This Rec League comes from Nicole. Thanks, Nicole!
I’ve been eyeing shifter romances after not reading them for a while, and I’m not quite sure where to begin! I’ve read the Kate Daniels series and both series by Patricia Briggs, and am looking for some non-wolf shifter romances that SBTB enjoyed?
Sarah: Dragon shifters? DRAGON SHIFTERS. If you want bloody, violent, burn it all down stories with dragon shifters, Dragon Actually by GA Aiken (aka Shelly Laurenston) ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a LOT of mayhem and rage. Similarly, if you like all of the above plus sisterhood and absurdity, the Call of Crows trilogy, starting with The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston.
Basically, Laurenston has written just about every kind of shifter including wolves, but also honey badgers, pandas, lions, assorted big cats, bears of all varieties, and then hybrids as well. It is the all you can read buffet of shifters.
If you’re thinking, Oh, DRAGONS!? which is how I walk around most of the time, Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series, starting with Dragon Bound is also sexy and intense and very fun – the human protagonist steals from the dragon shifter and understandably there’s some rancor about that decision.
And while we’re discussing Dragons, because as I do indeed walk around in a state of OH, DRAGONS?! – the DFZ series by Rachel Aaron is very fun, starting with Nice Dragons Finish Last. ( A ) It’s expanded into the Minimum Wage Magic series and there’s a new one out, too – though the later ones do not involve shifters as much. Though there are some!
Which non-wolf shifter books would you recommend? Let us know in the comments!
Although the first two books in Kati Wilde’s Wolfkin & Berserkers series (HIGH MOON and TEACHER’S PET WOLF) are about wolf shifters, the third book, SHERIFF’S BAD BEAR is about a bear shifter. It helps if you’ve read the previous books, but, if not,SHERIFF’S BAD BEAR can be read as a stand-alone.
Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is like Shelly Laurenston’s in featuring a variety of shifters. Wolves are the main characters in some stories but supporting characters in others.
Audrey Faye’s Ghost Mountain series is technically about a wolf shifter pack, but they don’t spend much time shifting, and they are an inclusive pack, with bears and birds and humans – as are the other packs in this world. The comfort and care in these books is off the proverbial charts.
Molly Harper’s Mystic Bayou books are fun, starting with How to Date your Dragon, then my favorite Love and Other Wild Things with a bear shifter, and several more with different shifter species and other magical beings.
Deborah Cooke has a couple of dragon shifter series.
Susanna Allen’s Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde series is an alternate-universe version of Regency England, in which a subset of the population are shapeshifters of all animal-types. The first book (A Wolf in Duke’s Clothing) features a wolf shifter. The second book (A Most Unusual Duke) features a bear shifter, and the third book (A Duke at the Door) features a lion shifter.
Ann Aguirre’s Ars Numina is one i really enjoyed. Like some of the others mentioned, it includes wolves, but also lots of Big Cat Breeds, a dragon-kin “Demon” people, bears.
I also liked a lot of the Kitty Norville series. The first book has some stuff about escaping abuse that might be rough for some people. It never leaves that cliche first book pattern either, so i always recommend if that’s a problem, read a synopsis of the first, and jump into the second one.
And there’s the Rachel Vincent series that starts with Stray, for more big cats. Both of these two are very much the style of the early 2000’s.
Dragons Do It Dirtier by Gemma Cates was fun, and there’s always room for more dragons.
And while technically the character in Woods of the Raven by Mary Calmes is a witch, he turns into a flock of ravens, which is pretty cool.
Or if you want a taste of absolute over the top bonkers, there’s Playing with Fire: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) by R.J. Blain
There’s a million Gargoyle shifter books too, they were Having A Moment about 5-10 years ago. Cursed by Night (Her Dark Protectors Book 1)
by Jada Storm, Emily Goodwin, Jasmine Walt was a good one (but it’s RH, just fyi) or there’s The Gargoyles of Arrington Stone Wings by Jenn Burke, which was fine too. I have Issues with the way people have settled on “Gargoyles = this single one cliche! Done!” so i have yet to find one that lives up to my hopes, but that’s a me problem 😉
On kindle unlimited K. N. Banet has several series one with a cat shifter and a nagini shifter set in the same world. Oath sworn is the first for Jacky and Bounty for Kaliya.
There’s also the Dragon-Ridden series by T. A. White that has dragon shifters.
@Malaraa – That reminds me that I really enjoyed Aguirre’s The Demon Prince from that series. He’s not just a demon like shifter; he’s a demon like shifter with a chronic illness.
Another out there book is Kim.Dare’s DUCK! (love the punctuation) It’s a d/s with bird shifters.
Jennifer Ashley’s Shifters Unbound series and Marjorie Lou’s Dirk and Steele series. Both have a variety of shifters.
Jessica Sims’s Midnight Liaisons series includes non-wolf shifters. Cougar, lion, bear? IIRC. Jennifer Ashley’s Shifters Unbound series has big cat shifters (lions, tigers) and bears in addition to wolves.
Donna Grant writes dragon shifter stories that are good
Well, there’s “Rejar” by Dara Joy (he turns into a house cat); the Hexworld series (M/M with several animals, none wolves) by Jordan L. Hawk; R.J. Blaine has several that aren’t wolves (one has a woman who was turned into an alpaca but later turns out to be a badger shifter and the male turns into an otter). Search Amazon for “shifter romance” and there are seven pages of results. Dragons, bears, etc., even if most are wolves.
Seconding Thea Harrison’s Dragon Bound. My other favorite of hers in the series is Oracle’s Moon which features a djinn.
Anne Bishop’s series starting with Written in Red features Wolves but also Crows, Owls, a Spirit Bear, Vampires, and more.
Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher has a bear shifter!
Holley Trent’s Masters of Maria series has a bunch of coyote shifters. Her Desert Guards series is about cougar shifters.
The Friend Contract by Dria Andersen has a bear shifter MMC and panther shifter FMC.
Beary Christmas, Baby by Sasha Devlin has a dragon shifter FMC and polar bear shifter MMC.
Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark has a kraken.
I remember reading Rachel Vincent’s PNR werecats series (starts with “Stray”) some years back and I enjoyed it enough that I read the whole series in a very short period of time. I might have to revisit it.
Kit Rocha has “Consort of Fire” coming in the fall–a princess, her handmaid, and an ancient dragon god, plotting and scheming and falling in love. Here for it!
I know someone already mentioned Nalini Singh, and she does a lovely job differentiating the different kinds of changelings, especially with the big clan of aquatic/marine shifters all working together in “Ocean Light”.
Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series is more straight UF than romance, but there’s definitely a romance. Jane herself is a shapeshifter–mainly into a cougar, but she can take other shapes–and other werecats make appearances. The spinoff Soulwood series has a dragon shifter.
And I would be remiss not to mention Clara, my favorite bear shifter anywhere, from the convent of St. Ursa in T. Kingfisher’s “Paladin’s Strength”.
Ilona Andrews. Lots of non-wolves.
The MC in one of Kelley Armstrong’s YA series is a cat.
Lots more. Abigail Owen has some dragons. Cynthia Eden has cats and dragons and phoenixes, as well as wolves. Alexandra Ivy has dragons.
Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series (starts with Skinwalker) has a mostly mountain lion shifter as the main character, and other non-wolf shifters.
I want to 3rd or 4th Laurenston/Aiken and Thea Harrison, and add Kim Harrison though shifters are not necessarily the main event in the Hollows series.
I’d also like to specifically mention my fave work of G.A. Aiken’s Dragon Kin series: What a Dragon Should Know. It’s been around for yonks, so I didn’t mention it in the recent post recommending “fun” reads, but this book is hilarious and came up ages ago on a Rec League for “Sex Puppy” heroes.
Lauren Connolly’s Folk Haven series features various mythological creatures and shifters including dragons, bears, selkies, sirens, harpies, and witches, all of whom live in a small town on the shore of a mystical lake in GA that is a haven for supernaturals. She writes lovely cinnamon roll type heroes and strong heroines all finding love, starting with SEDUCED BY A SELKIE.
