Shifter Planet by D.B. Reynolds
Released: October 26, 2016
Paranormal Sci-Fi Romance
Entangled

Reviewed by Mandi

I first saw this book talked about at Dear Author and immediately realized I was in need of a good shifter book. With a sci-fi feel to it, Shifter Planet gave me much enjoyment. It has a very slow start – please remember that if you decide to read it. But it definitely picks up and after a while, I could not put it down.

Set in a futuristic world where humans aka Earthers have gone to space to live, Amanda was born on a ship and loves to discover new planets. She is tough, smart and has a passion inside of her to find new things. Her current mission is to explore the Earth-like planet called Harp. Long ago, humans crash landed on this planet, and Amanda and the others on her ship are very curious to discover how they have survived on this planet.

There were people living on this planet – human colonists who’d had no contact with Earth in almost five hundred years. That meant a specialized First Contact team would be going down there, followed by a full scidence contingent.

The first thing Amanda notices when she lands on Harp, is that she can hear the trees singing. Realizing no one else can, she keeps this secret to herself. The lush forest on this planet seems to hold a special place, but sheis also warned that it is very dangerous and she should not go exploring on her own.

She soon meets the people who live on this planet, and our hero Rhodry. Very alpha, very cocky, Rhodry doesn’t take kindly to the fact that his planet has new visitors. Being a warrior of one of five mountain clans on the planet, he wants them gone before their weapons can destroy his home. Rhodry belongs to the elite guild, a special unit sworn to protect the Green (aka the lush forest). The guild can also communicate with the trees, something Amanda finds very interesting. Obviously, with the title called Shifter Planet, you realize there are shifters on Harp, including our hero. I am going to leave the details of why they shift and who shifts etc… to uncover as you read, as Amanda is in the dark about those specifics and I feel like as the reader, it’s important to go on that journey with her. But I like the background about how the shifters came to be.

Amanda decides to uncover the secrets of Harp, she is going to have to become one of them, and decides to try out to be a Guild member. Obviously the current guild members do not want her to join, and most assume this female will never make it past the tests. After Amanda aces the written exam, she must then go through a final challenge – where she is dropped off at an undisclosed location and must make her way back. This is the meaty portion of the story and the part I could not stop reading. With a ton of action, foul play, and finally a romance that blossoms, this is where Amanda and Rhodry’s personalities shine. Again, I’m not going to give away specifics of what happens here, but it’s really fun. It reminded me a bit of the Kresley Cole Immortals After Dark book where the characters had to go on that challenge – that was always a highlight in that series for me.

The romance is slow to build, but once it gets going, it worked very well for me. Both Amanda and Rhodry are a bit sarcastic and stubborn and butt heads. At one point Rhodry is injured and Amanda has to take control and to watch the power struggle between them is fun.

Stick with it through the slow beginning – it’s worth it! Smexy reviewer, Sheena enjoyed this a lot too.

Grade: B

Goodreads  l Kindle ($.99) l Nook