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Leopard Moon

(Moon #1)

Jeanette Battista (Goodreads Author)

3.78 · Rating details · 3,186 ratings · 235 reviews

How do you disappear when you come from a family of predators?

A wereleopard, Kess is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother's obsession with her turns violent. She runs from city to city, trying to stay one step ahead of the investigators her family has dispatched to bring her home. Kess ends up in the mountains of North Carolina and attracts the atte ...more

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Paperback, 206 pages

Published March 4th 2012 by Jeanette Battista

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Mar 19, 2012 Desiree marked it as to-read

Two things come to mind when I see this book cover.
1)Really? Are they fucking serious? Did they really think that no one would make the connection between this and

?
2) Are those her boobs on her back? ...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Emilija rated it it was amazing

Shelves: werewolves, 2012-reads, 2012-favourites, read-first-book-in-series

Listen up my bitchin' peeps! And listen good.

Despite this god awful cover with the bland colours, the overused idea of a girl in a dress and some serious spinal mutation for the girl, this book was actually good. Like, not even the really good sort of book but ZOMG WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE type of good.

I’ve read this book a while ago, but it stuck with me. It’s that good. I was so surprised when I started reading it and found out that this book wasn’t a carbon copy of others out there. Th ...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Diantha Jones rated it it was ok

Leopard Moon was an average YA novel with an average plot and just average characters, except for one character in particular. The writing was simple and unexaggerated and the storyline was less than thrilling. That said, I made it to the end of the book and that should count for something.

Kess, the main character, sometimes made me want to throw up. She was so self-pitying sometimes and the fact that she hated herself and stated so several times throughout the book almost made me want to throw ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Deedee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal

Such a good read. I was a bit sceptic at first than I read the first chapter on amazon and I knew i had to finish reading it. It was so good, it kept me so engrossed that I felt like I was in the story.

Okay the story: Kess Saroyan is wereleopard running away from her brother and father's private investigators. After almost being caught in California, she fleed towards the east landing in North Carolina. Where she make plans to rebuild her money before her father and brother can catch her scent a ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Shifter Paranormal Romance readers

Shelves: 2015-cover-to-cover-challenge, 2015-dangerous-hero-challenge, 2015-challenge-factory-challenge, set-in-north-carolina, fugitive, winter-cold-setting, kindle-book, paranormal-romance, evil-sibling-or-relative, beta-hero

I'm really glad I signed up to review this for Bitten by Books. It was very good. I love shifter romance and I like that this is on the clean side. Even without love scenes, I felt the bond between Kess and Cormac and this was really intense. The shifting aspect was very well done. I look forward to reading the rest of this series.

Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com. ...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Nicole rated it it was amazing

I'm a big fan of strong female leads and Kess doesn't disappoint. She's tough and badass but just fallible enough to remain believable. It would be easy to insert yourself into her character... if you also morphed into leopard form.

Cormac, her eventual guy, and his two buds/cousins are rowdy and fun. They're actually werewolves but they're nothing like tales past. The werewolf clan was enjoyable to read about and you can see why Kess liked him/them as well.

Sek, the brother, is horrible... in tha ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Emily rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-young-adult, abused-heroine, betrayal, genre-paranormal, shifters-bear, fiesty-heroine, shifters-were, own-kindle, humorous, series

When wereleopard Kess is attacked by her own brother, she flees knowing she is no longer safe in her home. Heading from one town to another hoping not to be captured, Kess never feels she can truly relax. When she arrives in the mountains of North Carolina, she feels at ease at least for a little while.

Meeting Cormac was not in her plans, but his tenacity with wanting to get to know her has her wishing she could act on her feelings. Cormac is not all that he seems though and once he realizes Ke ...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Joy rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-supernatural, urban-fantasy, romance, young-adult, unexpectedly-good

No offense but.. the only reason I clicked the book is because of the cover. You know, Fallen. Very familiar. I just wanted to see, I mean read other people's opinion on the similarity.

But here I am, wanting to read the book after reading the synopsis.

April 21, 2013

Know what? I'm actually glad this book has a similar cover with Fallen because it wouldn't have caught my interest if it didn't. Great job Battista! You totally threw me off! This piece was totally unexpected. ...more

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Apr 13, 2017 Teigan rated it liked it

Shapeshifters and a romance? Hell yeahhhhhhh.

