I’m Just A Small Town Shifter 2 by GS D’Moore Review
Hey, you crazy cats and kittens. Step into the spear line with me as we talk about the most recent #HaremLit book that I’ve read! This book was a lot of fun, it literally made me laugh several times. With all of the craziness in the world, I think we could all use the relief. I am a new convert to this genre, but alas… I can only afford two new books a month. I shall have to slow down on these, but I am not abandoning this space! Seriously, I love this genre and can’t wait to grow my knowledge and exposure within this space. So, join me on this crazy adventure and dive into the deep end of crazy with me, Lance Spears!
Book Title: I’m Just A Small-Town Shifter 2
Author: G. S. D’Moore
Narrator: Evan Jordan & Sierra Taft
Audiobook Publisher: Podium Publishing
eBook Price: $4.99 USD
Audiobook Price: $29.66 USD or one Audible Credit
eBook & Audiobook Price: $12.48 USD
Pages: 440 Pages
Audiobook Length: 12 Hours 2 Minutes
Keywords: Shifter, Paranormal Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fairy Tale Fantasy, Werewolf, Bear Shifter, Action, Adventure
Summary:
A lot has changed for Kirk Jensen. He wasn’t the slightly fat, fast-food-slinging, new guy anymore. His whole existence changed that night he was attacked by a bear, and joined the ranks of Kodiak Island’s shifter community. He even managed to land his dream job on the island’s police force. But Kirk is so much more than just another werewolf shifter. He’s an alpha bear, the most powerful shifter on the island, and wanted by both of the dueling packs as an ally to settle their centuries-long feud.
In his first week as a shifter, he was nearly killed and had to track down those responsible for attacking both packs. Attacks that would have revealed the existence of shifters to the human world. He succeeded, managed to stop a war between the packs, and earned the respect of everyone around him. Not a bad first week for a rookie.
Too bad within a few hours of being released from the hospital, someone tried to kill him . . . again. The fragile peace he was able to forge between the packs is already fraying, and in all the chaos, other supernatural players are coming out of the shadows. If that wasn’t enough, the pair of werewolf women vying for his attention are getting feisty, and others are circling. It looks like it will take nothing less than an alpha bear to keep the island safe, and Kirk is just the shifter for the job.
I figured that since G.S. D’Moore did such a good job on his summary, I would copy and paste it. I think it was spot on, but left you enough room to discover the world as you read. What I liked about it was that it captured the tone of the author’s voice. He also showed the continued escalation of the shifter situation in Kodiak Island, Alaska. Definitely makes me want to move there and hunt shifters so they can turn me, too!
Characters:
First, this was a harem series, so there were a lot of important characters. However, this was told from one point of view, Kirk Jensen. He’s the male lead of this world and was your Joe Every Man made good. Total wish fulfillment, but I really loved these cats and kittens. All of these characters were well-written and fleshed out. They felt real to me as if I could have a beer with them at the local pub. Which is ironic, given where Kirk’s first job was. Like the last few books that I read in this genre, this was a laid-back story. I loved that the author focused on fun and adventure without needless navel-gazing. Hats off to G.S. D’Moore for his execution; he killed it with these characters!
Kirk Jensen: He’s an orphan with dreams of a career in law enforcement. With a new degree in criminal justice, he moved to a small town in Alaska. He knew that small towns, like the one on Kodiak Island, had openings in law enforcement. At least, he hoped that they did because he went all in with his move. When he gets there, he chases his dream by working at a greasy spoon restaurant as a cook until he can test for the one opening that was coming with one of the local cops’ retirement. From a personality perspective, he is a steady, loyal guy. He’s your average guy, at least until things change when he becomes a shifter. During this novel, we watch as he grows into his uniform and his dynamic as the alpha of his own pack. Well, that pack is small… just his mates, but it’s a start.
Brianna Ahnah: She’s a member of the Ahnah Innuit Werewolf Pack. Her father is the alpha, and she is his only daughter. Her pack is a collection of various indigenous werewolf shifters, but she’s an Arctic wolf herself. Her people run the logging industry on Kodiak Island. She’s petite, maybe 5’3” tall and lithe in stature. Her hair is white, like the fur of her Arctic wolf. From a personality standpoint, she is a calming force and more of the laid-back homebody type. During this novel arc, she learns to put her new pack ahead of her petty rivalry with Serena. Her character growth was fun, and she seemed to blossom under the care of her mate and new alpha.
Serena McCoy: She’s a member of the McCoy Werewolf Pack. Her father is the alpha and came to Kodiak Island in the early 1900s. The pack is a collection of Dire Wolf shifters who run the Kodiak Island fishing companies. She’s a busty ginger with a personality to match the fiery mane. While Brianna is demure, Serena is a tempest of raw sexuality. She’s almost as tall as Kirk and seems very outgoing. During her arc in the second novel, we see her grow into the kind of mate an alpha shifter needs, growing past her party girl phase into true maturity.
June Callahan: She’s a member of the McCoy Werewolf Pack. Her father is Sergeant Callahan, one of the police officers in the Kodiak Police Department who is training Kirk Jensen. We find out that, while still in high school, she’s above the age of consent. She’d been held back a year as she mourned her mother’s death and was in her last year at the high school. Further, we explore her character as she subtly peruses Kirk and is then accused of selling the new illicit narcotic floating around the island.
