Author: Lynn Kerstan
Published by: Onyx
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4

Review:

"The Golden Leopard" by Lynn Kerstan was a novel with action adventurous historical romance that had a 'exotic settings, intensed scenes and some undercurrent of humor' all rolled up together making this a good read. This novel is the first in series for this author. You will find that the hero and heroine( Duran & Jessica) who had a torrid romance along with the adventures they endured. I did find this novel definitely a combination of 'Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone' and loaded with twist and turns and amazing action. This was one read that I could put down...with all of its suspense. The setting for "The Golden Leopard" was in India and England...where you will find this read filled with 'dark plots, cultural differences, greed, passion, family dynamics and less not leave out the snobbery of the ton.' You will find all of the characters are well developed and interesting keeping the read alive.

So, if you are interested in a historical settings with a mixture of adventure, romance and a story that will move swiftly you have come to the right place for "The Golden Leopard" would be recommended to you as a good read. ( )

…’the dream was carried in the mouth of a great jungle cat.’

A tale of theft, assassins, romance and skullduggery; a sweeping narrative that takes us from India to England, and then from the London to the English moors.
The story opens with Lord Hugo Duran being tortured in Alanabad, a small state in India.
A statue, The Star of Firmament, The Heart of Alanabad has been stolen by an Englishman.
Duran is English and a suspect. He manages to escape death, but at a price.
A deadly, locked bracelet is placed on Duran’s wrist. If he doesn’t succeed in finding and returning the sacred object within a year, he will die.
Duran and Lady Jessica Arville, a private antiques dealer, search for the Golden Leopard.
Escorted by assassins they race against time to find the leopard, a potent symbol of people of Alanabad’s beliefs. Cultures, politics and greed clash.
Duran and Jessie have a history, a history that inexplicably reopens, drawn as they are to each other against their cooler selves.
Can they find the leopard?
Will the assassins kill Duran?
Can Duran's wrist be released from the fatal bracelet and its poison?
Will Jessica be able to solve the mystery and tame her own heart?
An intriguing read set at the time Regency England.
A NetGalley ARC ( )

Back cover blurb

In every adventure, there must be passion....

Lady Jessica Carville wants nothing to do with men after having her heart betrayed. Despite society's disapproval, she has found fulfillment and success as a dealer of rare antiquities for Christie's auction house in London. The last thing she needs is for the scoundrel who once cast her aside to rear his handsome head.

Despite her best efforts, Lord Hugo Duran's sudden return from India piques Jessica's curiosity--as does his tempting offer. He needs her expertise on a quest to locate a priceless artifact that is rumored to have been smuggled into England--a quest full of daring adventure, dangerous intrigue, and unbridled passion.

My Review

3.5/5 stars seems to low a score for this book 4/5 is definitely too high I guess 3.75 stars would be the right amount or 7.5/10 which sounds less convoluted.

This book was very hard to get into a first I found the first 150 pages to be relatively boring but well written enough that I didn't put the book aside. In addition to that I was not able to warm up to the heroine Jessica until the book was almost over. The hero Duran I found quite likable but he is far from being a favourite. If my first impressions of this book had continued I probably would have only given this book 3 stars but as it was the second half of the book improved tremendously. Jessica quit being such a harpy, the romance picked up and the plot moved along at a fairly nice suspenseful pace.

Some people may have an issue with the plot if they are sticklers for plausibility. For myself I'm willing to suspend my disbelief as long as it doesn't get ridiculous and even then in a well written book it still may not bother me. As such I found the plot well done and quick moving but there were a number of instances that would probably jerk someone else right out of the story.

One thing that did bother me was how quickly the heroine went from wanting nothing to do with the hero to jumping into bed with him - there was sufficient sexual tension prior to this to explain why she wanted to jump into bed with him. However, it would have been nice to be inside Jessica's head at that moment rather than Duran's to see the thought process that lead from her previous stance to the one that had her jumping him like a wildcat.

All in all aside from the less than compelling first half of the book I quite enjoyed the read and I'm looking forward to picking up the next book in the series. ( )

Lynn Kerstan is an author whose books I generally enjoy very much, but unfortunately, she hasn't had anything new out for a while, so I'm picking up her backlist here and there.

Lord Hugo Duran is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is captured in India after another Englishman stole the priceless golden leopard deemed necessary to the nizam's rule. He's sentenced to death as a spy and thief, but is granted conditional freedom when he says he's had a dream that he's to restore the leopard.

So he has one year to find the golden leopard or die, and to that end, he returns to England with an assassin as a bodyguard/valet and unseen "others" keeping him under constant watch. Unfortunately, the time of the journey is also included in that year, so he's down to a matter of weeks once he arrives in England.

To find the leopard, he applies to Lady Jessica Carville, whose heart he once broke, and who now works for Christie's auction house as an expert in antiquities.

This is not your usual historical romance. It's more an adventure, on the order of Indiana Jones. It's over-the-top and intense, and a fabulous page-turner.

Hugo and Jessica are both strong, intelligent characters, and neither is inclined to sentiment--maybe that's why I liked them so much. They're larger than life, both of them strong enough to keep their emotions to themselves to accomplish their goals. And despite their determination, they find themselves falling in love again, fighting it all the way.

The character of the assassin Shivaji is a lovely plus--he's mysterious and possessed of an iron-clad resolve to kill Hugo, yet they become friends of a sort.

The resolution of Hugo's dilemma is due to brains and cleverness, and is very satisfying.

All in all, an absolutely wonderful read. ( )