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With a custody battle coming up, Ashe Carver, monster killer, has switched from stakes to a job at the public library. But fate has other things in mind. Ashe find herself chasing a demon rabbit that escaped from the supernatural castle along with Captain Reynard, one of the castle's guards. But there's more than that going on here. Someone has stolen Reynard's soul, part of what bound him to the castle; a vampire king wants to impregnate Ashe since her sister, Holly, had a vampire's baby; and there's a dark fae prince who seems to have his finger in every pot.

Reynard becomes more attached to the outside world as he re-learns it, and he and Ashe try to figure out how to get his soul back. But even once they find out who stole it, there's the matter of a collecting demon to contend with, and this demon has quite a bit of power to throw around. The more time Ashe and Reynard spend together, the more the romance between them grows, and it's a good one. Reynard, the handsome gentleman who has spent the last 200 years as a guard, and Ashe, who has struggled with a spell gone wrong when she was younger that killed her parents, tries to find her own place in the world.

I've enjoyed all of the Dark Forgotten novels, and Unchained is no exception. More urban fantasy than paranormal romance, it's a terrific story with action, great characters -- I particularly like Miru-Kai, the dark fae prince and hope to learn more about him in the fourth book. He's a trickster with a good heart which is always fun to watch. He likes to bait people and enjoys playing games, but people fear him and dislike him perhaps because what he does is somehow necessary. Characters from the first two books including Holly Carver make appearances, but this is definitely Ashe's story. There is some heart-wrenching moments in this tale but also humor. Sharon Ashwood has a talent for finding just the right balance. I look forward to reading, Frostbound, the fourth and final book in this series.

Katherine Petersen started reading as a young child and hasn't stopped. She still thinks she can read all the books she wants, but might, at some point, realize the impossibility of this mission. While she enjoys other genres, she thrives on fantasy, science fiction and mysteries.