Title: Fox Hunt

Series: Dreamspun Beyond 37 / Shifter U 04

Author: j. leigh bailey

Genre: Paranormal, Shape shifters

Length: Novel (248 pages)

ISBN: 978-1-64405-203-7

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (2 July 2019)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 4.5 Hearts

Reviewer: Prime

Blurb: Outfoxing their enemies will be a bear of a task.

Aspiring journalist and fox shifter David ends up with a target on his back after hacking the Moreau Initiative, the shifter world’s greatest enemy. But he won’t let that stop him from the campus tour road trip that’ll help him become the next Anderson Cooper… even if his family insists he travel with a grumpy grizzly bear bodyguard.

Buddy Brady is older, sexy, and too damn distracting for David, and as the sexual tension builds, so does the suspicion around the repeated attacks—first in Chicago, then in New York. Someone is tracking them, and all clues point to a traitor in the shifter ranks. Worst of all, they could be after David’s family….

Purchase Link: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Review: Fox Hunt is the fourth book in j. leigh bailey’s Shifter U series. I fully recommend to read this series in order, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable series and each book is about a different couple, but also I found that since it has been a while since I read the previous books I had to do a quick flip through to reacquaint myself with the other characters and the over-arching storyline that continues through to the present book.

As I said, Shifter U is a really enjoyable series and I was pretty excited to get into the next instalment. The way that bailey has written the book made the whole thing feel more accessible in the fact that despite this is about shifters being hunted, I find it so easy to relate and sympathise with the characters. Fox Hunt, just like the previous books, are a really good book to read when you want to relax and take it easy, while having a bit of intrigue to keep you going.

The story starts out with David. He’s a fox shifter, journalist who recently graduated from the so-called Shifter U and his mother, brother and stepfather are on a supernatural group/committee who only want the best for shifters and peaceful relations with humans. Let’s face it, most paranormal/shifter/vampire books tend to have a paranormal governing body, so it’s not anything new.

David is seen as a bit of a flake, a spoilt brat by many, including his mother and brother. Yet under the surface is a man who is passionate about the truth as well as the safety of humans and shifter alike. He recently used his mother’s work computer to hack into the group known as the Moreau Initiative (as in The Island of Doctor Moreau), this group functions as the “boogie man” of this series, the evil people that are after shifters. David has effectively painted a target on his back, the last thing that he wants because David is about to do a road trip and interview to get into several internships and move to the next stage in his career.

Fearing for David’s life, David’s mother, brother and stepfather insist on David bringing a bodyguard with him on the journey. That bodyguard is Buddy Brady, an older, grumpy bear shifter who put his life’s ambitions on hold to raise his younger brothers, ultimately leading to his current career and his latest assignment. Buddy quickly finds out that there is something strange happening around David. He is definitely being targeted but it is a mystery as to how his attackers are tracking him.

Together, David and Buddy solve the mystery and uncover more disturbing facts surrounding the Moreau Initiative while going on David’s cross country road trip. These guys are well suited and while they are very different on the surface, I love how passionate they both are about just about every aspect in life. It’s now that they are together that they grow and learn to trust love and passion of a different nature. What I love the most is that with both David and Buddy there is a lot more going on under the surface than first expected and so I really enjoyed their development as individuals as well as a couple.

Fox Hunt is something of a buddy (pun intended) road trip, mixed with mystery, danger and love. This is really a typical shape shifter romance in terms of formula, but the characters have great personalities and are intriguing. Fans of Shifter U series will enjoy the latest instalment, but I also recommend to people that like shape shifter stories.

I look forward to more from this series. While David and Buddy have a really satisfying romance and we are left with a HEA for these guys, there is more to come with the whole storyline of the Moreau Initiative and I’m sure we’ll get to meet some more interesting characters from the world of Shifter U.

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.