Third and final installment. Shifter novel set in the same world as, the bestselling, Chosen and Bride Hunt seriesLong ago Gage failed at love. He recently failed the human female he’d been assigned to protect. Now, the Alphas have clearly lost their ever-loving minds because they’ve given him the same duty a second time. Well, he isn’t going to take the mission. He’ll take the human home, as … He’ll take the human home, as instructed, and then she’ll become someone else’s problem. Not his! No way! That is, until he catches sight of her, until he catches a snoutful of her tantalizing scent. Then he’s done for. It’s game over.
Unfortunately, there are forces at work that intend to keep them apart. An unknown enemy. A foe that is not only stronger but quicker as well, so much more deadly. An enemy that means them harm. It wants the human. Gage will have to risk everything to protect her. He may even have to put his own life on the line.
No cheating and a guaranteed HEA.
Contains hot alpha males and therefore strong sexual themes/language
more
So this is the third installment of Shifter Night, and I have to say I was not as impressed with this one. Not to say I didn’t like this story I didn’t enjoy it as much as all the others.
Gage is in charge of taking Edith home. He has to keep her safe from the still unknown thing hunting their village. But when things go wrong, Gage and Edith end up having to work to get home safely.
Unchained is a good ending for this part of the series.
OMG! BEST BOOK OF THE SERIES & MY NEW FAVORITE!!!
Title: Unchained
Series: Shifter Night
Author: Charlene Hartnady
Designation: Book 3 of 3 of Completed Series, Full-Length Novel(Approximately 220 pages), *Standalone, No Cliffhanger, HEA
#paranormal #shapeshifter #romance #bearshifterhero #humanheroine
Reading Platform: Kindle Edition
My Rating: Five Delightfully Entertaining Stars
OMG, I love, love, love Unchained! Hands down, Unchained is one of the best novels of Hartnady’s entire career. I laughed, I sobbed, I shook my fists in anger, and then I cried some more! It was bloody brilliant! I’ve been a Charlene Hartnady fan for years and followed her career as she became one of the most reliable and prolific authors in the paranormal romance genre today, consistently releasing original, unique, imaginative, well-crafted and edited stories, time after time. Hartnady is one of very few authors on my automatic one-click list. When she releases a new book or offers a preorder, I snap it right up, without even bothering to read the blurb or look at the price, and I’ve never regretted a single purchase. I subscribe to Amazon Kindle Unlimited but love her work so much, I buy her books rather than borrow, simply because I want them in my permanent library to read again and again. That’s quite a recommendation in itself. And her latest release, Unchained, is no exception! I was thrilled when I discovered Hartnady was releasing a spinoff based in the same world as her bestselling The Chosen Series, but the inspiration for Shifter Night is shifters rather than vampires. But in Sweetwater, you never know what you might find, and it looks like she’s spicing things up even more with another spinoff series entitled The Feral! Oh my! All the paranormals in Hartnady’s Sweetwater Texas world, which (so far) includes vampires, elves, bears, wolves, cats, dragons (and it looks like it’s about to get a whole bigger), are in need of females – fertile females. And now that the Vampire Kings have successfully launched their ‘Date A Vampire’ campaign, which is nothing more than a politically correct way of describing their ‘Breeding Program’ brainchild, human females have become fair game and they all want to mate a vampire. This is the premise for Hartnady’s The Chosen Series, another fabulous collection if you enjoy hunky, possessive vampires, but the books in the Shifter Night Series have storylines featuring the shifters of Hartnady’s Sweetwater World who come into town once a month on Saturday night to blow off steam at the Dark Horse, a pickup bar where shifters mix with human women aspiring to ‘party hardy’ and, hopefully, do the dirty with the handsome, strapping shifter ‘party-animals’. (I just couldn’t resist that little pun!) Roar! And these guys really know how to make a woman scream, and not in fright! Shifter Night has been mentioned in several of Hartnady’s previous stories and I’d so hoped she would make it into a series… and she did! But some of these guys want more than just a good time, they want to find love. Unfortunately, there are so many shifters looking for mates that the Alphas have had to start their own program. It’s not really an organized campaign per se but they call it ‘The List’. Any of the shifters wanting to date a human female have to put their name in the hat and wait their turn. The shifters can’t afford to draw attention to themselves by stealing all the available women, right? It just wouldn’t be fair to all the human males of Sweetwater since all the women want to date shifters! But Shifter Night at the Dark Horse has become so popular, it’s now big business for the town. Enterprising entrepreneurs have decided to cash in on the phenomenon and organized Shifter Night tours, bussing in women from all over for the weekend, and business is booming! Sign me up! lol… I tend to get a little carried away when talking about Hartnady’s work, but the entire concept is imaginative, fabulously entertaining and a whole lot of fun, so allow me to tell you just a few of the reasons why I love it so much!
Unchained is an exciting, well-crafted, fast-paced, easy to follow, full-length, standalone, paranormal tale filled with great characters, riveting drama, heart-wrenching angst, heated attraction, steamy passion, heartwarming romance, and even a bit of underlying mystery and suspense. The narrative is beautifully written in the third person with dual his and her perspectives. The dialogue is snappy, well executed, at times hilarious, and flows effortlessly. But without a doubt, my favorite component of every Hartnady story is the cast of diverse, engaging, and always endearing characters. Unlike Hartnady’s other heroes, I was NOT instantly smitten with handsome, stubborn, often arrogant, and always grumpy bear-shifter Gage. He’s been mentioned in several books but in Book 2, Unbound, we discover he’s Ash’s twin brother and also why he’s such a grumpy, contrary bear. I was NOT impressed. In fact, I thought he was a huge @$$hole, but I kinda figured Book 3 would be about him, and I was right! But if I’ve learned one thing about Hartnady’s characters, it’s to never judge a book by its cover, so I decided to reserve my judgment of Gage and see how his story would play out. And I’ll be honest, there were quite a few times I wanted to punch him in the snout or, at the very least, thump his ears a few times, just to knock some sense into him. And Edith aka Curly, the female protagonist, was just adorable! She was introduced in Book One, Untethered, as the real estate agent and best friend of Winston’s mate Ana. After one hookup with a wolf shifter on shifter night at Dark Horse, Edith swears off men, especially shifters. She’s had her heart broken one too many times. But the attraction between Gage and Edith was difficult to ignore, each firmly refusing to acknowledge their feelings for each other. I wanted to pinch them both! But oh my, when Gage and Edith do succumb to their inner desires, the sexual chemistry was off the charts hot! They were absolutely perfect together and with a little help from an insightful four-year-old, they were able to overcome their doubts and stopped fighting the inevitable, finally realizing what they each needed was right in front of them. Gage and Edith’s journey was frightening, frustrating, and at times completely heartbreaking, but it was also engaging and occasionally laugh out loud funny. I snickered, snorted, giggled, snuffled, sobbed, and fumed through the entire book but by the end, I was happy, satisfied, and entertained. I truly love the emotional rollercoaster I always experience while reading Hartnady’s stories, but the component I enjoy most is her characters, which brings me to another element I adore about her work. Hartnady’s stories may be fiction, but the stories and characters in her books always deal with underlying real-life issues, making the story so much more emotional and realistic. But never fear, after shaking your fists in anger and shedding quite a few tears, Hartnady always leaves you happy, satisfied and well entertained.
Did I like this book? No, I LOVED it! Would I recommend it? You bet, and I am but only for adult readers since it does contain naughty language and explicit(code word for dreamy) sex. This book could probably be read as a standalone however to avoid spoilers and enrich your reading experience, I highly recommend reading the books in order of their release. And FYI, in Book 3 we finally discover the identity of the mysterious creatures abducting women throughout the series, as well as their motivation, and you’ll be shocked! If you’re into insta-love paranormal romance with no real-life conflict, this may not be the book for you. But if you enjoy a real tug of war between two very stubborn characters who both need their butts kicked, then this is one story you won’t be able to put down. Will I read this author again? Absolutely! Just as soon as she releases her next book! And finally, was I entertained? Completely! Fabulous entertainment and an awesome read!
It’s been five days since Gage was attacked by the mysterious entity that’s been causing so much trouble, and another female has been taken. And this time, it was on his watch. He’d been assigned to return the healer to Sweetwater, but they never made it, and he never even saw what took her. Not a single person has ever gotten a look at the thing, and no one has any idea what it could be. Now, his twin brother Ash’s mate and cubs have also been abducted, stolen from the property just outside their home. He felt it was his duty to help find them, but instead he’s been ordered to return another human female to Sweetwater. The beautiful curvy little human named Edith had been visiting Winston’s mate, Ana, and she has some fantastically insane theory of what the creature might be. But she has to be deranged, right? Well, crazy or not, he’ll still guard her with his life, and there will be no hanky-panky, although the curvy female was proving to be quite a distraction to him and his bear. This time, he would not fail, no matter the cost. Unfortunately, it seems the creature abducting their women and children has other ideas. and Edith is also kidnapped, but this time he’s is determined not to fail. Gage quickly discovers he may have misjudged the sweet little human and she may not be so crazy after all. They both find themselves in a fight for their freedom, possibly their lives, and realize they must work together to escape. But there’s more than just survival brewing between this stubborn pair. Gage and Edith discover love can also be a powerful foe, and the heart can be the biggest battlefield of all. Will Gage allow his fear of commitment to ruin his chance at happiness? We’ll see!