Rabbit Trails

Sweet Briar Farm #1

by Hollis Shiloh

Logan is a lonely, nervous rabbit shifter — until he meets teasing, gentle Gabe. He's so drawn to Gabe that he's frightened about what that means for him. Gabe might be funny and sweet, but he's also friends with wolves, and he has his own sadness beneath the goofy surface. Can they make a relationship work? Do they even dare try?

31,000+ words
sweet gay romance
set in the same world as the "Shifters and Partners" series but can be read alone

Genres: Shapeshifters, Romance, M M Romance, M M Shapeshifters

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2015

Reviews

[namericanwordcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great couple from Hollis Shiloh. Wonderful character driven love story between a bunny shifer and a human private detective.

Both heros carry sorrow. I love that Logan is so strong and works hard while being afraid and strung out in a world that wasn't meant for him.

Shiloh also builds a world and deals with rabbit shifter culture around LGBTQ people, grief, and poverty really will.

The love story with Gabe is nice journey of becoming equal partners and creating a warm and safe place between them. Both Gabe and Logan are better together.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Hollis Shiloh's little books, I've read most of them. Not a lot really happens, they usually involve a couple of cute guys, one shy and the other confident and protective, and there are always plenty of cuddles and lots of meaningful loving discussions, but they always cheer me up and leave me with smile on my face.

[Tailtiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[Deirdre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run! A Sweet Bunny Tale

I learned so much about the "true" nature of Rabbit shifters in a very entertaining format. I am sure there will be some readers who will not like this story at all. It is definitely not a He-Man or action packed or violence laced story. It is the story of a scared Bunny shifter's attempt to run away from anything that frightens him. And since practically everything frightens him, he is miserable and lonely.

Timidity is both reactive and proactive. You react in a scared manner to something frightening and you keep from putting yourself in situations that you believe will bring out your automatic timid response. You end up living a scared sheltered existence, especially when being gay in a homophobic serious pro procreation Rabbit society leads to him being exiled from his home. The isolation and fear leads "lone" Bunniess who have been cruelly thrown out of their home havens, to behave in very self destructive manners, all in an attempt to make life more tolerable.

Our Rabbit MC nearly loses out on a chance for love because his life is ruled by fear. The last thing he expected was to have a mate in the form of a large carnivorous predatory beast. How he manages to get past his reflexive cowardice and immediate reaction to run & hid is central to the this story. Another poignant theme is the importance of friendship.

If you like corny Rabbit nicknames, gentle loving teasing and a mate prepared to do whatever is necessary to follow his heart and spoil his beloved, you may just very well enjoy the first in this enchanting series. I can't wait to read the next book in this series. This super duper sweet anxiety filled tale captured my heart.

If you know of any similar m/m stories, please let me know the title and author in the Comment Section. One book I can recommend to you is by Susan Laine entitled WOLFE AND HIS BUNNY (PARIAH PACK #1). Happy Reading

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Closer to a 2.5. I really really wanted to love this. I loved the concept, and just wanted a cute thing to read on Easter. While this did satisfy that to a degree, I mean bunny shifters are the cutest thing ever, I also found it a little disappointing. The writing seemed a little unpolished, especially a lot of repetitiveness going on. I would have much rather the author SHOWED us how Logan felt more than constantly telling us over and over again. Those scenes I loved best. I found the constant explaining rather distracting. I felt like there wasn't enough plot to carry it, and it started to feel draggy. Cutting the repetitiveness would have helped I think. More than that though I rather disliked how everyone was telling Logan "You're job is too dangerous." And how Gabe just seemed to kind of... cut all interactions with his wolf shifter friends just because they frightened Logan. I would have liked to see Logan make attempts to overcome his intense and constant fear. I felt like the cutting all ties with wolves and staying on the farm was a band aid, but didn't solve his deeper issues. Even if it was chalked up to a DNA issue, it didn't really seem right to me. There seemed to be a lot of unresolved issues to my mind, that made the HEA ending seem a bit shallow.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a number of great things about the story: seeing a new, soft side to Sahil from the Shifters and Partners series, the wonderful way the author integrated the characteristics of a rabbit into the human form of the shifters, and the many and hilarious rabbity nicknames that Gabe comes up with for Logan. On the other hand it's almost a little too sweet. It's a story without any real dramatic tension, zero angst, and lots of happiness. The relationship between Logan and Gabe is pretty much love at first sight, which is kind of part of the package for shifters but a little harder sell for human Gabe. It also felt a little long although it was a shortish book--the end of many chapters felt like we might be wrapping up with a "and they lived happily ever after" only to have the narrative continue. While I guess it could be read alone, I think that it would make a lot more sense to someone like me who has read the Shifters and Partners series to have the backstory on the program and Sahil. I will definitely be reading the next in the series; I think it's an interesting spin-off of the parent series with a lot of possibilities to feature other prey-type shifters.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this sweet shifter book. The heat and the drama were low, which made this an excellent comfort read.

I liked how the author built on the shifter mythology, explaining how prey shifters feel and what motivates them.

I was pleased by the note at the end that indicated there will be more stories about prey shifters in this universe at Sweet Briar Farm.

The character that intrigued me most was the autistic rabbit, though I doubt we will get his story since he is straight. My second choice for a follow up story would be the antisocial skunk...which is a sentence I never imagined writing! LOL

So, in conclusion, Hollis Shiloh remains one of my favorite comfort-read authors. At the conclusion of her books I am always left feeling warm and happy. This one was just such a book!

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute bunny finding love

Most shifter books focus on predators this was a lovely change to read about prey animals.
Logan is a rabbit shifter and scared of predators and confrontation, on being invited to a get together by a friend he meets a human Gabe and although skittish feels a flare of attraction. After being frightened he flees but meets Gabe delivering a package.
A relationship builds and a sweet story is given. I'm moving onto book 2 straight away.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book and "Some Reservations" were certainly less ambitious than previous installments. "Rabbit Trails" seemed especially rushed and unsatisfying to me. The most exciting episode here was a lost dog. I also could not really relate to a rabbit shifter as well as a wolf or fox or tiger shifter. I do enjoy this universe though so I will keep reading and hoping.

[jules0623 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Badly written, no chemistry, awful dialogue.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Debfirpo · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so very sweet. I've never read a bunny shifter but this was a really great story. I'm looking forward to more of sweet briar farm.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cute read..entertaining

[Janeylou · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Erebia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit repetitive, but very cute.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars


Cute story