"a beautiful Beauty-and-Beast style story"

A long time ago Mavra the witch wanted Dimitri Korakov but he had resisted her attempts to seduce him because he loved his wife Irina. It angered her so she caused him to be reborn time after time only to kill his true love starting with his wife.

In the present Alexei Korakov was brought up by his grandmother to hate himself and to let his time run out alone to end the family curse that turns him into a panther when he feels any strong emotion. He moves to an isolated area in Mississippi only to find he has a neighbor Drusilla Jordan who knows Alexei even though she never met him before. Maura has also awakened, determined to kill both of them this time around. Alexei wants Dru to leave the area before he hurts her but she, having felt the evil of Mavra, is determined to help him fight her though he believes he will end up killing her.

Rickey R. Mallory has written a beautiful rendition of Beauty and the Beast that is so sensually erotic readers will feel the heat the two lovers generate. Both the hero and the heroine are strong-willed stubborn people, the kind one wants to have in your corner when danger threatens. SHADOW OF THE CAT is a charming adult fairy tale, a spell binding romantic fantasy readers will enjoy immensely.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 22, 2006

He was cursed to kill his true love over and over for all eternity. He changed her life. Can she change his destiny before he kills her?