A touch of Winter by L.K. Shear

She thought her mom’s shifter blood had passed her by. Tossed into the deep end of a mystical realm, will she survive the hot and heavy glamour?

Mara Reynolds is nauseous with anxiety. With her plans to skip college destroyed by a pair of strangers claiming that she’s destined to manifest remarkable abilities, the curious nineteen-year-old agrees to attend a magical school. And overwhelmed by the unknown, the artistic young woman is startled by the tingles of attraction flying between her and the handsome leaders of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Digging deeper into the truth of her place in this world, Mara is thrown off balance as all four princes unleash a seductive campaign to earn her kisses. But as she starts to get a grip on their complicated society, a dream reveals that she’s about to become tangled up with a curse, a prophecy, and a quartet of fated mates.

With everyoneplaying a game for her heart, can she defeat destiny and make her own rules?

My Review

A Touch of Winter by L.K. Shear

I appreciated the author’s content warning at the beginning of the book, as this story contains explicit, dark, and mature themes and it does not ease you into them.

Nora is married to a vampire and is restricted to the grounds of the academy. Her husband, Lawrence who is also her teacher protects her from the scions that attack the academy. Nora is an elf and receives a prophecy, though at this stage the story doesn’t fully focus on it; it feels more like groundwork for what’s to come.

Mara, our main character, is attending Wyldthorn Academy. She’s a scion, though what that truly entails remains a bit unclear. Almost immediately, she meets the seasonal princes and yes, they are all designed to make you swoon.

We also get multiple male POVs, which can be a bit challenging to keep straight at first. Tiernan, Dominic, Dorian, and Forrest are all princes, all very different, and all represent different paranormal beings from fae to incubus. There’s an established bond between Dorian and Dominic, and the story quickly leans into explicit M/M content that is openly described. The spice level ramps up fast.

Mara herself is a shifter, which genuinely surprised me, and I did enjoy that reveal. The men place a bet involving her, fight among themselves, yet also seem perfectly willing to share setting the tone firmly in reverse harem territory. While some interactions are intense and steamy, character development is fairly light, leaving several unanswered questions. I did appreciate that Mara is curvy, which felt refreshing.

One of the more interesting elements was how the lore around fated mates is revealed through physical connection, particularly kissing. I didn’t fully catch this detail until the moment her first fated mate is revealed, which was a nice touch. I also enjoyed that this isn’t a typical shifter story; instead, we get a mix of supernatural beings and powers.

There is a Twilight reference that gets the point across, though I felt a more original description would have worked better. If you’re expecting emotional maturity, this may not be the book for you all of the characters, including the princes, read firmly as new adult. The book ends on an intimate note, setting up the search for additional fated mates.

Overall, I liked learning about Mara’s paranormal nature and being dropped headfirst into this supernatural academy, even without a lot of explanation that mystery can be part of the fun. While the characters skew immature and the prophecy is complicated, the shifter elements are intriguing enough that I’m interested in continuing the series. That said, my interest leans more toward the smutty reverse harem aspect than the paranormal action or seasonal themes, which weren’t heavily present in this installment.

If you would like to read A Touch of Winter by L.K. Shear you can find this book on Amazon. As an Amazon Assocaite I earn on qualifying purchases.

If you like this book you may also enjoy books with these tags and categories: Reverse Harem, Academy and New Adult.