending.
I loved this as a single book rather than as another story in the breeds saga, I felt dragged along with the long running plots that I still don't have answers to.

Lora Leigh delivers again. Wild Card whets a reader's palate all the more. I couldn't put this book down and can't wait to see where she takes the ELITE OPPS after following her SEALS. Nice, Job, Lora, as always.

Best in the series. It was a sweet and sexy book. Others have already give significant descriptions. There was a little gap in the why this gang would be in Alpine but otherwise, no problem. Loved it. If you have not tried this series yet, try it with this book. It is a keeper.

i couldnt stop reading this book. i almost cried wen i finished it. lol. it had passion suspense and everything inbetween. the fact that natha had changed to lik this dark creature(emotionally) just made the story much more intyeresting. i had always wondered wat would happen between nathan and sabella after he got rescued. and tier story turned out to be the most fascinating. the one thing that this book lacks is dat, if i were sabella personally, i will not forgive nathan(noah) so easily.

Lora Leigh definitely did not disappoint with this long-awaited book. I loved Noah and Sabella together again and it was so great to see the development of the two of them growing passed the past and really build something together. I also was excited to hear the mention of Durango Team, especially Ian and Kira! I am looking forward to reading the new Elite Ops series and hopefully get continual updates on the Durango Team and maybe read Rick's story!

Too many times Lora Leigh's books are filled with too much sex and not enougth plot. Or I end up hating the heroine and the male is too domineering. This time everything was perfect I was even surprised about the villians. Don't miss this one. If you're looking for a great love story, a great family story, laughter and good triumphing over evil (and you want to lose the last 15 pounds and look 10 years younger) read this book!!

I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait for the next in the series. The only issue I had with this book is that Sabella was pregnant when he "died" in a book of a linked series. This book seemed to have more of a plot than some of Lora's other books which was nice although I don't buy LL books for the plot.

Lora Leigh does it again with her sexy, hot, and very naughty story. I loved this new start to Lora's Elite Opps series. The story had an abundance of sexual frustration and when the two main characters, Noah and Bella do come together it is fireworks!!
Loved it!! Can not recommend it enough!!

This was not her best! I hated Rachael as a mate for Jonas and this book just confirmed why I disliked her so much. She is a 24/7 whiner! Plus the conflict between the lead pair Lawe and Diane dragged on far too long! And when are we going to get Dane's story? I've been waiting since Mercury's War to read his.

OMG!! What an awesome book! I swear Lora Leigh has outdown herself. This has got to be the best book I've ever read. I almost cried when I finished it because I didn't want it to end. What a perfect love story.

Yum. This book has some delicious erotic naughtiness in it. The book is a fun read with interesting characters. Not sure how realistic the main male character Nathan/Kyle, but the author keeps the reader engaged.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I loved Lora Leigh's Tempting SEALs series and dove into the Elite Ops series thinking it could not possibly be as good. So far I'm loving it better! Noah and Sabella just make my heart melt.

I'm a huge Lora Leigh fan. However, the last 5 or so books have been horrible. I was hoping she'd get back to her old writing style. She has a gift for bringing the reader inside the book...not just reading the words on the page. The last several books she's written have just been horrible...but each time I buy her books, wanting her old style to come back, however, Lawe's Justice is worse than even her most horribly written books...she's not coming back, she's getting worse. I agree with the other reviews....this book is boring; too much blah, blah, blah; not enough plot, confusing at best. There's NO character development. The book stinks!! It's actually painful to read!! I find myself skipping pages at a time, because they are completely irrelevant to the book and I just want to finish it! Please Lora, find your old style, go back to old publishers, something, anything!! You're way too talented to write this garbage.

This novel is ceaselessly intense and not at all relaxing or enjoyable. Although the characters are well written and the story engrossing, the constant undercurrent of simmering violence totally creeped me out. It's not loving or romantic to be stalked, spied upon, pushed around and tormented until you scream in frustration and anger. Then trying to make everything better with a love-making scene that, once again, utilizes all the same emotions. Only now we're supposed to believe it comes from a passionate heart? Sorry, guess I'm too vanilla for all this stuff. Worth reading? I liked all the other books in the series, but this one left me guarded and filled with dread.

I have always been a huge fan of Lora Leigh's book, specially the Breeds series; however, at the time of release for this book I was, like many people are, disillusioned with how her latest books have turned out. The first reviews the books received were damning (1 star) and I almost didn't buy it. I'm glad I waited for more extensive reviews on this book before ruling it out because this one is a good one. A must read. Those first 2 reviews were highly suspicious. They were posted mere hours from the release, barely enough time to buy the book and read it, and were oddly similar in content. They declared the story to be complicated and plot-less. If romance novels are too complicated then maybe they should be reading something simpler, like, I don't know, The Velveteen Rabbit, perhaps? The story is deep, fast paced with out being rushed and adds information to the on going plot of Amber's situation. There are stories with in the story so of course the book ends in a cliff hanger. It's been a while since I've looked forward to the next book in the Breeds series and I can't wait!

About the sex, it's typical Lora Leigh. Hot, hot and getting hotter. A reviewer mentioned the sex scenes used to be almost pornographic at the beginning of the breeds series and he/she is absolutely right. What this person probably doesn't know is that the Breed series was first published by Ellora's Cave an EROTIC romance publisher, so, yes, sex was more graphic then, although I don't think it has changed that much since Ellora's Cave.

Lawe and Diane make an explosive combination of action and passion. They have issues to confront and resolve but L.L. managed to make the characters come to a conclusion with out feeling like they were beating a dead horse over the mating. Gideon's story is one I can't wait to read. This character will make you cry and feel for him. His pain is so vivid, his struggle so heart-wrenching it will make you yearn for a mate for him because he deserves it.

As far as Amber goes, I'm sure it will be several books before we see the end of it.

Overall it was an excellent effort from Lora Leigh that puts her back on track and back on my must read list.

I read the other reviews that rated this book. They were not happy w the book. I don't know if it's fortunate or not, or what says about me but I liked it. I enjoy the cliffhangers because I like to wait for the next part of the story. The only excuse I have it's that I like "novelas" maybe that's why I like these books, after all they are for entertainment. Looking forward to the next story.

Navarro Blaine is a wolf Breed with recessed genes created to be the ultimate deceiver. He is stuck in limbo not fully human, not fully breed. He has the unique ability to maneuver the human and Breed worlds. Navarro is also an Enforcer for the Breeds. It is his job to protect the Breeds and their secrets. However, there may be one person that comes before the Breeds in his mind: Mica Toler. He has been attracted to her for years and promised her protection. Unfortunately, it may be her heart that needs protection since this Breed seems incapable of love.

Mica Toler has been immersed in the Breed world since she was a child. Being best friends with Cassie Sinclair has its positive and negatives. Mica is loyal to the Breeds but there is one in particular that has her heart. Mica has been in love with Navarro since she was sixteen and she has attempted to steel her heart against him. Mica learned early to keep her emotions under control because Breeds can sense the slightest upset. She knows for a fact if she was his mate he would know it and be unable to stay away from her.

Mica becomes a target; hunted by the Council Breeds. Navarro made her a promise and he intends to keep it. As Mica and Navarro spend more time together the harder it is to deny the attraction between them. No mating hormone means no mating right? There is no denying they want each other but is it forever? Navarro should watch his back because he's not the only Breed with feelings for Mica. Can these two decipher this mating madness before it's too late?

Navarro's Promise is highly erotic absorbing tale from Lora Leigh. With twenty-four books in a series it can become hard to keep it fresh but Ms. Leigh manages it with ease. Navarro and Mica bring us another new facet to the mating process. Their attraction is immense; no one is denying it but themselves. A question is posed: if you think something strongly enough can you make it true? All of the Breeds are tortured but Navarro's scars are buried within and he intends to keep them there. It's easier if he doesn't have to open up; it makes him less likely to get hurt but it doesn't keep him from hurting others. Mica has loved Navarro for so long but knows the tests show they are not mates so she has had to lock down her emotions, bury them in a sense because they can never be returned. When these two finally get together only Mica is left with mating symptoms. She is mentally and physically suffering while Navarro is free from the symptoms. Essentially they've mated but are not mated. I truly enjoyed most this story. I loved Ms. Leigh's new spin on the mating process and I loved Navarro and Mica's internalization of their emotions. Of course, I also loved the sizzling sex between these two. Ms. Leigh absolutely knows how to give her audience memorable erotic scenes. More importantly she weaves erotic and emotion beautifully.

What I did not like are the glaring mistakes. I'm not usually a person that has a problem with a few typographical errors but the errors in Navarro's Promise are unforgettable. When you are so into a book and you know it's getting close to the end your heart rate increases; you can't wait to find out how this couple is going to end up together and see the bad guy get his just desserts. But then...Your heroine gets pushed up against a steel wall by your hero, you flip the page expecting scorching banter that will lead to a passionate mating but instead you get an immediate climax, and discover you are in the bedroom and not the lab. Does this sound a bit confusing because it was for me, not only was it confusing but it was disturbing to realize that pages must be missing from this fantastic story. The climax of a story is suppose to be the penultimate moment but in Navarro's Promise the reader gets yanked out of the story at this critical point and forced to use their own imagination to resolve what happened in the missing parts. I am a huge breed fan so I can live with this disturbing tragedy and will return for the next Breed novel. However, if I was reading a Breed novel for the first time I do not recommend starting with Navarro's Promise. This series is a distinctive winner and I wouldn't want someone to judge it on the horrible mishaps that happened with Navarro's Promise. What was a fresh brilliant story became unsettling and sad at the end because of this mistake.

If you are a fan, Navarro's Promise is a provocative and steamy standout in the breed series with unfortunate errors. If you are new to this series I advise you to start from the beginning with Tempting the Beast. From the beginning you will learn the ins and outs of the Breed world. Discover the many villains and fall in love with all the characters.

Miranda
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Three years ago Nathan went on a rescue mission and was captured, his wife Bella was told that he had died. Nathan was eventually found and rescued, but he was changed so he became part of an elite force. His identity and name was changed, then a mission takes him back to Bella, he needs to protect her and keep his identity a secret. Bella was young when she met and married Nathan, she never got over her husbands death. She is a strong woman and has learned to deal with him being gone. Nathan is a big bad ex-Navy seal; he still works for the government, but a different shadowy section of it. He has to have things done his way; he also has never gotten over Bella. Nathan comes back to work a case and protect Bella, Bella knows that there is something familiar about the new man who is working in her garage. When they start getting close Bella knows that the man is husband with a new face, Noah/ Nathan fight to keep everyone from discovering who he really is. His team helps him find and take down the people who are murdering immigrants and any law enforcement that tries and find out what is going on. I liked this book, Bella and Nathan's love was inspiring, even when Bella was told Nathan was dead she didn't believe it. Nathan never stopped loving his Bella; he let her go once to save her. The story itself was well thought out and executed, I was surprised to find out who was really behind everything. The sex scenes were descriptive but not necessarily pornographic, they don't overshadow the book. I really liked this book and think it is a good start to her new Elite Ops Series.

This was by far one of the best books I have read!I couldn't stop reading it and stayed up well into the night to finish.Steamy,exciting,well written!!!Lora Leigh has become one of my all time favorite writers!!!

Human Mica Toler has lived amongst Breeds for a long time with her BFF being Breed Cassie Sinclair. Mica is especially attracted to Wolf enforcer Navarro Blaine, as she has since she was a teen; however, he fails to reciprocate her desire.

Insane scientist Phillip Brandenmore escapes from his incarceration. At the same time he breaks out of his cell, his cronies try to kidnap the more vulnerable Mica in an attempt to use her as an expendable pawn to get to her best friend equally alone Cassie Sinclair. Mica escapes while an upset Navarro comes for his mate as he no longer denies his feelings. They travel to Sanctuary, but Navarro does not show the marks of a bonded mated Breed, which means Mica's hear, will be broken.

The latest Breeds romantic urban fantasy takes an intriguing twist as Navarro seems to have broken one of the prime genetic concepts of the species in which you cannot resist the lure of your bond mate. Fast-paced with other twists including an ironic one involving Brandenmore getting what he wished for. However, Lora Leigh refreshes her saga by shaking up the Breeds world with her latest aloof hero who appears to be able to ignore his mate.

Harriet Klausner

I have read every book by this author and I must confess that whilst I was originally a fan I am afraid that the past couple of books have been more and more below par. This particular story is perhaps even more so in that it lacked any real development and the romantic leads stuck me as .. well ...quite simply just annoying in their attempt to create some drama as to why they were not able to be together. What was more worry some however was that I felt the quality of the writing was so poor that I would even go as far as to state that I felt that some of the paragraphs were barley even cogent. Overall I found the whole book confusing.

(from her forum)
I figured out what happened with Navarro's Promise, and I am so sorry.

The missing portion of the scene, the sex scene between Navarro and Mica somehow managed to find its way out of the file. I don't know if I deleted it to fix it, or someone accidently deleted, or perhaps laid it aside to fix and forgot to put it back in. However it happened, it was inexcusable that I didn't go over the file again to ensure the parts I was working on had been fixed propertly. I do promise you I will be going through the files more closely in the future, and will be more diligent in ensuring nothing like this happens again.

Within the week, you will be able to find the missing pages at [...]. They're currently being gone over and should be ready to post this time next week.

Until then, I hope you've been able to enjoy the story despite the missing pages.

Thank you, Lora Leigh

My first book by Lora Leigh and I'm a FAN! I've just started a second book by her, and though it's good, it's not as great as Wild Card! This book makes you want a Nathan Malone/Noah Blake in your life!