The story held a lot of potential to be great-- there are clans, there are packs, there are tensions rising and threats on the horizon. But ultimately, Leopard Moon was very limited in scope and played out more as a thriller romance than a kick-ass urban fantasy like I wanted and expected.

Don't get me wrong. I loved Cormac, totally book boyfriend material and the sweetest cinnamon roll. The romance developed slightly fast although I genuinely enjoye ...more

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Apr 15, 2012 K. Lincoln rated it really liked it

When I first saw this, I thought to myself "Oh, no, not another were-creature girl rebelling against authority and striking out on her own!"

But when I started reading, it was nothing like Barnes' "Raised by Wolves" or Rachel Vincent's "Stray." It reminded me more of the quiet, dwelling on relationships and feelings-of-becoming of Maggie Stiefvater's "Shiver" than the tough-as-nails werewolves of those other books.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this take on were-creatures. I wou When I first saw this, I thought to myself "Oh, no, not another were-creature girl rebelling against authority and striking out on her own!"

But when I started reading, it was nothing like Barnes' "Raised by Wolves" or Rachel Vincent's "Stray." It reminded me more of the quiet, dwelling on relationships and feelings-of-becoming of Maggie Stiefvater's "Shiver" than the tough-as-nails werewolves of those other books.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this take on were-creatures. I would love to have given it 4.5 stars.

Kess is on the run from her clan and her brother, Sek, in Miami. She finds herself in the North Carolina Mountains...and in the territory of a pack of werewolves.

In fact, she gets a job at The Barn, a restaurant run by the pack's Beta; and there she gets the attention of the Beta's nephew, Cormac.

Kess just wants to lay low, make money, and make sure none of her brother's investigators find her. Cormac is intrigued by the new waitress and her secrets, but he's willing to give her the space and time to figure out what she wants.

And that's what I enjoyed the most about this book, the way Cormac and Kess aren't headstrong, stubborn, aggressive, or stupid. They choices they make are well-reasoned. They don't choose to lie, even for eachother's own good (an often used and frustrating trope in paranormal fantasy) and take the difficult, honest, waiting road always. Cormac is so romantic when he is holding himself still so Kess won't get freaked out. Kess is so awesome when she goes into action (in a well reasoned) way while weighing the lives of Cormac and his family.

Cormac's family...another awesome thing about this book. The whole lodge full of snarky bantering werewolves sounds like a blast.

The reason this book doesn't hit the full 5 stars for me was my odd lack of connection to Kess. We spend quite a lot of time in Cormac's head, and don't get me wrong, that's a fine place to be. We also spend some time in Sek's head, and while I understand the desire to develop him as the villain, I felt we traded off a deeper relationship with Kess because of it. And because I didn't feel that Kess-love, I didn't get to experience her growing relationship with Cormac as fully as I wanted to.

Still, very nice addition to the YA paranormal were creature library, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next in the series.

This Book's Snack Rating: multi-grain tortilla chips with real melted cheddar and pico de gallo for the wholesome love story and delicious, snarky banter from the wolves. Can't stop eating until the whole plate is empty.
...more

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May 18, 2014 Lorna rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormal, shifters

I really do enjoy a good shifter story. Doesn’t really matter what kind of shifter either. The premise of leopard shifters, sold me on reading this one. This book features a seventeen year old girl, Kess, and nineteen year old boy, Cormac. However I wouldn’t considerate it a true YA book-perhaps ages 16 up would be more appropriate due to some of the subject matter and violence.

Kess has run away from her family and leopard clan. The reason? Her crazy brother’s decision that leopards should mate I really do enjoy a good shifter story. Doesn’t really matter what kind of shifter either. The premise of leopard shifters, sold me on reading this one. This book features a seventeen year old girl, Kess, and nineteen year old boy, Cormac. However I wouldn’t considerate it a true YA book-perhaps ages 16 up would be more appropriate due to some of the subject matter and violence.

Kess has run away from her family and leopard clan. The reason? Her crazy brother’s decision that leopards should mate within the same bloodline-namely him with Kess. Of course the Alpha of the leopards, Kess’s father, isn’t aware of any of this. So Kess is on the run, complete with private detectives searching for her. She finds herself in a small out of the way town in North Carolina. She meets Cormac, and although she tries to keep to herself, she starts to care about him. What she doesn’t know is, Cormac has his own shifter secret.

For the most part, I enjoyed this story but there was a couple of things that bothered me. One was that it was a pretty slow read for me. I just kept putting it down for days at a time. Never a good sign for me. And the second thing hit home for me, when after putting the book down for awhile and coming back to read it, the ages of the main characters were mentioned again and I was really surprised. The characters are good characters but neither one acts in any way like a teenager. I had completely forgotten how young they both were. I understand that Kess had to grow up fast on the road, but it just seemed a bit strange that both characters had no teenage qualities. Well, actually maybe that’s a good thing-maybe just a bit unrealistic!

I am happy to say, that once I got to the 50 percent mark, the story did pick up and by about 70 percent, it was a much faster paced read, with a lot more going on. This is a series with lots of good secondary characters, however the bad guy in this book is just despicable and not the norm for a YA book in any way that I am aware of! Not sure who the next book is going to be about, but I do know that at least some of the same characters continue on with the story. Kess’s story isn’t over yet and the ending left the reader wondering what was going to happen next. And because the story did get a lot better, I am interested enough to buy and read the next book when I get a chance. And on a side note, for a indie published book, I found this to be very well edited.(RabidReads.com)
...more

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May 13, 2012 Paranormal Reads rated it it was amazing

I have to say what drew me to want to find out more about this book was the cover, it is absolutely stunning, I think the fact that you are unable to see the face of the girl makes it all more intriguing because you just want to know who that girl is, and why does it seem that she is hiding from something, or in the case of our main female, running from. After reading the synopsis I was hooked, I HAD to read this book. After the first few pages I was mesmerized because I couldn’t put it down, I ...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Radiant rated it really liked it

I was on werewolf Spree..when i read this book..it was definitely an interesting read!
Kess is running away from her family,her wereleopard pack and especially her brother Sek..whose only aim is continuation of pack with pure blood even if it crosses limits..
Kess founds herself running and finally settling in a town..where she meets cormac..a werewolf..though their both nature are against ...they both fall for eachother.
Kess founds the love,security,safety in cormac n his pack and she wishes ever ...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Hbeebti rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: freebies, young-adult

This was very interesting. I have to say that I loved that Kess's brother Sek has a POV. He was so unstable that it made reading his thoughts very interesting. Kess left her clan because of her older brother Sek. Sek is not right in the head and thinks that he is in love with her and one night tries to force himself on her. So fought him and escaped and has been on the run for a little over a year.

I think this story was faced paced and at times sweet but with a hint of madness. I loved all the W ...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle-books, weres-and-shifters

I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Battista is an amazing author about were/shifters.

Kess was a very likable, strong character. You wanted her to find a new life and escape the Hell she lived with in her family's were-leopard home.
I am not sure if I will continue, because I see that the next book is about someone else. But later Kess comes back into the picture and I don't want to get too wrapped up in all other people's business if I only care about Kess' life. We shall see though. ...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Megan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is my new favourite series!! I loved, loved, loved this book! The story is about Kess, a wereleopard, who is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother’s obsession with her turns violent. I loved Kess. I loved Cormac. Cormac is perfect, if he was real I would want him to be my boyfriend! I cannot wait to read the next one!

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May 14, 2015 Jeff Briel marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy, lmfao, youre-on, lemme-think-about-it, indefinite

There's something achingly familiar about ~~Daniel Grigori~~ that cover. *hint hint*

Whatever, I'll try to read this one tho :D ...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Leigh Anne rated it really liked it

Great spin on the werecreature tales. I liked the mix of all the different animals used as weres in this book. I look forward to the next book in the series.

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Apr 10, 2012 Lorrie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, paranormal, young-adult

I like that there were different were creatures instead of just wolves. The book was good - it didn't wow me or anything, but it held my interest ...more

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May 27, 2014 Holly rated it it was amazing

Another freebie I got from Amazon's Kindle list that ended up hooking me! Now on book 2 in the series! This author is very talented! ...more

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Feb 28, 2015 I rated it liked it

I absolutely loved reading this book.This is book is very good and the series also is good.

