No child should be mistreated, or worse, abused, by anyone, and definitely not by their parents. What Adal and his brother Steven have had to suffer at the hands of their bastard of a father is unfathomable. And when they finally free themselves (which must have happened in one of the books of the previous series ‘Leopard’s Spots), the battle may be won but the war for justice is by no means over. This is the story of Adal’s fight for a self-confidence he never had, and his discovery of a love he thought he didn’t deserve.

Adal has gone through hell at the hands of his father. Called a halfblood (since he is a cross between a puma and his leopard father), he has suffered emotional and physical abuse to the point where his father has left scars all over his body and was trying to slowly poison him. Now that he is no longer taking the pills he is facing withdrawal and weird aftereffects. Luckily, Dorso is there to help him, and they find a wolf shaman who can help. Still, much of the battle Adal faces is psychological as he adjusts to a world he has never experienced before.

Dorso has no idea what hit him until Adal admits it was his brother. All of that happened before they found out Dorso was a good guy and were freed from the bonds to their tyrant of a father. Dorso has no idea what he is in for; he doesn’t even know shifters are real. But he is also a realistic man, and when faced with the evidence of Adal shifting into a pumapard, he begins to accept his new reality with relative ease. One thing is certain: he is inanely attracted to Adal and quickly falls for him. Adal couldn’t have a better partner in his corner!

If you liked the ‘Leopard’s Spots’ series and want to see how some of the secondary characters are doing, if you enjoy reading about different kinds of shifters and the villains they face – not always of the human variety, and if you’re looking for an intense, hot read of the paranormal persuasion, then you will probably like this novel. ( )