Ash’s review of Mate Claimed by Jennifer Ashley
Paranormal romance released by Berkley 02 Oct 12
I don’t know if I can adequately say how much I adore Jennifer Ashley. She kind of snuck up on me and became one of my favorite authors. No matter what genre it is, I love it.
Mate Claimed is no exception. There is just something about Eric that I can’t get enough of. The motorcycle, the tattoo, the quiet confidence, it all adds up to one hot hero. I can’t find one flaw with him, and there is never a moment when I’m annoyed with him. Iona holds her own as well. She could have slipped into being annoyingly stubborn, and I worried for a minute there. She is pretty sheltered when it comes to her shifter knowledge, add in her virgin status, and she could have really turned into a train wreck of a heroine. Those things where never obstacles for her, though, and I appreciate that. She learns and she moves on to the next thing. She is a perfect mate for Eric.
They are both alphas without being overbearing. It is refreshing to see that you can be a bad-ass alpha without being a caveman (or woman). Eric and Iona’s romance is just so smooth and natural feeling. It doesn’t have the rushed quality you usually find in a romance, they aren’t spouting declarations of love the second they see each other. It just happens and when they finally say the I love yous, it felt right.
Again we meet some new characters, such as Graham, the lupine shifter who’s new in town. I want more of him the second he’s on the page and I hope he at least has a short story coming. I think out of all the men, he actually has become my favorite. I do find myself missing Diego and Xavier, though they are in there a little. There are just so many great characters in this series that I want more of all of them. I wish everyone could get their own full-length novel – I would be such a happy person.
The plot does move forward in Mate Claimed, but I do have to say it is starting to resemble another series that I really enjoy. I personally don’t have a problem with that, but some people might. I just hope that it doesn’t go too far in that direction, because I like where it is now. I am really looking forward to the next book and Tiger Man. I think it’s back to Austin in the the next one, and if so I will miss these shifters until they come back. For now it’s back to the long wait for the next one.
Grade: A
Summary:
Eric Warden knows that half-Shifter wildcat Iona is passing for human, living without a Collar in the human world. He also knows that if she does not acknowledge her Shifter nature and her mating hunger, it could kill her. Iona finds the mysterious and dangerous Eric, a wildcat and leader of his Shiftertown, haunting her dreams, but she vows never to “come out” and take the Collar, fearing backlash against her mother and sister for hiding the fact that she’s Shifter. But Eric is a compelling Shifter male, and Iona’s hunger calls to him.
Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