Its a damn 'Goodread'. ...more

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Oct 23, 2015 Alicia Huxtable rated it really liked it

Enjoyable first in this series. It's hard to find a shifter book that differs from the rest but Leopard Moon did just that. ...more

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Sep 30, 2018 Nikki rated it liked it · review of another edition

Not A Bad YA Shifter Series

I haven't read a lot of shifter books recently, and I've had this one a while so I thought I'd give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact I rather enjoyed it.

For me, the characters were well written and the world in which it took place was set up well. I found the lead male and female strong characters, if not a bit young to be so mature. The book was written from three different POV's, which worked really well, especially since Sek was in Miami. It gave the ...more

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Sep 11, 2020 Jeanie's Kindle rated it really liked it

Wereleopard Kess is seventeen and on the run. She is running from her brother Sek. Sek seemed to be a little reckless and confused. He loved his sister but in more than a brotherly way. Jess was having none of it and ran to get away from him. He had private investigators looking for her and she kept running.
She ended up in the mountains of North Carolina in a college town. She got a job as a waitress. The restaurant was owned by a werewolf. Most of the mountain was werewolf territory. She met a ...more

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May 09, 2013 Alicyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: n-and-a-half-starred

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Okay, so this book technically wasn't on my 'to read' list but it was $1.04 on Barnes and Noble and I just couldn't pass it up. I found this book on Goodreads a while back. It was apart of a list on Goodreads that used the same stock photos... This one shared a cover with Fallen, the book that has caused me to turn away from Fallen Angels in the Paranormal/Supernatural genre.

So I've been on a kinda big paranormal kick lately. Maybe it's my insane need to go back to writing Promise... Anyway, for Okay, so this book technically wasn't on my 'to read' list but it was $1.04 on Barnes and Noble and I just couldn't pass it up. I found this book on Goodreads a while back. It was apart of a list on Goodreads that used the same stock photos... This one shared a cover with Fallen, the book that has caused me to turn away from Fallen Angels in the Paranormal/Supernatural genre.

So I've been on a kinda big paranormal kick lately. Maybe it's my insane need to go back to writing Promise... Anyway, for those of you who haven't heard to Leopard Moon--which may be a lot of you, I hadn't heard of it before stumbling upon it--here's the blurb according to Goodreads:
"How do you disappear when you come from a family of predators?
Kess, a wereleopard, is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother’s obsession with her turns violent. Running from the investigators her family has dispatched to bring her home, Kess ends up in the mountains of North Carolina. Once there, she attracts the attention of Cormac, a young man with a secret of his own. As she attempts to live as normal a life as her were-nature allows, her brother Sek continues to hunt for her. He believes she is the key to revitalizing their weakened clan and is driven to extreme measures to ensure their continued existence. As Kess’ relationship with Cormac deepens, Sek closes in, threatening Cormac’s life and Kess’ freedom.

When the moon rises, the hunt is on…"

What drew me into this book at first--aside from the blurb and re-gift cover--was the fact that it was about were-animals. If werewolves were real, I'd probably try to become one. They're my favourite supernatural creature :3. I liked that Ms. Battista included other therianthropes into her world. Most paranormal novels with werewolf characters are WEREWOLVES. The one other exception to this was the Nightshade series and you didn't know about other were-animals until books two and three.

I really enjoyed the characters. Kess, our lead, wasn't some whiny little bitch all the time. Yes, she had a few pussy moments but her brother Sekhmet was a crazy mother. I liked that Kess wasn't perfect. At first, I thought she was with how Battista explained that she was: A. pretty (though not all Mary Sues are described as 'pretty'), B. hired for being pretty (then explained that she was a decent waitress) and C. instantly there were guys fawning over her (Cormac, our main love interest, and his self-proclaimed-ladies-man of a cousin, Finn). Now, I liked that there were only TWO guys instead of like a few other YA novels where the whole male cast/student body are dropping their significant others of varying lengths to contest against one another for the attention of this stereotypical damsel.

