Still Life with Shape-Shifter (A Shifting Circle Novel)
This gentle drama about two loving sisters, one of whom is a shape-shifter, is less about the extraordinary and more about the everyday. Melanie has always protected her younger half-sister, Ann, who can turn into a white husky, so when investigative reporter Brody Westerbrook comes calling with questions about shape-shifters for his new book, she ignores her attraction to him and sends him away. Keeping Ann’s secret is too important to risk growing close to someone new. But Melanie can only put her life on hold for Ann for so long, and Brody proves too charming and tenacious to resist, especially when Ann, also newly in love, approves of the match. Always worried about her passionate, rambling sister, Melanie is troubled when Ann’s health starts to decline rapidly, signaling an unforeseen problem with the natural lifespan of shape-shifters. Melanie and Ann’s sisterly bond is the heart of this graceful story about love and loss, in which true magic lies in the sacrifices and compromises people make for love. --Krista Hutley