This story was a long time coming! As a dedicated reader of Lora Leigh's Breeds series, I've been waiting for Cassie's story for quite some time. If you're familiar with the series, we met Cassie when she was a young girl and she orchestrated the relationship between her mother Elizabeth in the third book of the Breed series, Elizabeth's Wolf. Since then we've seen her grow up throughout the other novels to eventually become a force in defending Breed Law. Ms. Leigh teased her pairing in Dawn's Awakening when she thought she was going to die and could 'feel' the assassin that was on the island. He later broke into her hospital room to make sure she was all right.

But it's been something like twelve or thirteen books since that happened and even with all of the foreshadowing, I was completely surprise to find out who he was. At the same time I was smacking myself that I didn't figure it out. Dog is a coyote shifter who all believe is aligned with the Genetics Council, so when it is revealed that Cassie is his mate, she goes from being fiercely protected to quickly shunned from Breed society. Now, Cassie has to decide if she can trust Dog or if he's going to betray her to the Council. After all, the reward for her capture is the highest the Genetics Council has ever set.

I loved the dynamics between these two characters. They are both so smart but really bad at dealing with their own emotional states. He tends to shut things away and she ignores her own needs to help others. This time they must deal with everything that's right in front of them while navigating their biology, Breed Law, and the Genetic Councils interference. The conclusion reveals the secret behind Cassie's guardian fairy, forces Dog to make some drastic choices and reveals more about the mystery behind Breed genetics. Couldn't stop reading!

Another great story from Lora Leigh in her Breeds series. I have always wondered about Cassie from the first time I read about her in Elizabeth’s Wolf and wondered who she was and who she would end up with. Leigh is a master in weaving a story and bringing other characters from her previous books into the present.
Dog has always been in the picture, but only Jonas and a few others actually know how important he is to the Breeds. Since he has never pledged allegiance to the Breeds most, including Cassie, think he is a Council “dog”. Is he, or isn’t he, but Cassie knows if she needs him, he will be there as was proven when he rescued Cassie’s sister. But there is always a payday, and Dog calls his in. Will they be able to figure it out their relationship in time? There is another player in the picture from Dog’s past. How will it all turn out? Read to find out!
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cross Breed is the evolutionary climax to Leigh’s unique Breeds. Leigh transports readers with genius creativity. Readers become active participants in her stories, with a cocooning intimacy. This has been the story I’ve been waiting years for. Since reading Elizabeth’s Wolf, readers were enthralled by Cassie. Her story has taunted us. We have been able to catch glimpses of her throughout the entire Breed saga. The tipping point was when we learned her mate had more than likely found her in previous books. The need to know more was excruciating. Her chosen mate is the perfect pairing. Dark and elusive Cross Breed is full of surprises and answers. Cross Breeds was a bucket list read. Leigh’s singular writing style reels me in every time. I can not wait until the next story from Leigh.

This has been a long time coming. Elizabeth's Wolf was the first book I read in this series and I fell in love with the sweetness that was Cassie. Due to what I read I knew I had to read the entire series and this launched my reading challenge for last year. I accomplished my goal and have been highly anticipating this story with each of the other stories I read. As the series has grown and the Breed world has expanded more about her has been uncovered. This has lead the world of the Breeds into a new direction from the beginning. Who Cassie is and what she can possibly do has been one of the biggest mysteries of this series.

Cassie has always been my favorite character and finding out who her mate is happens to be what I've been dying to know. I know I'm not the only one, we began getting hints several books ago and there have been fan theories flying all over the place and I have to say I have been very satisfied in finding out who her mate was and watching their story unfold.

Picking back up right where Wake A Sleeping Tiger left off, we are back in the world of the Breeds on the brink of war because Cassie is missing. She has always been the Breeds biggest weakness and their strongest advocate, for her to go missing and for more secrets about her abilities and existence to be unveiled has sent many of the packs reeling.

For the first time in a long time, we get Cassie's perspective on everything unfolding, as she makes a devil's bargain to gain something for another who needs he, she also sees this as a way to gain something for herself after always putting the health and happiness of the Breeds before herself; her greatest fears are unveiled and we realize the weight that has been set on her shoulders. Cassie is Dane's daughter to the bone and despite her mix of genetics and the fact that she's a natural born Hybrid and one who was never in the labs makes her a hot commodity for many. I could sit here and wax on about who and what Cassie is, but she tells that story the best herself.

