Judith’s review of Claiming Their Cat by Maggie O’Malley.
Cat Watson managed to escape from the powerful drug lord Alvarez and right into the hands of the notorious killer—Rabid Rio. Rio promises to protect her and her baby if she becomes his mistress. With no money, what choice did she have? Then Rio’s brother, Creed, shows up and vows his protection too.
She finally feels safe, that she belongs only to discover they’ve betrayed her.
There is little doubt that in spite of the “War on Drugs” by our government and international efforts to stop trafficing in human sex slaves, both drugs and sex slavery continues almost unabated. And while it is not made completely clear in this story initially, the heroine became involved–allowed herself to be kidnapped–by a psycho drug cartel lord in Mexico in an effort to find her sister. Her efforts were all for naught. She never did find her sister Jenna. But in an effort to spare her own life and insure that she would not be sold as a slave, Cat manages to get herself pregnant and to convince the drug lord that it is his child, seeing as how he had raped her when she first arrived. He really didn’t bother her at all after learning she was pregnant–he really liked men much better–and so she was given limited access to the compound as she sought word of her sister. Finally, knowing that Jenna was not there, she managed to escape and it was then that she ran into Rio–a former military sharp shooter and now mercenary, working undercover for the DEA. But all Cat knew was that Rio was often referred to as Rabid Rio and he was a killer for hire. What she REALLY didn’t know was that he was a wolf shifter.
This is a story that is full of tension and suspense. Not only does Rio realize that Cat is his mate (of course), but her fear of him and her complete lack of trust in him means that she repeatedly seeks to escape from him until she is so exhausted and putting her child in danger that she allows him to care for her. It is also a story that clearly illustrates that no relationship can be loving or healthy without trust. In spite of all that Rio–and eventually his brother Creed–can do, Cat is still convinced that their lives are in danger because of her presence in their home.
There’s no pack here as Rio and Creed left the pack long ago as they served out long years in the military. Their grandmother is a shaman/seer and she figures prominently in the story. There are shifting scenes much and the fact that they are wolf shifters is not absent but it is sort of a low-level purr throughout the tale. Add in, also, the presence of a 900 year old vampire who has significant powers and who falls in love with Rio’s best friend, Dr. Lucy who helps Cat and gives her some much-needed prenatal care. Draco is an interesting secondary character and one that ends up being a pretty nice guy as vampires go.
So there’s lots of action with a squirrelly heroine who can’t sometimes make up her mind because of the pressures of this really psycho drug guy that is threatening two guys she is coming to care about along. There are times when their life together is warm and friendly; other times they are seriously at odds with one another. I found the book to be quite entertaining although there were some aspects that made me a bit uneasy as I didn’t think the story flowed as well as it could have. Yet is is a good paranormal romance and I think it was really a very nice read.
I give it a rating of 3.75 out of 5
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Maggie O’Malley Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Leave a Reply