Jennifer Ashley - Iron Master

Stuart Reid is an Iron Master—a Dark Fae with a rare ability to make iron do his bidding. Exiled by the High Fae who fear him, he now lives in a simple house in Shiftertown outside Las Vegas, watching over Peigi, a bear Shifter woman, and the cubs she cares for.
Peigi, rescued from an evil Shifter and welcomed into the Vegas Shiftertown, knows Reid and the cubs have helped her survive and heal.
She also knows Reid is alone and lonely, a strong man coping with his exile. The bond she feels pulling her to him scares the crud out of her—she’s been down this road before.
When Reid’s people send him a desperate call for help, Peigi senses danger to him—too much of it. She finds she’ll do anything, even sacrifice herself and her happiness, to keep him safe.

Comment: This is the 12th installment in the Shifters Unbound series by Jennifer Ashley. The last book in the series I had read was in 2023 and while the series is ongoing, I confess I had forgotten some details already...

In this installment we finally have the story of Stuart Reid, one Fae that most shifters are fond of because he had been a friend and since living in exile, he is now part of their group. Stuart cannot deny he still feels the pull to return to his world in Faerie but he has made friends and there's Peigi, the bear shifter who won him over...

Peigi has had a traumatic experience with a shifter she believed could have been her mate, while they lived on the run. When this turned out to be a disappointment, she was already committed to care for the cubs that their group had, and when the chance to be rescued was made possible, she decided to take care of them all. She also knows Stuart helped and she is fascinated, but will he want to return to his world instead of trying for a relationship with her?

I have been following this series for years now, and the overall plot always centers around the idea of one day shifters being free and being able to help a normal life like humans, instead of being confined to certain areas and jobs. Of course, with so many books, sometimes the specific plots might have some changes, but there is always this hope things will happen for them. In this book the story actually focuses on a different matter, mostly related to Stuart, and I must say I did struggle a little to focus.

Stuart is a captivating character because he is Fae and in this world, shifters exist on the whim of Fae, a long time ago, and now part of the human world, of course being different targets shifters in an unfair way. This also means there's no love lost between the shifters and the Fae and Stuart should not be someone shifters would respect, but for several reasons, they do. Stuart is aware of the difference but he feels part of the shifter culture and society now. He knows he won't go back to Faerie, but what if he could? In the story he has the chance and I can imagine the idea was to present him with a choice, which isn't really one if this is a romance series, but I don't think the execution of this dilemma was well done.

For some books now, the hint Stuart and Peigi would become a couple was clued several times, and their romance was not really the surprise it could have been. I can suppose that after some books with the hint and the tension such a possibility might arise, their book would be strong in longing and fulfillment, but to me it wasn't so. It's not as if their romance was badly done, but to me it wasn't very exciting to follow. Perhaps this happened with the way the author wrote things, but I also would say that the overall plot just didn't win me over, and the romance didn't seem to "compensate" for the rest well enough.

Somehow, this main couple didn't seem to be very complex. Perhaps it was simply my reading experience, which wasn't always fluid as I'd hoped, but they didn't win me over. I mean, I liked them as individuals, as part of a group, but I wasn't emotionally invested in them as I was with other characters. Their romance was only fine, not amazing. Nothing wrong with that, but it certainly diminished my overall interest in reading the novel too.

The plot is related to Stuart helping out another Fae, in Faerie, with something I can't explain properly. Several shifters are included in this task, and they come and go to Faerie by magical means and I confess this started to confuse me and I kind of lost track of what was going on and where. Besides, Stuart's decision was an obvious one and I felt things were just being put on the paper to validate some details about the main couple's past and why they would work out now as a couple anyway...

In previous installments it was also made to seem as if Stuart was a little more mysterious and his powers as well, and while this does have importance in this book, it was only up to a certain point, and I got the feeling perhaps more on it could have been shared. Perhaps the author didn't want to develop things further, perhaps it never was a big deal, but it did feel as if Stuart didn't fully live up to his possibilities, as a character.

All things considered, this was a predictable type of plot for the series. It must be difficult, as it happens with other authors in regards to their very long series, if the world rules remain the same, to offer fully fresh intake on things, namely the romance. But it can be done. I would not say this is a bad story, it does fit expectations if one is a fan already, but it wasn't the vibrant or special read the previous installment was for me, for instance. I'm hoping the next is more interesting.

Grade: 6/10