I can't even go into detail without ruining the surprise on who her mate is so I'm not going to. I am going to say that this one lives up to the good writing of some of the older books, where the case and the intrigue is balanced out by the mating bond and the effects on their lives. Despite the fact that Cassie has given so much and is friends with and works with Jonas there are those amongst the Breeds who see her as an enemy, and when they beleive she's vulnerable strike at her. It's sad to see the disadvantages to mating with someone no one trusts. Jonas once again has his hands in so many different pies and so many lives depend on his decisions, that it's interesting to see him so flustered throughout the story as Cassie tries to navigate being this Breed's mate and the woman everyone else expects her to be.

I absolutely loved that her mate just wanted her, not the Breed lawyer, not Dane's daughter, not Jonas' friend but Cassie herself. He saw her better than she saw herself and having realized for years that she is his mate gave her the space to come into her own. When he realized he needed her just as much as she needed him he began a campaign to win her and introduce some fun into her life. I loved that they developed a working relationship before this and that Cassie used him as her one little rebellion. It was the one secret she has and it was something only her mate could give her.

I really loved the reappearance of Graeme and his twin Cullen and their mates. It gave me such a thrill to realize we were going to get a few more stories out of the Breeds yet and I can't wait to dive back into the world. With Cassie's mating, some Breeds who have been hidden and out in the cold have come in and been introduced tot he Breed world. An even greater enemy of the Breeds had been introduced and a chance to learn the names of the twelve Chairmen of the Council has been presented.

I loved how balanced between learning more about Cassie and learning more about her mate and how this impacted both their lives. I can't wait to see where this world leads and how the stories unfold. I'm looking forward to the Breed couple we see coming up because it's going to be one heck of a story.

★★★★★

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I was hooked and couldn't stop reading until the book was done and even then I wanted more. I highly recommend my loves, get yourself a copy. and as always Happy Reading my loves,

Lora Leigh's stunning Breeds series is as captivating as ever. This time Cassie Sinclair is set to meet her mate and face her fate...

This book is high on adventure and steamy as all get out. Time for us all to know the halfling's fate.

As usual, Lora Leigh has pulled off a new twist on the Breed dynamic. I have been waiting for Cassie's book, and am happy it didn't disappoint! This series has been hours of fun to read.

Finally Cassie's story!!! This is one book that is long overdue featuring one of my favorite characters from the Breeds and it does not disappoint in any way. We are still left hanging a little bit with the anticipation of the next upcoming story featuring another pair of favorites from the Breeds.

Action, sex, some humor and a return of our favorite characters make this one of the best in the series so far!

<b>Thank you, lawd, Lora Leigh.</b>

Thank you for making this not suck and giving Cassie a good story.

Cause the stakes were high here, peeps.

But let's back up.

I read my first <i>Breed</i> book waaaaaaay back in the day. I think I was in college or something. Which isn't bad considering I started reading smut waaaaaaay before it was age-appropriate. We are talking 12 years old here, people.

In fact, one of the books in this series (<i>Coyote's Mate</i>) is one of my favorite books of all time. I mean, we are talking the highest level of favorite here. The I'm-on-an-island-and-can-only-bring-x-number-of-books-and-this-is-one-of-them level of favorite.

Anyway. According to GR, I have read 21 of the books in this series, although with all the .5 installments it's hard to say how many exactly. Also, I think I've actually read some of the ones that I haven't marked read or rated as I read them waaaaaaay before the advent of GR. So the number is probably higher than that.

In fact, it was a <i>Breed</i> book that actually prompted me to join GR. After picking one up and realizing I had purchased it and read it before - and the first one was STILL on my shelf to boot (this was pre-kindle so this meant I had two paperbacks) - I decided I needed to start inventorying my purchases to avoid these double-up blunders.

But I digress.

Anyone who has read or followed this series has been waiting for Cassie's story for what seems like eons. We met her adorably weird semi-physic self back in book three and she is the daughter of fan favorites Elizabeth and Dash. And that book came out in 2004. When some of you reading this were like five fucking years old.

So, obviously the stakes were high here.

And, being that I pretty much stopped reading the most recent releases from this series - I felt like they were starting to be 20% repetitive story line and 80% repetitive sex - my expectations for this book were...well, they were pretty low, frankly.

That said, I REALLY enjoyed this book.

But being that it doesn't come out until September, I don't want to include too many details here.

Let's just say that fans of the series will be happy with this (at least <i>I</i> was anyway) and I think Leigh did right by Cassie. She made her tough and even-keeled and didn't have her character suddenly go sideways.

So many times in long running series, you have a character whose story you wait for FOREVER; but when their book finally comes out, the character acts completely different than they have up to that point.

Wonder Woman is suddenly a simpering beta female with no backbone and Superman is suddenly a pussified asshat who's scared of the dark.

You get the idea.

Thankfully, that is not the case here.

I felt that Cassie stayed true to character and I loved that she didn't whine or feel the constant need to battle for dominance (this annoys me to know end).

The plot was not the strongest, but I didn't even care. I was just so happy that Cassie was awesome and that her mate was equally so.

I truly hope series fans love this as much as I did, and I think if they keep their expectations reasonable, they absolutely will.

Lora Leigh has created an amazing world in this Breed series, the likes of which I have never encounter anywhere else and her books never ever disappoint as is the case in "Cross Breed". I have been reading this series for years now and I love it, there is always something new and the characters are amazing and you can't help but love them!
"Cross Breed" is the amazing story of Cassie who has made appearances in the majority of books in the Breed series, it began with her and her mother's story when she was a child and now Cassie is all grown up in she has her own story to play out and what a story!! Cassie is one of the most sought-after breeds for her uniqueness, but sadly she is hated by many including her own people, but now that Cassie's mate is about to be revealed anyone who wishes her ill is about to be very sorry because her mate will crush anyone who causes her pain, not that Cassie can't stand on her own, she has many who love her, but she is stronger then anyone can image! I don't want to give away any spoilers, and so I will tell you that this is an amazing story full of love, laughter, tears, cheers, and intrigue, and as with all of Lora Leigh's books there are some very steamy sex scenes!

Cross Breed was such a wonderful read in fact it was definitely met my expectations. I have been looking forward to Cassie’s book for so long, for YEARS so I was so excited that Lora Leigh finally wrote her book. It has everything you could come to expect in a Breeds novel and I soaked it all up like a sponge.

It begins six years previous, when Cassie first meets a Breed….a very dangerous one. One that everyone views as the enemy, when in reality there is a lot more to Dog than others seem to realize, he is like a ghost (which we have seen him in past books and know of his capabilities) and then he comes to Cassie in the dead of night with a soft caress in the shadows where her guards are unable to see and leaves her with a promise….if she is ever in trouble or needs him call him but she will always owe him a favor in return. And over the years Dog has been there for Cassie when she has needed him. But when her sister’s life is in danger, and Dog saves her life, she owes him….one night in his bed. But she soon finds out that they are actually “mates” and now things are about to go to hell in her life, because having Dog as her mate is very complicated. Its not as simple as it has been for many others including her own parents.

For one, despite Cassie’s knowledge of Breed Law and the fact that her parents are leaders in the Breed community, she is known as an oddity and many especially wolves, see her as not one of them because of her mixed heritage since she is both wolf and coyote and that is looked down upon including her many gifts that many breeds fear from her. Even though Dog probably wouldn’t be her first choice in a mate, she realizes soon that he is the right one and that she will fight for him and their mating with every breath that she has. But there are enemies that seek to destroy them and seek Cassie at all costs. But will her mate be the one to bring about a catalyst that she will never see coming…

I will admit that this story sucked me very quickly in including the sexy prologue of Dog and Cassie’s first meeting. (which was released months before now and had me so excited to grab up this book here) I couldn’t put this book down, and seriously I read this book way too quickly, because I never wanted it to end. I really fell in love with Dog and Cassie and seeing their relationship develop. Now first off, the sex scenes are HOT which Lora Leigh excels at but what is really remarkable about how she writes her smexy stuff, is that there is such intense emotion right along with it.

One aspect of the story that I couldn’t understand is how the Breeds could turn on Cassie so much. We see through the series, how intuitive she is and how much she helps and aids fellow breeds and right when she needs the support…she doesn’t have it because of who she is mated to? Even her father wasn’t as supportive as he should have been (just my opinion) so I really struggled and yeah I was Cassie and Dog team ALL The way.