This was by far one of the best books I have read!I couldn't stop reading it and stayed up well into the night to finish.Steamy,exciting,well written!!!Lora Leigh has become one of my all time favorite writers!!!

Human Mica Toler has lived amongst Breeds for a long time with her BFF being Breed Cassie Sinclair. Mica is especially attracted to Wolf enforcer Navarro Blaine, as she has since she was a teen; however, he fails to reciprocate her desire.

Insane scientist Phillip Brandenmore escapes from his incarceration. At the same time he breaks out of his cell, his cronies try to kidnap the more vulnerable Mica in an attempt to use her as an expendable pawn to get to her best friend equally alone Cassie Sinclair. Mica escapes while an upset Navarro comes for his mate as he no longer denies his feelings. They travel to Sanctuary, but Navarro does not show the marks of a bonded mated Breed, which means Mica's hear, will be broken.

The latest Breeds romantic urban fantasy takes an intriguing twist as Navarro seems to have broken one of the prime genetic concepts of the species in which you cannot resist the lure of your bond mate. Fast-paced with other twists including an ironic one involving Brandenmore getting what he wished for. However, Lora Leigh refreshes her saga by shaking up the Breeds world with her latest aloof hero who appears to be able to ignore his mate.

Harriet Klausner

I have read every book by this author and I must confess that whilst I was originally a fan I am afraid that the past couple of books have been more and more below par. This particular story is perhaps even more so in that it lacked any real development and the romantic leads stuck me as .. well ...quite simply just annoying in their attempt to create some drama as to why they were not able to be together. What was more worry some however was that I felt the quality of the writing was so poor that I would even go as far as to state that I felt that some of the paragraphs were barley even cogent. Overall I found the whole book confusing.

(from her forum)
I figured out what happened with Navarro's Promise, and I am so sorry.

The missing portion of the scene, the sex scene between Navarro and Mica somehow managed to find its way out of the file. I don't know if I deleted it to fix it, or someone accidently deleted, or perhaps laid it aside to fix and forgot to put it back in. However it happened, it was inexcusable that I didn't go over the file again to ensure the parts I was working on had been fixed propertly. I do promise you I will be going through the files more closely in the future, and will be more diligent in ensuring nothing like this happens again.

Within the week, you will be able to find the missing pages at [...]. They're currently being gone over and should be ready to post this time next week.

Until then, I hope you've been able to enjoy the story despite the missing pages.

Thank you, Lora Leigh

I almost didnt get this book because of the reviews but I have read all of Lora's books and decided to make up my own mind about this one. I am glad I did. This was a very good book. It was also a very typical breed book. I dont know what everyones problem with it was. I makes me wonder if they have read the rest of the series because this book was no better or worse than the other books. You should definately read it for yourself if you are a fan of Lora's like I am.

love this book. This is more along the lines of the way lora leigh used to write. This is a keeper. I really enjoyed it but remember to make your decisions about a book and not listen to much to other people negative comments on lora leigh.

Wonderful addition to the Breed series! character development is, as always, amazing in these books. I love the way the Breeds are actually changing and adjusing wit the mating heat....it definately keeps me on my toes

I always read the Breed Series by Lora Leigh and just finished it yesterday and did not realize until a few minutes ago that there were pages missing. I still loved this book even with the missing pages. I will probably read the missing pages though when Ms. Leigh gets it up on her website.

Ms. Leigh your books are the best.

Thanks
Jeannie

Love Lora Leigh... but what happened? Page 300ish is missing a WHOLE scene! Mica & Navarro go from kissing in the lab downstairs to all of a sudden being in bed upstairs!... very upset, it makes me feel like I missed a very cruical part of the book as it happened at the very end. I reread it 5 times to make sure i wasn't crazy... I wasn't.

Navarro's Promise has one of the best twists in the series to date! I loved the entire story and could not put it down. Mica and Navarro are hot, hot, hot! A must read for all breed fans and a great read for new one's.

I have been reading this series for years. I pre-ordered this book and waited patiently for it even though Navarro was never a significant character in the story. I am so disappointed with this book. The continuity, spelling, punctuation, redundancy, and context is so bad I had a hard time reading it. I am half the way through this and will probably finish it because it's in my nature. I am still waiting to find out who Cassie smiled at, in the trees, that was holding a rifle trained on her at that big "party". LL has fallen way down on my list of "must read authors".

Could have been really good if the author would have just wrote the story and left out the endless sex. I've come to the conclusion that the author simply just is not getting any and is obsessed with it.