Mate Claimed (Shifters Unbound, #4)Mate Claimed by Jennifer Ashley

 My rating: 5 of 5 flames

Ever since Wild Cat, I’ve wanted to read more about Las Vegas Shiftertown leader Eric.

With so many things going on in his Shiftertown, Eric has a lot on his plate. He has some wolves from a closed down Shiftertown in Northern Nevada moving in. The preparations are insane, the government is closing down the Shiftertown, but hasn’t prepared anything yet. Their insane logic? The shifters can just bunk up and bond. Right.

So now Eric has the leader Graham to deal with. Since he’s alpha of his wolves, the last thing he’d ever do is demote himself and allow a cat to lead his pack. Graham is an interesting character, and he’s quite the a-hole at the beginning.

One thing I need to remember is that Jennifer Ashley doesn’t always write her villains to be simply a bad guy. It’s never black and white with her. She has this cool grey area she finds where villain is truly in the eye of the beholder. Every now and then, someone who we think is a bad guy, well, isn’t. He might be heroic in his own way. Just something to keep in mind as you’re reading.

And Iona. Eric has to deal with Iona. She was stubborn and at times it was frustrating that she didn’t get how much she needed to be with other Shifters, but she was a good heroine (She was able to stare down an opposing alpha which was an awesome). The main problem with Iona is that her cat wants out. She thinks she’ll just keep controlling the shifter side of her, but she has no comprehension of what could happen if she doesn’t join in with a shifter town. An unmated female, in her prime, is an easy target for any male.

This is where Iona drove me nuts. Even though she’s half-human, even though she’s kept her shifter side under control for her twenty some-odd years, it doesn’t mean her cat is controlled. Human laws don’t apply to her Shifter side, and she doesn’t get that she could turn on her family and potentially hurt them. This is what Eric is trying to stress to her, and luckily it finally gets through to her, because at one point I was actually yelling at the book that she needed to get a clue! (I get involved with the characters-lol).

There is also way more going on in this book than just shifters needing to learn to live with each other, and Iona and Eric falling in love. There is a huge conspiracy going on and we meet an intriguing new character named Tiger. Tiger’s history is heartbreaking, and I really have to stop reading the excerpts because now I want his story even more!

This series is a favorite of mine, and with each installation Ms. Ashley continues to enthrall me and surprise me.

***eARC courtesy of edelweiss and Berkley Publishing

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