Dog is a charater that is pretty elusive throughout the series, so there isn’t much we know about him until this book. So I was pretty happy to have him as the hero, because he is tough as nails and does what is necessary. Dog is on a secret mission of his own. He has his own people to protect, mostly children who are breeds and still being held captive by the council. We learn what the council has been doing lately, and yeah this really was heart breaking. Basically these children’s organ’s are being sold to human donor’s and these breed children are being sacrificed. And yeah this really made my heart hurt especially seeing how much the Breeds have suffered from these crazy scientists from the council that they have never been able to fully bring down. So we see why Dog is so protective, and so determined to make sure that his kids are safe before anyone knows that he is a undercover agent with the council and that he is working with Jonas. Jonas is the only player other than Leo and Dane that knows of Dog’s mission and the vital importance and secrecy of it. But honestly Dog….is such a great hero. Because he is protective of Cassie but he never tries to hinder who she is or her talents. He only seeks to protect her back when she needs him to be there. We learn about Dog’s heritage and what happened to his parents.

Cassie is such a delight to read and we do realize how important that she is. And we get learn who her “fairy” really is, we learn about her talents and who she will rise up to become fully and boy does she KICK ASS. Especially towards the end there, yeah, when she is crossed don’t mess with Cassie because she will hunt you down literally. I had a blast with her character because Cassie is super smart, sassy, and bears some heavy weight on her shoulders. You see what a strong woman she really is and she has had to be strong all of her life. She has been hunted all of her life and she has never had privacy, guards with her everywhere she goes. She has never had it easy, and I really wanted her to find her mate and her HEA because she deserves happiness and some peace.

The ending I will say that it broke me down in TEARS….PEEPS…TEARS. My goodness, sometimes Lora Leigh can really wreck my emotions and she really did that with this book and it was such happy tears too. Dog and Cassie just tore my heart so much both in sad and happy ways and seeing the romance culminate was thrilling and also gives the reader ALL THE FEELS because you get to see how much they truly deserve happiness and they find it in each other. They are both children of mated Breeds, and both have coyote traits and aren’t the “norm” and they make a great fighting team.

Overall Cross Breed is a edge of your seat, work through your emotions without mercy, giveing you happy feels from beginning to end and adds in some depth of characters and some important truths are revealed for fans of the Breeds. A CAPTIVATING ROMANCE TO MELT YOUR HEART

Full review to be published online in late September.

Can’t really review CROSS BREED so far from the release date, so this is mostly random thoughts.

The ‘World of the Breeds’ bit at the beginning was terribly heavy-handed, and not particularly true to events in previous books. The prologue was an expansion of the long ago scene on the island in Seth Lawrence’s atrium; expanded (and altered) with new info to fit the needs of this book. That was when most readers figured out who Cassie’s mate was; as well as what he was really doing.

Latter books of the series tried to set the worldbuilding of the Breeds world that should have been done back in the Ellora Cave days when the books were more smut than story. Bet LL wishes now she had made her Breeds able to shift. I’m sure she had no idea the series would last this long or become this popular. As it is, she changed the canon of the series and made up stuff as she went along. Not complaining, mind you; after reading this series for all these years, I’m well aware of Leigh’s idiosyncrasies. I just go with the flow.

LL threw everything in the Breeds world plus the kitchen sink into this book. If you have been enjoying the series you’ll like this one. Anyone who has been reading between the lines in past books knows what to expect here, especially the mating process. There <i>were</I> several compelling twists this time; one that threw a monkey wrench into the same old, same old of the mating dance. There were also a few surprising revelations that opened up some fascinating new players and storyline possibilities.

Overall it was a pretty good read. The bar was set so high for Cassie’s book it was difficult for anything to actually live up to the expectations. Although LL always said Cassie would be last book, the epilogue was a definite lead-in to the next book. There are threads and characters (some new) left open that look to breathe new life in the series…more Breed and Council secrets to unearth. Apparently Leigh changed her mind and was just finally giving in to the fans for Cassie’s story.

Warning: Spoilers!
So, I have been waiting for this book since first picking up "Elizabeth's Wolf". It is always tough when you have a character you love and really want to read her story. It doesn't always work out.
In this instance Cassie's story was fast-paced, action-packed, and filled with a few surprises, but overall I am not quite satisfied. Things just didn't quite come together for me. There were moments that felt overly dramatic and as if the story was going that way to add just the drama. Character motivations were unclear and at times it felt as if parts of the story were missing.
And the end was a bit disappointing: Cassie screams her heart out when Dog leaves, her agony and pain is surrounding her, making everyone around her feel her pain. There are pages and pages describing her rage and pain. And in the end she just forgives him and hops right back into bed with him.
Still, despite it not quite living up to my expectations it was a fast read I gulped down in one sitting and a solid 3.5.