Werewolves such as Elijah Reynolds from Sylvia Day’s Renegade Angels series and Jacob Black from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga have long intrigued paranormal romance readers, but what about the non-wolf shifters?
Who are they and what is their preferred shifting form? Do they stay within their packs, or do they find love with other forms of shifters? Are they at war with other shifters or work together? Take a look at the list we have complied of all the must-read creatures that howl, hunt and creep in the night.
Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, set in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, has Alcide Herveaux, werewolf pack leader, but also includes many non-wolf shifters. Merlotte's owner, Sam Merlotte, is a shapeshifter. Unlike most shifters, which can change into a specific type of animal, Sam can change into any animal he comes in contact with or views a picture of, although his favorite shifting form is a collie dog. Calvin Norris is the leader of Hotshot's pack of werepanthers. People can become werepanthers by being bitten by one, which is why Jason Stackhouse changes into a werepanther every full moon. John Quinn is a full-blooded weretiger, one of the last few of his kind.
Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels series follows Kate as she makes a living cleaning up the mess left behind by magic and its various iterations. Her world is filled with shapeshifters led be the werelion Beast Lord Curran. There are many types of shapeshifters under Curran's rule; Clan Rat, comprised of spies, scouts, and deadly assassins and the second largest in Atlanta's shapeshifter population; Clan Cat, whose members are lethal and cruel; and Clans of Hyenas, Cats, Jackals, and “Nimbles” and “Heavys”—Nimbles shift into small beast forms, including mink, stoat, wolverine, fox, etc. and Heavys shift into bears, boars, moose, badgers, etc.
Then there are dragon shapeshifters. G.A. Aiken’s Dragon Kin series introduces us to Fearghus, a man who becomes a large, scaly, and deadly type of dragon. Thea Harrison’s Elder Race series features dragon shapeshifter Dragos Cuelebre, one of the Wyr, a group of powerful, ancient shapeshifters.
In addition to the traditional werewolves, Shelly Laurenston's humorous Pride series includes the romances of two different lion shifters and a werebear.
Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson is a walker, who can shift into a coyote, while Rachel Vincent’s Shifter series follows Faythe Sanders, a werecat.
Which non-wolf shifters are your favorite?
Sage Spelling writes book reviews for her blog http://sagespellingsbookshelf.blogspot.com/ She is a compulsive reader, writer and a happily ever after kind of girl. Follow her on Facebook: Sage Spelling and Twitter: @SSpellingAuthor
