Nauti Dreams – Lora Leigh

Leigh, Lora. Nauti Dreams. (New York: Berkley, 2008). ISBN-9780425219515.

Main Characters: Chaya Greta Dane and Natches Mackay

Related Works: This is part of Lora Leigh’s Nauti Boys series. Nauti Boy(Rowdy Mckay and Kelly Ashton’s story) is first in the series. Nauti Nights(James “Dawg” Mckay and Crista Jansen’s story) is second. Nauti Dreams(Natches Mackay and Chaya Dane’s story) is the third in the series. Currently, there are two other books scheduled to be written – Nauti Intentions is scheduled to be released in the Winter of 2009 and Nauti Intentions which has no release date as of yet.

Description from book:

Years ago, Natches Mackay separated himself from his family, except for the two cousins who gave him the only family he’d ever known. Now, he’s being dragged back into his father’s life in a way that could destroy him and the only woman he’s ever felt a spark for . . .

Government agent Chaya Dane has fought to put her past behind her – until a mission in Somerset, Kentucky, puts Natches back in her dreams. He makes her forget about a dark past that still haunts her. He makes her feel that she deserves something she has never known – happiness in the arms of a man who loves her. But Natches has his own dark shadows – those cast by his father, who has fallen under suspicion in the theft of government missiles – and they could cost Chaya more than she ever imagined.

My Thoughts:

I’m a huge fan of Leigh’s Nauti Boys – Rowdy, Dawg and Natches Mackay. I was eagerly awaiting Natches’ story – and wasn’t at all disappointed. All three of the Mackay cousins are alpha, military men who are used to getting their own way. However, Natches seems harder than Rowdy and Dawg – more dangerous. This is probably because of his father’s abusive treatment. He is known to have been a sniper in the military. However, until Nauti Dreams, we didn’t really know too much about Natches – we only knew that his family constantly worried that he was walking very close to some invisible line of darkness.

In this book, we learn so much more about the mysterious Natches. It seems that he has already met the woman he loves. Several years ago, he had rescued Agent Chaya Dane from a prison cell in Iraq after she had been kidnapped. Dealing with her husband’s betrayal and her daughter’s death, Chaya turned to Natches for comfort and help forgetting. After one night together, Chaya ran away needing some time and space to deal with her loss. Natches understood her need to run away and allowed Chaya her space. However, when she comes to Natches’ home town of Somerset, Kentucky to investigate a terrorist cell, Natches refuses to allow her to stay away from him. Despite the connection to his father, his cousins’ apprehension and the manipulative efforts of Chaya’s boss, Natches stakes his claim.

All in all, I loved this book as much as I loved the first two in the series. It was kind of nice to see how much emotion Natches was hiding behind his sunglasses. He was always so difficult to get a read on. I am now really looking forward to the next two books in the series. I can’t wait to find out who the primary characters will be. There are so many possibilities – Alex Jansen, Janey Mackay, Rogue Walker, Sheriff Zeke Mayes or someone else. The good news is that Leigh’s next book, Wildcard, will be out later this month. Yeah!

Read first August 6, 2008