I love Shifter Romance.  I think that’s pretty obvious by a blog devoted to them and how often I post reviews about the books I’ve read.

However.  I have a notebook sized piece of paper, written on both sides are Shifter books I’ve read in 2016 and didn’t “have the time” to review immediately after closing the book.  Yeah.  Well, that backfired on me.  And you know if you follow this blog, that I do a lot of reviews.  Even with that amount, I still couldn’t keep current.  So now I’ve got to come up with a plan to get those reviews done.  That means maybe 4 or more reviews per day for a while.  I hate to do that because it’s an overload in people’s feeds… but, still I need to get caught up.  It’s a touch choice.

I wish I could have started 2017 with a clean, fresh slate on all my blogs… but reality happens, ya know?  So mixed in with what I’ve currently just finished reading will be some additional reviews as well.  Dang, Shifter Romance is so addicting!  And so easy to fit in whenever there’s a spare hour or so.  No wonder I’m behind.  *grin*

Anyway, I hope you find these additional reviews interesting.  (trust me, there’s a whole lot that you’ll never see because they weren’t worth the time to review… and I hate to be mean and say – it sucked)

We all have those trigger words – words that make us cringe – words that lift us up – you know what I mean.  Words that just bring an emotion, a visual completeness to whatever we’re reading.  I had a run-in with a word last night as I was reading the latest Shifter Romance to cross my Kindle.  And, sadly, it wasn’t a good experience but it did make me think and perhaps be more aware of how words affect me.

Let’s be honest here – we all are aware that the majority of Shifter Romance is erotica within a paranormal setting.  Shifter couples are sizzling, smoking hot and not afraid to show us exactly how they enjoy their sexual moments.  And I am totally fine with that – heck, I wouldn’t be reading so many of then if I wasn’t, ya know?

Yet last night I was completely taken out of the moment by one word that was put in the wrong place… for me.  It shattered my illusion of a hot, sexy couple doing one of the most natural acts that any species does.  Suddenly this wasn’t a man and woman expressing their love physically.  It felt crass and I stopped reading at that moment.  I was completely out of their world and into a cringe moment of my own.

Please, don’t get me wrong here – there is no “fault” yet there is “reaction” that is personal to me.  I’m certain that as readers we all have words that are like fingernails on a blackboard to us… they simply jar and make us shudder or take us out of the experience of the story.

So I put that book aside and will return to it in a day or so.  It’s a very entertaining story and I don’t want to miss the conclusion of it – but not yet.  I need to get that hero and heroine back into a loving relationship in my mind and not the situation that one word put them into in my mind.  Silly?  Perhaps.  But it’s also an honest human reaction that I needed to express.  Truthfully, I wondered if there are other readers who react to certain words enough that they are taken out of the story because of them.

There is no right or wrong to this post.  It’s an opinion, a thinking out loud moment of mine.  The truth is words do have power – and for each of us, that word is different.

Title:  Cherished
Series:  True Mated #5
Author:  Olivia Arran
Published:  February 17, 2016
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

I’m the pack fixer…and I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty.
Wolf shifter Oliver Colstone was handpicked to be the pack fixer because of his specialist training, his lack of emotions, and his willingness to do whatever is needed to get a job done. Got a problem? He’s your man. But one look at his true mate and Oliver thinks he might be the one in trouble this time…

I’m a survivor – but can I survive being the focus of Oliver’s attention?
Life hasn’t been a barrel of laughs for curvy Ana Arlington, but she hasn’t given up. Nope. She’s got her son to think about and a future to plan. First things first, she has to find a way to escape her captors. She doesn’t need a smoking hot black-ops kind of guy swooping in and rescuing her. Okay, maybe she does…but does he have to look so darn irresistible doing it?

As destiny draws human and shifter together, will Oliver be able to convince Ana to give up her prejudices and take a chance on fate…or will she forever close her heart to true love?

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Title:  Redeemed
Series:  True Mates #4
Author:  Olivia Arran
Published:  January 27, 2016
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Every inch of him calls to me, thrilling me…

All wolf shifter Macey Colstone needs to do is find a certain coyote shifter who’s hiding from his past and deliver him back to the pack. As a lieutenant in the Colstone Pack she’s able to take care of herself—she doesn’t need a smoldering hot, white-haired, ice-god of a coyote getting all territorial. Especially when she doesn’t know him. And certainly can’t trust him…even though he makes her wolf sit up and howl with need.

To be with her, I have to accept who I really am…

Coyote shifter Jason Sunclaw has spent the last twenty years living as a human. He believes he’s truly happy. He has a successful career, a decent apartment, and money in the bank. He definitely doesn’t need a she-wolf crashing into his life and turning everything upside down, reminding him of the animal side he keeps hidden from the world. But her scent changes everything. He knows straight away, without a doubt, that she is the one for him. And he’d do anything to claim her.

But the path ahead is twisted with lies and deceit—can Macey and Jason work together to discover the real truth…and what will it cost them if they do?

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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I just put down a book that I have no intention of reviewing.  It annoyed the crap outta me with every imaginable cliche possible about sexy shifter stories.

Is it really too much to ask that there be a somewhat believable plot along with the 50 shades of shifter sex?  Really?  Please, even?

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I love a hot, sexy romance as much as the next lady – but when there is not even the whisper of a plot – why bother?

There are times it seems that people take a formula of:  curvy lonely woman + hot, sexy shifter male, mix in tons of sex and you’ll have a best seller.  Plot?  Oh don’t worry about that detail, just make sure the sex is smokin’ and the lady gets at least three orgasms per session.

*Eye Roll*

Yes, I am definitely ranting here – but, my blog, my rants are approved.    I honestly don’t care if it’s contemporary, paranormal, historical, suspense,  mystery or horror — if you cannot fit a plot around the sex it’s a worthless read to me.  And my time is just as precious as the cash I plopped down for this piece of crap story.. oh wait, sex scenes threaded together with some dialogue.

So, I tried a new author.  And this time it didn’t work out so well for me.  I won’t dignify this book with a review – and I certainly will never again pick up one of this author’s books.

And I am equally certain that there are readers out there that completely enjoy this type of story.  None of us are alike, but this particular reader wants a plot, characters I actually care about what happens to them along with some hot and heavy sex scenes.  I don’t think that’s too much to ask for… but maybe I’m wrong.

If you follow blogs through any reader I’m sure you’ve seen BlogLovin’ – and I just signed up Shifter Haven so if you like you can easily follow my posts about Shifter Romance so easily.  🙂

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