If the moose festival doesn't blow up Maggie's life, the hot motorcycle-riding cheerleader just might ...
Big, shy, and clumsy, Maggie "Moose" McKenna has been dogged by her hated nickname ever since childhood. Worse, she lives in the small Alaska town of Moose Point, which never lets her forget it. From the annual Moose Madness Festival to the moose bumper stickers to the giant sign for the Moose Point Pub where she works, this town loves its moose.
Worst of all? Maggie really is a moose. A moose shifter, to be specific. It's just that no one knows. No one can ever know.
Except one person ...
Wolf shifter Fiona Barton was one of the mean girls in high school ... and Maggie's desperate crush. Years after shaking the dust of Moose Point off her heels, she's back in town for a pack event and runs headlong into Maggie—and this time she recognizes what she didn't before: the tall girl with the shy, beautiful smile is her fated mate.
Fiona is openly out; Maggie isn't. But Fi has a lot to make up for, and Maggie has a lot of soul-searching to do before a wolf and a moose can ride off into the sunset together.
A hilarious and heartwarming enemies-to-lovers lesbian romcom, with a guaranteed HEA!
Mar Delaney is a lesbian romance pen name for Layla Lawlor, who also writes fantasy and science fiction under her own name, straight paranormal romance as Lauren Esker, and contemporary romance as Liz Harman (co-written with her sister). She sometimes worries that she may be juggling too many pen names, but everyone needs a hobby collecting something. She lives on the highway in Alaska, north of Fairbanks, enjoying nearly 24-hour sunshine in the summer and -40F darkness in the winter. (For certain values of enjoying.) She is also an artist and cartoonist who formerly ran the local newspaper’s layout department and is now a full-time writer.
Or: a young woman grew up in a particular small town in Alaska. At a relatively young age, 12 or 14 or somewhere in that age range, she sprouted up. Taller than any other girl her age. Taller than any boy her age. Taller, actually, than the teachers. We are not talking Jolly Green Giant here, she just sprouted up to about 5 feet 11 inches. But still, that huge for a girl of about 12. The people around her never let her forget her size, the size of a lumbering clumsy moose in a crowd of graceful gazelles (no actual gazelles are in this story). At, I believe 24 when the story opened, she's still stumbling around, bumping into things, not fully in control of her tall body. And that Moose nickname stuck. Everyone calls her Moose. She lives in Moose Point Alaska, and the Moose festival is about to start when the story opens, so, no hiding from Moose.
While working in a shop, a woman Moose used to know wanders in, a local who moved away. One look at each other and they both feel a jolt. Other woman flees store. Other woman being Fiona Barton. Of the Barton werewolf clan. That specific encounter is seen from both Moose (Maggie) and Fiona's eyes, as both have POV's.
I mention Maggie had been bullied a lot as a youngster? Yes, no? I forget now. She was bullied a lot as a youngster. Fiona was part of the bullying team. So, naturally, awkward.
Story isn't long enough to pull things out too far, so: a coupling occurs. Likable story.
Actually was going to start this review off in a different manner. Was going to mention that I read on Twitter last night a request for recommendations (or possibly just a question about the subject) involving butch ice queens. Whereupon it was mentioned that there was a somewhat similar "beast" trope - taming the beast. The beast being a grumpy butch. Which, naturally, isn't exactly the same thing as an ice queen. All of that to mention: Moose shifter would probably make a great ice queen and/or beast (more beast than ice queen - ice queen frosty on the surface, hiding buried depths of emotion; beast more likely to be gruff and grumpy on surface, hiding . . . what, a soft gentle giant? Soft gentle giant not same as ball of emotions; regardless, Moose are notoriously grumpy, half-angry creatures so, um .. . .something something). Right should have gone with not mentioning this paragraph here.
3 stars Well, this was kinda ridiculous, didn't really had much backstory, frequently didn't make sense to me, but damn was I entertained. It was short and fun
Kindle Unlimited. Another fun hour-long shifter wlw romance between two former highschool nemesis' in a small town. One a wolf shifter the other a moose shifter!
A sweet and original YA story about shapeshifters and love between members of two not-so-friendly families. It has a strong resemblance to Shakespeare's famous couple. I enjoyed reading this very much. Fantasy elements do not dominate here. They simply give off a magical glow.
When Amazon recommended this book to me, I looked at the cover and thought, "Is that a book about MOOSE shifters??? I need to read that." This was a fun, cute short story. I really liked the moment Fiona realized how Maggie must think people see her, thought that was well done.
A fun but very short story. It kind of ended in the middle of the story and left a lot of questions open. The rest of the story was good and I enjoyed the characters.
SAPPHIC BOOK BINGO: non-human characters, favorite trope, butch character, out of your comfort zone, coming-out story, bet/dare (possibly other categories)
I liked that there was a moose-shifter character because I don't recall ever reading about one before, but there were some atypical shifter behaviors that seemed questionable with the animals. (Would an herbivore animal eat meat as a human?) It didn't seem to be too short, and it flowed well with the plot. I've read a lot of shifter stories, but this didn't seem on par with them.
It was a sweet, drama free shifter story and I loved it, more than I thought I would. Unfortunately, given the length of it, we only get to see how the MC connect and come along together, but it was good enough as is.
Actually no, being greedy, I wish it had an extended version because I'd love to see their shifter-world in more detail and ofc, families interacting and these two learning more about each other as time passes.
It's my first time reading Mar Delaney's, the writing was fluid and very easy going and I'll definitely check this author's other works.
Ridiculous, but I wanted more chapters! This story is so cute and the writer had me laughing out loud with the antics of the moose. Some of the lines alone were hysterical. Don't even get me started with the Moose Queen scene. I had tears in my eyes I giggled so hard. It's the fastest read I've ever read and you are gonna enjoy every page flip. Who doesn't love a moose changer fic? First I've ever read and it's still hilarious to me.
This was a great read and very sweet. I love how Mar dealt with the past bully/victim relationship. I read this as a palate cleanse from a series that was really long and kinda heavy. I’m happy I found this author and I look forward to reading more books by them. Great job author!!
This was short and easy reading. Looking forward to their next adventure. It reads like the beginning of an awesome paranormal series. Keep up the Great Writing. Off to my next Adventure!
To be honest, when I first read the blurb I thought this book sounded a little silly. But something made me come back and pick it up and I’m so glad I did. This story is so cute, and sweet , and funny that I thoroughly enjoyed. I’d love full novel version.
I really enjoy reading shifter stories. This was different for me, because one of the main characters was a moose-shifter. Maggie and Fiona's story was very sweet.
this was super cute and fun! a short and sweet ff shifter romance with very little angst. I do wish that we got to know the characters more and that there was more development as individuals and with their romance, but overall as a short story it was entertaining!
What a great, sweet read. Loved the story and the writing. The author painted wonderful characters and towards the end I was laughing so hard. The Moose Queen rocks! It was a perfect short story.
An awkward moose, a wolf grown into her own, neither realizing they were meant for each other from the beginning. But can they get over their shared past traumas or will they let that dictate what they want?
A short sweet story between a moose shifter and a wolf shifter with memories from high school. It would have been nice to read how it works out when they leave town for Portland.
This is such a cute short story with some humor mixed in. This is not spicy and it doesn't need to be its just a quick read for fated Mates not romance.