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Shifting
Are they men or cats? They're both! In Shifting Volume I, the shapeshifters are all about fur and claws, teeth and purrs. These are not domesticated house cats. They're wild animals thinly veiled in a human's skin. In Outcasts, human Anneal is banished from his home, sent away by an uncaring father, and lost in the mountains as the snows are about to fall. He finds what he thinks is an empty cave, but it turns out to be the den of a very special mountain lion. Ferris isn't used to being around men, for all that he can assume a man's skin. He's suspicious of Anneal to begin with, but they learn to share their space, and eventually, their love. Can they survive when Anneal decides he must confront his past? In The Beast Within, Sean Michael gives us Rex and Lee, two members of a pride of werecats who face danger from those they hold most dear. Lee is the alpha of his pride, and he takes Rex in, making him his lover and right hand. When family turns against them, Lee is forced to make a hard choice, and he pushes Rex to make some hard decisions, too. Can they find their place in the pride when the whole world around them changes? Fulfill your inner beast. Read Shifting today!
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2003
74 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 17, 2007
"Shifting I", edited by Rob Knight is actually a PWP in paper format. It contains two short novellas: "Outcasts" by Sean Michael and Julia Talbot and "The Beast Within" by Sean Michael. Both focus on werecats, that's where the shifting in the title comes from. And since it's all about sex sex SEX in its pure form - every chapter and sub-chapter is about sex - you have to count on there being some bestiality hints, so beware.
"Outcasts" is a fantasy novella set in a really vague world and the main heroes are the human Anneal and the werecat Feris. Anneal was outcast from his home town for being caught with a man in his bed. His bride committed suicide and he was scarred and tattooed and chased out of town. His father made Anneal promise to return every year for his birthday though. The story itself begins, when the winter comes. Anneal seeks shelter in a cave that's already occupied by Feris, the cat, and even though Feris is not really happy about having a human there in his territory, he doesn't want to chase this silly human out into the snow...
And that's actually the whole plot. The rest is a PWP where Feris and Anneal discover each other and the pleasures of sex in every possible form. The sex is undoubtedly hot but I wouldn't have minded a little more plot there too. Though I really adored the way the cat's thoughts were presented. Feris' thoughts went something like: "Sit in man's lap. Purr. Good. Man good. Man his. Good." It was rather interesting and novel.
The second novella, "The Beast Within" is a bit more plotty. It's set in the present time in two non-existent towns. Rex runs away from his Pride because the Alpha wanted to kill him and comes across Lee, the Alpha of another Pride. They become Mates. There is some scuffle with Rex's previous Pride and Rex has to assume Lee's position as the Alpha to protect his new Pride which takes its toll on the Mates.
As I said, this one has more plot but it's still all about sex. It was interesting though to read about how their relationship changed when Lee lost his position as the Alpha, how he had to assume the submissive part in their lovemaking now because the Beast within them demanded it, how Lee was unused and a bit scared to be the bottom and how it was so unusual for him, being older than his "kit" as he called Rex. But I adored some of the funny parts. Like Rex chasing a mouse in their home or Lee feeling the urge to pounce on a ball of bright red yarn. That was incredibly cute!
So, if you look for Pulitzer-price level of literature, this one is definitely not for you. But if you want to read some cute, PWP, sexy book, go and buy. Or if you are not sure about it, try the ebooks - Sean Michael and Julia Talbot are rather prolific ebook authors and these novellas have their origin in ebooks too! Four stars out of five.
"Outcasts" is a fantasy novella set in a really vague world and the main heroes are the human Anneal and the werecat Feris. Anneal was outcast from his home town for being caught with a man in his bed. His bride committed suicide and he was scarred and tattooed and chased out of town. His father made Anneal promise to return every year for his birthday though. The story itself begins, when the winter comes. Anneal seeks shelter in a cave that's already occupied by Feris, the cat, and even though Feris is not really happy about having a human there in his territory, he doesn't want to chase this silly human out into the snow...
And that's actually the whole plot. The rest is a PWP where Feris and Anneal discover each other and the pleasures of sex in every possible form. The sex is undoubtedly hot but I wouldn't have minded a little more plot there too. Though I really adored the way the cat's thoughts were presented. Feris' thoughts went something like: "Sit in man's lap. Purr. Good. Man good. Man his. Good." It was rather interesting and novel.
The second novella, "The Beast Within" is a bit more plotty. It's set in the present time in two non-existent towns. Rex runs away from his Pride because the Alpha wanted to kill him and comes across Lee, the Alpha of another Pride. They become Mates. There is some scuffle with Rex's previous Pride and Rex has to assume Lee's position as the Alpha to protect his new Pride which takes its toll on the Mates.
As I said, this one has more plot but it's still all about sex. It was interesting though to read about how their relationship changed when Lee lost his position as the Alpha, how he had to assume the submissive part in their lovemaking now because the Beast within them demanded it, how Lee was unused and a bit scared to be the bottom and how it was so unusual for him, being older than his "kit" as he called Rex. But I adored some of the funny parts. Like Rex chasing a mouse in their home or Lee feeling the urge to pounce on a ball of bright red yarn. That was incredibly cute!
So, if you look for Pulitzer-price level of literature, this one is definitely not for you. But if you want to read some cute, PWP, sexy book, go and buy. Or if you are not sure about it, try the ebooks - Sean Michael and Julia Talbot are rather prolific ebook authors and these novellas have their origin in ebooks too! Four stars out of five.
January 12, 2010
I was expecting a collection of short stories, but got novellas in this early Torquere release. Some of the stories are rather risque by current standards, so if you don't like your shapeshifters playing with their humans when they are not human themselves then do avoid this one.
The stories themselves were the usual mixture of good and bad that you get with any anthology - reader's preference will determine which is which. My over all impression is of gratuitous, repetitive sex scenes, perhaps added to increase the word count, although one of the worst offenders did have me crying during a sex-scene-free section.
It has taken me a few days to finish this book. I took long breaks between the stories. And if it hadn't been listed on here I might not have finished it yet. Which would be a shame because the last story was the best, in my opinion.
One general ebook gripe: why do the things you want to have an index not even have a contents page? And yet some novels have a linked index to every chapter? At nearly a thousand pages it was difficult to find the start of the next story whenever I came back to it - fortunately I didn't have to shut down the computer while reading any of them! I will have to pay more attention and see if the index thing is a publisher variation.
The stories themselves were the usual mixture of good and bad that you get with any anthology - reader's preference will determine which is which. My over all impression is of gratuitous, repetitive sex scenes, perhaps added to increase the word count, although one of the worst offenders did have me crying during a sex-scene-free section.
It has taken me a few days to finish this book. I took long breaks between the stories. And if it hadn't been listed on here I might not have finished it yet. Which would be a shame because the last story was the best, in my opinion.
One general ebook gripe: why do the things you want to have an index not even have a contents page? And yet some novels have a linked index to every chapter? At nearly a thousand pages it was difficult to find the start of the next story whenever I came back to it - fortunately I didn't have to shut down the computer while reading any of them! I will have to pay more attention and see if the index thing is a publisher variation.
November 26, 2015
Практически ПВП. Слишком много секса, причем что-то происходит - много траха, опять что-то происходит и т.д. В последней книге вообще каннибализм, жрут людей, чтобы перевоплощаться. Первая и третья книги понравились больше всего. Вторая где-то на 3, последняя не понравилась.
April 20, 2013
l loved Outcasts 5 stars. The Beast Within 2 stars. In the Hearts of Tigers 4 stars. Pack Mates 2 stars.
December 15, 2015
This is the worded piece of monosyllabic crab I've ever tried to read. "Mate" "love" "mate" "want". I had to stop reading before I shot myself in the head
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews