Primal Bonds [Mass Market Paperback]

Sean Morrissey is a Guardian, chosen to wield a magical sword that will send the souls of dead Shifters into the afterlife. Though he is respected for what he does, his position has left him longing for a mate he can share his life with. When he hears that the half-Fae, half-Shifter Andrea Gray is being abused in her pack, Sean mate-claims Andrea without meeting her in order to bring her into his Shiftertown in Austin where she will be safe. While helping Andrea, Sean is given the chance to finally have a mate but what he didn't expect was to instantly fall head over heals for the sexy and mouthy Lupine.

True Andrea needs Sean and the rest of the Morrissey clan in order to escape her old pack and the abuse of a Shifter she will not mate but she is far from weak. She will not cower behind Sean when things become difficult and will let her opinions be known. I love when a heroine has a backbone and Andrea definitely does. Sean gets frustrated with Andrea when she refuses to hide and not go to work when humans start shooting bars and restaurants that Shifters are known to frequent. Everything in Sean calls for him to protect his Andrea, even though she hasn't officially accepted his mate-claim. What I liked about Sean was that he took care of Andrea but knew when it was a losing battle and did his best to just make sure she didn't get hurt. I love my alpha males but sometimes they cross over the line into being obnoxious but Sean knew when to be protective and when to give Andrea some space.

I liked Liam (hero in Pride Mates) but I loved Sean. Sean has Liam's devotion to his family and pack, strength and street smarts but there is a sweeter side to Sean that I could not get enough of. Unlike Liam, Sean didn't push the woman he wanted as his mate away. He wanted to always be around her and there was a sexy playfulness between him and Andrea and I didn't get from Liam and his mate Kim.

In Primal Bonds there are humans violently attacking Shifters and the reason goes beyond just hate for their kind. Alliances between enemies are made with a deadly outcome in mind. I really liked that the story kept changing a little here and there as the book went along. It kept things from getting boring and too predictable. There is also a side story between Dylan, Sean's father and Glory, Andrea's aunt. They've been an unofficial couple for a while but Dylan has not been able to emotionally move on from his mate who he lost a century ago. Glory loves Dylan but no longer will settle for what little Dylan is willing to give. Things get heated and heart wrenching between the two and I'm glad page time was spent on their story. Both are really good characters and deserve a HEA.

In Jennifer Ashley's Shifter's Unbound series, the Shifters have revealed themselves to humans. Out of fear of something they don't really understand, humans have put all Shifters into towns and put harsh laws into place that keep them from having good jobs, new cars, cable and more. Shifters tolerate this treatment because they have access to health care and the collars they are forced to wear has kept their wild animals from taking over. But you can feel changes are coming and I look forward to seeing what happens next. Primal Bonds is a really good paranormal romance with some fantasy woven in with by a few appearances from the Fae. I can't wait for the 3rd book.

Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley
Paranormal Romance -March 1st, 2011
5 stars

Primal Bonds is the second in Jennifer Ashley's shifter series but can be easily read by itself. It is a thrilling an emotionally satisfying romance. I liked it even better than the first book, Pride Mates.

In this story, the half Fae and half lupine shifter named Andrea Gray has found sanctuary in a new Shiftertown. She fled her old one because she was terrorized by a lupine who wanted to mate with her. But as a condition to being allowed to stay in this new Shiftertown, Andrea had to find someone who would volunteer to be her potential mate.

Sean Morrissey is the Shiftertown Guardian. A powerful protector who carries a magical Fae sword that allows shifters to be released to 'heaven' before they die. When he first saw the beautiful and vulnerable Andrea, he couldn't help volunteering himself as a potential mate and has vowed to wait until she is ready for him. But their relationship is complicated by prejudices against shifters. A rash of human shootings on various Shiftertowns causes severe injuries. When the police ignore the shifters' pleas for help, the Morrissey family becomes more determined to find out the cause and 'fix' it.

This is an exciting story that I read in one sitting! I loved the 2 main characters and the chemistry between them is super hot. Jennifer Ashley also has separate storylines including Sean's father which add a lot of depth to this book and made me feel like I really knew these characters. There are some really good surprises concerning Andrea and her Fae nature, which drives the story. It was also fascinating to learn about Sean's role as a Guardian and the Guardian history. As I mentioned earlier, this book is even better than the first, and I can't wait for the next which features an alpha, shifter heroine!

Exciting and immensely enjoyable, paranormal fans will love this series. It is already one of my favorites!

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

I read the first book in this series (this is the 2nd) and I completely fell in love with the characters that this author creates. Since tehn I have read almost all her books and for the most part will read anything that she published. I don't know if I was just expecting too much with this book but there were so many things that I found inconsistent with this story. I did buy for one second that the Glory character would just take Dillian back so easily. I really was looking forward to some grand romancing after the charater was practically cheating on Glory with his dead wife's memory. I thought that part of the story was not very strong. Neither did I like the fact that we never got to know about Liam and Kims' family. Was the baby a boy? A girl? I LOVED their own story so I was disappointed to get so little of them and no resolution what so ever with them. As far as the H and H story, it was worth the read but I don't think it was the same caliber as the first story.

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