Zoe Chant is the pen name for a group of authors that write various series featuring literally every kind of shifter under the sun including the usual wolves, cats, bears, etc. but also mythological shifters like dragons, phoenixes, griffons, thunderbirds, hellhounds, etc. All of the books I’ve read are low angst, with kind and decent main characters.
Carol Van Natta has a series, ICE AGE SHIFTERS, featuring shifters like dire wolves, ancient sloths and prehistoric bears and lions along with a variety of other magical creatures.
Finally, Eve Langlais has a rather lighthearted series called FURRY UNITED COALITION (FUC) that features all kinds of shifters trying to track down an evil genius type who has experimented on people and created all kinds of unusual shifters. The first book, BUNNY AND THE BEAR, features a saber-tooth bunny shifter working with a straight arrow bear shifter law enforcement officer. The next books in the series are Swan and the Bear, Croc and the Fox, Lion and the Falcon, etc, so there’s a pretty wide variety. There are also other authors that have written in her world and created their own unusual shifters.
Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray. M/M retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in WWII era England. And the beast is a dragon. It’s so good.
Amy Rae Durreson’s excellent Reawakening series is high fantasy mm romance with dragon shifters.
The RELIC series by Max Maddox. M/M contemporary dinosaur shifters.mmer blockbuster.
@cleo – That’s supposed to read:
The RELIC series by Max Maddox. M/M contemporary dinosaur shifters. Completely ridiculous plots but entertaining if you can suspend disbelief, kind of like the book equivalents of a summer blockbuster. Definitely not for everyone. Read the sample of book 1 – it’s first person dual narration and the dinosaur shifter character does describe hunting animals in his dino form.
Jeffe Kennedy’s Twelve Kingdoms series features the Tala, shapeshifters who can assume multiple animal forms. Really marvelous world building, steamy romance, three very different and very interesting sisters, complex geopolitical maneuverings.
Rejar. Wow, there’s a trip down memory lane. Bonkers!
Several romance book clubs I follow are reading TIGER EYE by Marjorie Liu. Another classic in a very different way. I loved that book.
Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox is a shifter story set in Japan. I think the author is Fortnite? Kind of a YA fairytale vibe.
Shana Abe’s Drakon series (for adults) and The Sweetest Dark trilogy (YA) feature dragon shifters (dragons who can take human form, not the other way around.) And iirc, the middle book of Nora Roberts’s Circle trilogy features a shifter who can take a multitude of forms.
YA FANTASY (NOT ROMANCE): Tamora Pierce’s YA “Immortals” quartet features a girl who can communicate with animals. Eventually discovers she can shift to take on basically any animal form. And the dragons in Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina and Shadow Scale can take human form. Note that while the books are not technically romances, there is a romantic relationship of sorts in both series.
Some short story non-wolf shifters:
Beneath Acquatica’s Waves series by Charlie Richards are all short M/M romances about aquatic species ( sharks, octopi, jellyfish…).
An older M/F series is Shifting Crossroads by Zenina Masters with shifters ranging from bats to bunnies to geese and mythical creatures as well.
Try Murphy Lawless’ Gladiator Shifters quintet! They’re a lot of fun and we get only one wolf viewpoint character.
Bec McMaster legends of the storm (dragon shifters in medieval-ish fantasyland).
That time I got drink and saved a demon by Kimberly lemming is very light hearted and fun dragon shifter romance.
Ruby Dixon’s fireblood dragon series is much more postapocalyptic shifter romance than fantasy
Agree with Thea Harrison, Nalini Singh, T Kingfisher, and Ann Aguirre
Some of my fave shifter series are the Ridgeville series (lion shifters) and the Grayslake series (bear shifters) from Celia Kyle. Both are light, fluffy and fun to read.
Other favorites come from Katie Reus, she has 2 series out with all kinds of shifters and other paranormal beings, but mostly dragons: the Darkness series and its spin-off, Ancients Rising series.
Then there are the _Tales Of The Sazi_ by Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams. Among others, there are jaguars, big cats, and enormous snakes.