Jennifer Ashley – Tiger Magic

The fifth book in the Shifters Unbound series, published June 4, 2013.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: fierce



He was once a captive, but his urges were never caged. Now he'll release them on a beautiful stranger whose own secret desires are longing to be sated...

He doesn't have a name. He doesn't have a clan. The humans who held him prisoner for forty years have taken them away. He knew nothing but captivity until nearly a year ago, when he was released into the light. Now Tiger lives in the Austin Shiftertown, where he struggles to belong and searches for an identity.
Carly Randal thinks her fabulous life is complete - until her car breaks down on the side of the road, and a wild-looking Shifter is the only one to help her. Tiger takes one look at Carly and knows instantly - she will be his mate. As Carly is drawn into his Shifter world, she risks everything she has for that forbidden something she still wants: passionate love.


If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know by now that I am a huge Jennifer Ashley fan. Her shifter series is one of my favourites out there, and again she did not disappoint me. I loved this book. Ever since Tiger was rescued from the research facility, I have been curious about him. And this book is his story.


Carly Randal is happily driving towards her job. Her fiancée lend her his vintage Corvette, and she is eager to help her boss organise the new showing in the art galley. Until the Corvette breaks down on a deserted stretch of the highway, and she has no cellphone reception either to call for help. A strange and very big man suddenly appears in the field next to the road, but she is not afraid of him. He is kind of gorgeous, with weird black and orange striped hair. And when he can fix her car, she is happy enough to offer him a lift back to town. She doesn’t dare drive on with a car that can break down at any moment.
Tiger is all too happy to accept a ride. The moment he laid eyes on the female, he knew she is his mate. All he has to do is to claim her. The Morrissey’s have explained the rituals to him, but he knows they are wrong. A mate just is, and it has nothing to do with the ceremony’s they invented. But he has to be careful not to scare her off. Especially as she has a fiancée already. Whom she claims to love, but Tiger smells different. When they get back at her fiancée’s house, she finds him having sex with another woman at the kitchen counter! Why? She is supposed to move in with him next week! Half her apartment has been packed already! Upset Carly drives away again, leaving Tiger behind with Ethan.

Tiger is angry with Ethan for hurting Carly, especially when Ethan accuses Carly of sleeping with a shifter, while he is the one being caught. Tiger threatens Ethan, who then shoots him in the stomach seven times. But Tiger can handle that, he has been shot very often at the research facility, just to see what he can survive. Leaving Ethan’s house trashed, but Ethan alive, Tiger tries to make his way back to Shifter town. Unfortunately, the police are already on their way, and dealing with bullets and multiple tranquilizers shot into him, is too much. He is rushed to a hospital that deals with shifters, not suspected to survive. But the Morrissey’s come to his rescue, and when Tiger regains consciousness and keeps calling for Carly, they track her down in the hope she will come to the hospital to see him. Just her presence makes him calmer, and her touch starts healing Tiger. The healing touch of a mate, but nobody really believes that. After all, Tiger is some kind of super shifter. Not born, but created in a lab. No one knows what he can do.

After helping Tiger, he insist that Carly stays with him, and when she refuses, he wants Connor to stay with her, to keep her safe. Which is a prudent decision, as she gets a visit from the Shifter Bureau, and the professor wants her to turn spy on the shifters. She doesn’t like the man, and she refuses, but they won’t give up that easily.

Somehow, things keep happening that keep Carly and Tiger together, with Carly unable to go on with her life. And when things get really dire, she is even prepared to leave for Mexico with Tiger, to keep him alive. But the hunters won’t back down and Tiger has no choice but to leave her behind, to go back to what is left of her life…


I liked Carly from the start, she saw Tiger for what he really was, a good man, all the cubs trusted and loved him. The adult’s distrust was totally uncalled for, as he only got angry and into fights to protect himself or innocents. Of course she does not intend to fall for another guy the moment her engagement is over, but there is this connection between Tiger and her. She likes him, and he cannot be persuaded to leave her alone. Tiger needs to protect her, and as her life really is in danger since she met him, she needs him around. Carly doesn’t know much about shifters, but she is not afraid of them. Do not their collars keep them quiet? She doesn’t know that Tiger wears a fake collar, and can become as aggressive as is necessary.

Tiger is trying to live a life outside the research facility. Austin Shifter town has not exactly welcomed him with open arms, but he does his best to fit in, and to obey Liam Morrissey. Not because he acknowledges Liam as his alpha, but because it is the prudent thing to do. If he does not obey, he will not be able to stay here, nor does he want to challenge Liam for leadership of the Shifter town. He likes the cubs, and feels really protective of them all. Together with Connor he is learning to fix cars and appliances, to make a bit of a living for himself. Tiger sure has a knack for it. He does not like that he is beholden to the Morrissey’s for everything he needs.

So when they finally discover why he was made, what his special abilities are, a whole new future opens up for him, and his new family …

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian