Jennifer Ashley – Feral Heat

Book 5.5 in the Shifters Unbound series, published March 18, 2014
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: nice



From the author of Lone Wolf comes a paranormal romance about two lovers torn between ecstasy and savagery...
Jace Warden is sent to the Shiftertown in Austin to find a way to free all Shifters from their Collars. But pulling off the Collars can cause Shifters to go mad or kill them outright.
In Austin, Jace meets Deni Rowe, a wolf Shifter with troubles of her own - she was deliberately run down in the road, and while her body has healed, she still has episodes of total memory loss during which she retreats into her pure animal self.
Jace has never met anyone like Deni. Courageous and beautiful, she volunteers to help him test the Collar removal. And as Deni and Jace work together, they feel the mate bond begin. But can Jace help Deni believe she can heal enough to be anyone's true mate?


I really enjoyed cowboy wolf shifter Ellison in one of the previous books, and now his sister Deni finds a second chance at love. Her husband died years ago, and she is raising her two almost adult (in shifter years) sons, with the help of her brother Ellison. Deni was a vibrant woman, who loved nothing better than to drive her motor cycle and go all out. Until the day an evil Shifter hunter purposely ran her over. Deni was severely hurt, but she survived, only to have lost most of her control over her Wolf. At times she takes over, making Deni very aggressive and even attacking her own family.

When the book starts, Deni is tired of sitting at home when everyone is out to the Fight Club, and she decides to go as well. She knows it is a bad decision but she is tired of living like this. The pheromones and aggression at the fight club really trigger her wolf, and when she sees someone she intensely dislikes beat up an unknown shifter, she has to jump in and help.
Jace, a snow leopard, and son of the Las Vegas Shifter Town leader, is here on the request of Dylan and does not really need her help, but he sure appreciates it, and the beautiful woman she shifts into as well.

While the fight between Dylan and Ronan is going strong inside, Deni and Jace really hit it off outside, until the cops show up in force, and they will have to hide the evidence of the fighting quickly. Deni comes up with a smart excuse for them gathering in force outside their Shifter town, but now Jace really needs her to cover for him. He is illegally in their Shifter town, the cops cannot find out or he will be arrested and the others will get in trouble as well. He needs Deni to take him home, and as he acted drunk, she will have to drive his motorcycle. If only until they have enough distance between them and the cops. Being with Jace, who is a real alpha, soothes her inner wolf, and Deni manages to stay in control although she is terrified of driving a motorcycle again.

When Ellison finally gets home, he is not happy when a strange male shifter is sleeping on his couch, but it was the only solution for the moment. And that Jace is smelling of his sister certainly does not please him either. But Deni is capable of making her own decisions, and her brother has no say in that, even though he is the alpha wolf of their pack.

Dylan and his sons have been working on a way of getting rid of their hated collars, without the shifter in question going feral. And of course without the humans noticing that they no longer wear their collars. As Jace is still unmated he is willing to take the risk of experimenting with removing the collar, but it hurts like hell. Deni seems to be the only one to care for him, and wants them to stop. And Jace starts to believe that Deni is his mate. When the police keep raiding their town, Jace has to stay hidden in the Rowe’s secret underground lair, where Deni keeps him company when she is able to.

Has their romance a chance when Jace has to go back home before he is missed? And when it is very hard for a shifter to obtain permission to change Shifter towns?


As most of you know, I am a huge Jennifer Ashley fan, and so far I have loved everything she has written. I especially love this Shifter series, and think it is one of the most original and best series I have ever read. Feral Heat was a nice addition to the series, I enjoyed both Deni and Jace as our main characters.

Ever since her accident, Deni has trouble staying in control of her wolf, almost going feral at times. She is a strong alpha wolf herself, and not many male shifters outrank her, and are thus able to help stay in control. But Jace is stronger, and him touching her really does help her. And of course does other things to her …
I liked how after their initial encounter they don’t jump into bed together, but get some time to know each other, and have her children and brother get used to him as well. Still, the attraction between them is powerful and Jace is completely taken by surprise when his leopard threatens Dylan for touching Deni. She is his! Deni is compassionate, she loves her children, and after loosing one mate, she is not afraid of falling in love again and finding a new mate. She knows life can be short in their violent world.

Fionn the Fae, father of Andrea Morrissey, wife of Sean, also makes an appearance in this novella, helping in the removal of the collars, and in keeping Jace safe in Faery when there is no time to go back to the hidden saferooms. I really liked that, and how he truly loves his daughter.

One of the main things I like about this series, is that it is a very close community of shifters, and you see previous couples again and again, and stay up to date with what is happening with them. Like Olaf, the little orphaned bear cub, he is happy now. And Tiger has an important position as well.

I do recommend this series, and look forward to reading Wild Wolf soon.

8 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian