Review: Shifting Pride by Laura Diamond

All month long, bloggers have been celebrating the release of Laura Diamond's newest release, Shifting Pride.


Here's the blurb:
 

Sixteen-year-old Nickie Leone has proof that her missing (presumed dead) father is still alive. Receiving his watch in the mail is the first in a line of clues brining her closer to discovering his whereabouts.

But clues aren’t the only new thing in Nickie’s life. There’s the Memorial Banquet her mother insists she help prepare for … there’s the new kid/hottie, Xavian, and … well, the growth of whiskers and a tail!

Filled with secrets and a new love of tuna fish, Nickie must partner up with Xavian (don’t you know he’s a shapeshifter too?) to rescue her dad before she loses him forever. Oh, and she need to figure out how to be a cat, too.

I loved this book, and I was sad when I read the last words. Diamond has created such an interesting world, complete with complex pack politics and an engaging mystery, and nestled it so neatly within our own. I feel like I could walk out my door and find a new shifter friend, or enemy. What I appreciated most about Shifting Pride is the care Diamond takes in interspersing shifter info and lore into the story, be it with a book Nickie finds or folklore other shifters share with her. Diamond is very thorough in her world-building and it definitely adds to the overall realism of this shifter tale. 

Diamond does a fantastic job keeping the pace snappy. She gives us just enough information without overloading the reader or making her plot predictable. With each new revelation, I was anxious to see how she manipulated the information and was not disappointed. I kept hanging on to each word, each sentence, each paragraph, each page, hoping right along with Nickie that she would soon be reunited with her dad.

Shifting Pride is a must-read for anyone who enjoys an engaging story. Even if one strips away the shifter element, we’re still left with a great book about a daughter who will stop at nothing to bring her missing father home. 

Also to celebrate, Laura's publisher, Etopia Press, is giving away a free download of the prequel novella New Pride.

A shapeshifter without a pride, Richard Leone strikes a tenuous friendship with power hungry, Derek, from an unstable, rogue group.

On a hunt in the forest, they encounter a gorgeous brunette, Molly, partying with friends around a campfire.

Derek tells the rogue pride and they bristle at humans trespassing on their territory. Richard risks life and tail to protect his secret and the humans – especially Molly – while simultaneously trying to win her heart.

When Molly is kidnapped, he faces taking on the rogue pride alone, but quickly finds he has to put his trust in Derek, not only to rescue his new love, but to ensure the rogue pride doesn’t wreak havoc on his new town.

 

About the author:

Laura Diamond is an author of all things Young Adult (YA): paranormal, dystopian, and horror. As a board certified psychiatrist, Diamond knows how people react and pulls out the emotions, not only from the characters but also the reader. She approaches each book differently usually beginning with a single character – envisioning what they look like, how they perceive their world, what challenges they have to navigate, and who’s with them along the way, whether it be a friend or foe.

Diamond likes writing Young Adult (YA) because it’s during a time in life that is rife with challenges and intense emotions. The paranormal interest comes in because Laura has always had an affinity for magical creatures and dark worlds.

When she's not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond --Lucid Dreamer, where she helps writers “shrink-wrap” their characters, and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion. She is also full-time staff member tending for her four cats and a Pembroke Corgi named Katie.