On to my now favourite male lead: Cormac. He was actually a GUY. I know what you're thinking: "Ali, of course he's a guy... He's got the whole shabang." What I mean by 'he's a guy' is that he doesn't think with his d-piece. A lot of male romantic interests in YA are all macho and are either complete jerks to the MC or are sulky guys who try to drive the MC away in order to 'prevent from hurting her.' (the latter of which is complete bull and a waste of a girl's time trying to persuade him that the relationship is totally worth it.) Cormac gently nudged Kess into going out with him and they certainly hit it off. But Kess's inability to date due to her psychotic brother was constantly in the way.

Which brings me to my next topic: Sekhmet. I have a character similar to Sek (her name is Elena). They both have this sick obsession with their sibling (though Sek's love has always been unrequited where as Elena's hasn't until recently), they're both twenty steps past crazy and are both villains in a way. I liked that Battista hinted at what happened between Kess and Sek in the beginning and explained it later.

Now that I've finished gushing over a few of the main characters, time for the plot. Basically, the first half is Kess running from her psychotic brother who is hell bent on doing things to her that are as far from accepted today as one can get and the second half is Kess finally breaking out of the cage she locked herself in for the past few years to not only start a relationship with a great guy (who reminds me of my boyfriend sans the age gap) but to put her brother in his place. She not only conquered Sek but she conquered her fear OF Sek AND developed into a character I can wholeheartedly wish mine would become within the course of the novel. Not many YA authors do get that in a single book, opting for a series if at all.

Like my last book review, I stayed with the Goodreads rating system of ______ out of five stars. For Leopard Moon, I'll rate it four and a half out of five. Now, I'm sure you're asking "why only four and a half with all the raving of characters AND the plot line?" It's the cover.

Though I think it's quite pretty and it was one of the many things that drew me in, I was more than disappointed with it. Within the novel, Battista explains that a wereleopard (which is what Kess is) is strongest at a new moon, the moon on the cover is full. I know that's not much of an issue but out of all the people who make covers, I wish they used a stock photo that wasn't used for my least favourite (and what initially turned me away from paranormal fiction with angels) book. ...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Zena L. Anderson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Captivating

Captivatingly different switch on a young finding oneseljf storyline. Decent character development. Lighthearted romance discovery while running from and breaking ties with family issues. Mostly from a feline perspective with some canine perspective sprinkled on top. Once I started I couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple of days. Looking forward to the next book in this series to see how things continue to unfold. ...more

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May 17, 2017 Lana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books

Shape Shifters

Was a good read. I enjoyed the characters and the names the author gave to the characters. The only thing I would like to see is more care taken in sentencing. Books are coming out with little to know care about proofing and sentence structure. Please pay more attention to such details

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Jan 27, 2019 Stevie Thomas rated it liked it

This was okay: not poorly written and very well imagined. I liked the spin on were-creature fantasy. Was definitely a shot-in-the-dark, filler book for me but it was pleasant if not immensely engaging or adrenaline rush inducing.

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May 09, 2019 Myra Espino rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Leopard Moon

The story is good and the characters are interesting. It's not as intense but it's ok. Cormac and Kess chemistry is ok but lack more intense feeling. But overall the story is good ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Tamara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Leopard

Well written and entertaining. Just missing something not a bad book just not for me I hope you enjoy it

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About Jeanette Battista

Jeanette Battista

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Jeanette Battista graduated with an English degree with a concentration in medieval literature which explains her possibly unhealthy fixation on edged weapons and cathedral architecture. She spent a summer in England and Scotland studying the historical King Arthur, which did nothing to curb her obsession. To satisfy her adrenaline cravings—since sword fighting is not widely accepted in these mode ...more

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“Cormac smiled at her, but it was Finn who spoke. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
He leaned forward conspiratorially. "So, if I gave you some catnip would you act all weird and stoned?"
"I don't know. If I throw a stick, will you fetch?" She smiled sweetly at Cormac's cousin.
Burke made a choking noise, covering a laugh with his hand. Finn screwed up his face, as if in disgust. "Dude. I am NOT a dog."
"And I’m not a pampered house cat.” — 21 likes

“You don't need to throw something away just because you're afraid of how it might turn out.” — 7 likes

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