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Tales of B.O.O. #1
Shift Happens
Three years out of grad school, anthropologist Adrian Thornapple is still stuck in that “temporary” office job. When his former mentor invites him on a rainforest expedition, he says he can’t. He has obligations. He has security. He has...a dead neighbor on his doorstep? It seems she’s fallen victim to a new and deadly designer drug shipping up from the rainforest. Accused of involvement in her death, Adrian suddenly comprehends that life is short, civilized doesn’t mean “safe,” and that he should follow his dreams.
Captain Thomas Ferrell hates the supernatural. When the Army kicks him out for weird behavior, he signs on with paranormal investigators Borderless Observers Org. Three missions in, Tom’s learned BOO does a lot more than observe. And that their paranormal investigators really are paranormal investigators. Sent to stop a drug operation in the Amazon basin, he’s unwillingly shapeshifted into a huge black jaguar. He believes he must regain his humanity before he can complete his mission. Is he wrong?
Adrian’s expedition morphs into a nightmare of illegal drugs, slave labor, and a terrifying quest through the rainforest and the spirit world. Worse yet, his companion and protector is a giant man-eating jaguar with whom he might be falling in love!
Genres: Gay / Fantasy / Shapeshifter / Witchcraft / Magic / Paranormal / Psychic Phenomena / Action / Adventure / Exhibitionism / Public Places
Captain Thomas Ferrell hates the supernatural. When the Army kicks him out for weird behavior, he signs on with paranormal investigators Borderless Observers Org. Three missions in, Tom’s learned BOO does a lot more than observe. And that their paranormal investigators really are paranormal investigators. Sent to stop a drug operation in the Amazon basin, he’s unwillingly shapeshifted into a huge black jaguar. He believes he must regain his humanity before he can complete his mission. Is he wrong?
Adrian’s expedition morphs into a nightmare of illegal drugs, slave labor, and a terrifying quest through the rainforest and the spirit world. Worse yet, his companion and protector is a giant man-eating jaguar with whom he might be falling in love!
Genres: Gay / Fantasy / Shapeshifter / Witchcraft / Magic / Paranormal / Psychic Phenomena / Action / Adventure / Exhibitionism / Public Places
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Storm Grant
13 books44 followersFiction that's pretty, witty, and gritty!
Gina Grant, under the pen name Storm Grant, writes and publishes engaging male/male fiction, more light than dark. Since 2007, she has published with several e-publishers, including Riptide Publishing, Amber Quill, Phaze, MLR Press, and Torquere.
Writing as Gina X. Grant, she is represented by Rosemary Stimola, the agent who also represents Hunger Games. The first three books in Gina’s RELUCTANT REAPER series are now available from Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Star imprint.
Gina’s background is in marketing and she is active on all the major social media.
Gina Grant, under the pen name Storm Grant, writes and publishes engaging male/male fiction, more light than dark. Since 2007, she has published with several e-publishers, including Riptide Publishing, Amber Quill, Phaze, MLR Press, and Torquere.
Writing as Gina X. Grant, she is represented by Rosemary Stimola, the agent who also represents Hunger Games. The first three books in Gina’s RELUCTANT REAPER series are now available from Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Star imprint.
Gina’s background is in marketing and she is active on all the major social media.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 23, 2011
This was a fun, exciting, and amusing read. The characters were enjoyable and engaging, even the secondary ones. The only thing that kept me from giving this a full 5 stars was that during the middle of the book, there was far too much telling me about action after the fact instead of letting me live it. Each chapter was like entering the party right after it ended and having to listen to someone fill you in on what you missed. But then the end picked back up an went back to showing and I was happy again. :)
January 27, 2011
This story was an original approach at the old shapeshifter theme, brimming with scurrile people, quirky ideas, wickedly hilarious incidents and brilliant word games. The worldbuilding was a stroke of genius, with a reality not too far away from our own, except for a bunch of supernatural beings, which nevertheless mostly exist outside most people’s everyday experience. But this slight angle made the perfect backdrop for the more mystic ways of the rainforest natives, which were artfully pictured to a point where I almost came to accept they could exist in our reality as well. At times, the tone of the narrative changes to serious, particularly when dealing with issues like slave work, drug trade, rainforest destruction, but this was done in a sensible way and never turned to preaching. Instead, it kept the story from dropping into a mere hilarious romp à la “Romancing the Stone”, lending it more depth (although there were several tongue-in-cheek referrals to Indiana Jones & Co. ) Unfortunately, the author borrowed another trick from Dr. Jones, too , at times using convenient shortcuts in order to solve insolveable situations; on more than one occasion, even the fantasy reality was stretched a little too thin to hold up.
Both Adrian and Tom were great, memorable characters, full-fleshed with their own oddities. Adrian, who used to be a little gullible and kind of a drifter, had to cope with the most sinister living circumstances and find his own way and inner strength. Tom, so set in his ways and self-relying had to learn to trust and open his mind. I loved the balance in their relationship, the way they took care of one another in turn. Although Tom was more of an alpha male, Adrian held his ground to him, making them equal partners despite the fact that Tom was a pony-sized predator most of the time. Not even the sexual attraction between them suffered from the latter fact, since it built through their dreams, where they met as humans. The story led both of them through considerable character growth towards an entirely satisfying and, in the context, believable ending. I was reluctant to leave them behind.
I highly recommend this funny and entertaining read.
Read the full review reviewsbyjessewave.com
Both Adrian and Tom were great, memorable characters, full-fleshed with their own oddities. Adrian, who used to be a little gullible and kind of a drifter, had to cope with the most sinister living circumstances and find his own way and inner strength. Tom, so set in his ways and self-relying had to learn to trust and open his mind. I loved the balance in their relationship, the way they took care of one another in turn. Although Tom was more of an alpha male, Adrian held his ground to him, making them equal partners despite the fact that Tom was a pony-sized predator most of the time. Not even the sexual attraction between them suffered from the latter fact, since it built through their dreams, where they met as humans. The story led both of them through considerable character growth towards an entirely satisfying and, in the context, believable ending. I was reluctant to leave them behind.
I highly recommend this funny and entertaining read.
Read the full review reviewsbyjessewave.com
January 29, 2011
I'd have enjoyed this story more if it weren't so obviously a rewrite of a Sentinel episode, just as the author's Gym Dandy is an obvious ripoff of a due South episode - not even a disguised piece of fanfiction (which at least generally incorporates the author's own ideas and plots), but a rewrite (in a very slightly reimagined context - but only very slightly) of things that actually happened in those slash-fan-favorite tv shows.
Even the cover image (of protagonist Adrian - an anthropologist) is just a reworked Blair Sandburg - anthropologist! - from the show, and the other book protagonist Tom, disillusioned ex-military, betrayed by an evil woman, could hardly more obviously be the analogous Jim of the tv show, whose alter ego was a black panther/jaguar in the episode that takes place in the jungles of Peru.
The author appears to be talented and reasonably imaginative, and her writing is fairly strong, but I can't get beyond the feeling that I'm reading a novelization of a tv show - and an unacknowledged one at that, as if she's trying to pass off as her own idea something that isn't (I've searched, but I don't see any reference to the shows in the notes at the front of the books). I'd like her a lot better if she used her imagination and talent to construct her own stories - or used existing (and well known, at least in the fannish community) stories and characters as merely inspiration, rather than so obviously the foundation, of her books.
Even the cover image (of protagonist Adrian - an anthropologist) is just a reworked Blair Sandburg - anthropologist! - from the show, and the other book protagonist Tom, disillusioned ex-military, betrayed by an evil woman, could hardly more obviously be the analogous Jim of the tv show, whose alter ego was a black panther/jaguar in the episode that takes place in the jungles of Peru.
The author appears to be talented and reasonably imaginative, and her writing is fairly strong, but I can't get beyond the feeling that I'm reading a novelization of a tv show - and an unacknowledged one at that, as if she's trying to pass off as her own idea something that isn't (I've searched, but I don't see any reference to the shows in the notes at the front of the books). I'd like her a lot better if she used her imagination and talent to construct her own stories - or used existing (and well known, at least in the fannish community) stories and characters as merely inspiration, rather than so obviously the foundation, of her books.
December 31, 2010
A serious/playful novel I had a LOT of fun reading. Not everything happened perfectly, not everything was happy and funny and/or erotic and cute. Certain parts dealt with very serious issues - the making and trafficking of a dangerous new drug, the slavery and abuse of those who are forced to harvest it, the very real repercussions of medical vision gone astray.
Despite that, there were a great deal of very good moments. I like how Tom and Adrien were both humanized, made imperfect by mistakes, stupid actions, adjustments, and anger, in addition to the fondness and lust. The smaller side-characters were well-rounded as well in my opinion, enough so that I could certainly tell the differences right off and could easily compare them to people I know in RL.
DEFINITELY a recommended read.
Despite that, there were a great deal of very good moments. I like how Tom and Adrien were both humanized, made imperfect by mistakes, stupid actions, adjustments, and anger, in addition to the fondness and lust. The smaller side-characters were well-rounded as well in my opinion, enough so that I could certainly tell the differences right off and could easily compare them to people I know in RL.
DEFINITELY a recommended read.
Read
March 22, 2011This is a novel that masterly mixes together adventure thriller, romance but above all comedy: it’s not often that, while reading about drugs dealer and dangerous situations you find yourself laughing for some of the gag Adrian comes out with.
An unwilling hero, Adrian is a young anthropologist who decides to change his life once he sees his young neighbour dying in front of his eyes. Actually a two weeks mission in the Amazonian forest is not so much a big change, but it’s for sure different from working as a white collar in a civilized Canadian city. Adrian is not exactly your hero type, on the contrary he is more on the cute twink side, like he proves already in the airplane taking him in South America having sex with a handsome, but complete stranger, Tom.
From this starting you could think sex will be on the front stage of the story and instead this is actually the only real sex scene you will find (aside for the wet dream both Adrian and Tom will share); almost immediately after that, Tom got “turned” into a jaguar and he will spend most of the novel in that form (and no, there is no kinky sex in shifted form): actually more than a romance the novel is a solo man adventure with big cat along; Tom will become Adrian guardian angel, he will protect and hunt for his past lover, but Tom will be a feline, with the behaviour of a feline, so sometime temperamental, sometime cuddling, sometime fierce.
There are two parallel stories entangling together: Tom is an agent for a special agency fighting drugs dealer, Adrian is going in Amazonian to study ancient pictographs, both of them will crash with the same villain but more or less they will spend most of the novel alone in the forest searching for an ancient temple. In the path they will meet funny characters, helping them or viceversa.
As I said, even if scared, hungry and totally helpless in the Amazonian forest, Adrian will never loose his sense of humor and after the initial reticence, he will adapt to the oddity of having a lap-cat which is bigger than him (and that is coming from someone who thought to not like cats in general). Of course being Tom in feline form, he has no “rational” thoughts, and so all the novel turns around Adrian.
As I said, this novel surprised me for the comedy touch, something that was totally unexpected and that I’m not used to find nor in paranormal or thriller romance. If comedy lovers skipped this story for the same wrong-belief, I recommend to reconsider it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1611249864/?...
An unwilling hero, Adrian is a young anthropologist who decides to change his life once he sees his young neighbour dying in front of his eyes. Actually a two weeks mission in the Amazonian forest is not so much a big change, but it’s for sure different from working as a white collar in a civilized Canadian city. Adrian is not exactly your hero type, on the contrary he is more on the cute twink side, like he proves already in the airplane taking him in South America having sex with a handsome, but complete stranger, Tom.
From this starting you could think sex will be on the front stage of the story and instead this is actually the only real sex scene you will find (aside for the wet dream both Adrian and Tom will share); almost immediately after that, Tom got “turned” into a jaguar and he will spend most of the novel in that form (and no, there is no kinky sex in shifted form): actually more than a romance the novel is a solo man adventure with big cat along; Tom will become Adrian guardian angel, he will protect and hunt for his past lover, but Tom will be a feline, with the behaviour of a feline, so sometime temperamental, sometime cuddling, sometime fierce.
There are two parallel stories entangling together: Tom is an agent for a special agency fighting drugs dealer, Adrian is going in Amazonian to study ancient pictographs, both of them will crash with the same villain but more or less they will spend most of the novel alone in the forest searching for an ancient temple. In the path they will meet funny characters, helping them or viceversa.
As I said, even if scared, hungry and totally helpless in the Amazonian forest, Adrian will never loose his sense of humor and after the initial reticence, he will adapt to the oddity of having a lap-cat which is bigger than him (and that is coming from someone who thought to not like cats in general). Of course being Tom in feline form, he has no “rational” thoughts, and so all the novel turns around Adrian.
As I said, this novel surprised me for the comedy touch, something that was totally unexpected and that I’m not used to find nor in paranormal or thriller romance. If comedy lovers skipped this story for the same wrong-belief, I recommend to reconsider it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1611249864/?...
March 4, 2011
Storm Grant’s Shift Happens takes the reader on a whirlwind journey through the Amazon rainforest in a story fraught with danger, man-eating shape-shifting jaguars, and one sexy anthropologist. I could not put this book down, I even skipped dinner to I finish it!
Adrian and Tom are fully fleshed-out characters that are quirky (Tom shifts into a jaguar for a good portion of the book) and utterly adorable. The novel seamlessly weaves between the real world and the supernatural taking the reader on a wild ride filled with funny dialog, action, adventure and true love.
But the most important selling point on why I enjoyed this book so much was the author’s wit and her ability to twist words into such humorous dialog kept me laughing throughout the entire novel. A truly delightful read. Storm Grant goes on my auto-buy list from this point forward!
Rated 5 Delightful Divas by Lasha !
Dark Divas Reviews
Adrian and Tom are fully fleshed-out characters that are quirky (Tom shifts into a jaguar for a good portion of the book) and utterly adorable. The novel seamlessly weaves between the real world and the supernatural taking the reader on a wild ride filled with funny dialog, action, adventure and true love.
But the most important selling point on why I enjoyed this book so much was the author’s wit and her ability to twist words into such humorous dialog kept me laughing throughout the entire novel. A truly delightful read. Storm Grant goes on my auto-buy list from this point forward!
Rated 5 Delightful Divas by Lasha !
Dark Divas Reviews
January 13, 2011
Tom Ferrell works for a secret organization called B.O.O. and is sent into the Brazilian rain forest to shut down an illegal drug manufacturer. Adrian Thornapple is an anthropologist traveling to the rain forest to photograph and study the native tribes. The two men meet and become entwined fighting the drug manufacturing facility. Tom is shot and somehow shifts into a jaguar. The two men start off on a much too long trek through the rain forest to find the Temple of Transfiguration to find a way to change Tom back. The trouble is that Tom is quickly losing his humanity. The book was an entertaining read but got bogged down in the middle by too much aimless wandering and tribal interaction for me. It would have been better with fifty pages of clutter removed.
March 20, 2011
Anthropologist Adrian Thornapple's life takes an unexpected turn when his neighbour stumbles into his apartment and dies of an overdose of indigo, a deadly drug being produced in a drug factory in Columbia. Indigo brings Adrian into contact with Thomas J. Ferrell from the Borderless Observers Organization who has been sent to stop the drugs being produced.
I bought this book when it was first released, but never got around to reading it until now. That was big mistake, as it was a very enjoyable story that manages to mix drug lords with shape-shifters. The dialogue is snappy, Adrian and Tom are well developed and quite adorable characters, and their adventures make for a great read.
I bought this book when it was first released, but never got around to reading it until now. That was big mistake, as it was a very enjoyable story that manages to mix drug lords with shape-shifters. The dialogue is snappy, Adrian and Tom are well developed and quite adorable characters, and their adventures make for a great read.
December 6, 2010
Mm, what to say about this review....The plot is good and it pulls you into the jungle fever, lol. I really liked Adrian as a person, he was shy, serious, sarcastic funny and true to himself. How he acted toward Tom as a cat was funny to fallow. I liked it. The dreams part of the book where fresh and intimate, lol. In general really well written story with lot funny events.
Recommended read...
Recommended read...
March 9, 2011
I really enjoyed getting lost in this story. At its most basic, it's a hero's journey tale, with Adrian and Tom each having their own journey, but together. The cast of characters is interesting and entertaining, and even though the straits are dire in most cases, the mood is light. Action, angst, hurt, comfort, shifters, drug dealers, dream-walking...it's all good fun.
June 5, 2011
This story is freshly original in its telling of a shifter story. I loved how the romance was incorporated into the action; how the love built between Adrian and Tom, even when one of them wasn't quite human.
August 15, 2011
Very good paranormal m/m romance about a Canadian anthropologist who heads to the Colombian rain forest to do some research with his mentor, but gets entangled in illegal drug manufacturing. When he runs into the hot guy he met on the plane to Colombia, things start to get really weird...
January 3, 2011
good story about a spiritual quest for 2 guys, a photographer and an ex soldier shifted in a jaguar.
I hope we will learn more about BOO and this couple.
I hope we will learn more about BOO and this couple.
May 14, 2011
I wouldn't consider this a romance. The romance is secondary to the plot therefore the developing relationship between Adrian and Tom is considerably toned down.
Despite that, I enjoyed this very much. The depiction of the rain forest and the danger, the tribes and cultures held my interest. The bargaining with the different tribes seemed a little odd to me...as difficult as everything else had been up to that point made the bargaining seem convenient or too easy (though you could sympathize that they deserved a break by that point).
Despite that, I enjoyed this very much. The depiction of the rain forest and the danger, the tribes and cultures held my interest. The bargaining with the different tribes seemed a little odd to me...as difficult as everything else had been up to that point made the bargaining seem convenient or too easy (though you could sympathize that they deserved a break by that point).
October 22, 2011
This would have been four stars, but the editing marks throughout the book meant that it took me twice as long as normal to read it. Aside from that major annoyance, the story was pretty good. I think I would have really enjoyed it if it weren't for the incredibly frustrating "E" marks throughout.
November 27, 2011
3.5 stars
June 17, 2012
I'd never saw 'The Sentinel' but it's not correct to not credit your inspiration.
I love the concept, and the personages.
The book was too long for nothing.
I love the concept, and the personages.
The book was too long for nothing.
November 11, 2012
This was a fun and exciting story! It kept my interest from beginning to end. Very much enjoyed it!
November 20, 2014
kinda unlikable heroine, and lack of depth to the characters' and their emotions. Just didn't feel it.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews