Wealth Whispers is the third book in the Shapeshifter Series by Julie Tetel Andresen, and it is an endearing tale of paranormal romance with an irresistible appeal to fans of urban fantasy. Heather Carver sets out to look for her missing sister, Trish, traveling to California. When she reaches Oakland, she is made to believe Trish might be a victim of cybercrime orchestrated by a ruthless gang from Osaka known as the Nishi-gumi. Heather enlists the help of Julian Kita, a Japanese American werebear to help her track her sister. As they travel from Oakland to Tokyo and Osaka, they meet many challenges, including the fierce warrior known as the Female Scorpion. Meanwhile, their attraction for each other continues to get stronger. Can Heather give love a chance with a werebear?

In turn heartwarming and exciting in the adventure it offers, Wealth Whispers is an intricately plotted novel with characters that are adorable and genuinely flawed. Julian is a well-known manga artist and someone with a bruised heart, and it is interesting to follow how well the author explores the inner world of this character. As his fascination for Heather grows, readers also feel his inner resistance, rooting for him and silently looking forward to that moment of the fusion of hearts. Julie Tetel Andresen’s prose is crisp and the descriptions are vividly rendered. She ramps up the tension from the very first pages of the story and cleverly weaves red herrings into the plot that augment the suspense and keep readers guessing until the exciting denouement.

Wealth Whispers is the third book in the Shapeshifter Series by Julie Tetel Andresen. Heather Carver went all the way to Oakland, California to search for any trace of her missing sister Trish. The clues lead Heather to the conclusion that her sister might have been taken by the Nishi-gumi, a Japanese gang. Out of her mind and desperate, Heather found help in the strangest of places. Julian Kita, a Japanese American werebear and a manga artist, could be the only person to help Heather retrace her sister’s steps. With his connections, Julian knew he could get Heather to Osaka and closer to her sister. From the moment Heather wormed her way into his heart, Julian knew he was in trouble. The caring and enigmatic Heather was everything he wished for in a partner, and Heather believed the same in him. Would they give love a chance in the middle of the chaos?

I love romance and I love the way Julie Tetel Andresen works her magic every single time. Every novel in this series is new, fresh, and better than the previous installment. I loved how our protagonists are not twenty-something emotionally charged characters. Heather and Julian are mature, they have an intelligent air about them that attracted me in the beginning and made me fall in love with them by the time the story reached its crescendo. The complexity of the plot is exactly what I expected from Andresen, but the descriptions of Japan and Japanese culture were breathtaking. I expected her to gloss over the city and the culture just as most authors do. Andresen went the extra mile and made me fall in love with a country I have never visited. She is a magician with words, and this novel is the perfect example of that!

Julie Tetel Andresen’s Wealth Whispers: Shapeshifter Book 3 begins with Heather searching for her sister Patricia. She was basing her search on a picture Patricia messaged her: “If you don’t hear from me in 48 hours, call police.” Flying from North Carolina to Oakland, California, she relates what she knows to Agent Angus Kita. After listening to Heather’s information, Angus decides to include his cousin Julian Kita in the search. Julian had connections with the Japanese Anime Cosplay group that Patricia might have been meeting. After watching a hotel video, Heather sees her sister getting into a car instead of attending the event. While Julian and Heather speak to the host at the cosplay venue, a woman known as the Female Scorpion appears and smoke bombs go off. Julian informs Heather that the woman is an assassin looking for someone that Patricia was last seen with.

Julie Tetel Andresen created a shifter romance story relating to most people’s worst nightmare of losing a family member. I couldn’t imagine searching for somebody close who just evaporated without a trace. I found it somewhat unorthodox that Heather became completely invested in more than just finding her sister. She seems to want to take down an entire gang of people who were using online love scams targeting people like her wealthy sister. Julian isn’t an officer, but he seems to be able to unearth more clues than the police department. I like the fact that the werebear influence in the story wasn’t the only focus, and this made it easier to connect with every character. The scenery was beautifully depicted, and I could envision the vivid characters from the cosplay. I would recommend Wealth Whispers to readers who enjoy shifter romances with an unpredictable storyline.

This third book in the Shapeshifter Series, Wealth Whispers by Julie Tetel Andresen brings us a story of werebears in California. Heather Carver arrived in Oakland because that was where her sister Trish was last heard from when she checked in via a text message. Now Trish has missed the 48-hour mark she had set and Heather is on a rescue mission, all the way from North Carolina. With the help of the Oakland PD, Heather is quickly introduced to Julian Kita, the one person able to get the information they might need. This search leads them to Osaka and an online dating scam that a prominent Japanese gang might be behind. In between all of this, serious sparks fly between the werebear and the human. Could this be a second chance at love for each of them? Can they make it work?

From manga to saké and the mountains of Tokyo, Wealth Whispers is steeped in Japanese culture. Even though there is danger around every corner, there is also a deep sense of safety and serenity exuded by the two main characters. Julie Tetel Andresen made great work of engaging all the senses with rich descriptions of the scenery. I also enjoyed the third-person narrative of not only the main characters but also the antagonists. The inner thoughts and motives are always a bonus. The artistic backgrounds were an extra and made me relate to the characters on a more personal level. I would gladly recommend this book not only to a mature audience but also to young adults.