Thursday, September 29, 2011

Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley

Primal Bonds
Shifters Unbound Book #2
by Jennifer Ashley

Genre: Paranormal Romance

When half-Fae, half-Shifter Andrea Gray flees an abusive would-be mate, the only way she is allowed to relocate to the Austin Shiftertown is if a Shifter there claims her as mate.

Sean Morrissey, the Guardian of his clan and all of Shiftertown, is mate-less, lonely, and has a tough job--to send the souls of deceased Shifters into the after-world. He volunteers to claim her, sight unseen, but doesn't realize that one look at the gray-eyed, dark-haired Andrea will stir the mating frenzy in him. Even though the mate-claim isn't finalized, official, or yet blessed, Sean will do anything to get Andrea into his life and keep her there, forever.

Having the role of Guardian and Goddess-blessed is a powerful clan position to have, but also quite lonely. Thus, when a female Shifter comes to town seeking refuge, Sean claims the new arrival without meeting her, expecting a submissive little she-wolf who will accept him as is without his powerful and deadly title. Instead, he gets a beautiful women who looks him straight in the eye without fear, stirring the mating frenzy within him. On the other hand, Andrea is desperate to escape her caged life and is use to always looking out for herself. But in order to relocate to a new Shitertown ( Austin, Texas - whoot! whoot! ) and escape her past, Andrea must accept a new protector and a new mate-claim. A Guardian seems as good as a candidate as any, but Andrea's intense attraction to Sean is something she never expected. Yet, before their heated mating frenzy burns them both from the inside out, they must struggle with turning their "mating of convenience" into the real thing while battling old enemies during clan wars and uncovering some past secrets.

I think I became so absorbed in this story since it reminded me so much of Lora Leigh's Breeds series without the heavy sex scenes, sure you have your fun bed romps in this book but it doesn't overpower the story line. Plus, both characters are equally decisive about sex, something hard to find in Leigh's series as well. Don't get me wrong, I adore LL's series, but it's nice to have something similar but different - which a reader can easily find in Ashley's Shifter's Unbound series. Honestly, the story was enjoyable but something about Andrea bothered me (since she was either too quite or too loud) and I'll just say she wasn't my favorite female lead. Sean was likable and he played the heart-breaker character well with him being stuck in his "dark/tough" role when all he really wanted was a mate to love. . .aww! Since the series was new to me, the world created was fascinating and I would be interested in checking out book #1 in the series, but afraid I would get disenchanted quite easily with the writing style. Maybe I'll wait for more books to come out in the series before reading more and on a side note, this book would have been a solid 3.5 rating for me not for the location :) That alone kept me reading!


Likes: Set in Austin, Texas. Southern Austin at that. A place close to heart since it is nearby my home town and an old stomping ground for myself. Loved the references to street names, Austin shopping locations, etc. in the book . . . made me remember old times!

Dislikes: First - Felt a little slow paced a times and then not - as if there was A LOT going on at once and then a lull for a bit before going into full-on action again. Not a fan of the up & down roller-coaster feel in a book. So please, just give me something I can enjoy without feeling mentally exhausted after reading a few chapters before bed. Second - How many pet-names does Sean need for Andrea? It seemed like every other paragraph had a new one!

Rating:

No comments:

Post a Comment

It's all about the friendly conversation here at Books To Bury Yourself In :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Be sure to check back again because I do make every effort to reply to your comments here.