Title: Shifters in the Spring - Sixteen New Paranormal Romances of Secret Babies, Frisky Shifters, and Fertile Surprises
Authors: J.K. Harper, Jacqueline Sweet, Ariana Hawkes, J.M. Klaire, Anya Nowlan, Liv Brywood, Olivia Arran, Edith Hawkes, Elianne Adams, Ellis Leigh, Auriella Skye, Cynthia Fox, Gen Géricault
What it's about:
This is a collection of 16 shifter romance short stories covering everything from secret babies to second chances and confrontations.
What worked:
What can I say? Loved this collection on the whole and this comes from ole me who didn't read shifter romance before this. Having said that, there are three stories that stand out.
The first is Forces of Nature by Gen Géricault whose writing made me wish I could walk out and get a taste of Louisiana. Very tight plot and writing. Loved the dynamics between lead characters Alder Thorne, alpha wolf of the Sweetwater pack, and witch-wolf loner Wren Thistle, whose father used to be alpha wolf of Sweetwater pack. Had wondered how the secret baby angle would be played and was not disappointed by Géricault's use of the compulsion twist. There's violence in the confrontation scenes and of course hot sexually-charged interaction between the leads. And for good measure Géricault throws in the cuddly scenes with the wolf cub - too cute for words!
Second is His Secret Dragon by Elianne Adams which mixes insta-lust with power struggles in a political unstable shifter tribe landscape. Spunky Meadow Brighton meets alpha Kade Trenton when he rescues her from a conflict arising from her rejection of a forced mating. While the story is quite fast-paced and I would hope there's more development of characters and plot, it's a pretty smooth short read. Grab your dragon shifter indulgence here!
Last but not least (regardless of how trite that sounds, it's true here!) is Something Weasel this Way Comes by Cynthia Fox. A refreshing combination of hot shifter romance and comedy, I'm not sure which I liked better. Fox's humour is spot on and smacks of jazzed up fairytales and Aesop's fables with a more earthy feel and greater appeal! Linden the weasel is pretty effective as the de facto villain while Sally and Nikolai are one of the funniest shifter couples! Of course, the language barrier is always an effective device. Look away my Russian friends, there's too much that will be offensive though funny here! The opinion implied in the following video is not that of this writer!
What didn't work:
The uneven feel of the book. Then again, this is a collection of stories so some level of unevenness is to be expected.
Overall impression:
I'm impressed by the collection overall. Recommending it for readers new to the shifter romance genre - it doesn't have to be intense and dramatic all the time.
Blog rating: 3.5*
Amazon rating: 4.5*
Get your copy! http://amzn.to/2cutTYR
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