Monday, May 7, 2018

Midnight Wolf

Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound - Book 11) by Jennifer Ashley

Publication Date: 04/24/2018
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Berkley
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 336
ISBN-13978-0425281390

(Received for an honest review from Berkley via Netgalley)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, itunes

Jennifer Ashley on the WEB: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Books in the series: (Highlighted titles are books I have reviewed in the series)

Shifters Unbound

 0.5. Shifter Made
    1. Pride Mates
    2. Primal Bounds
 2.5. Bodyguard
    3. Wild Cat
 3.5. Hard Mated
    4. Mate Claimed
 4.5. Perfect mate (in Unbound)
 4.5. Lone Wolf
4.25. Perfect Mate
     5. Tiger Magic
   5.5. Feral Heat
      6. Wild Wolf
   6.5. Bear Attraction
      7. Mate Bond
   7.5. Bad Wolf
 7.25. Lion Eyes
 7.75. Wild Things
      8. White Tiger
      9. Guardian's Mate
    10. Red Wolf
    11. Midnight Wolf
Tiger Stripped

Coverart: Click the image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.



Excerpt from Midnight Wolf, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside Feature

Synopsis:

Angus Murray, bouncer for a New Orleans Shifter bar, is sent to round up an elusive, Collar-less Shifter woman, Tamsin Calloway, who is causing trouble for Shifter Bureau, and possesses information they want. If Angus refuses, he risks losing his cub. He finds Tamsin but she's slippery and not about to be rounded up quietly.

In fact, quiet is nothing Tamsin will ever be. She leads Angus on a wild chase, but he's determined to bring her in to save his son.

Can Tamsin convince Angus she's worth helping before she's locked away by Shifter Bureau, Collared, or perhaps killed?


Thoughts:

Jennifer Ashley always creates a good story. The eleventh book in the Shifter Unbound series, Midnight Wolf is no exception to that rule. Ashley takes us back to the world of shifters, fae and humans interacting together but not really on the same side. A war is brewing and every book seems to be leading up to it. Long time readers of the series will find this one intriguing for a lot of reasons and new readers won't feel like they've missed too much. Great characters, exceptional world building. A great paranormal series and book.

What I liked:

This is a series I have really enjoyed along the way. Ashley has a way with building a world that is creative, unique and full of surprises. The Shifter Unbound series is based on the premise of the fae creating shifters as battle weapons which got out of hand. Now that the shifters have been exposed to the human population the fae have regained a bit of their power by effectively limiting shifters to 'shiftertowns' and reducing their primal urges by controlling them with collars. This sounds harsh and it is. But doesn't it remind you of how our own culture treats those who are different? It's a paranormal version of our own stupidity in some ways. And I think Ashley does a remarkable job of making her novels entertaining with frighteningly realistic undertones. 

Angus and Tamsin meet under some unusual circumstances. Angus is being forced to hunt Tamsin down because she is uncollared and has information that the Shifter Bureau wants. It isn't what the tracker would like to be doing with his time, but they are using his son as leverage to make him cooperate. I loved the fact that Tamsin is fierce and strong willed. She is defying the rules by remaining uncollared. You can tell that there is unrest among the shifters over the collar situation and this is just the beginning. She isn't letting the powers that be rule her life and she was an amazing character. I was glad that Ashley gave her a lot of the characteristics you would expect from a fox shifter. Clever, sneaky, and full of sass.

Angus is a father to the core. He would do anything to protect his son, even if it means hunting down a woman he eventually falls for. I enjoyed the way Angus and Tamsin not only interact together but also the way they interact with Angus' son. The relationships that develop between them as a family were some of my favorite moments of the story. When Angus gets to the point that he knows he can't turn her in, the adventure begins. I really loved the setting for this book as it doesn't stick to the shiftertowns. There are some big top moments that readers are sure to love. 

What I didn't like:

Personally, I really enjoyed this addition to the series. There isn't much I didn't like, but I understand that for some readers may not like the idea that shifters allowed themselves to be put in this situation in the first place. While agree that, that is true in this series, there were reasons for that, which you learn more about if you read the entire series. This is a stand alone novel but you really miss out on a lot of the background information and world building by not reading the others. I highly recommend them. Good stuff!

Bottom Line:

This is a good book. Readers who have followed the series for a long time will love revisiting old characters as well as come cool locations. The setting for this one is exception. I really enjoyed being out of shiftertown and on the run. Adventure abounds. Tamsin was one of my favorite female characters in the entire series. So sassy and true to shifter form. I thought the romance was hot but not overdramatic or too forward. The family situation including Angus's son made this one stand out. A very good novel!

Midnight Wolf is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag.




About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Jennifer Ashley writes historical, paranormal, and contemporary romance, mysteries, and historical fiction as Jennifer Ashley; paranormal romance and urban fantasy as Allyson James; and mysteries as Ashley Gardner. Jennifer's novels have won RWA's RITA and RT Reviewer's Choice awards among others. 

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