Shifting Sands

by Ally Blue, J.L. Langley, Brenda Bryce

Witches, shifters and ancient curses, such is life on the Shifting Sands.

A woman's wrath is bad, but a witch's wrath is hell on earth. No one knows this better than the six men of Shifting Sands Ranch. When the owner's Chinese witch of a wife abandons him and the ranch, she takes one of the cowboys and leaves behind a curse that dooms the remaining inhabitants to a life that is anything but normal. Now, every month when the moon comes full, each man takes on the form of an animal. Witches, shifters and ancient curses, such is life on the Shifting Sands.

Genres: M M Romance, Anthologies, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Romance, Westerns, Fantasy

443 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2010

About the author

Ally Blue penned her first tale at age eight, relating the breathless terror of her little sister’s not-quite-fatal encounter with a bee in the backyard. That was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with storytelling. She now writes gay romance of all flavors, and has recently branched into writing her first love: horror. She continues her neverending quest to scare herself. She is not a hippie or a brain surgeon, no matter what her kids’ friends say.

Reviews

[Smokinhotbooks K.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not every day you read an anthology with all your fav m/m authors, so of course I had to get this one. Usually the anthologies I've read have been separate short stories written by various authors, for Shifting Sands it is one continuous story with each author writing about a different character - kind of like an HBO mini series.

Daniel the owner of Shifting Sands has recently married crazy Yi, a high maintenance Chinese native who ends up cursing him and his ranch hands to turn into animals every full moon. Each one turns into one of the animals from the Chinese Zodiac and are cursed to stay on the ranch until they can find someone who will love them.

My favorites stories are

All the Moon Long by Kimberly Gardner (Cy and Bobby Lee's story)

Lost and Found by JL Langley (Ben's story)

Pulling the Dragon's Tale by Jet Mykles (Daniel's story)

Shifting Sands is one anthology that is actually worth shelling out your dinero for.

[Tara Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished Shifting Sands and liked it just as much as i thought i would. The stories are great, but most of all the idea of the book is terrific. The fact that all the authors have gotten together to tell a single story in an anthology is very creative. And using the Chinese zodiac to tie it all together was a great plot device. If you're familiar with the Chinese zodiac, you'll find yourself guessing which animal comes next. All the stories are sweet and sexy, and each author introduces her own complications to her story (on top of the fact that they all turn into animals once a month!)Grab this book. It's great fun.

[Barbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good anthology. Why? Because, although parts are written my different authors, each story runs into the next so it's one big story. Six hands on the Shifting Sands ranch are cursed to shift into animals of the zodiac every full moon. In order to break the curse they must all find their 'mate'. So, it was 6 men, 6 authors, 6 stories but 1 big story. I would really recommend this if your looking for an anthology!!

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shifting Sands is an anthology, but it is not. It is one story start to finish told with humor, a bit of angst and sensual love scenes.
Six men on a ranch are cursed by the ranch owner's disgruntled wife. On the full moon, they each change into a different animal. Each man has his own story of how he finds love. The stories could be read separately, but hold together nicely as a whole. The men's lives are the focus, the magic and the curse take a back seat to these wonderful characters.

[Samington · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. The villain of this anthology was a straight-up dragon lady, time-traveling from 1940. Her English was broken, I don't think she could make noises besides screeching, and her entire character was spitefully, petty, and vicious, with a dash of mystery to give it that Orientalism flare. Was there romance between shapeshifting cowboys? Yeah, probably, but unfortunately I just couldn't see beyond the baffling-- and rather old-fashioned-- stereotype.

[Cherie Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

GET THIS BOOK!!! Oh-my-gosh good, funny and sexy and jeez, just hurry up and get the feckin' book and start readin' it!!

[Fernanda Parente · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was one of teh funniest book I ever read. Please read it...Highly recommended

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.49 stars

I tried to get into this, and all was going well until the end of the first story. The way it ended was jarring and really took me out of the story. It just ended. No explanation, no nothing. It ended right at an important moment. And yes, it was explained in the next story, but I was reluctant to even start the next one because I just hated so much how the first one ended. I want my stories to each have their own conclusion, even if the next stories run into each other.

My second problem with this anthology was that all the stories were the same. I mean, I've read enough of these stories by these authors to know the general set up and conclusion, but damn. They were all too short to develop any significant difference. Each character is worried the man he's crushing on won't accept him. Then he does. In the end, I just got bored and couldn't be bothered to finish them.

[Lois - Who Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shifters, shifters everywhere and not a werewolf anywhere!

The premise of the book was pretty good and the story unfolded over several short stories. As with all anthologies some stories are better than others, but they were all enjoyable. When a disgruntled soon to be ex leaves the ranch the last thing she does is cast a spell on the ranch hands. Now these poor men shift into the animals on the Chinese Zodiac each month.

The one thing that really bugged me is that, after the first story, each man knew that being in a relationship had consequences and did not relay this important piece of information up front.

[Mai Hyukkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

มันเป็นเรื่องสั้นจบในตอนแหะ เสียดายมาก ถ้ามีการเขียนขยายความที่มาที่ไปมากกว่ารี้น่าจะสนุก

พอเป็นเรื่องสั้น มันเลยไม่มีอะไรน่าสนใจเท่าที่ควร แต่ก็อ่านเพลินๆอ่ะ

[Jaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. The concept was a great idea and I liked that all the stories tie in together instead of just having a common theme. The stories were fun, sweet, and romantic. Some where more predictable than others, but were very entertaining throughout.

I think Snake Charmer by Kimberly Gardner is my favorite. Being first, it had the freshest material.

Cock Of the Walk by Willa Okati was the funnest because of Zan, a character that pairs up with one of the existing ranchers. The only thing about this one is that the animal he turns into was so obviously hinted at nearly non-stop. I preferred the subtly of the other stories, in that regard.

Lost and Found by JL Langly was the one that confused me the most. It is a really good story on it’s own, and within this collection. Aside from the 1st story, where everything was new, this one had the most new direction. The problem I had is that I’m used to her stories being great. Depending on how much control she had in the developing of the overall storyline, and her individual couple, may have a lot to do with why this one is only good, not great. And she telegraphed Shay’s animal, too. Had this story been written by almost anyone else, the obvious animal and the mate concept would have been my only comments. Unfortunately, I was expecting more so I was a little disappointed.

The other stories were nice additions. I enjoyed the ones who overlapped the characters the most. It was great to see them happy and active in the ranch instead of after thoughts. The ending Epilogue wraps up all the stories nicely.

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting way of writing a book, it's not an anthology but not a joint writing project in the traditional sense. Set on a ranch in Texas, the owner Ben married a Chinese woman (he's not entirely sure why he married her since he's gay, as is most of his staff) and after her failed attempts to seduce the other hands, she leaves with a young man cursing them all. What this means is that every full moon, for 24 hours or so, they turn into an animal. They've learned to live with it, and each ranch hands story is written by another author. It seems that when they fall in love, their lover also turns into an animal and it took me awhile to catch on, but they are the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. Many of the stories have a humorous overtone. It's hard to take yourself too seriously when you turn into a rat or a rooster. I was really impressed that all of the stories were so even in tone. You would not think "Oh, definitely a different author here." but each story had it's own feel as well, that each man was distinctive. So if you're looking for something a bit different with touches of angst, humor and hot smexin' cowboys, it's a great choice. And think of the Chinese zodiac, there are some different shifters in there you don't see too often.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technically this was 3.5 star rating but apparently we aren't allowed to be that precise with our little star ratings. It'd be nice if we could. Not the point though. Onward we go!

I know it might be difficult to come up with something different when the story theme is rather limited in a sense but I still couldn't help feeling a touch underwhelmed by how similar most of them were. I kept forgetting who was who half the time. Except Jud and Daniel. Daniel being the dragon and all and Jud just being an interesting and alive kind of character. I would finished it even if I didn't get to read from Daniel's perspective but I was looking forward to the whole dragon thing. Deciding whether I'm disappointed or relieved they didn't focus so strongly on the shifter aspect of it is my main problem. That and we only really talk about Yi in the last part of the book which was sort of where the plot started to have some shape. And for some reason I kept wanting to sing "It's small world after all" off and on while reading Shifting Sands. I don't know what to make of that. Probably a personal thing and not book related. So I think if you want to play around with a bit smut and dabble briefly in relationships then you'd enjoy reading this book. Enjoy =)

[Pia · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost, I loved the unique presentation of this anthology. For one, the prologue served a purpose, setting the scene for all six stories. Then, each story tied in to the others because each character was affected by the curse set forth in the prologue.

My favorite of the six came from an author I haven't read before, Brenda Bryce, and her story, Hare of the Bull. Lost and Found was my second favorite, but I may be slightly biased because I tend to love any story that handles witchcraft well, and JL Langley definitely understands that topic.

There weren't any bad stories, though the first three had similar themes -- fear of exposing their curse and either being rejected because of it or cursing a loved one with it. Each of those three were different in their own way, but similar enough (in theme) that when I got to Hare I was grateful for the big shift in theme to recovery from an abusive relationship.

Overall, I enjoyed this antho, and would love to see more set up with connecting stories. Heck, I'd love to participate in something like this. I can imagine it was fun to create too.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small group of authors did an excellent job of each writing a piece that fit into a single story concept. The characters are interesting and the situation they've been placed in is unique. I would definitely suggest that anyone who likes a shifter story give this one a try.

Now, the reasons I didn't rate it higher...

Although the story was unique and the characters were interesting, there was no character growth from one story to another or even plot advancement. If you excluded the beginning where the situation is set up and the last story where its resolved, you don't really have to read anything in the middle. Most of the stories were too similar and fell back on the standard shifter/mate theme: shifter finds mate, shifter doesn't know if mate will accept him, they can't resist each other so they sleep together anyways, mate gets a surprise afterwards but doesn't care because he loves the shifter.

I do think that this is an interesting work worth checking out but if you don't like light reads and desire plot depth and character growth in your stories, I'm afraid you won't find it here.

[Lexi Ander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really not an anthology per se. They are separate stories but they all take place with the ranch hands of the Shift Sands Ranch. They were cursed by Yi the owner's, Daniel, oriental wife. At the full moon they are forced to shift into animals of the Chinese zodiac. They have to be on the ranch lands otherwise they go into extreme pain when the shift tries to take place. The characters do cross into the different stories but don't change identities.

Snake Charmer by Kimberly Gardner: Cy's Story 4 Stars

All The Moon Long by Ally Blue: Jud's Story (Had some of the best quotable laughs.) 4 Stars

Cock of the Wall by Willa Okati: Michael's Story (Adored Zan) 4 Stars

Hare of the Bull by Brenda Bryce: Gordy's Story 3.5 Stars

Lost and Found by J. L. Langley: Ben's Story 3.5 Stars

Pulling the Dragon's Tail by Jet Mykles: Daniel's Story 3.25 Stars (The alley encounter was steamin'!)

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shifting Sands is a very unique anthology in that the entire book evolves around one story. Each author writes about one character and their involvement and their outcome in the story. I'm sure there's a literary term for this, but I don't know what it is. Anyway, the book is entertaining, mostly well written, and like I said before, very unique. By the end of the book it was getting to be a tad boring, and I was very unsatisfied, almost angered, by the ending. It seems that the fastest, most unimaginable ending was slapped on just to get the book to the publisher. Not cool.

Regardless of the ending I did like the book. Like most anthologies some of the stories were better than others, but it was well worth a read.

I would like to give Shifting Sands three and a half stars, but since that's not possible, and I did feel cheated by the ending, I'm giving it three stars.

[CraftyBirdies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is pretty decent for what it is. Some of the pros: the men are likable, the sex is hot, the premise is interesting and different, the love stories are sweet. For a collection of interconnected short stories - that's a pretty good deal.

I can guess why the average rating is so low due to the possible cons: The love seems to happen too fast, there isn't enough sex, the premise is ridiculous and unrealistic, the ending was too simple, the characters aren't fully developed, etc. Well, my response is - of course that's all true, it's a collection of short stories in the paranormal realm. If you can enjoy short sexy stories for what they are, these are fine. Short stories by default mean the love happens fast, the characters can't be too developed, etc.

So all in all, a decent read for what it is! As a note: Even though it does deal a bit with the paranormal aspect, all the sex is "vanilla" with no paranormal sex. It's all human, FYI!

[Tj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike most anthologies I have read this one begins with a story that will tie all the others together. The men on Shifting Sands Ranch in Texas have been cursed by their boss’s wife because they are gay. She is a witch and so the curse comes true. Each cowboy turns into an animal from the Chinese zodiac. Daniel, the boss, is the only mythical creature, a dragon. The ending of the book is a wrapping up of loose ties for the whole of the story. It’s a cute little anthology but due to the lengths of each individual story very shallow. I think it would have made a nice series but a so-so for a book.

[Mandy Beyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite style of anthology - each of the stories followed a different couple, but the overall book had a unifying plot line. When Yi, a Chinese witch is angered by her husband and most of the hands on his ranch, she cursed them to each shift into a different animal of the Chinese Zodiac on the night of the full moon. Two years into the curse, one by one the men start to fall in love and discover that their lovers then begin to shift as well. I enjoyed how each couple's story managed to be unique within the story structure and that the different writers presented a really enjoyable book without it feeling disjointed.

[Zee♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this anthology about six cowboys cursed to change into animals of the Chinese zodiac until they find their mates. Each cowboy’s story is written by a different author. I loved how all the stories were connected and that all the characters came back in each story. The different writing styles also made it very interesting. The stories were very sweet and sexy with a good bit of humor. I did enjoy some more than others though. Two favorites were Hare of the Bull and Lost and Found.

[jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super good idea for a book and it could have been a really fantastic book especially with these authors. But somehow it missed for me. It was a good book,just not fantastic. For me it might have been that the characters shifted into weird things or that the shifting aspect wasn't focused on enough? not really sure but the whole book just missed a little for me.

[Kaylee Shyanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really came to love these cowboys. And although some of them got the short straw when in came to their animal side, I think they are all adorable. My favorite, of course, was Daniel's dragon.

And even though it looks like an anthology, it's really not. More like a story where each chapter gets its own author.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good paranormal m/m collection about the cowboys of the Shifting Sands Ranch, who have been cursed to shift into animals from the Chinese zodiac each full moon. The stories were smoothly integrated, with the exception of one author who got carried away with puns.

[Bookbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a first for me...a book of short stories linked to the prologue and featuring a group of characters, and yet each is a separate entity, written by a different author. An interesting concept which was well realized.

[Maygirl7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. Good enough but didn't work for me. Didn't even love the ones by my favorite authors.

[Ms. Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were quite skim-able. A little better than okay as a whole~

[Clover · Rating 3 out of 5]

some stories where interesting, some less. but the whole book was good.

[Indigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. snake charmer - 4 stars
2. all themoon long - 4.5 stars
3. cock of the wall - 5 stars
4. hare of the bull - 5 stars
5. lost and found - 4.5 stars
6. pulling the dragon's tail - 4.5 stars

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Twas a good-un.