Rachel Fortier is qualified to deal with all kinds of hostile environments, had considerable experience in the same, and had assumed those two factors had influenced Guy Wolfrum’s decision to hire her. She's excited to land on Harp but on the way there and now that their ship has landed things are not adding up.
When a big cat is caught and caged, and she learns more are to be caught Rachel knows she has to do something because this is not what she signed up for.

Shifter Aidan Devin was on patrol in clan territory when he sees a shuttlecraft landing where it definitely shouldn’t be and then he is captured and put in a cage when Rachel, not knowing he is more than a big cat, helps him escape. Drawn together by an attraction they can’t resist, and desperate to discover a traitor who’s willing to destroy their world and everything in it.

3.5 Stars

** :) ARC kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. :) **

Rachel Fortier is a much sought-after expert when it comes to exotic planets—especially the deadly kind. So when she’s hired by Earth Fleet’s most respected scientist to join a mission to the tightly closed planet Harp, it’s a dream come true. Until she discovers their mission is to capture shifters and sell them to the Military. Shifter Aidan Devlin is on patrol far from his clan when he sees a shuttlecraft landing where it definitely shouldn’t be. As the invaders emerge, he’s surprised to see a lone lovely woman, who doesn’t seem to belong. But when he’s captured and put in a cage, he has no one but her to help him escape.
This was a pretty good book. The story was well paced. I hadn’t read this author before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really liked both Aidan and Rachel. I loved following them through this adventure. I can’t wait to read more from this author. I highly recommend
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

Brilliant! I've been waiting so long for a sequel to the first Shifter Planet book. D.B. Reynolds is an amazing world-builder. She painstakingly crafted this exciting and dangerous world! Her characters are vibrant and the storyline is engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and I'm hoping this is not the last we hear from Shifter Planet!

I really enjoyed this story and hope there will be more to come. I need to lookout for the first book though it wasn't necessary to have read the first one to enjoy this.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommend this book to everyone. Can't wat to read more from this author.

This was dual POV and was really well-written managing to capture my attention right from the start.
Highly recommend this one it really was a great read.

D.B Reynolds has written a very good sci-fi romance. It's full of adventure, action, and romance. Enjoyed it alot.

Having re-read the 1st book . Shifter Planet , recently I was looking forward to this Return -
I was not disappointed .
They story commences a couple of years after the first book , Amanda and Rhodry , are settled into their new life together and are soon to become parents . However one of the Planets secrets is secret no more - two space vehicles have managed to evade Planetary security restrictions and land in the Green undetected .
On board one of the craft is zeno-biologist , Rachel , an unwitting player in the plans of the invaders - to capture
several shifters for experimentation by their masters .
Aiden , a cousin of Rhodry , has been captured in his cat form and placed in a cage on broad the craft - where Rachel , overhears of the planned torture and experimentation . On freeing him , she discovers that the cat she has rescued is also a man . They take to the Green determined to alert the Planets leaders , at least that is Aiden's prime directive , but Rachel is determined to travel to the second craft and confront the man behind the betrayal of the Planet's secret .
Thiers is a survival trek across the swamp , where Aiden and Rachel will pit their whit's together against the Green's deadliest creatures . Their relationship develops as they watch each others backs , Aiden finally realising that Rachel is perfectly capable of looking after herself .
The invaders willingness to commit any atrocity to get their desired results means that the Planet's inhabitants fight for success becomes paramount - their secrets must remain just that - secret .

This was a great book and leaves us with probability of future books on the Shifter Planet in the future - which I will surely read .

I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Return is book 2 in the Shifter Planet series and it was an ok read for me. First it's been years since I read book 1 and after going back to read my review I realized I didn't love that one either. While I love the world the author was trying to create I felt there was a lot of unnecessary repetition and so much of the story was spent within the swamp and Green that honestly I was bored and kept putting down the book. Aidan and Rachel were enjoyable together and typical of a couple I would expect from this author. Although I enjoyed the time they were together I did feel the romance part of their relationship was lacking. While I didn't love this one, as with any book by this author I have no doubt I will continue this series.

I just really enjoyed this book. It was just really easy to get lost in this book. I just couldn’t get enough of it and didn’t want it to end. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“As a fan of DB Reynolds, I had high hopes for this [second] book and WOW did this book exceed my expectations. It BLEW my mind with the creativity of her world and character building, the engaging Sci-Fi/futuristic aspects, the intensity of the characters and their dedication to their way of life. Of course the romance was also sizzling hot and the chemistry between … was evident from the start.” This is the first paragraph of my review of the first book in this series and honestly, I could have copied the whole thing. Other than changing the character names, everything I loved about the first book is still evident in the second book.
The second book is set about two years after the first so the main characters from the first book, Amanda and Rhodry, have an established life together on Harp. The Fleet’s science center and the presence of other Earther’s have become part of the norm for the inhabitants of Ciudad Vaquero, the capital and only city on Harp. And the citizens of Harp have definitely taken advantage of learning and applying all the technological advances that have occurred since the original Earth Colony ship’s “catastrophic landing so many centuries ago”.

We met Aidan in the first book. He was the charming, engaging, laughter-filled cousin (and complete opposite) of the brooding, serious and quiet Rhodry. Under his flirtatious and happy-go-lucky attitude, Aidan is just as protective of the Green and equally determined to keep the reasons for their successful adaptation to life on this extremely hostile planet hidden. He, like every other Harper, is aware of how genetically modified beings have historically been treated and how the existence of the shifters on Harp would be seen, and exploited, by the outside world.

Due to its’ lack of natural resources, Harp is not part of any regular trade routes. And because of its’ intrinsically hostile natural environment, it was designated a “restricted planet” so other than the occasional supply runs or the changing of Fleet personnel that man the science center, there are very few shuttles that land on Harp, and none unexpectedly. Therefore, the appearance of a shuttle craft in the middle of the Green is very worrisome to Aidan. As he waits and watches the people who come out of this shuttle, there is one crew member that fascinates him from the moment he sees her.

Rachel is the obvious exception in a crew of what appear to be military types. She is immediately taken with the Green, staring in wonder while observing the planet around her. She catalogs all she sees and is capable of interacting with her environment while not imposing herself on it. In fact, she is the first Earther since Amanda who treats the Green with the respect and wariness it deserves. In contrast, the rest of the crew has no regard for the Green, trekking through and cutting any path they choose, annoyed that they must recut the same path the next day. They appear to have no purpose, except to cover as much terrain as they can before they return to the ship to start over on the same path the next day.

While this book can be read as a standalone, I believe the reader would better understand the world of Harp, the Green and those who protect it if they read this after the first book. No matter what order you read these books you will love them!

I never read the first book of this series and was a little confused at the beginning of this book. However the author gets to explaining and giving relevant background a little later in the book. I’d have to say the book has a slow start and almost lost me. It took me to get through the first 10% before I became more engaged with the story— so hang on if you’re not initially hooked. Overall a solid representation and showing for the genre.

This was well written but the story was just not captivating for me. The travel to the planet was short with just not enough to give you a full understanding, but the characters were well developed and the storyline just seemed to drag for me

Never read this author before and got to say despite one teeny thing I bloody loved this just so much.
So brief background here the year is 4670 and Rachel Fortier a xenobiologist has come to the closed planet Harp on a mission to supposedly study their large cats.
When the team she came with capture a large cat she realises that she has been kept in the dark about there true purpose on this planet.
Rescuing the cat and then setting off alone into the surrounding forest this is where things really start to take off.
Harp is a planet of humans and shifters a closely guarded secret and the exotic cat Rachel set loose is actually Aiden one of the cat-shifters.
Not only that but the forests themselves or greens as they are known are sentient and have a symbiotic relationship with the planets cats.
So this was dual POV and was really well-written managing to capture my attention right from the start.
This was actually book two in the series but I read this as a standalone and it does work, I had no issues whatsoever following along.
The developing relationship between Rachel and Aiden felt so authentic and believable and I really liked the lack of games and found it ever so refreshing.
Character-wise I really liked Rachel she was so self-sufficient, capable and also very brave with a real sense of character.
Add in the fact that she didn't do unneeded drama and actually had a brain she was quite the girl.
Aiden grew on me despite him being a tad chauvinistic initially in both his actions and thoughts.
I did easily forgave him as he was such a cheeky charmer and his good humour and overall sense of fun did appeal to me, he was just so likeable.
I also liked how he started to put stock in Rachels own capabilities in taking care of herself.
This is a survival trek across the swamp where Aiden and Rachel will Pitt their witts together against the greens deadliest creatures.
My one issue here is the ending and epilogue.
I thought that when they finally reveal their feelings at the end here it was a tad anticlimactic.
I also was disappointed that Rachel and Aiden were not in the epilogue.
Despite that the rest I adored, this was so much better than what I was expecting and I will definitely be checking out the first book in this series.
I'm giving this the whole five stars as despite the unsatisfying epilogue and finale this was still such a compelling and enjoyable read with such impressive detail and worldbuilding and I really did enjoy it massively.
Highly recommend this one it really was a great read.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of Shifter Planet: The Return (Shifter Planet #2).

This was a fun science fiction shifter romance, I really enjoyed the story and the characters in it.

Well I loved it as much as I loved book #2 Shifter Planet. Excellent story line and hopefully there will be more in the Shifter Planet series.

Shifter Planet: The Return written by D.B Reynolds is the continuation of Shifter Planet. I never read the first book in the series, so I was blind as to this world. What interested me the most about this book was it was another PNR!!! What more can I say I love, love paranormal romances.

I enjoyed how the world of Harp comes alive and how the author tries to give the reader as much detail of this world as possible, without making Shifter Planet: Return a copy and past of the first book.

Though, the first couple of chapters we spent in the main character's head before we got any dialogue, which I didn't like at all. Once I made it past the "no dialogue" chapters, it was smooth sailing from there.

It was an okay read, enough entertainment to past the time.

The setting for this series is just so wonderful that regardless of the story, it would have been a solid 3 stars anyway :). Recommended to read the 1st book before this one (well worth it btw) though this one does provide quite a lot of the background behind Harp & it’s uniqueness.

Rachel is thrilled when she is accepted to join a team on what she surmises to be a scientific “observe only” mission to Harp. She’s somewhat taken aback when she meets her team mates during the journey & discovers that she’s the only scientist (funny type of scientific mission?!) & the others all have a definite military demeanor.

Things go from strange to downright horrific when it becomes clear that the agenda is really to capture shifters for nefarious reasons. When a beautiful, huge cat (if a 300 pound animal can be called a cat) is captured and caged in the ship, Rachel admiration of the beautiful creature overshadows any fear she (should have) felt. She frees the cat who seems to understand her *smirk* and sets out, determined to thwart the mission.

Rachel and Aidan make worthy h/h though I prefer Amanda & Rhodry’s character types. Aidan is the suave, charmer type of male. I liked that Rachel is intelligent and capable but I thought a little stubborn/borderline arrogant in her confidence of her own abilities when restraint and deference to Aidan as the native of Harp would have been the wiser.

I actually preferred all the scenes which featured Amanda, Rhodry and their (yet unborn) twins. Can’t wait to read more of them.

D.B. Reynolds has proven yet again why her books are a must read and destined to always remain on my bookshelf. Book one in this series showed the diversity and creativity of this authors writing and that while she is well known for her powerful and commanding Vamps; the shifters of Harp are every bit as Alpha, imposing and brutal in their devotion and commitment to their families and the land they call home.

Shifter Planet: The Return is a gripping and enthralling read, with a depth of mystery and intrigue that is usually only found in thrillers. Deception is at the forefront and danger lurks around every turn; which only makes the story so much more compelling. Ms Reynolds also continues the exceptional world building from book one and highlights the exotic beauty of this untamed planet and its sentient vegetation.

But the real appeal is always the characters, and Aidan and Rachel are front and centre. Rachel is every bit as strong, determined and resourceful as the female characters readers have come to expect from this author, while Aidan is charming, delectable and unapologetically lethal. Together they make a formidable team and as they endeavour to foil the underhanded and malicious objectives of a greedy scientist and save not only Harp’s precious ecosystem, but the future population of this unique and deadly planet, they will also unearth an explosive and combustible passion that can’t be easily denied.

This is definitely not a book to start if you’re not time committed, as it will consume your attention and make putting it down, near impossible. A wonderful cast of secondary characters adds to the magnetism of the story, and some favourites from book one will make guest appearance too. So, while I thoroughly enjoyed Shifter Planet as a foundation and beginning to a brand-new series; Shifter Planet: The Return is absolutely mind-blowing! I’m hoping that the next book isn’t too far in the future.

I loved i t! Rachel is.smart, capable and amazed me with her ability to cope with the terrors she faced on an alien planet. The world building was exceptional. The "Green"was enough to create all sorts of unique situations. The creatures alone were diverse while being nightmare material. The justice administered to Dr. Wulfrum was as shocking as it was just. All in all a most enjoyable read.