I call
books like the novels in Jennifer Ashley’s Shifters Unbound saga (2010’s Pride Mates and the recently released Primal Bonds) oven mitt erotica – stories with sex scenes so scorchingly hot that they virtually
ignite the pages beneath your fingers.
Yeah, there are a lot of great paranormal romance sagas out there but very few tangibly affect me – Ashley’s Shifters Unbound saga is so well written, so intensely sensual, if reading these novels don’t get your blood pumping, well, you’re probably dead.
It’s ideal, erotic, literary escapism – the female heroines are all intelligent, self-confident, courageous, and incredibly sexy; their male counterparts are all are all tall, chiseled, highly principled, protective, family-oriented, and obsessively filled with love (and lust) for their mates.
The sex scenes in Pride Mates
and Primal Bonds are just fantastic sequences – but they work in large part
because Ashley has created a commendably intricate storyline powered by a cast
of meticulously developed characters, a comprehensive and fascinating
backstory, and a relentless sense of pacing. Very much comparable to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake
saga in terms of strength and spirit of its female protagonist as well as
overall sexual intensity, this series isn’t aimed specifically at women readers
– don’t let the sword wielding, abs-of-steel, stud on the cover fool you. Like
LKH’s Anita Blake saga, this is a storyline that will appeal to male and female
readers alike.
When I first read Pride Mates last year, I was impressed with Ashley’s audacious originality. She didn’t just fall back into the conventional lycanthrope mythos – full moon, silver bullets, etc. – but created an entire new mythology that seamlessly fused together elements of science fiction, fantasy, romance and mystery. It’s been 20 years since shapeshifters, hunted down and on the verge of extinction, have agreed to become collared and “accepted” into human society. That acceptance, however, is extremely limited – although the collars repress the shapeshifters’ violent tendencies, they’ve been forced to live in Shiftertowns on the periphery of society and are still universally hated and feared for their extraordinary abilities.
Pride Mates revolves around an idealistic – and headstrong – lawyer named Kim Fraser (with “wickedly sexy legs”) who accepts a case involving a shapeshifter accused of murdering his human girlfriend. She meets Liam Morrissey, a 6’6” shifter (“strong, gorgeous, and well endowed”) who introduces her into the highly secretive – and highly dangerous – shapeshifter culture. Among other things she discovers that Liam is a Fae-cat, a unique breed of lycanthrope created by the fair folk before the dawn of humankind. But as she uncovers bombshell revelations concerning the origins of the mysterious collars, the shifter social hierarchy, and a conspiracy that could put all of humankind in potential jeopardy, she finds herself falling in love with Liam and becoming a pariah to her human friends and coworkers…
Primal Bonds focuses on Liam’s younger brother, Sean – the Guardian of the Morrissey clan – and his relationship with a half-breed shifter named Andrea Gray, whose heritage (her mother was a shifter and her father was a Fae) has made her an outsider wherever she goes. When Sean claims her as a mate – a kind-hearted move that allows her to escape an abusive existence in Colorado and relocate to Austin – he has no idea what he is getting into. Plagued by bizarre nightmares and capable of seemingly impossible acts of healing, Andrea is so much more than she seems – but when chaotic civil war breaks out and the Morrissey clan’s rule is threatened, the half Fae seductress with the dark hair and smoky eyes finally finds her destined place in the world…
Make no bones about it (no pun intended) – this is a sexually super-charged series. Here are a few examples:
From Pride Mates:
“Kim laughed. Liam growled and sprinted up the last of the stairs, slammed into the bedroom and tossed her on the bed. As her clothes came off, then his, Kim gave in. For one night of her life, she was going to enjoy making wild, crazy love with a man who promised to make it unforgettable, no matter what might come in the morning...”
From Primal Bonds:
“He felt her body start to open and respond, a basic, hard reaction that erased all thoughts. It began with her drawing a surprised breath, her legs stiffening, her hands clenching at her sides. Then another gasp, followed by a wordless cry. And then Andrea was writhing against Sean, calling his name, hands in his hair, thrusting against his mouth and begging him to do all he wanted.”
Yes, these novels are incredibly erotic and profoundly romantic but to classify this saga as simply paranormal romance does Ashley an injustice. The deeply contemplated alternate reality that she has created is brutally, brilliantly realized and her storytelling prowess is comparable to any of the elite paranormal fantasists (LKH, Kim Harrison, Adrian Phoenix, Stacia Kane, etc.) writing today.
Romance and fantasy readers alike who read these novels will be more than pleasantly surprised – don’t forget the oven mitts!
“We’re strangely fond of each other’s underwear.” – Primal Bonds, p. 60
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for almost the last two decades and has written more than 6,000 reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, and BarnesandNoble.com. In his free time, he reads.
