Tortured mercilessly in the Breed labs, Dawn’s nightmare should have ended
when her Pride escaped the evil Council and left the labs behind. But her
torment continued afterwards, at the hands of a Pride brother she should
have been able to trust, a Breed who would betray his entire Pride.
Years have passed since their escape from the labs and the discovery of the
traitorous Breed. Dawn has grown strong, into a Breed Enforcer to be
reckoned with, but is not without enduring pain. The torture she
experienced has kept her from the Mate she found ten years earlier. But the
Mating Heat grows unbearable for Dawn, and she is determined to do whatever
it takes to claim Seth Lawrence as her Mate once and for all.
Seth has suffered too, although hormonally the Mating Heat is not as
difficult for males as for females. But it is more than the Mating Heat
that causes Seth’s pain – his heart is breaking without the woman he loves,
although he would do anything to prevent Dawn’s pain – even if that means he
must deny himself to prevent her nightmares from returning.
Nothing can prevent those nightmares from returning, both in Dawn’s dreams
and in the waking world. She’ll need Seth more than ever to handle the
horror she is about to face.
Just
how many favorite books can I have in one series? If you had asked me
before I read Dawn’s Awakening which of Lora Leigh’s
Breeds books was my favorite, I would have debated between
Tanner’s Scheme and Elizabeth’s Wolf, finally settling
on a tie. With this new edition in her gripping saga of genetically
manipulated people whose DNA is spliced with animal DNA, Dawn’s
Awakening has unexpectedly earned its place in my top three favorite
Breeds stories.
When we first met Seth Lawrence in The Man Within, he was kind
and noble. In Dawn’s Awakening, he is still both, but we
finally see the man underneath, as Ms. Leigh delivers a human hero to rival
any Breed male we have yet seen in terms of sex appeal and sheer Alpha
dominance. Make no mistake, this ex-military man turned head of
international conglomerate Lawrence Industries is no pushover, despite his
devotion to Dawn and the sacrifices he has made in regards to her
well-being. Now that he sees her again, he understands what she needs more
than anything is not the distance he has given her for so many years, but to
be pushed to her limits, to face her pain and take control of it. And he is
the man who will be there with her every step of the way.
Dawn’s pain is so strong you can feel it emanating from the very pages of
this book. How a person, even a Breed, could survive the traumas she has
sustained and remain as sane as Dawn has is amazing. But that sanity is
near its breaking point as both the Mating Heat and the nightmares from her
past bubble to the surface, threatening to consume her once and for all.
Digging deep for the strength she has within, Dawn finally finds it within
her to reach for the things she wants most, and what she wants most is
Seth. Seeing her allow him inside her considerable defenses without losing
that inner strength she has built so meticulously over the years is
heartwarming and heartrending all at once.
You will want to have a big box of tissue handy when you sit down to read
Dawn’s Awakening. I highly recommend Puff’s Plus, as the lotion
prevents skin chafing from the numerous times you will be wiping the tears
from your eyes and face. But this isn’t just a tearjerker of a romance, it
is also a riveting suspense-filled story as Seth and Dawn work together to
ferret out the person or persons threatening their lives.
Of course, through it all, our couple find time for some searing sex scenes
guaranteed to leave readers hot and bothered during and after reading
Dawn’s Awakening! I have said it before and I will say it again –
no one knows how to turn me on like Lora Leigh! With her books, of course…
LOL
Reviewed by Jennifer
