Guest Review: Black Seduction by Lorie O’Clare

Raul VicMoran and Angela Kalucian will not tolerate what Colony is doing to their kind, the jaguars. One of the leaders in the community is making arrangements with the humans to sell their services as mercenaries. Hired Killers. To hunt, capture and eliminate someone else’s prey. The level of humiliation is too strong to endure.

After fleeing Colony, Raul and his tow male litter mates travel through the mountains, south into the desert and finally the jungle as they work their way to Central America, where the only other known colony of jaguars live. Raul and Angela’s love for each other blossoms during their trials and ordeals while traveling. Angela also comes to respect all three VicMoran males to the point where she feels protective of them. Raul knows in his heart, without any doubt, Angela is his female. No one wille ver challenge him for her. But for one night, in the complete blackness of the Costa Rican jungle, all three VicMoran males will share Angela, truly bonding the four of them together for life.

I know there are shape-shifter cats of one sort or another in paranormal romance literature, but I just have not encountered too many of those stories. This is my first “jaguar” story and I am impressed with the notes that the author has included in the preamble to the first chapter. She is one of those authors, even when writing paranormal tales, that takes seriously the need to know the natural habits of the animals in question before putting them into a shape-shifter novella. Thus we encounter Raul, Ran, and Rafe—all VicMoran litter mates and who are long-time residents of Colony, a gathering of jaguars outside of Central American and carefully hidden from the nearby human towns and villages in the Colorado mountains. Now several of the leaders of Colony have taken it upon themselves, without any consultation with the other litters, to decided to sell the services of their powerful males as mercenaries to clean up the dregs of human society. The lure of power and vast amounts of money have even brought Angela’s litter mate Natasha over into the group who is advocating this radical new direction for the shape-shifters.

Now Colony is divided to the point that blood is being shed at the hands of the leadership. Agree, go along, or die! Raul, his brothers, and now his mate are determined that they cannot stay. In the dark of the night the leave and over a week’s time make their way to the jungles of Central America, the warm, humid and welcoming darkness of the Costa Rican jungles. It is here that they will pursue their futures, and establish their home and families. Angela has grown to feel that Raul’s brothers are hers as well. She will work to find them worthy mates. But for one night the four of them share their love and lust as they bond with each other and with their new land.

This is a somewhat “dark” story and is based on the theme that societies, even animal shape-shifters, have to decide where their morality lies. These jaguars are aware of their own powers but are unwilling to become assassins for the sake of money. They are hunters but only for their own food. They want to be a part of the cycle of nature, not hired guns at the whim and will of humans who are willing to sacrifice even their own humanness for the sake of greed and power. This is a short, fast read, but I think the underlying themes are poignant and pertinent to what all of us must decide—what are the values that define who we are and how will we act on those values in times of crisis. It is also a look into the love and loyalty with the litter—the mating process and Raul’s willingness to allow Angela to grow and become a mature jaguar before claiming her as mate, even though he has loved her for years. This story is about family and the bonds that bind them together, the strength that sustains families in time of crisis. I liked it a lot. Well written, good information about jaguars in general, and a very erotic, fun tale.

I give this novella a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place