New York isn’t always the best place to hide… especially for a shifter. But with a little luck and a nudge from Fate, it can be the best place to find love.
I am thrilled to announce that my Shifter In New York Collection has left the nest and is now out in the wild! Similar to my Goddesses In Love Collection, this book holds novella-length stories that are tied together by a common thread. What I thought would be fun for this announcement post is to give you some background on this story and how my mind works… which can be interesting to say the least. For those of you who know me, you get it already and love me for it anyway.
So, for this set of stories, we need to go all the way back to the beginning. To my first book which, for all intents and purposes, was going to be my only book. You see, my plan was only ever to write one. For as long as I can remember I’ve thought about writing a novel, and when I was diagnosed with Cancer I knew it was now (then) or never. Fast forward almost 14 years later, I’m still here… and I’m still writing, which is a whole other story in itself.
My debut, Sea Of Dreams, ended up being part of a 4-book fantasy romance series, a prequel, and a novelette (which has finally been put into print in this collection). What it also did was seed new ideas which were brought forward in this book for you to enjoy. While I love working on my Greek Mythology retellings, I really missed writing werewolves. There is just something about them… perhaps it is the thing I have for anti-heroes? The fact that they can kick some serious butt and go all gooey around their chosen partner? Not sure, but here we are. Anyway… as I was saying, seeds…
In Chapter 6 of Sea Of Dreams, there is a reference on page 47 of the paperback to a “fictional” book my character, Brooke, is reading. The hero, Will, makes a comment about the title and contents of her guilty pleasure, and that exchange stayed with me all these years. So much so that I wrote and released the fictional book she was reading back in 2023 as part of an anthology, which is no longer available. The anthology came along at a time when I needed some inspiration, and it gave me a project to work on that was smaller in scale. The rules for the anthology were simple: keep it around 12,000 words and include a mysterious set of panties.
If you have read my series, you know that some of my characters love shopping for lingerie, so my mind immediately jumped to the exchanges some of them had in the books. I knew the connection was there somewhere, that the portals in their world could easily connect to ours, and that the shifters in the series oftentimes traveled back and forth from our worlds to theirs. That was when it came to me… or I should say, she.
My character, Zilla, is a corset-wearing feline shifter with a wine habit so I started to think about how the worlds would connect between a magickal immortal cat and New York urban weres. She made her way into my contribution to the Anthology without a formal conversation. She just showed up, as she often does, and waited for me to write her into the scene. Her cameo in Wolf Of My Heart was only the beginning. The fictional-turned-real story from Sea Of Dreams had stuck with me, and in turn, so did Sam and Natasha’s story. It was only a matter of time before I decided Sam’s brother needed a story as well. Zilla had no problem inserting herself into that one as well.
I had always wanted to write a Holiday book/story, and A Shifter For Solstice fits the bill. Since the characters in the first story were (spoiler alert) getting married, I thought that was the perfect opportunity to partner him up with (another spoiler alert) Tasha’s BFF. That did cause me to go back and add a couple scenes into the first story, so anyone (out of the handful of folks who downloaded it) who happened to read it the first time, please note that there are some additions that deepen the characters a smidge.
The shorter content is both fun and challenging, especially for romance, since you need to not only tell a complete story, but simultaneously have two people meet and fall in love. Challenges aside, I loved writing Brent and Alice’s story, and especially had a great deal of fun with the Fake Fiance Trope. The changes I mentioned before in Book 1 provided a little more depth for all four main characters, and the attraction between Alice and Brent was off the charts from the start. When you read it you’ll see why…
It is strange to me to think that the first story in this book was created to represent a fictional book I referenced in the very first book I ever wrote, which was (as of today’s count) 13 books ago. Even stranger is that I am writing about experiences in a place I traveled to over 6 years ago, and it feels as though I just went yesterday.
It’s surreal how some stories stick with us. Burrow in deep and grab hold of something that we don’t quite understand but which becomes clear with time. As a writer, I’m still figuring it all out, but I know one thing… I am so glad to have met Sam and his brother Brent. I didn’t realize just how much I had missed writing shifters until I wrote them into life. What concerns me is that Zilla still lingers, watching me from the corner of my mind as if waiting to pounce. She isn’t done with me, I would bet money on it, and now that I’ve written Tasha and Alice and gotten them back to Wisteria, my guess is they aren’t done with me either.
If you like bookworms, magick, marshmallow alphas, lingerie-wearing elves, and shorter reads, be sure to mark it “Want To Read” on Goodreads or give me a follow! You can find my links as follows:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/dahenneman
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-a-henneman
or follow me on socials! https://dahenneman.com/welcome/how-about-a-follow/
Books in the Collection include:
Can true love find those who don’t want to be found? For a romance-writing werewolf, the answer just might be yes.
After a full moon and another blackout, a werewolf finds a mysterious pair of panties in his bed. Curious about their origin, they lead him to a New York lingerie store run by a curvy elf. Now the confirmed bachelor is in real trouble.
A reluctant alpha starts a new chapter at his older brother’s wedding… but will his fated mate be on the same page?
A one-night stand turns into more when a werewolf learns the sexy bookworm he had in his arms is the Maid of Honor in his brother’s wedding—the same brother who turned his back on the pack, left him in charge, and hasn’t shared his true identity with anyone.
From the look on her face when he entered the rehearsal dinner, what his brother had time to share was the fact that he was engaged. Now, his fated mate wants nothing to do with him.
Desperate to find the source of his power before it falls into enemy hands, a powerful Jinni must accept help from a widow, whose caution might eclipse even his. Will they discover that trust in each other is the biggest risk of all?
Find out where the story began!
For anyone interested in checking out any of my other stories, my universal book links will take you anywhere you would like to go! In the meantime, happy reading and Embrace the Journey!
As always, thank you for joining me on mine. XO
D.A. Henneman - Romance Author 
You must be logged in to post a comment.