Lora Leigh's heroes and heroines discussion

Ok, Readers. Can we just have a moment to reflect and "vent" about how difficult some of these female mates are? Lets just get it out there. I'm reading some of the most recent reviews of Styx's Storme. I'm sensing a lot of frustration for Storme's character. Her unwillingness to bend in any way through out the story and then all of a sudden finally pulls it together in the end. I had a VERY difficult time with Cassa's character in Bengal's Heart. UBER stubborn woman! And such disregard for Cabal's feelings. It took me a long time to move on to Lion's Heat because of how I felt after that one. And LH turned out to be fantastic. Rachel was stubborn too but she was still soft and vulnerable and only trying to protect herself and her baby. So I could appreciate her. But these females can sometimes be downright unpleasant and unattractive to me. Why does it have to be that way? Do you all like it? Does it add more anticipation for you as readers and the passion building?? LET'S TALK ABOUT WHO YOUR LEAST FAVORITE FEMALE MATE IS AND HOW WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A GREAT LL MATING STORY HAPPEN!! I think its safe to say my least favorite was Cassa and my favorites were Shera and Dawn.

I was mildly annoyed by Storme. From the sounds of it though, it didn't frustrate me as much as it did you.

As I read your post, I was thinking, "But Anya, from Coyote's Mate, could be considered almost as unbending. Why didn't that bother me?" Delgado was equally as inflexible, true. I don't know. I love that book.

Storme did strike me as being caught emotionally at the moment of her family's deaths. Uber-bright but emotionally backward. Unfortunately, In RL, I've known a lot of people in that position over the years, between SF fandom and the SCA--so maybe that's why she irritated me but not to the point of true annoyance.

Bengal's Heart did bother me more than any other book in the Breeds series. I'll need to go reread it to see if I can pinpoint what about that story made it one of my least favorites. I'm pretty sure that was more about plot issues than Cassa (although I do remember being more annoyed with her than Storme) and a growing gripe I have with the series that I'm not sure anyone else shares or is even a legitimate issue.

You know, I think it sort of boils down to this for me. As a reader, sometimes we just want to get swept away in the fantasy. In the, sometimes unrealistic, outcomes of a fantastic story. In RL, its real enough, right? We want to pretend for a little while that the impossible can be possible. So to make some of these females SO incredibly unpleasant and difficult, just makes me feel more frustrated and I already feel that in real life every day at work, you know? Lol.

I agree, Anya was another tough one. I understood her frustration. That journey was agonizing... I mean, they literally didn't really get together until the End. That is very hard for me to deal with when I invest my time in to reading a 300+ page story. But she also put up with alot from DelRay. Cassa was awful because, as I stated in the review I wrote for that book, she was disrespectful at times. As the journalist that she was, I feel she acted very irresponsibly and recklessly and downright bad. There's a difference between being caught up in emotion and fear, like Dawn was for 10 years, and being purposefully difficult. BUT DARNED IF I WILL EVER PASS UP A LORA LEIGH BOOK. I am a loyal fan of hers still. Always will be!!

I find these posts very interesting as not only do I agree with all of you but if you go over to the 'Breed' section most people would not (not to say that they are fanatical or anything). I find the majority of her heroines not too likeable. They are either uber-stubborn or harsh, or just plain clueless.

I, like everyone else had a hard time with Storme. Even with her history she was just a dyed in the wool biggot, and that is never a fun thing to read about. I think that Hope should have banished her to some underground cavern, and instead she got off light with a warning.

I also found Anya too masochistic. I understand her POV but good grief... Talk about eating BS and then accepting his apology with one of her own.

I loved Elizabeth and the mate from Soul Deep(name escapes me)as well as Ria (she is probably the best of the heroines as she has a back bone but is not unbending). Charity and the other wolf mate(again- escapes me!)were also very likeable, in my opinion. I also like the women from the short stories as well (in fact those Heroes as some of my favorite).

I will say, and I might be one of the few that Cassie is not one of my favorites, and I don't look forward to her book. Maybe it is my age as only those who are late teens early twenties seem to be her most rabid fans(IMHO based on reviews and blogs). I just find her too moody (either trying to play the vixen, crying.weepy, or just being too Fae).

I do think that Lora Leigh does a homerun with her male characters. There is no doubt about that, and for that reason I will always buy her Breed and Nauti books. Those alphas are worth their weight in gold. But their counterparts? Very few have impressed me too much. But that is very minor in that they will not stop me from buying her Breed books. I salivate just waiting for each and every one.

;)