Release-Day Review: Midnight Wolf by Jennifer Ashley (Shifters Unbound #11)

Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)
Jennifer Ashley
Published: April 24, 2018 (Berkeley)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Average Rating (out of 5): 3.5

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it may refer to previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Pride Mates.

When Shifter Bureau approaches Angus Murray about tracking down a shifter causing them problems, he’s ready to tell them to shove off. But when it comes out that they’ve taken his young cub as collateral, he’ll do anything to ensure the safety of his son. Being an experienced tracker, Angus figures it’ll be a quick job.

Angus is in for a rude awakening when he actually comes upon Tamsin Calloway. The Shifter leads Angus on a pretty good chase, but when he manages to catch her, he begins to wonder what about her has caught Shifter Bureau’s eye. When Non-Collared Shifters also take an interest in Tamsin, Angus must make the ultimate decision to protect her or let her fend for herself.

This is the first book in the Shifters Unbound series that I’ve read. Beyond missing some of the nuances of the world-building, I think it stands on its own quite nicely. Jennifer Ashley doesn’t inundate with recaps so it’s kinda up to the reader to piece things together regarding the state of Shifter affairs in this world, which I didn’t find too difficult a task. I enjoyed many of the secondary characters and most were quite clearly main characters in their own book(s) once upon a time, and I’m very interested in going back and catching up.

I thought that the pairing of Angus and Tamsin was quite interesting. It didn’t go how normal shifter pairings/matings go. It lacks the intensity of the insta-love/lust in regular shifter pairings. Instead they come together, at first, more out of necessity and things build between them from there. I rather enjoyed this approach with their relationship.

The story itself is bookended by a really strong beginning and a strong ending. With that said, however, I felt like Midnight Wolf, suffered from a lack of momentum in the middle part of the story. Everything just kind of lagged and I started to wonder what the endgame was actually supposed to be. Our characters were in a stasis where even they don’t have any immediate plans. It took a little too long to discover the reason why Tamsin is garnering so much attention from both Shifters and Shifter Bureau. Once we learn the reason, things pick up again and give a pretty satisfying ending, but when I was in the middle of the story, oftentimes it was a chore to pick up the book again and trudge forward.

While tough to get through at times, I thought all the details surrounding the world within Midnight Wolf speaks well for the series itself. I’m definitely going to make reading earlier books a priority and look forward to getting the full stories on some of my favorite secondary characters.

Sexual content: sex