A review by rjordan19
Twisted Shifters by Dallas Ryan, Amelia Elliot, Cora Day, Jayelle Dee

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Spread ‘Em by Cora Day
A Spreadsheet Shifter Romance

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: first person from both the heroine and the spreadsheet (haha)
More character focused or plot focused? kind of a mix?
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy for now
Epilogue: No

Basic plot:
Rebecca is trying to finish her spreadsheet project during a solar storm.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance period
- sentient romance
- workplace romance-ish?
- spreadsheet ‘hero’ / human heroine
- shorter story
- mid to higher steam – 3 full scenes

My thoughts:
So, I do want to note this hero does look like he came from AI and is a computer program. With all the AI controversy, I know a story with this plot won’t be for everyone!

But I really liked it! It was just silly enough but also steamy and fun. The story definitely picked up for me once our hero had a corporeal form. It was a bit weird when she was groping her computer….

I liked the comeuppance for the villain in this story and how hard the hero worked to meet and exceed the heroine’s needs. Such a fun sentient romance!


Big Dragon Energy by Dallas Ryan
A Dragon Shifter Romance

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔 (This is a short novel!)
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: first person from the heroine
More character focused or plot focused? maybe plot?
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Chapter 1 the heroine is with the hero in ‘book’ form and he comes to her in her dreams but actual on page interaction is chapter 3
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy for now
Epilogue: Yes, two weeks later

Basic plot:
Tessa gets a special book for her 30th birthday present...

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance setting (Texas)
- heroine is a librarian
- dragon hero that emerges from a book
- light language barrier
- hard instalove from the hero (fated mates)
- bond forms a tattoo on the heroine
- higher steam – 3 scenes in a shorter page count

My thoughts:
This was a pleasant read! A quick and steamy read with a dragon shifting hero that is OBSESSED with his heroine.

It took a bit for the mains to really be interacting with each other but once it happened I was so adoring this! I had one minor complaint, that the hero just seemed a bit too….like arrogantly contemporary?? He seemed to dive right into Tessa’s world….but still this was such a great especially to break up longer reads or just a nice palette cleanser (or lunchtime read!)

Hard Up by Jayelle Dee
A Vibro-Shifter Romance


Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: third person from the heroine
More character focused or plot focused? plot
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: pretty soon – the first chapter
Cliffhanger: no this ends with a happy for now for the mains
Epilogue: no

Basic plot:
Vicki is gifted a perfect gold sculpture for her birthday after being dumped...

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary sentient romance
- toy hero
- undoing the curse
- higher steam – 5-ish full scenes in a shorter page count

My thoughts:
I wanted to love this one! And maybe it’s because I read Stiff by Thea Masen so recently and just truly adored it that I couldn’t help but want more from this novel.

I love the idea of a toy hero – it’s just fun. But I wasn’t in love with this story because the heroine just didn’t seem all in. I wasn’t a fan of her having a side quest with a man and didn’t really get the point of it – he kind of disappears. It did lead to some humorous scenes for sure though and I appreciated that!!!

Overall this is still a fun and short read, it just wasn’t a favorite for me. Very funny though and I would definitely try more from this author.

Ring My Bell by Amelia Elliot
A Cat Shifter Reverse Harem Romance

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes! I really enjoyed the humor in this one, though it’s a bit on the slapstick/over the top side
Perspective: third person from the heroine
More character focused or plot focused? plot
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: it takes a little bit for her to realize her cat is a human (but towards the end of chapter 1 of 8
Cliffhanger: This ends with a happy for now
Epilogue: No

Basic plot:
Niecy is in the middle of a messy break up when she realizes her 3 cats are actually human.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- PNR elements – the 3 heroes are cat shifters
- break the curse
- short and chubby heroine
- shorter novel
- why choose – heroine has 3 pet cats that shift into men
- medium to higher steam – 3 full scenes in a short page count

My thoughts:
Overall I liked this one! It was funny and sexy. The heroes were all very sweet and enthusiastic and I liked that.

There is a big plot point with the toxic ex-boyfriend and is the focus of the book. It was hard to read in some parts because he was just so truly awful and the way a side character got involved with him was so disappointing – but I did love the way it worked and was resolved within this short story!