Plot and Pacing:
This story was plotted to perfection by GS D’Moore. I believed in the character’s transition from human to shifter. And then from shifter to alpha, which was his journey during this novel. It was expertly done and not some rush job to get to the harem parts. Instead, we had several of Kirk becoming the skilled cop he was destined to be. Though I love shifters and werewolves… so my buy-in was easy. I was ready to suspend my disbelief… cause shifters are awesome! It helped that the author made it an easy and enjoyable ride through his coming-of-age adventure.
I truly enjoyed the police procedural parts of this literary journey. We got to watch our favorite bear shifter become a seasoned professional, though with plenty of room to grow. We even watched him learn to run his own pack, becoming the alpha he was destined to become. That growth was one of the central parts of the plot of this novel, so I hope the book three payoff is there.
As far as pacing was concerned, the adventure wasn’t all at once, rushing through the plot to get to the smut. Instead, the author built up to the crescendo, allowing the harem romance to ride second fiddle to a shifter tale. We continued to explore the universe through Kirk’s eyes, but this time, we also got to spend more time with his mates. Those ladies were a lot of fun, especially when they butted heads. I liked that those two weren’t the same character in a different body because their tension kept you on the edge of your seats. The author kept the story flowing smoothly from beat to beat, using the increased romantic tension to fill the lulls so the reader could catch their breath. Again, an awesome showing by D’Moore.
Audiobook Quality:
The audiobook was professionally made by Podium Publishing. The narrators they hired were good, and they kept my attention. There were more obvious inserted corrections where the volumes didn’t match. Even though there were more of them, it still didn’t stop me from enjoying the audiobook. After listening to Evan Jordan or Sierra Taft again, I was impressed. Despite the technical glitches, their vocals were on point. The two worked well together, and I’m becoming more and more of a fan of the two narrator pairings.
Sizzle Factor:
There were more sex scenes in this novel, a dual blowie from Kirk’s ladies and one glorious ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’ scene for each of his mates. These scenes were well written and allowed us to visualize things like a smutty movie in our head. That sex was very much normie vanilla, but it was good. Seriously, these scenes were extra steamy… with enough spice to break your measuring stick.
Overall:
Okay, let’s dive into this book! This was my third harem novel, so I don’t have a lot to compare this to. That said, I really enjoyed what was here. The story was a lot of fun, it was well-written, and the audiobooks were well-performed. On the writing side, G.S. D’Moore has a mastery of the craft that was a pleasure to read and listen to. It was a joy to read, and I plan on checking out more of his books. I’ve already bought the ebook for the next in this series… I was too impatient to wait for the audiobook to come out.
The author communicated with conversational prose, which I’m a huge fan of. This book was a bubble gum summer read for me, something that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I love that. I searched it out in my current reading binges. However, the world-building was so expertly crafted that I wanted to live there too. I wanted to move to Kodiak Island and join the pack so I could get the chics. But that’s the fun of this genre; it is 100% wish fulfillment, and I’m here for it! Seriously, uber fan here.
Next, we’ll talk about the action scenes! If my Veteran Radar still works, I’d put money on D’Moore having worn the uniform in dangerous places. I recognize it because I’ve been there, too. He’s captured the tension of violent and chaotic scenes without losing the cool factor. Even better, it was written in such a way that even non-vets could figure out what he was talking about. The author didn’t dwell on ballistics or the self-important gun porn that some of my fellow Vet Bros love to wallow in. I like those too, don’t get me wrong, but in this genre, I just want something fun and lighthearted. Well, not so much that we skip the action… but I know you’re a smart reader, too. You’re picking up what I’m putting down! Tracking like a VCR, as they used to say.
Given all of that, it’s no wonder that his law enforcement character, Kirk Jensen, was so well written. His sergeant, another shifter, was as well. And even the ex-Marine Police Sergeant Callahan rang true from my own experiences. His other characters were also all believable, and I wanted to hang out with them in real life. This is how I judge the people books where I temporarily make my home, whether I want to go there and meet these folks.
The sex was written with just enough sizzle to seduce you into buying the next book. We’ve covered that above, so I won’t dwell on it… I’ll leave that for you to read in your bunk! Seriously, there could be ladies present and reading over our shoulders!
Moving on to the lore side of the house! With this series, I have enough knowledge of werewolf and shifter lore that I could follow along. I loved the subtle changes I’d never seen before. For example, only an alpha can allow a member of their pack to shift into their animal form. I also liked that there were multiple types of shifters, though we only see bears and wolves in this series so far. Now, I want to know if there are other forms of shifters because this is getting to be a fun world to play in. Another aspect of the lore that this book gave us was the existence of witches and magic, which was a fun rabbit trail for the author to follow. It amused me that, in a world where humans could shift into animals, they questioned whether witches and magic were real.
In a nutshell, this book was amazing and hooked me into buying the next book in this series. I hope it goes longer than a trilogy, but I’m here for it if it does! You’ll want to buy them all too, you won’t regret it!