Dark Leopard Magic

by Sapphire Phelan

Dev Tollen is a man with a dark past and an even darker soul. More than that, he's a gay wereleopard. He has never had the Dreaming and never met his true mate. But one night the Dreaming does come and reveals his lover, an African man named Montsho, also an alpha black wereleopard. Montsho will fight their love and their destiny. Dev will do all he can to win his beloved's heart and keep him by his side always.

Then a ghost begs Dev to solve his wereleopard lover's murder. Both men will find that their new-found love tested and their lives in danger. Their idyllic time in paradise is about to be torn asunder when they discover who is the murderer.

Genres: M M Romance, Shapeshifters, Paranormal, M M Shapeshifters, M M Paranormal

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 26, 2010

About the author

Sapphire Phelan has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and a Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to it is A Familiar Tangle With Hell, released June 2011 from Phaze Books, Both eBooks were combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar, released April 24, 2012.
She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cat sometimes suffer for it!
Find out more about Sapphire Phelan at http://www.SapphirePhelan.com.

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sapphir...
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SapphirePhelan

Reviews

[Valentina Heart · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this book and couldn't wait to get started. To say that I was disappointed is a serious understatement. There were exactly three things I liked about it; The cover which is really tempting and beautiful, the blurb and the wording used in descriptions which were good. Everything else... It was painful to read. At first I kept going, hoping that it would get better. That the rush that painted the whole story would eventually stop and that it would all take a more natural flow where I could actually catch up and maybe even enjoy the characters. That never happened. A lot of situations just went on completely unexplained and brutal more often than not. Yes, there is also rape(not that I mind that part), more than one actually, and no resolutions when it comes to those(which I do mind), much like everything else in the story. Another thing that bothered me to no end was the phrasing and the sentence construction, as if English wasn't the author's first language. Everything seemed strained, especially the conversations between the characters, and with so many elements shoved into so few pages it really wasn't a pleasure reading it.

Of course, this is my personal opinion and should not influence others in their choices. If you decide on reading it, hope it gives you more enjoyment than it did to me.

[Jimmy Hanson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kind of had high hopes for this novella; Phelan is a new-to-me writer and the thought of interracial were-leopard couple.
What I ended up with was barely more than a number of sketchily-written sex scenes, the kind that would probably end up on "The Weeping Cock" blog. An example, taken directly from the story: "We were a perfect, blazing circle of suck." o.o;;
Beyond that, the two characters seemed to have one personality, the plot seriously lacked, everyone spoke formally, love was declared before they even met and - most disturbingly - the subject of rape and murder was mentioned often, without any seeming effects on anyone. Dev had killed numerous humans in the past but there was never once any note on guilt or remorse, and he was raped twice by two different characters, both written of in detail, and yet showed no negative reaction to either. No positive reactions of course, but no negative reactions, either.
And then back to the other... I'm sorry. I just can't take a writer seriously when they describe a cock as their lover's "luscious sausage."

[Tj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. There were some items that stretched belief. The first half wasn't as enjoyable as the last. I believe if this had been a longer read I would have enjoyed it more. As it was it was a bit rushed at the end. I did find the tale believable in that the author made the weres much more animal like than most shape shifting stories. The characters come off as cold at first but I was able to warm up to them and actually find myself liking them by the end.

[LaShonta · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't even know where to begin with this one. I just kept saying to myself that it was weird. The whole thing seemed off. There were things that happened in this book that were left just undone. It felt more of an outline than a complete story. I just couldn't get into it. Reading this book was like pulling teeth.

[Michael Mandrake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book. It was a sweet romance, just the right amount of gushiness!

:)

The characters are well written and the sex was hot. You could definitely see the emotion between them.

[WereVamps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Author came to visit... Check her out!

Read my reviews, Come by for Author Giveaways, Chat With Authors, and so much more!

http://werevampsromance.blogspot.com

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sexy story and yet dark paranormal.

[Unapologetic_Bookaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

First reviewed for www.theromancereviews.com
My review at TRR: http://glbt.theromancereviews.com/vie...


The author gives this shifter romance a voice all its own. The characters are well written and have to quickly (but believably) develop for the pace of the story. The first few paragraphs capture your attention. Lyrical and poetic style mixed with dark romance and sex draw you into the character¡¯s world immediately. How he feels about his mother¡¯s arrival in America from India, his kind. His fight to fit in grows more tenuous with each life-changing incident as a youth, such as puberty. Or losing his mother. The need to find others like him, making him ache.

When wereleopard Dev has his vision (the Dreaming, his mate vision), Dev only wishes he will find his mate soon. The Dreaming for Dev leads him to Montsho, also a black wereleopard (which he will learn is from South Africa). Montsho has difficulty accepting his Dreaming, of being mated to a male. Unlike Dev, Montsho had never lain with a male, but his lust for his mate could not be denied.

Once they are united, the story does well with expressing their love and caring each other. The lust they feel while searching for each other is beautifully told with sexually-charged love scenes (told from both Dev and Montsho¡¯s POV) once they come together. Dev hopes loving Montsho will clear the darkness weighing his soul, something he believes was planted from the union between his Indian Mother and American father.

When the ghost of a man who had a wereleopard lover comes to Dev to ask his help to solve his lover¡¯s murder, Dev realizes there is another reason he was drawn to the cottage he and Montsho share. To Montsho¡¯s horror, his own prediction was coming true, that the rouge were who is suspect in the murder have come to take Dev down. I like seeing how the author made a certain myth her own. The magic in this romance is refreshing.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this gay shifter interracial romance. All the elements blended and felt right. The pace of a story is always crucial when I am reading a new author, so I was glad the plot was woven into the main characters¡¯ lives, of joining and mating. I loved reading DARK LEOPARD MAGIC and look forward to more from this author.

[Lexi Ander]

I am not going to rate this because I didn't finish reading it. I am not connecting with characters or the story at all. It jumps POV and it took a couple of pages to realize that is it a different person. I am also having diffuclty because there isn't any expression of emotions accept for a little bit of anger once earlier on. Later, Dev kills someone and walks away. Chomped something right off and you would like that there would an "oh, shit" moment but nothing was said, done or felt - on to the next scene. Very sterile and just not for me. Sorry!

[M/mromanceaddict · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this and currently it's on the back burner....