Book Review-Wild Rain

Wild Rain
The Leopard Series
Christine Feehan
Jove,
358 Pages,
Published February 2004
Paranormal- Shape Shifting
ISBN: 0515136824

Synopsis:
Christine Feehan now explores the dark past of a woman on the run--and her darker desires for the only man left she dares to trust...


What has she done? With a new identity; a staged death, and a chance to flee the treachery that stalks her, Rachael has escaped from a faceless assassin. Now, thousands of miles from home, under the lush canopy of the rain forest, she's found sanctuary.


Where can she hide? In this world teeming with unusual creatures walks the most exotic of them all. His name is Rio. A native of the forest imbued with a fierce prowess, he is something to be desired. Possessed of secrets of his own, he is something to be feared.


Whom can she trust? But as Rachael's past looms as oppressively as the heat of the forest, and as Rio unleashes the secret animal instincts that course through his blood, Rachael fears that her isolated haven has become an inescapable hell...

My Review:
Wild Rain is the second in the Leopard series, and one that once I had finished felt deeply satisfied. I It is my favorite among the series so far, it was a intense but tender love story between two people that find themselves drawn into a suspenseful plot that will send them both fighting for their lives.

Rachel Lospostos, is a young woman where life has been unjustly cruel to her, and those that she has come to care for. Rachael's parents were killed when she was young, and she and her brother were left with their cold-blooded uncle. Her uncle forced her brother to do horrific actions at the threat of her life. Elijah (Rachael's Brother) then kills a friend of hers, in front of her, although Rachael hadn't realized it at the moment, that friend was planning on killing her, for he worked for her uncle. Elijah, however never told her the truth, and after the incident, Rachael stages her death, and created a new identity, hoping to flee from a assassin that hunts her. Thousands of miles from home, away from all that she knows, she heads into a rain forest, with threats out there unknown to her. She assumed Elijah is the one that has sent men after her to kill her. She aches for her brother, knowing all that he had done in the past, was for her. She loves him all the same, knowing what he has turned into. On a journey with a group of people being guided through the forest by Kim Pang, who has great knowledge of the area. They are then ambushed by a group of bandits, Rachael barely escapes with her life in the river. She then finds herself sanctuary. Rio is of the Leopard species, where he can turn from being human to leopard in a moment. He has been shunned from his people from a previous error in his past. He lives alone, apart from two leopards whom he found abandoned and as babies. He cares for them, and even though Leopards are solitary creatures, they continually stay with him. Rio is part of a group of Leopard shifters, who  undergo missions where they rescue humans and bring them to safety among the rain forest, since there are many dangers to be found there. As he drifts toward his home, he senses a stranger within its realms, and goes on high alert fully intending to destroy whoever has laid a trap for him. Rachael finds herself being attacked within the old hut that she has found sanctuary, by none other than the mysterious and captivating Rio. After Rio realizes his mistake, and at first he never trust Rachael, but there is something about her that captures his attention. Rachael now badly injured, finds herself in the care of the one who attacked her. His name is Rio, and at first glance he seems dangerous and wild as the forest around them. But as time goes one, and he tends to her gently, she see's a side of him she would have never suspected. Rachael is drawn toward this mysterious creature, whom she seems to share a deep connection with. Rachael comes to the knowledge that Rio is a lot more than just a man, but there is a animal hidden beneath the human exterior. As Rachael past comes to haunt her, they are both faced with a bleak future of being on the run, although they have each other. Rachael is discovering something about herself, something that she has never felt before and is learning to adjust to a new life among the 'Wild Rain'.

I definitely enjoyed reading Rachael and Rio's captivating story, it seems to enthrall me to the point that I could hardly put this book down. The characters were portrayed so well, it was as if I was drawn into the rain forest myself among the trees, humidity, and the wild nature. I was taken on a wild adventure through the rain forest, where passion, instinct and a deep love abides. As Rachael starts to heal from her wounds, their passionate feelings for one another grow until they are both thrown into a climatic sensual ride. Even though there are many that hunt them both, they manage to stay alive and ahead of the hunters. A deep tender lover grows between both Rachael and Rio, that they are unable to resist. I found myself falling in love with Rachael and Rio, but for me both characters have had pasts that were Hell on Earth, and despite all the dangers that surround them, they end up finding a sensual heaven amidst it all. This is definitely one of my favorites from Christine Feehan's writings. Its filled with the perfect mixture of sensual passion, witty conversation, and a thrilling adventure that will knock your socks off!!

My Grade For This Book
5 Blossoms

Other Books In The Series:
The Awakening 
Burning Wild
Wild Fire