A forbidden love that neither can ignoreKicked out by his mother, Harris—college freshman and impala shifter—goes to live with his aunt in Morningwood, a town unlike any other. Morningwood is home to a menagerie of shifters from the wolves and lions of Predator Point, to the fun-loving cows and horses in Barnyard Court, and everything else Harris could possibly imagine. In the normie world, …
In the normie world, Harris had to hide who he was, but in Morningwood, they celebrate their animal differences. He’s excited to start his new life, and first on the list is continuing his education at the only university in town.
Morningwood is also home to Andrew Boothe, alpha puma shifter, teacher and dean of Morningwood University. From first sight, sparks fly between Harris and Andrew. They know they must deny their attraction but their inner beasts will not be ignored. No matter how forbidden, love finds a way.
Gingerbred Lessons is the first book in the Welcome to Morningwood Omegaverse series. It features a first time, age gap romance that may not jingle everyone’s bells.
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4.5 stars.
For a first in a series, I am fairly impressed with GingerBRED Lessons. Yes, my spellcheck gives me hassles when I type it out, but it wasn’t until I finished reading this book did I realize my eyes had misread the title all along. (Bad pun!!) Another thing that amazed me was how well-written it was for just 148 pages! I don’t expect novel-worthy material tied up in a novella-length book. And I wasn’t spending my time checking to see how much more I had until the end.
I’m not much into “academy” stories because I have to endure cliques. I hate cliques, having gone to a private parochial school until college. College was the beginning of a new freedom I had a chance to experience in which I WAS an adult! Not a child. I liked that aspect about Gingerbred Games because of that (despite how Harris’ mom saw it). There is a huge change between high school and college that mentally happens… or should mentally happen. So I appreciate the fact that Kiki Burrelli focuses on that aspect as it saves me from having to deal with a subgenre I’m not terribly interested in. Harris is an adult. In fact, he’s had to be an adult for so many years due to the less-than-motherly supervision by his biological mother. Hell, his Aunt Hallie did a far better job as a responsible parental type in Harris’ life!
As for Andrew, Harris’ love and dean of the Morningwood University, I do appreciate his points of view on how treacherous his and Harris’ paths were once they started their relationship. Sure, a lot of this book was head games with a ton of mental consideration of what was going on, but isn’t that was this book is all about? Learning how to be an adult? Learning how to have a responsible friendship? How to be a good partner in a relationship? I could see how easily it would had been for Ms. Burrelli could have taken the safe and easy route by using a handful of overused subplot templates, but she didn’t. That kept me reading as I wanted to enjoy a good story, not something someone slammed together just to meet a deadline.
I liked exploring a well-hidden world of shifters — LOTS of shifters! — including herbivores like impalas (Harris and Hallie), pumas (Andrew), horses (Dusty and his family), Maddox (tiger), even Sophie and her family (the resident tarantulas!) So many species to consider!! Talk about diversity! It was so much fun to enjoy the effort Ms. Burrelli put into her world-building. I was about to say I can’t wait for her next book to come out, only to discover that there are eight more books to read! I only hope they are as good as this one.
These two are really meant for each other and it was so sad to see them torn apart by fear and a crazy mom. I so glad to see how Harris grows and learns to stand up for himself. I also like the integrity that Andrew shows that even coming back he makes sure that things don’t have a shadow over them.
Highly recommended.
Harris Bovidae got kicked out by his mother because her human husband doesn’t know about shifters. Luckily he has an aunt to go live with in a town full of shifters, named Morningwood. In this new town, his true nature is encouraged and he will be attending classes st the university in town. The university where the Dean, Andrew Boothe, turns out to be a tempting, forbidden Alpha that Omega Harris cant seem to ignore. Can their may/December, predator/prey love find a way?
Sweet, sexy, hilarious and just a touch of angst/drama. In true Kiki Burrelli fashion, this book will make you laugh and smile… and crave more of the series.
Gingerbred Lessons is book one of Kiki Burrelli’s new Welcome to Morningwood Omegaverse Romance series.