‘Quiet as a Mouse’ contains quite a few of my favorite story elements: a shy man who moves to a new town to escape discovery of his true nature, a love of music in both main characters’ cases, and a seemingly hopeless situation leading to a life-changing decision. And above all – a mouse shifter! How cute is that? I admit that I may be slightly prejudiced since I had mice as pets when I was a kid, but still - mice are fascinating creatures. Having to deal with being a mouse when he shifts can’t be easy for Paul, and the fact that he ends up facing many dangers, including mouse traps, had me eager to find out what was next.

Paul is a book illustrator, so he can work from anywhere. It has allowed him to run rather than face discovery of his shifter nature, and he has more reason to fear the consequences than his more powerful cousins. When he arrives in his newest town, he almost immediately falls for the choir leader, Cale, and begins to admire him – from afar. But then he sneaks closer, gets caught, and ends up facing the decision of staying on as a mouse as Cale’s pet, or figuring out how to return to being human and risk everything.

What I especially liked about this story is that Paul is very mouse-like in his thinking even when he is human. Timid, shy, and not at all convinced anyone would like him. As a mouse, he retains his reasoning abilities, but his priorities - safety, good food, and a nice cage with lots of accessories and toys – are even more like those of a rodent. And his addiction to the grain mixture Cale feeds him with is simply hilarious!

If you like unusual shifters, if you enjoy stories that involve everyday problems and not-so-everyday solutions, and if you’re looking for an entertaining read that is as sweet as it is cute, then you will probably like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )