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Shifters and Sweets #1

Unicorns and Honey Cakes

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Everything is coming up roses. Way too many roses.

Gale has a problem. A really thorny problem.

He can’t touch anything made of wood without it bursting into bloom… which is inconvenient, to say the least. Clearly, his unicorn is cranky about something – Gale just wishes he knew what.

In the meantime, being cursed with the world’s most annoying green thumb is making it pretty much impossible to continue working as a sous chef. Maybe a relaxing trip into the mountains will be enough to soothe his sullen unicorn.

After years of hard work, Sylvie’s dream has finally come true: she’s opened her own bakery in her sleepy little hometown, and her signature dishes are selling like… well, hotcakes. That is, until the flashy new bakery down the road opens up – and they’re not only stealing her customers, but her recipes as well.

When the hottest guy she’s ever seen walks through her door, Sylvie knows there’s something special about him… but a gorgeous guy coming in to buy her cakes is hardly going help her save her business. Right?

Unicorns and Honey Cakes is a short and sweet shifter romance, full of warmth, humor and delicious baked goods. One-click now for a cute, quirky read with a guaranteed HEA!

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2021

684 people are currently reading
274 people want to read

About the author

Zoe Chant

327 books1,509 followers
Zoe Chant loves writing paranormal romance. Over a cup of tea (or something stronger) she whips up sexy tales of hunky heroes and adventurous heroines to tantalize and satisfy her readers. Sizzling hot romance, no cliffhangers!

While series should ideally be read in order, all of Zoe’s books are standalones and can be read in any order. This includes books within series.

To get a free book for subscribing to her mailing list, please follow this link: https://www.zoechant.com/join-my-mail...

Zoe's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/32545...


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5 stars
1,263 (54%)
4 stars
596 (25%)
3 stars
351 (15%)
2 stars
81 (3%)
1 star
19 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
Profile Image for Darcy.
14.4k reviews543 followers
May 21, 2023
This one is cute. I loved how Gale was fighting with his unicorn at the start and everything he touched started to bloom. It did make things a bit hard for him though. Gale's getting away seemed like a great plan and brought him to where he found his mate and he could help her save her bakery. I was surprised and not with what they found out. Glad that Gale was able to play hardball and get the problem taken care of and that he and Sylvie could live their HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Beth.
844 reviews75 followers
June 5, 2024
Cute.
Introduced a new non magical shifter type for me. Hope it's not his entire family tho
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kade Gulluscio.
975 reviews64 followers
November 28, 2022
I apparently am on an "unicorn" shifter spree with books, haha.
Unicorns & Honey Cakes is a novella-length book about MC Gale [ a chef ] who has a big of a "green thumb" problem. Anything made of wood that he touches sprouts into bloom. Interesting problem, right? We also meet FMC Sylvie whom is a baker and has just opened her own shop.

When gale walks into her bakery, it's love at first sight for her pretty much.
This book has humor, romance, a little spice.. but overall, it's a cute, refreshing read.
Profile Image for Kellcifer.
477 reviews15 followers
December 18, 2021
1.5 Stars.

What did I just read? Even by the weird-book-crack why-do-I-enjoy-this standards of the Zoe Chant shifter books, this was…awful. Just awful. I feel like it *could* have been an okay story, but it was weird and jumped around a lot and was weirdly…rated G. It glossed over a lot.
1,603 reviews12 followers
November 2, 2021
This is a cute shifter romance novella, in the Shifter Bites series. It was very short, so there wasn't time for as much character development as I normally like. It also contains instalove, which is typical in shifter romances. It gets 3 stars from me.

I liked both Gale and Sylvie. I did think, though, that she would have been a little more shocked than she was when Gale first showed her what he could do, and that he was a unicorn shifter.

I enjoyed the part where Gale's unicorn was upset with him, but wouldn't tell him why. It was a cute shifter take on the "well, if you don't know what you did, then I'm not going to tell you" trope. I thought that was very creative.

I liked that Gale helped Sylvie resolve her problem with her stolen bakery recipes, and that this story did not contain violence. Some shifter stories contain quite a bit of violence, so I appreciated that this one did not.

My rating system is below.
1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.
2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws.
3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating.
4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.
5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.
Profile Image for V.P. Nightshade.
Author 17 books56 followers
January 18, 2023
Cute

So, I have never read a unicorn shifter book before this one. It was cute and well-written, but the plot was very predictable and I knew immediately what and how was stealing Sylvie's recipes, also there just wasn't enough steam for me, the sex was totally fade to black or wholly off page. So, while the story was cute, I can only recommend it if you like your shifter stories totally clean, sweet but without any spicy moments or any type of real tension even to the point of letting the bad guy off without any type of real punishment. Without the things that normally come in this genre, Gale and Sylvie, while a perfectly nice couple, are not a memorable couple.
Profile Image for Teresa .
1,906 reviews3 followers
September 25, 2022
Great for young minds no sex.

This says book one but I don't know if there is more or will be more? But really There was only four characters in it plus evil johnson.it's also a short read some people like that if you can't put a book down until you read it then good thing for short reads.I like them sometimes because you find there is no filler to make the book longer gets to the point better.

This book is a shifter meets his mate.she has a mystery he needs to help her solve with a HEA ending like all this authors books.

What I liked is it's very PG if you want to get a book for a young mind then this is good.There is no sex on pages and pages, it's hinted and off to bed they go then it's next day, making the story more about love and true mates then just lust and sex.

The reason for only three stars is it's a small town could of had interesting characters but all we got was her assistant in the bakery and the lady who makes chilli not dogs and of course are two main leads.would of like more chatter maybe even family or friends calling even if it's on the phone.
But a fun read worth reading (I read alot)
Profile Image for CarolKat.
2,280 reviews29 followers
January 17, 2023
Gale MacEwan's unicorn has become extremely ornery. If Gale touches anything natural flowers grow, lots of flowers.

He's decided to go to the mountains to spend some time with nature all around. Hoping this would calm his unicorn. Right now, he's hungry and looking for a place to eat that won't out his out-of-control gift of growth.

The one he finds, serves him the best chili dog and fries he's had in a long time and for some reason the woman who served him seems to know he's a chef. Not questioning it, he also makes note of her recommendation to check out Sylvie's Sweets and Bakery and not the 'other' bakery.

Sylvie Taylor has a problem. The new bakery in town Johnson's Pies and Bakery seems to get her newly created recipes before she can launch them. No one seems to know anything about the owner and all the workers are out of towners, easy to spot in a small town like Girdwood Springs.

Sylvie needs to figure out how they are getting the jump on her ideas. She's sure it isn't Emily, her apprentice, she's been here from the start.

Gale does stop at Sylvie's bakery and is pleasantly surprised in more ways than one.

With his unicorn's declaration that Sylvie is his mate, Gale touches the wooden fork, and it starts to bloom. Fortunately, under the menu where it wouldn't be seen.

He gets it together as they discuss her treats and the use of unusual spices to create them. When she acknowledges she has a 'black' thumb, he confesses to be a gardener of sorts, having much luck creating gardens where nothing would previously thrive.

Now he has an in, but he still has to court her and tell her not only about his unicorn but also that she's his mate.

Let's not forget the mystery of the new bakery getting her recipes needs to be solved as well.

This is a fun read, with laughter and a unique solution.
Profile Image for greeneyes9999.
414 reviews3 followers
November 13, 2021
Awesome short story! Another hit out of the park! No spoilers!

With short stories I don’t like to give much away for the simple reason that it will give too much away! I love this author’s way of love without the smut. You will adore Gale & Sylvie’s story. I’ve always disliked short stories because they always felt rushed, lacking and not worth my time if a book didn’t hit over 250 or more pages! I’m very proud to say that this author has managed to perfect a short story plus keep you so grabbed that you never stop reading it until you are on the last page! Never a cliffhanger and a joy if the stories are in the same place so you get to see previous favorite characters again even in pop up Cameo spots! I still want more of the story and characters but you aren’t left hanging and I adore everyone I’ve read so far! The characters become life like and feel like a long lost friend every time you read them. Yes they are all worth a multiple read! Perfect vacation books or cool winter night books! You can finish one a day which is awesome! So I highly suggest all of this Author’s books even the Shifter Bites short stories! You will enjoy them and won’t realize that you’ve been grabbed and can’t put the book down till it’s finished! Best compliment I can give an author! I’m excited to read more Shifter Bites! Plus her other amazing series! Enjoy!
Profile Image for Abbella DiNoto.
404 reviews12 followers
November 3, 2021
a sweet cute PG story for all ages

No steam meaning it’s child friendly, hence the 4 stars, HEA, NO CLIFFHANGER STAND-ALONE. I was disappointed there was no SEXY fire. It however was REALLY GOOD READ. Short and sweet.
Unicorn shifters GALE’s. Magic has gone haywire from his breakneck pace work hard/sleep, work hard/sleep nonstop life as a top Sous Chef in the big city, his unicorn has had it! Gale heads off to a quiet mountain town for some forced nature and R&R. Meets his fated mate in, Sylvie who runs a Pastry Bakery shop. She has the best sweets in town or ugh well, she did …up until Johnson’s pie & bakery opened up. It wouldn’t be so bad to have competition but then they SOMEHOW START STEALING HER RECIPES! How are they doing it? But if she doesn’t get to the bottom of it. Her dream, her life’s joy is gonna die a painful death in bankruptcy. Can Gale get control of his unicorn to help Sylvie & her bakery? HEA no triggers, sweet romance, intrigue, a thief, a mystery to solve .. some kissing and magic. Great story.. no steam still a good story. Great characters great plot.
1,284 reviews10 followers
November 1, 2021
Cute little shifter romance

But not my favorite of these Shifter Bites. Gale is a shifter whose unicorn is out of control making anything plant based bloom and grow. Sylvie owns a cute bakery but is struggling with a competitor who seems to have eyes in her shop and steals her newly created recipes. Gale walks in and is immediately smitten by Sylvie AND her baked goods. He tries to help her figure out how her competition is stealing her recipes. The mystery was a bit more simple, but this is a short story. I liked both the main characters, but was less pleased with the character development of the bad guy.

The pace is fast and the tone is hopeful with a character oriented storyline that has some problems and no detailed sexy scenes. The characters are engaging. If you want a short and sweet shifter romance, then you will likely enjoy this. Try it and see what you think! Enjoy!
62 reviews
October 29, 2021
Zoe has done it again!

Sylvie's bakery was doing great 😃 until the bakery opened down the street! 😦Suddenly her business was down, and when she walked by the other bakery she couldn't believe it! 😮 They were selling HER HONEY CAKE!!! 😠 How did they get her recipe??? 😲
Gale's Unicorn was driving him crazy!! If he stepped on dirt, flowers 🌺 & vines 🍃 suddenly covered the bare ground. Anything wooden he touched burst out in bloom! 🌺🌹🌼
Could the instant attraction they had help them find the answers??

As usual Zoe Chant does her thing, bringing characters to life and weaving a plot that holds you hostage to the end! A must read for everyone. If you aren't already a Zoe Chant groupie, you will be! 😉
Profile Image for Gwen S..
836 reviews15 followers
November 8, 2021
Gale and Sylvie's Dessert Mystery Love! 4.23***** Spoiler Alert!

Gale, an overworked sous chef/ blooming unicorn shifter relaxed in Griswold when he was directed to Sylvie's Sweets and Bakery. There he met his mate and solved her competitor's theft of her desserts recipes. Gale found Odilon to be a fly-shifter who was not trying to succeed in the food world. Sylvie was able to release her honey cakes and got the AubreyZ review. Together Gale opened his nursery with his unicorn green thumb and Sylvie continued to grow her bakery without the stress caused by Odilon. Yes HEA for them both!

A cute novella with honesty is the best policy as a theme. A quick read!

11/07/21-11/07/21 COVID-19 DST Ended!
Profile Image for PepperP0t .
5,108 reviews86 followers
April 1, 2023
Chef Gale McEwan’s on vacation hoping to solve the problem with his unicorn, who’s taking advantage of wood and dirt patches Gale touches, by making them sprout flowers, branches and leaves. Looking for a place for lunch that didn’t have dirt or wood ushering you into it, Gale found a diner with concrete, metal and great food, fitting his needs perfectly.

Expecting a famous mystery food critic, the small eateries at the base of the mountain are hyper-alert. Mistaking Gale for the critic the diner owner can’t wait to tell her friend, baker Sylvie Taylor about him. Sylvie’s listening but has her own problems, she’s baffled how her competition offers her unique recipes before she can! But that issue goes to the back of her mind when Gale walks through the door.
Rating: 3.75stars
196 reviews
March 5, 2024
sweet for the shifter

In a small mountain town, sits a little sweet shop that I would love to be able to visit. She makes exceptional bakery items, but they are ignored because of the large bakery shop that is nowhere close to what she can produce.. however it seems that whatever she has in mind of making the other Shop seems to do it first. She is perplexed and uncertain of what to do until she meets Gale who is a shifter, and totally in love with her baked goods as well as her. Together, they find a way to catch the person, stealing her ideas and when they do, they are both surprised at his reason for doing it. well worth reading and a delightful and short fun story
Profile Image for Chrissy.
375 reviews12 followers
January 6, 2025
Short & Sweet

💖 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📚 Genre: Paranormal cozy romance

Features:
🦄 An unicorn shifter chef with a slight curse. 

🧁 An owner of a small bakery set in a mountainside town in autumn. 

🦄 Meet/cute & love at first sight. Closed door, no spice. 

🧁 A rival corporate bakery is somehow stealing the herorine's recipes and customers. 

🦄 Feels like a perfectly cozy, Hallmark movie. 

 Overall, this was my first shifter cozy romance and I loved it. This book felt like a Hallmark movie with the mountainside setting and the sweet romance. It's closed door, no spice and incredibly cozy. The small mystery was fun and easy to solve. Definitely going to read the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Deirdre Murphy.
Author 8 books4 followers
November 14, 2021
A Sweet Romance Indeed

Poor Sylvia had her dream come true when she opened a bake shop in her grandma’s home town. Things were going so well until a rival bakery opened down the street, somehow serving each of her new recipes just before she planned to debut them.

Then one of her neighbors called to tell her a renowned mystery food reviewer was on the way to her shop, and not was he handsome! Eula was wrong about the reviewer’s identity, but that was Sylvie’s lucky day, for totally different reasons.

I really enjoyed the story, even if it tempted me to eat more dessert than I should have!
80 reviews1 follower
October 26, 2021
Good eats

Gale Mac Ewan is having trouble with his ability to make things grow. He is a unicorn shifter with the ability to make things from nature grow. He has come to a small town to try to satisfy his unicorn.
Sylvia owns a bakery in the small town. Her recipes keep showing up in the other bakery in town.
How in the world are her recipes ending up being stolen? Who is the person responsible? Will Gale be able to help Sylvia solve the mystery? I truly enjoyed reading this cute story about mystery and romance. Come read it for yourself.
Profile Image for Mindy.
535 reviews12 followers
April 15, 2023
This is a very cute novella about a unicorn named Gale helping a baker named Sylvie.

Of course they're fated mates - that's just what Zoe Chant does. I really like this one because it involves Sylvie's recipes being stolen by a new competitor in the area. The truth of the matter is pretty easy to see early on, but it was a wonderful and easy read.

I do love storylines involving romance and baked goods (in books and in movies), so this one was just a winner for me. I hope Zoe does a bind-up of the Shifters and Sweets novellas! I would love to physically own these.
Profile Image for Holly Fincher.
189 reviews2 followers
December 4, 2023
A Unicorn and his Mate...

Sylvie is the owner and chef in her own bakery. But for several weeks someone has been stealing the pastries she has created. Gale is a unicorn shifter and in town for a vacation. He goes to Sylvie's alert and knows he has met his mate. Gale and Sylvie decided to investigate who had stolen her recipes and how. It ends up being another shifter. Gale gets him to shut down his bakery and leave town. So Sylvie's bakery is back to being the best one in town. Gale opens up a shop for plants and is also a big success.
197 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2024
Sylvie and Gale

This book is a sweet story about a unicorn shifter finding his mate , who is a wonderful baker, who owns her own bakery. However her bakery is in trouble. A new bakery down the street is somehow steeling her recipes before she presents them to the public in her bakery. Together Gale and Sylvie have to find out how the other bakery is getting Sylvie as recipes before she looses her business. Do they find out how the other bakery is steeling Sylvie as recipes and her customers, or does Sylvie loose er bakery for good?
Profile Image for Jackie.
2,554 reviews
May 29, 2024
DNF - quit at 52%
This was overly simplistic, as well as insta-love. Definitely a novella, which I didn’t realize it was one, as I usually avoid novellas as they tend to have simplistic plots, no character development, & skimpy world building. The feeling generated reading this was very immature with a predictable plot. I put it down cause it was boring, & couldn’t bring myself to pick it back up.

At my age (62), life is way too short & my time is too important to force myself to read a book I'm not enjoying, especially when there are so many other books out there waiting to be read.
Profile Image for Lori.
804 reviews1 follower
October 29, 2021
Sweet as honey!

(Suggestion: Don't read it you're hungry!). Like a Zoe Chant book should, it'll make you smile, and it'll make you want to believe in meeting that perfect someone who actually is perfect for you and is magical as a bonus! Very cute story, good characters that I liked, and a bad guy that gives me the heebie jeebies, it's nicely put together into a quick read that just might leave you smiling. Enjoy!
✋✋🐺🐺
111 reviews1 follower
November 16, 2021
Hungry for Honey Cakes?

What a delightful novella! This is a sweet treat but might make you ravenous as you read it. I can only hope that I will have a chance to drop into Sylvie’s Sweet Shop again soon. The heroine is smart and gutsy, evidenced by the fact that she is willing to accept help when she runs afoul of an unscrupulous shifter. Her hunky hero comes to the rescue before she even knows about shifters.

More, please.
9 reviews
December 31, 2021
Shifter bites

What a wonderful idea! Shifter stories that are short enough to read on your lunch break! The best part is that it was a great story! I've just started reading Zoe Chant and this is the tenth or eleventh book of hers that I have read this week. I love her characters, I love her shifters, and so far I have loved every one of her stories that I have read. On to the next one.
Profile Image for Kristi.
Author 1 book19 followers
July 15, 2022
Clean read

I’m so glad to have a clean Zoe Chant book to recommend to my friends who aren’t a fan of my more spicy romance recommendations. I have always loves the character development, setting description, and relationship growth in her books. I’m so glad to have this little gem to recommend. It’s not too long, but still has the feel of a well written Zoe Chant book. I look forward to reading more.
Profile Image for Lori.
359 reviews3 followers
January 21, 2023
Thoroughly Enjoyable!

I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, but if they are as well written as this one, I can become one.
The characters are completely engaging, the town picturesque and I fell in love with the bakery!
The answer to the mystery I thought I had solved early, but I was only half right.
Don't worry; no spoilers.
If you like sweet, small town romance with a shifter twist, you are bound to enjoy: "Unicorns and Honey Cakes!"
Profile Image for Sydney S.
1,230 reviews67 followers
August 30, 2025
This is the second cozy shifter romance I’ve read by Zoe Chant. I save them for when I really need something that doesn’t require much of my brain, just warmth and silliness.

There’s nothing particularly special about this book, but it’s what I wanted at the time. It’s the same formula as the other Zoe Chant book I read, The Griffin’s Mate.

It’s also kind of like Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross, but with baking and unicorns and less plot.
Profile Image for Deborah.
274 reviews
September 24, 2025
No, that’s definitely a unicorn. And it’s definitely standing in my back garden.

A nice shifter short story, which is why the romance seemed so rushed. But with fated mates, that's pretty standard. All closed door spice in this one, curious to see if that's standard for her longer books.

I'd be interested to get to know Eula better, matchmaker extraordinaire 🤣

“Yeah – better than my plan, which was ‘stew angrily about it for weeks and feel powerless.’”
1,553 reviews4 followers
October 26, 2021
Cute story

Well this was a new story with a new shifter. Cracked me up, fly paper who knee. Too funny! Was glad Gail found his calling with the plants. He can always use his chef skills at home. Hopefully his unicorn will be happier. Story was to short as always. I hate for them to end. It was a cute short story to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews

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