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Shift

(Mackenzie Grey: Origins – Book 1)

by Karina Espinosa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

NA, Urban Fantasy, Series Complete
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down & Dirty

Similar to other shifter UF’s, this one is still unique enough to hold its own in a field of sameness, producing characters you both love and hate… in equal measure. Entire series is Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

It’s hard enough being an undergraduate student, an intern at Downtown Manhattan’s police station, and a bouncer at a local bar. Add her now ex-boyfriend who recently dumped her for the school’s resident bimbo—oh, and she’s a werewolf.

Mackenzie Grey meets her match when she is kidnapped by the Brooklyn Pack and tossed between Sebastian and Jonah—the Alpha and the Beta. Being a lone-wolf in the city is dangerous, and now that the Pack has found her, so can every supernatural being in the Tri-State area. And not even her sarcastic, smart mouth can get her out of this.

When a string of kidnappings involves Mackenzie in supernatural politics, she questions her new acquaintances and finds unlikely allies. Can she escape Pack law and keep her freedom—or will she be condemned to an unwanted path?

Thoughts on Shift

I really…. really… enjoy a good werewolf novel, but I enjoy werewolf novels that deviate from the norm even more. This is one of those, filled with enough urban fantasy flair and intrigue to keep the pages turning. Our FMC, Mackenzie, isn’t quite as emotionally strong as I’d like, but it suits her, and gives her a platform to grow into the character we are just getting hints of here in book 1.

Pros:

• I like the pack, even with as backwards and sexist as they are.
• Amy. #FriendGoals
• MetaPlot is subtle but worthy.

Cons:

• She can be strikingly immature and so incredibly whiney!
• Love Triangle…. ugh!

Perspective

First Person, Single POV

Ending Type

Episodic

Rating

R

Romantic Dynamic

M/F

Character Age Range

22+

My Final Verdict on Shift

With the complete, action packed, series available on Kindle Unlimited, this is a shoo-in for your TBR queue. It’s different, a bit thought provoking, and features a Female Protagonist who grows throughout the novels… even if she does so reluctantly.

Published February 10th, 2015
294 Pages
 

If you enjoyed this review of Shift, please consider checking out a few of my other articles.

• Their Dark Imaginings by May Dawson – A Book Review
• His Dangerous Ways by May Dawson – A Book Review
• Spectra by Amy Sumida – A Book Review

Your Turn

What are you reading today? Have you read this series yet? What about other books by Karina Espinosa? Leave a comment, I would love to talk!