Review: Tiger Magic by Jennifer AshleyTiger Magic by Jennifer Ashley
Series: Shifters Unbound #5
Published by berkley on June 4, 2013
Genres: PNR, Romance
Pages: 308
Format: Paperback
Source: Advance Reader Copy, author
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five-stars

He was once a captive, but his urges were never caged. Now he’ll release them on a beautiful stranger whose own secret desires are longing to be sated…

He doesn’t have a name. He doesn’t have a clan. The humans who held him prisoner for forty years have taken them away. He knew nothing but captivity until nearly a year ago, when he was released into the light. Now Tiger lives in the Austin Shiftertown, where he struggles to belong and searches for an identity.

Carly Randal thinks her fabulous life is complete—until her car breaks down on the side of the road, and a wild-looking Shifter is the only one to help her. Tiger takes one look at Carly and knows instantly—she will be his mate. As Carly is drawn into his Shifter world, she risks everything she has for that forbidden something she still wants: passionate love.

I read the teaser at the end of the last book, and I shouldn’t have-because it made me want Tiger’s book soo badly! But now that I’ve read it, I can say it was worth the wait!

If you remember, Tiger was created in a secret lab, held there for 40 years, experimented on and tortured. Rescued by the Las Vegas shifter pack in Mate Claimed, he is sent to live in the Austin Shiftertown until they can sort out what to do with him.

Being that Tiger was created in a lab, no one really knows how volatile he is. In this series, the Shifters are treated as second class citizens, being segregated and “collared.” In the past few books, we’ve seen that some of the shifters are wearing fake collars, and Liam Morrissey, the alpha of Austin Shiftertown, is taking a huge risk in not putting an actual collar on Tiger.

One day, while Tiger is out running, he comes upon a human woman stranded on the side of the road. Tiger knows instantly he is seeing his mate. So it makes absolute sense to Tiger to walk up to her and ask her if she needs help, then to stick with her.

Carly has what she thinks is the perfect life. She has a great job, a great fiancé, and she’s content. But when her fiance’s classic car breaks down, the mysterious stranger who walks out of a field and helps her fix the car makes her feel. . .things. Things her fiancé doesn’t make her feel. Pushing that aside, she offers to give Tiger a ride home, but she has to stop off and change first.

Stopping off at her fiance’s house though, involves more than just a change of clothes. She walks in on him banging another woman. This starts of a series of events where everything between Tiger frightening him, then shooting him become the least of Carly and Tiger’s problems. As holds true for most of Ms. Ashley’s novels, there is never just one plot, and there is never just one clear-cut villain.

With so many shifters being subjected to racism, you’d think they’d be more sympathetic towards Tiger, yet many of the alphas of nearby shiftertowns want Tiger taken care of. Tiger and Carly have so many different things going on, and while Carly is very attracted to this strange sexy male in her life, she isn’t ready to trust just yet. And even though for Tiger, this is a case of insta-love since he sees Carly as his mate, it isn’t necessarily the same for her. The author takes her time and develops Carly’s emotional arc, taking her from previously engaged to attracted to Tiger to in love with Tiger. It never feels out of character, or as if it happened too quickly.

Tiger Magic is a story of love, compassion, understanding, betrayal and redemption. With a hero such as Tiger, you can’t help but fall in love with him, and want him to come out on top.

***ARC courtesy of the author

highland hussy

five-stars