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Bull shifters weren't dainty flower-pickin' wood sprites. They broke, punched, and ruined everything they touched. It was in their nature.
Bull shifters on the pro rodeo circuit!
In a world in which shifters are known to the general public, bull shifter rodeo has become a pro sport in which humans attempt to stay on a bucking bull shifter for eight seconds. The hero is named Two Shots Down and he's the bad guy that the audience loves to hate. Other bucking bulls are named First Time Train Wreck, Dead of Winter (everyone just calls him Dead) and Kiss Your Momma Goodbye.
The heroine’s first husband was a human rodeo rider who was ACCIDENTALLY KILLED BY THE HERO, who returns to rodeo to manage the top three shifter bulls - him included. Two Shots Down was so traumatized by this that he initially refuses to even talk to her. She proceeds to yank out the battery connector to his truck to force him to listen to her pitch over lunch.
He ordered a few chicken sandwiches for himself because he'd always felt a bit squeamish about eating beef. Felt like cannibalism, but some bull shifters were fine with it. That psychopath Dead of Winter ate a medium rare steak dinner every time he placed in the top three and took home money from an event, or so the rumors said.
When they fall for each other, the media pounces and mean headlines proliferate, like
TAKE A LIFE, GET A WIFE
and
DATING YOUR HUSBAND'S MURDERER: WHEN IS TOO SOON?
I've read the first two of Joyce's "Battle of the Bulls" series in two days, and I can confidently say that it's her best since the first two Lumberjack Werebears series. It completely plays to her strengths: a vivid, blue-collar setting that she clearly knows and loves, heroes who are equal parts exaggerated masculinity and hearts of gold, funny gritty heroines, found family camaraderie, and go-for-broke worldbuilding which is bonkers fun within its own self-contained world. If you like your bull shifter rodeo series with lots of details about fans and venues and prize money, this is the series for you.
Two Shots Down (Battle of the Bulls Book 1)
Bull shifters on the pro rodeo circuit!
In a world in which shifters are known to the general public, bull shifter rodeo has become a pro sport in which humans attempt to stay on a bucking bull shifter for eight seconds. The hero is named Two Shots Down and he's the bad guy that the audience loves to hate. Other bucking bulls are named First Time Train Wreck, Dead of Winter (everyone just calls him Dead) and Kiss Your Momma Goodbye.
The heroine’s first husband was a human rodeo rider who was ACCIDENTALLY KILLED BY THE HERO, who returns to rodeo to manage the top three shifter bulls - him included. Two Shots Down was so traumatized by this that he initially refuses to even talk to her. She proceeds to yank out the battery connector to his truck to force him to listen to her pitch over lunch.
He ordered a few chicken sandwiches for himself because he'd always felt a bit squeamish about eating beef. Felt like cannibalism, but some bull shifters were fine with it. That psychopath Dead of Winter ate a medium rare steak dinner every time he placed in the top three and took home money from an event, or so the rumors said.
When they fall for each other, the media pounces and mean headlines proliferate, like
TAKE A LIFE, GET A WIFE
and
DATING YOUR HUSBAND'S MURDERER: WHEN IS TOO SOON?
I've read the first two of Joyce's "Battle of the Bulls" series in two days, and I can confidently say that it's her best since the first two Lumberjack Werebears series. It completely plays to her strengths: a vivid, blue-collar setting that she clearly knows and loves, heroes who are equal parts exaggerated masculinity and hearts of gold, funny gritty heroines, found family camaraderie, and go-for-broke worldbuilding which is bonkers fun within its own self-contained world. If you like your bull shifter rodeo series with lots of details about fans and venues and prize money, this is the series for you.
Two Shots Down (Battle of the Bulls Book 1)
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A question we all need the answer to!
This sounds completely delightful in the best Joycean fashion, and I'm going to buy it immediately.
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Are these ring names or actual names? (First Time Train Wreck is my favorite.)
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(Sadly, he does indeed grow up to be a rodeo worker, and not for instance a dentist or Supreme Court Justice )
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1) Isn't it going to confuse everyone to have Two Shots Down be book one? Why not do First Time Train Wreck for number one, and Two Shots Down for number two? (Or maybe it will just confuse *me*.)
2) bull shifter rodeo has become a pro sport in which humans attempt to stay on a bucking bull shifter for eight seconds -- am I the only one who thought this was leading up to Joyce's first gay romance series? I mean, it seems like a missed opportunity...
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2) Don't hold your breath. She's never even had a supporting gay character as far as I know.
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I think one of the things that makes it so good, beyond playing to Joyce’s particular strengths, is that the shifters are integral to the setting in a way that’s fairly unusual. I mean, there are plenty of shifter romances where the guy’s shifter senses make him superb at his job, but very few where being a shifter IS his job. And bull riding is one of the few (non-blood) sports where humans directly pit themselves against animals.
I’m now trying to think of other animal-based careers where this would work...
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Amazing sentence