Recent Release Review: The Forecast Looks Like Reindeer (Double-Booked for the Holiday) by Wendy Rathbone

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: The Forecast Looks Like Reindeer

SERIES: Double-Booked for the Holidays Multi-Author Series

AUTHOR: Wendy Rathbone

PUBLISHER: Eye ScryPublications

LENGTH: 169 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2025

BLURB:

What happens when two strangers, a shifter omega and a human alpha, are forced to share a room during Christmas vacation, and the omega is expecting a heat?

Aspen: Omega reindeer shifter Aspen needs to get away from his family for the holidays. Every one of his six siblings are married and have children. “When will you settle down?” they always ask. He’s tired of it. Holidays are the worst.

Instead of going home for the holiday, this year he books a room at the famous Winter Wonderland Wilderness Resort. He looks forward to shifting in the snow, to the sound of sleigh bells, great restaurant food, the lodge’s critically acclaimed tree lighting ceremony and warm cozy movie nights eating caramel popcorn balls in front of the fireplace that comes with each room.

Another convenience about this trip is being alone and in catered comfort to weather through his heat, which is expected sometime just after Christmas.

Dale: Thirty-year-old human alpha, Dale, loves his two-week winter vacations. It’s his yearly downtime from a stressful job.

He loves to spend Christmas alone hiking through snowy realms, relaxing in a hot tub overlooking icy forests and ordering room service whenever he wants. Winter Wonderland Wilderness Resort has every amenity he desires, and he’s looking forward to an amazing, relaxing vacation.

What these two men don’t know is that a clerk overbooked all the rooms at the lodge. Now the choice is either to double up and make the most of sharing a room or go home. And neither one wants to leave.

MM romance, shifter omegaverse, human alpha/omega shifter, reindeer shifter, mpreg, first knot, holiday romance, Christmas activities, forced proximity, omega heat, HEA.

Double-booked for the Holidays is a multi-author mpreg shared setting Christmas series.

REVIEW:

I’m back at the Winter Wonderland Wilderness Resort and can’t wait to see what happen with our next shifter/human mating at the Double-Booked Lodge!

Aspen is so over being questioned by his family why he hasn’t found his mate and popping out more reindeer baby shifters like his siblings. One, they seem to be trying to over-populate the herd all on their own. And two, he just became a lawyer and is trying to make partner. So he decides a Christmas away from his most meddling but loving family is the ticket. Plus there’s that pesky problem of his next heat coming right around the holiday. So booking himself a nice cabin in the shifter-friendly resort is just the right choice. That is until he actually gets there and discovers there has been a major booking error at both the shifter and adjoining human resorts.

Dale is thirty and works hard as a paralegal in his law firm. Getting away to Winter Wonderland Wilderness Resort, for a nice relaxing vacation from reality, seemed like just the ticket for Christmas. He and his family were not close after his dysfunctional childhood. He definitely wouldn’t miss the cold and affection-less time with his two drunks for parents. Unfortunately there seems to be some kind of major booking error at both of the resort’s sites. It is suggested that he go up to the shifter lodge where he will have better luck. When asked to choose a roommate so he can finally get checked in he spotted a young man sitting on the floor, back against the wood paneled wall. His knees we were bent, his head bowed. He looked completely defeated. He knew immediately that he made the right choice. But what now?

I have stated it before, but it needs repeating, that Wendy Rathbone has become the queen of Omegas for me. She champions their causes and rights. She makes sure that you know that they are definitely not weaker and needy. They are strong, outspoken at times and fight for their fellow omegas.

I love that the author took a different approach with this book. Having the reindeer shifter Aspen be the Omega in this story and Dale, as the caring Alpha (because I expect nothing less with her), being human was a refreshing change up. Also, that she has the omega being the more aggressive or the leading partner, especially in the bedroom 🔥🔥🔥. Plus, she has him also as an new lawyer while the alpha is a paralegal in another legal firm near by. There were so many delightful and surprising changes in this book that I welcomed. It was also nice that we didn’t have to go through the whole “Surprise, shifters are real and all around us!” stage. Dale already knowing that shifters existed and went to the Shifter part of the Lodge to find a roommate was nice. It allowed the men to choose to share a cabin instead of it just being dropped on them when the second party arrived. We also didn’t hear Aspen’s “inner animal” yelling “Mate!” constantly and badgering him in his head. I know that is usually the norm in shifter books and I appreciate an active inner-animal in my shifters. However, it was a pleasant change to allow them to figure it all out that they were mates more naturally.

I did love that Aspen’s family accepted Dale so easily into their family. With his family’s history, it was very desired and welcomed by Dale. It also opened the door to that much needed conversation between the two mates and their future.

I am absolutely loving this series and this book was just what I needed. I can’t recommend this series and this book strongly enough. It is really warming my heart and is getting me right into the holiday spirit! Win/Win!!! 👍

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon