This story in the Lone Pine Pride series introduces a cougar shapeshifter, Patricia 'Patch' Fontaine, out in Montana guiding a party of wilderness trekkers. Her pheromone levels are rocketing this week and we're in no doubt that TAMING THE LION is going to involve some adult scenes. Patch drops the tourists back to base before anyone gets interested, but a meeting of shifters has been called and she has no choice but to attend.

Lone Pine is the only pride which admits other cat shifters, so we meet leopard, jaguar, lynx and African lion as well as a Bengal tiger. The general world is unaware of their existence so the usually solitary beings tend to band together and agree on rules for safety. A dominant lion called Roman works for their security and he will soon marry Lila, Patch's lioness friend, though this is more for expediency than love. The sight of him tonight sparks Patch's interest. It's probably just the extra hormones, right? A lion wouldn't be interested in a cougar, and her athletic figure has never attracted men anyway.

Three Rocks pride in Texas wants to reveal their nature to the world, so the debate is on and feelings run high. Another issue is that some shifters have just vanished. These include Patch's parents years ago, and more pride members recently. Who is kidnapping them, and why? Rumours fly. I found the story continually interesting as challenges are piled on while personal issues arise but have to be pushed aside temporarily.

I especially liked seeing the cougar shape that Patch takes, while the doors in people's houses all swing easily with paw-friendly latches. Patch constantly refers to her claws rather than nails, and they do seem sharp and strong for fingernails, so we take it that some attributes of the big cats carry over into the human form. Patch keeps grumbling about double standards and discrimination so the shifters don't have an ideal society but they can mostly be themselves. This includes being computer hackers in today's world.

Vivi Andrews has written a complex, fun and easily readable tale in TAMING THE LION which follows on from Jaguar's Kiss and precedes Hawk's Revenge. This adult romance fantasy series will prove addictive.