Review: Shifter Date: Must Love Lions

Shifter Date: Must Love Lions by Alma Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Last month I was added to the Book Blogger List, and since then I’ve had so many amazing books sent my way. Some would say too many books. Honestly, my list is so long. It’s rather silly, actually. Not that such a thing is deterring me. The opposite in fact, as it’s allowing me to find many new authors I’m really enjoying.

Shifter Date: Must Love Lions by Alma Black is one such read. I’d planned to read it next week, yet my Kindle had a bit of a mental breakdown last night. All of my advance reads disappeared, nothing was syncing. Finally, when things started to appear again, nothing was in order. With an exceptionally long list of books trying to reappear on my Kindle, I decided to leave the process alone instead of interfering with it. Things would come back as they would. Whilst this was happening, though, I wanted something to read. Thus, I found one of the books that had reappeared. Despite being a few books down my to-read list, Alma Black’s book was one of the lucky ones to have re-downloaded with ease. Thus, I decided to give it a go. Whilst waiting for everything to reappear I could read one of my other advance reads.

I’d been excited about this one since Alma Black (link is to her website) contacted me. I was growing impatient with myself, as it was taking me longer to reach the book than I had hoped. The wait was worth it, though, as I had so much fun with this one. It’s short and sweet, allowing you to complete it in no time at all, and it leaves you wanting more from the series.

This book has the general feel of other paranormal romance reads, whilst having enough to make it unique. A shifter romance involving the use of a dating app was something new to me, and I enjoyed it so much. From the first page we’re pulled into the shifter world, giving us a glimpse into the lion pack. There are so many different kinds of shifter to choose from, and I really hope the series gives us more and more. Honestly, this one was so fun that I’ll gladly read any kind of shifter romance set around this premise. There’s such promise of where future books can go, so much opened up, and I cannot wait to see where things head.

In terms of the actual story, I felt as though things were a bit too fast for my liking. I enjoyed when books have a lot of action, and this book certainly had that. However, I feel as though the romance didn’t have much by way of build-up. I’m a big lover of build-up, and it felt as though the characters simply went through a checklist of emotions they were supposed to feel. It was fun to watch the way in which things developed – I adored the storyline and the way things played out – but I was left wanting a little bit more in terms of watching the emotional scenes between the characters. It wasn’t lacking, per se, but it could have had a bit more.

As I’ve previously stated, though, the book does leave promise for the series. Whilst we’re given an insight into the shifter world, we actually know very little. We know enough to understand the story, we know enough to understand the characters, and yet we don’t completely understand the world. We’re introduced to the bad guys – those who do not want shifters and humans together – but we don’t know as much about them as we could. Not that this is a bad thing, far from it. Such a thing has left me interested in seeing how they develop in the future books, curious as to what will happen next.

Overall, it was a roaring read. I’m more than a little bit excited about what comes next. If you’re a fan of paranormal romance, I certainly recommend picking this one up – it’s a great addition to the genre.

As a final note, I would like to thank the author for contacting me for a review. I had so much fun with this one!

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