Mate Claimed by Jennifer Ashley – a Review

MateClaimed by Jennifer Ashley, is the latest book in her Shifters Unbound series.  I love this series, and couldn’t wait for this book. 

For those of you are not familiar with the Shifters Unbound series, here is a brief description:

This takes place in a futuristic world, where shifters of all types are delegated to live in their own small towns, and not mingle too closely with humans.  When they came out and announced themselves to the world over 20 years, they were forced to wear collars to control their violent animalistic tendencies, thereby making humans feel safe around them.  But slowly, shifters are finding ways around the collars, as you saw if you read my Pride Mates review.

Review:

In Mate Claimed, Eric Warden is the alpha of his shiftertown in Las Vegas. We have met Eric in the previous books, as he was a visitor to the Morrissey pack in Austin, and is Cassidy’s brother from Wildcat.  We knew that Eric was sure to be in this book, as he met Iona in the last.  I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy Eric, as much as I adored Liam and Sean in the first two books.  But wow, Jennifer Ashley has done it again, Eric is totally awesome.  

Iona Duncan is our heroine, whom we met in Wildcat.  Iona is half human and half shifter, and has never known her shifter father.  She has secretly hid herself as fully human, never revealing her shifter side, and never wearing a collar.  She lives with her human mother and sister, who all run a construction business.  Eric, having met Iona at a shifter bar, awhile ago, keeps his eye on her.  He knows she is a half shifter, and knows that she will be going through her mating frenzy soon.  Iona, of course, avoids Eric like the plague, and wants nothing to do with the shifters.  She does not want to endanger her human lifestyle and her freedom.  On many nights, Iona goes to the woods to shift into her panther to run. Eric, who has been watching, joins her in his Snow Leopard form.  They play, chase and frolic, having fun, which is something Iona never allowed herself to do.  Slowly, she begins to realize that Eric is right;  her mating frenzy will take control, and put her life in danger, or she will go feral. 

You see right away, how much Eric is becoming obsessed with Iona.  She tries to fight off the attraction, though unsuccessfully.  The chemistry between them sizzled, and when they finally gave in to their lust, the steamy hot sex almost melted the pages. They were great together, even though at first Iona fought off Eric’s attempt to protect her from a Lupine Alpha named Graham, who decided he wanted Iona, just to hurt his enemy Eric.

Eric takes Iona to stay with him in his shiftertown, and she gets to meet all his family, friends, and pack members. 

Besides this growing romance, and a wonderful one with Eric and Iona, there was a mystery to be solved.  Graham, came across early, as a jerk, and you hoped Eric would teach him a lesson.  But in time, he is redeemed somewhat, as he helps Eric defend the shifters against a secret experiment being done on shifters.  Some of these experiments go back over 20 years, and Eric’s nightmares come full force, as he remembers those early days when shifters were forced to put on the collar.  This was a great mystery, with a lot of action, excitement, danger, with all our favorites working together to find the answers.

I enjoyed seeing Diego, and Cassidy with their new born baby.  Ashley has developed some great secondary characters that we hope to hear more about, like Jace, Reid, Graham, and Tiger, whom we will see more of in the next book. 

This was a great continuation of this series, with lots of action, mystery, super hero and heroine.  But best of all, I loved the wonderful romance between Eric and Iona.  There was such a caring and giving side that Eric showed Iona, and what he did for her, was beautiful to see. As much as I loved Liam and Kim, they have been equaled with Eric and Iona.  Don’t miss this book and if you have not read this series, it’s time for you to do so.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher