A Tale of the Other Kind: A Therian Novel

COVER: The cover draws you in. It is sensual, mysterious, and gives you an idea of what’s to come.
CHARACTERS: The characters in this story were profound and realistic. Kai, the protagonist, came across as the sexy loner. He was respectful and thank God he wasn’t a pushover (I despise pushover good guys!). In a couple of scenes he got into fights and took up for his woman (way to go, Kai!). Sienna, Kai’s love interest, was no shrinking violet. Although Kai comes to her rescue more than once in the book, she shows him that she can take care of herself. Astrid, the sidekick, adds flavor to all the scenes she’s in. I liked her character best of all.
CONFLICT: So, Kai finds out that there’s something other-worldly weird about him. He tries to stay away from the girl he loves in order to protect her. Of course that proves futile and even when others tell him to stay away, he ignores all the warnings. Because of this forbidden love, Kai has caused the wrath of a jealous god to be cast upon him and all his loved ones. Does he give up his love or does he fight for his right to party? I thought it took a little long to get to the conflict. A lot of time was spent with the James-and-Sienna fight that I thought it would be super significant in some way.
VILLAIN: To me, the villain makes the story. They have the all-rights pass to be as bad as they want to be. I find it interesting how each writer takes advantage of this opportunity to project evil genius into characters. I had high hopes for Quinn, the jealous god who doesn’t want any non-human to fall in love with a human. When he first entered the story, he grabbed me with his line, “Things could be easy for you Kai. You should refrain from being seduced by that which you are so eager to indulge in.” I was like, yes, there’s the bad guy! He sounded wickedly classy. But then we don’t hear from him until waaayyy later in the story! I would have liked to see more of him. He did kill for no reason, increasing his diabolical rating. The ultimate-battle fight scene should have had more Quinn showing off his villainy skills.
ENDING: There’s nothing worse than going through a story only to be let down at the end. That was not the case with this story. I did think Kai changed his mind too easily at the end. Given his character, it would have seemed more realistic if he struggled more with whether or not he wanted to continue putting the love of his life in constant danger. But overall, I really enjoyed the story! The journey was good and the climax appropriate. Can’t wait to read the second installment!
Tanjlisa’s Rating System: Pretending to clap, Pity clap, Medium clap, Enthusiastic applause, Standing ovation
I give A Tale of the Other Kind an Enthusiastic applause. I enjoyed it and will read the second installment!

I loved this story so much! A shape shifting were-leopard?! How awesome! I fell in love with Kai from the beginning. Leandi did an excellent job of creating this beautifully complex and devastatingly handsome character from the beginning.

There was good pacing throughout the book. I only came across a couple of slow parts but it didn't take away from the overall story. I loved all the characters and how well they were developed. The story itself is super unique. I much prefer reading about were-leopards than werewolves  You should definitely get this book, it's an easy read and really fun story!

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-Blowing, December 3, 2012

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE this book!!!! I hope book two is ready tomorrow!!!, December 2, 2012