Saturday, October 21, 2023

Jennifer Ashley - Midnight Wolf

Angus Murray, bouncer for a New Orleans Shifter bar, is sent to round up an elusive, Collar-less Shifter woman, Tamsin Calloway, who is causing trouble for Shifter Bureau, and possesses information they want. If Angus refuses, he risks losing his cub. He finds Tamsin but she's slippery and not about to be rounded up quietly.
In fact, quiet is nothing Tamsin will ever be. She leads Angus on a wild chase, but he's determined to bring her in to save his son.
Can Tamsin convince Angus she's worth helping before she's locked away by Shifter Bureau, Collared, or perhaps killed?

Comment: This is the 11th full length installment in the Shifters Unbound series by Jennifer Ashley. There are also several novellas in between installments, some I've read, others didn't catch my interest or I haven't had the chance to look up for them.

In this novel, we follow Angus, a wolf shifter, as he searches for and chases Tamsyn, a collarless shifter the Shifter Bureau wants to apprehend, because they blackmailed him by holding his son captive. He isn't told why the Bureau wants to catch Tamsyn but as he goes on that task, he can't help but liking her and wanting to help her instead of just handing her over to those he considers to be an enemy of a certain kind. When things take a turn and they see themselves on the run with his son, is there any way for them to hide until a plan can be devised? What about the fact Tamsyn and Angus feel they might actually be a good match?

Somehow, this story caught my attention and I was constantly interested in reading it, unlike some of the installments I liked less, which felt less captivating or even a little boring for some reason. This one was a very good blend of adventure and slow pace and somehow it made me think the pace was well done. I think the author was also clever by planning to have the characters interact with others, which not only helped but reinforced the idea the story was tidier and more self contained.

Angus is a relatively new character, I mean he hasn't been highlighted in previous books (that I remember!) but he is one of those types of characters who is a little brooding but that is actually another word for serious and not given to the usual extroverted personality of most shifters. I actually liked his quiet personality, his way of thinking about things, his calmness and his need to protect those he cares about, namely his son and, then, Tamsyn. 

Tamsyn is a little more alike what one would have gotten used to think of about shifters, she is more bubbly and vibrant and apart from the fact this is a great contrast with Angus, she is one of those people who hides her sadness under a more lively attitude.This means that part of the fun here is to watch her go through the emotions until she realizes Angus is a good potential mate and he respects her feelings and the things she is regretful of, mainly how she isn't collared like her mother and how this means physical distance, which still saddens her.

I really think the author did a good job here, in portraying these two as individuals and as a good couple. Of course, some things are just a given but I was still glad enough on how they seemed to come to terms about one another before they decided they could be mates. It is true that this happened rather quickly, but I find myself much more accepting of this in a PNR as here, especially now that I'm  familiar to the "wold rules". I also liked Angus son, Ciaran, he is really an adorable little boy (and wolf cub).

The plot is not that tricky, many fast paced scenes, some interesting ones when they hide at a carnival, which proved to be a nice change of scenario from the usual in these stories. Tamsyn has knowledge of the plans Angus brother had to fight the Bureau until he was killed but Angus had no clue for he and his brother never got along. I think this part of the novel was done in a competent way, it was good enough to convince me of why the characters' actions were those ones and how things came to be solved.

I particularly liked the several characters we got to see here, and how everyone interacted with Angus and Tamsyn... it might sound as if this means too many things going on at the same time, but for me this was great, I love seeing stories where characters interact and are important for one another. Besides, it is always very satisfying to see characters are not "islands" and they have intense and rich lives, despite the situation Shifters live in and how they aren't as free as they would like.

All in all, this was a good installment for me and now I feel even I cannot wait as long to read the next stories, I hope they will be as rewarding.
Grade: 8/10

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