Red Wolf (Shifters Unbound, #10) by Jennifer Ashley

Red Wolf (Jennifer Ashley)

SUMMARY

Lupine Shifter Dimitri has always had to defend himself to other Shifters. As a red wolf, he’s not considered a “pure” wolf, and the battles have honed him into a tough fighter, a champion of the fight clubs. Jaycee Bordeaux, a leopard Shifter, is Dimitri’s staunchest defender and oldest friend. Dimitri is determined to turn that friendship into a mate bond.

Jaycee loves that idea, but she knows that a mate bond can’t be forced. And when Dimitri and Jaycee are called on to go undercover to protect collared Shifters, she knows the dangers ahead will make or break their future together. 

MY REVIEW

"Not coyote, @sshole. Red wolf."

No matter how much I adore this series or how much I anticipated this book or how much I wanted to read about a red wolf shifter, it took me a while to finish it.
And that was because the beginning of the book is so slow. There are a lot of explanations about the shifters and the shifters’ towns and their behavior. Maybe a small prologue in the next books from now on would be better for the new fans. For me, some of the explanations especially about the shifters’ behavior were not really necessary.

So, during the first chapters, I missed the tension and the humor some of the previous favorite novels have.

Moreover I definitely disliked Jaycee, the leopard shifter and I was not really warm to Dimitri, the red wolf shifter. We have met them both briefly in the “White Tiger” where Jaycee wanted someone she could not have (Kendrick) and she was a completely bitch towards his future mate and Dimitri obviously wanted Jaycee hopelessly.

Things will be smooth-running really quickly in this story with Jaycee forgetting about Kendrick, becoming a close friend of his mate and thinking of the mate-claim by Dimitri.

From Chapter Six onwards, the real adventure begins. And I loved it!

Dimitri and Jaycee will need to go to New Orleans and investigate a group of shifters that behave strangely.
There, they will meet
-Ben again (who desperately needs his book and his HEA),
-the group of shifters that believe in goddess but they do not exactly behave accordingly
-their mysterious leader and bear shifter, Brice
-the remarkable sentient lonely HOUSE with the strong personality that we met in “Wild Things”.

Thus slowly but surely, I was lost once more in the incredible world of powerful shifters who were forced to wear collars in order to be controlled by the clueless humans. I was lost in the magical world of arrogant Fae who like to treat Shifters like animals. I met again old characters (Tiger, Zander and Dylan) and I was introduced to new ones (Lady Aisling, Angus and Casey).

And I started believing in the Happily Ever After of the lonesome and scarred Dimitri and the difficult-to-trust-and-to-show-love Jaycee.

Dimitri only looked at her. He didn’t reach for her, only watched, his gaze intent on her.
“What?” Jaycee asked irritably when he didn’t move. Why didn’t he grab her, try to kiss her as he had at the club last night-anything?
“I was thinking how beautiful you look in the sunshine,” Dimitri said.
No stammering, no pause while he struggled over a word.
“Don’t,” Jaycee said quickly.
Dimitri frowned. “Don’t w-what?”
“Melt my heart.”
Slowly Dimitri reached out and placed his hand between her breasts. “So you do have a h-heart in there?”

It is a great Friends-To-Lovers story. The ending was more than satisfying.

“We knew,” Dimitri said, kissing her hair. “We just took our time admitting it. At least, you did. I always said you were the one for me.”