Helpful Score: 7
What a ride, I finished this book in one hugh gulp. Jennifer Ashley has constructed a world where the shifter community was "outed" by a member on live TV about twenty years previously. Once revealed, the shifter communities were hunted and killed as animals in some countries. In the US shifters were allowed to live in relative peace in shanty towns if they "took the collar". The restraining collar, part magic and part science, that once placed around the neck can not be removed. If the shifter becomes aggressive, the collar shocks the shifter in increasinly larger doses until the shifter is unconscious or has calmed down. The collar is why shifters are not considered a physical threat. Treated as 3rd class citizens, refused most jobs, knowledge, and technology most shifters concentrate on family life not material concerns. Or so it appears. The story opens with a female human lawyer trying to defend a male shifter accused of murdering his girl friend (also a human). Because of the collars, the lawyer knows that the case is false but trying to prove it becomes her crusade. Following the trail of evidence introduces her to her first shifter and to the shifter community at large. This was great book, a fully drawn "world" and I can hardly wait for the next installment, write faster Jennifer!
Helpful Score: 4
Loved this book~! I cannot wait for the next~! Its a new series on Shifters and so far so good.
Helpful Score: 4
I really liked this book. She did a great job on setting up a really great universe where shifters are a known quantity. I hope this just the start of a great series.
I loved this story. It was a bit different than shifter mates with unwilling female, saves her life, and then she falls in love with him. I enjoyed the book from start to finish.
Helpful Score: 2
Shifters are forced to wear a collar that suppresses their violent tendancies. Kim is a lawyer trying to prove the innocence of a shifter. The family dynamics of the shifter prides and packs is well thought out and portrayed. Liam is yummy. Look forward to reading the next in the series.
Helpful Score: 2
Just like the other reviewer I finished this book in one sitting. It definitely kept my interest. I am really looking forward to where she is going with this series. While there were some areas where you felt a bit confused or not sure of the complicated hierarchy that is set up in this book, it was still an enjoyable read. I found myself frustrated by lack of knowledge WITH the heroine of the story. I enjoyed finding out about stuff WITH the heroine. Her reactions were ones I could see myself making if I was put in her situation. While you leave the book still feeling like there is a lot to learn about these segregated shifters who are discriminated against based on their ability to shift to animal form it is not a feeling that detracted from the book or the series for me. It just felt like any other series where you aren't given everything right off the bat. You find out about stuff as the series progresses and you need to know. A very promising start to a new series. A very good read.
Helpful Score: 2
First, the description doesn't do this book justice. The stalker part is so very small and is really just the reason for Liam to go after Kim. The whole story centers around Kim trying to defend a shifter accused of killing his human girlfriend, shifter politics, dominant males, and a clan leader as evil and ugly as they come. When I first picked this book up, I thought it was a little "corny", and had a weak plot. But boy was I wrong. Once you get a third of the way in your hooked into these characters and can't stop reading until you know what happens. Who gets their HEA? Loved Kim's spit-fire attitude, and Liam's protective instincts. Liam and Kim have quite alot of passion between them....whew! And Liam's family just adds to the charm of this story. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
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Helpful Score: 1
This book was great! Loved it!
Helpful Score: 1
Pretty bad. If you read The Madness of Lord Ian Mckenzie and are hoping for more great stuff from an obviously exceptional writer, you are in for a huge disappointment. It's like a totally different (and not very good) author wrote this book. Jennifer Ashley is author of several excellent books and it is somewhat of a shock that this book was so poorly written. It was rushed in that way that many first installments of a new series can be: trying to introduce lots of new characters, exposition, create a new shape-shifter mythology. But I was disappointed in the poor quality if the writing, the dialogue, and the lack of character development. Her shape shifter world is a little different from others, I give her that,but her execution of the story and the dynamics of the characters just didn't work and made me long for a Nalini Singh novel. I didn't end the book caring about anyone, not even side characters. I read another first in a Jennifer Ashley series, Penelope and Prince Charming. It was much the same, rushed, boring,not very romantic but the second book was so good I thought perhaps I'd been mistaken about the first. Not so. This book is a terrible disappointment and I won't be reading others. If you are already a JA fan from he Mackenzie series, trust me when I say skip this.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a nice easy read. I like the happy ending, the characters were interesting and I found myself wanting the best for them. A bit predictable, and I don't think I'll read anymore from the series, I'm glad I read this one.
Julie G. (renegadespiritcat) reviewed Pride Mates (Shifters Unbound, Bk 1) on + 198 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A fast and enjoyable read took me like 4 hours total but was a nice pleasant way to spend an afternoon while snowed in.
Pride Mates is my first read by Jennifer Ashley. I strive to read a variety of genres and authors. Although my preference seems to be mystery, thriller, suspense, I find myself trying supernatural, fantasy, comedy mystery thrillers and sci-fi. This book was good, but I won't be reading another.
boring
Very good
Paranormal romance by Jennifer Ashley. In this reality, all shifters wear a collar that controls their violent instincts. They also live in specific areas, similar to reservations. The Shifters are second-class citizens; getting lower paying jobs, no access to higher technologies such as better cell phones, and cable/ satellite. Kim is a human lawyer who is assigned the case of a Shifter accused of killing a Human woman. Based on the reviews, I'm in the minority here: I didn't like this book, and struggled to finish it. I had a hard time believing that the Shifters would accept thier lot in life, and the discrimination they experienced. I can't recommend this one.
Liam is the Shifter other Shifters go to for issues. His father is 2nd in charge and he takes things further up if needed. He shifts into a big cat (he calls it a "Fae Cat"). Kim is a defense lawyer tasked with defending a Shifter, Brian, who was accused of murdering his girlfriend. Since, he's a Shifter and most humans look down on them, he must be guilty! Kim believes he is innocent and seeks Liam and the Shifter's help.
It turns out there are other things going on. Fergus, the head huncho, has told Brian to plead guilty and take the fall (for something he didn't do). Fergus also has a hate-on for the Morrissey's (Liam, his brother Sean, their father Dylan, and their nephew Conner). Fergus also happens to be an Alpha-hole. At the end of the day, it is about power and having all of it. Fergus also despised the Collars, which all Shifter's wear to dampen their animal instincts. It turns out he (and someone else) were behind experiments to remove the collars.
I did like this, but I also had some problems with it. I liked the Morrissey family and Kim. I liked most of the secondary characters (minus the obvious). I would have liked more world building. I do know the Shifters were created by the Fae and they got too numerous/strong for the Fae to control. They are out to humanity (hence the collars).
I did think this fell into many cliches of paranormal romance: Alpha-holes that see women as second class citizens (check), insta-love/fated mates (check). I didn't like Liam's disregard for Kim's body and they didn't talk babies. He just automatically assumed she wanted to get pregnant right away and pitched a bitch when he found out she was on birth control
It turns out there are other things going on. Fergus, the head huncho, has told Brian to plead guilty and take the fall (for something he didn't do). Fergus also has a hate-on for the Morrissey's (Liam, his brother Sean, their father Dylan, and their nephew Conner). Fergus also happens to be an Alpha-hole. At the end of the day, it is about power and having all of it. Fergus also despised the Collars, which all Shifter's wear to dampen their animal instincts. It turns out he (and someone else) were behind experiments to remove the collars.
I did like this, but I also had some problems with it. I liked the Morrissey family and Kim. I liked most of the secondary characters (minus the obvious). I would have liked more world building. I do know the Shifters were created by the Fae and they got too numerous/strong for the Fae to control. They are out to humanity (hence the collars).
I did think this fell into many cliches of paranormal romance: Alpha-holes that see women as second class citizens (check), insta-love/fated mates (check). I didn't like Liam's disregard for Kim's body and they didn't talk babies. He just automatically assumed she wanted to get pregnant right away and pitched a bitch when he found out she was on birth control
A new series by Jennifer Ashley. I really enjoyed Pride Mates. It's more a contemporary book about prejudice and rights than it is a traditional shifter book. These guys don't hang out in the woods but live in a slum/ghetto/homeland on the edge of Austin, Texas.
Shifters have 'come out' and accepted collars that control their aggression as the price of being allowed to live in [relative] peace. Like minorities in the earlier part of the 20th century they strive to live public lives that cause no ripples, presenting a public face which won't cause anyone to look more closely. Their private lives are intensely different and intensely protected.
Our human heroine has been assigned to defend a shifter who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. She becomes convinced that her client is as much a victim as his girlfriend was. She needs answers and goes to Shiftertown to get them... Liam has been assigned by the clan leader to send her away. He doesn't. She is steadily drawn into the secrets of the clan and learns things that humans aren't allowed to know - and eventually Liam has to mate her to protect her.
Both an action and relationship plot, filled with well drawn characters in a fascinating setting. I'll be keeping this one and pre-ordering the next when it makes it onto the listings...
Shifters Unbound
1. Pride Mates (2010)
2. Shifter Lovin' (2011)
Shifters have 'come out' and accepted collars that control their aggression as the price of being allowed to live in [relative] peace. Like minorities in the earlier part of the 20th century they strive to live public lives that cause no ripples, presenting a public face which won't cause anyone to look more closely. Their private lives are intensely different and intensely protected.
Our human heroine has been assigned to defend a shifter who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. She becomes convinced that her client is as much a victim as his girlfriend was. She needs answers and goes to Shiftertown to get them... Liam has been assigned by the clan leader to send her away. He doesn't. She is steadily drawn into the secrets of the clan and learns things that humans aren't allowed to know - and eventually Liam has to mate her to protect her.
Both an action and relationship plot, filled with well drawn characters in a fascinating setting. I'll be keeping this one and pre-ordering the next when it makes it onto the listings...
Shifters Unbound
1. Pride Mates (2010)
2. Shifter Lovin' (2011)
Sherri H. (mamadoodle) -
Absolutely fantastic start to this new series. Straight to the keeper shelf!
Irish born Liam Morrissey is a feline shifter (some kind of Fae cat cross-breed) and the go-to guy for the clan. I liked Liam from the first sentence he uttered. He is beyond contrary but in a nice Irish brogue kinda way. He's immediately intrigued with human lawyer, Kim Frasier, though relations with humans is frowned upon. He's instantly protective and overly friendly but then again all shifters are very huggy kind of people. I also liked Kim she's the lawyer trying to get another shifter out of jail for a murder which she is convinced he didn't commit. She is relentless in the face of Liam's evasions and doesn't give a damn about what Fergus's wants (he's the head of the pride).
I liked the world building as it's a really different take on shifters integrating with humans. They are seriously oppressed and have to wear what amounts to a slave collar. They cannot have current up-to-date cell phones (only outdated ones), can't have cable, can't even go to college - well they can go but they can't graduate. Wouldn't want the shifters to be smart enough to over take the humans now would we? Well written, fast paced and the sex scenes (and there are many of them) are HOT!!! Jennifer Ashley doesn't disappoint.
I liked the world building as it's a really different take on shifters integrating with humans. They are seriously oppressed and have to wear what amounts to a slave collar. They cannot have current up-to-date cell phones (only outdated ones), can't have cable, can't even go to college - well they can go but they can't graduate. Wouldn't want the shifters to be smart enough to over take the humans now would we? Well written, fast paced and the sex scenes (and there are many of them) are HOT!!! Jennifer Ashley doesn't disappoint.
The existance of these shifters is an interesting concept(in small doses anyway)but I didn't find the story all that compelling. The heroine's reaction to the outrageous events is too unrealistic. Her casual acceptance to the whole experience makes it a little ho-hum instead of something that's fascinating to ponder as a possibility.
I was very pleased with this book and am wishing I had the next in the series. It sucked me in from the start and I could not put it down.
this is not the frist book i have read but it is better than the last one by this writer
this was such an awesume book! loved all the characters are so loveable and the story action packed. Jennifer Ashley is an new fav author for me! Can't wait for the next installment of th shifters series.
Good one by ashley
