Title: The Night Owl and the Insomniac

Series: Shifter U 03 / Dreamspun Beyond 23

Author: j. leigh bailey

Genre: Paranormal, Shape shifters

Length: Novel (240 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (3rd July 2018)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 5 Hearts

Blurb: Long nights lead to intrigue… and infatuation.

Chronically ill with a mysterious condition, Yusuf “Joey” Franke escapes his smothering family and doctors by moving halfway across the country to enroll in Cody College. Not long after arriving on campus, some of his symptoms disappear, only to be replaced by debilitating insomnia. Joey spends his nights wandering the halls of his dormitory and hanging out with gregarious and affable Owen, who works the night shift.

When he suddenly shifts from a sick college kid to a massive Asiatic lion, Joey discovers another side to Cody College—it’s a haven for shifters like himself… and like Owen, a part-time great horned owl. And being a shifter is hereditary, which means his parents have some explaining to do.
When Joey and Owen investigate, they discover more than they bargained for—a family deception, a dangerous enemy with international connections, and a love that might be too new to survive the backlash.

ISBN: 978-1-64080-462-3

Product Link: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Prime

Review: After listening to the audio book of the first installment of j, leigh bailey’s Shifter U series, I decided to get onto the next 2 books quick smart, ‘cos that just how I roll. Anyway, I was really looking forward this because the world of the first book and have subsequently enjoyed the second book in the series. Although this is a series, after reading all three books, I believe that these books can work either as a standalone or reading in order. I just prefer to read things in order.

The Night Owl and the Insomniac has a lot of wonderful elements put together to make a story that is about self-discovery, romance, danger and intrigue. I will admit that I had worked out exactly what was happening (for the most part anyway if not all the finer details) early in the book.

However, that did not take away from how much I enjoyed this story.

Yusuf “Joey” Franke has been suffering from what he was told was a chronic autoimmune disease all his life, though his specialist had never been able to diagnose him. He has been coddled and protected from the world by his well-meaning parents, who you find out are quite worldly in the end, though they still seem to come across as naïve when it comes to their son’s lifelong “illness”.

Leaving Chicago and moving far away to Cody College his symptoms disappear but only to be replaced by insomnia. During these sleepless nights in the dorm he meets Owen, who works night shift at the desk.

Owen is the son of the local shifter doctor and attends college at the suitably nicknamed Shifter U. He is an owl shifter, so understands not everything is as it appears. But he gets quite a shock one day when he comes across his new acquaintance at the dorms, Yusuf, shifting for the first time in his life. Yusuf’s beast is quite different to any big cat Owen has seen and so Owen, Owen’s father and the local grizzly bear Buddy pull together to help Yusuf discover himself. Owen does a lot of the help and support as they dig into Yusuf’s past and he faces the possibility that his parents aren’t his biological parents because he has no idea about shape shifters until he shifts himself.

The best thing that I like about this book is that it combines themes/plot devices I’ve seen in books before but not put together in a wonderfully written story, at least not that I’ve read anyway. The mystery is intriguing, while not too much of a heavy read. It’s a lot of fun and I love the chemistry between the guys. Additionally, like the previous books, I found myself able to relate to the emotions and baggage of both MCs, although both are very different and quite often at cross purposes. I highly recommend reading this book and series to anyone who loves a good shifter tale.

Title: Chasing Thunderbird

Series: Shifter U 02 / Dreamspun Beyond 13

Author: j. leigh bailey

Genre: Paranormal, Shape shifters

Length: Novel (223 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (6th February 2018)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️ 4 Hearts

Blurb: A legendary love.

Ornithology professor Simon Coleman’s reputation is at risk, and the only way to save his name is to prove thunderbirds are more than creatures of Native American myth. Grad student and part-time barista Ford Whitney has a lot on his plate, but it’s also his duty to make sure the resident bird nerd doesn’t discover shape-shifters—like himself—live on campus.

When a series of incidents related to Simon’s search put him in harm’s way, Ford’s instincts kick in, and they become closer than is strictly proper for student and teacher. Ford is forced to reveal his secrets to Simon, and their relationship is put to the test—Simon must choose between salvaging his reputation and protecting the man who protected him….

ISBN: 978-1-64080-112-7

Product Link: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Prime

Review: After listening to the audio book of the first installment of j, leigh bailey’s Shifter U series, I decided to get onto the next 2 books quick smart, ‘cos that just how I roll. Anyway, I was really looking forward to this because the world of the first book was fun and was interested in seeing one of my favourite secondary characters find his own HEA. Although this is a series, after reading all three books, I believe that these books can work either as a standalone or reading in order. I just prefer to read things in order.

The Thunderbird in question is Ford Whitney. He played the role of best friend to one of the MCs in the first book Stalking Buffalo Bill, and I was quite happy that we were able to meet up with the coyote and buffalo shifters a few times in this book. Ford is a barista at Buddy’s, a café located near the Cody College where Ford is doing his masters in bird migration (as a person with a PhD I appreciated the way that Ford was not made into a nerd with a one-track mind, which is something that really bugs me about academics, etc. in books).

Ford is then assigned to be the TA for the newest ornithology professor, and only human on staff in the biology school, Simon Coleman. The attraction between the guys is instant and the chemistry is off the charts. Yet Ford has been assigned the difficult task of ensuring that Simon does not question anything about the oddities that occur around the college due to shifter activity.

Both guys have a lot of baggage. Ford obviously is trying to protect the secrets of shifters, looking after some of the younger bird shifter students, and protecting the most important secret, that his family are Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds have been hunted almost to the point of extinction and on top of that they aren’t your ordinary run of the mill shape shifters either. Whereas Simon is completely human but comes from a family whose reputation has been discredited in the past because his grandfather and great-grandfather are certain that Thunderbirds exist. However, this belief and ongoing investigation, is not only putting him on the radar of the shape shifters, but also on the radar of the bad guys.

Chasing Thunderbird is a rather fun book and I found myself able to relate to the emotions and baggage of both MCs, although both are very different and quite often at cross purposes. I highly recommend reading this book and series to anyone who loves a good shifter tale.