Tag: bear shifter

Review: Grin and Bear It (Blackhaven Manor #4) by Arden Steele

Rating: 4.5🌈

Grin and Bear It (just love the names) reverts back to the instant recognition and almost as fast bonding between the fated mates of this terrific story.

But Arden Steele’s novella does change up some elements that I sort of took for granted, given the plots of the other books. I really appreciate the surprise aspect of this.

Thorne McIver, super magical bear shifter and protector of Royal families , in this case a royal Elven prince. He’s a special Guardian, of a renowned and highly feared security team. Now he’s at the annual Summit of Allies Races Council/DARC held at Blackhaven Manor with the Prince who’s representing his Elven race.

Steele has gone both into history and mythology while constructing the character and species for Thorne and his team of Guardians. It’s fascinating and imaginative. Perfect, really, especially when called into action.

Throne’s mate is a human. Wren Covey, concierge at reception area of Blackhaven Manor, along with Kol. He’s a delightful character. With a decidedly painful past, Wren is someone who Steele shows to continually move beyond his own bad experiences to become a gentle, genuine person, with a kind heart and occasional inability to focus.

We adore him immediately as does the others we know from previous stories.

Through Wren, we get the first inkling of growing human backlash against the Otherlings and their status within human society. That’s been a subdued element before but here it’s a big factor in Wren’s family life and the weekend conference.

That’s new. So is the worry apparent in the Dragon siblings.

The drama here is woven through the mating story and the growing new relationship between Wren and Thorne. It kept me absolutely engaged. Especially as new details about Thorne’s species , his MOA security detail, and , what their future plans entail.

Hint? It comes from Dragon it Out. What a fabulous way to end it and give ideas for future stories.

This series and couples just keep getting better and better. And the universe just keeps expanding with new facts, organizations, and , of course, couples.

I’m highly recommending Grin and Bear It (Blackhaven Manor #4) by Arden Steele and the series.

Blackhaven Manor Series:

✓ Purrfect Harmony #1

✓ Night and Fae #2

✓ Dragon It Out #3

✓ Grin and Bear it #4

â—¦ Pixie Little Liar #5

â—¦ Dead Over Heals #6

â—¦ Silent Knight #7

https://www.goodreads.com › showGrin and Bear It (Blackhaven Manor #4) by Arden Steele – Goodreads

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Synopsis:

Thorne McIver is no ordinary bear shifter. He’s the monster whispered about in the dark, the beast feared in battles, and for hundreds of years, he’s used his formidable gifts to protect the royal families of the paranormal world. So, when he’s tasked with escorting the elven prince to a council meeting at Blackhaven Manor, he figures it’s just another assignment.

Until he meets a stunning human who fills in all the pieces he didn’t know were missing.

When he’d first started working at the hotel, Wren Covey had been a mess. He’d known almost nothing about Otherlings, their culture or rules, and everything had terrified him. Barely a year later, there’s not much he hasn’t seen, and hardly anything fazes him. Or so he thought, because nothing could have prepared him for being the mate to a genuine living legend. 

When an attack on the hotel tests his already divided loyalties, Thorne finds himself torn between love and duty. Though honor-bound to protect the prince, his instincts will always be to put his mate first.

Now, he’ll have to find middle ground and figure out how to do both, or his happy ending will be over before it even begins.

Review: Poisonwood (Poisonwood & Lyric #1) by Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes

Rating: 3.25🌈

While waiting for the next Sam Burns release in a series, I thought I’d start up another fantasy series she co-wrote that sounds interesting.

Poisonwood has many neat factors that’s grabbed me. The authors, a great description in the blurb and a wow of a cover. All that sold me enough to dive into the first story.

I liked it, mostly. Jasper Jones is a sympathetic character with his hesitation about consensual feeding versus the norm for his species, which might be anything but. Although it does seem more that his family could be a rather abysmal lot, other than his sister.

Caleb, the bear shifter, is also a lovely if undefined character. We get someone with a big heart , who falls immediately for a sick incubus.

What feels lacking around a neat romance is foundation and back history. We don’t know to what lengths Jasper’s gone to see how to feed consensually. He has a cellphone. What about others of his species outside of Lyric? We just don’t have any information. He just runs off. More than once.

And Caleb? His actions? While I get he’s attracted to the man he’s found who just moved in on him and stayed.. and stayed… I’d ask a few questions. He’s still a sweetheart of a bear shifter!

And why did no one help that poor thing in the woods?

So yes… their romance should have had a foundation to stand on. Sometimes love or lust isn’t everything.

But perhaps it’s a start. The characters are enough to make me wonder about what’s coming next , so are the writers.

I’m headed to Wyrmwood.

Follow me there!

Poisonwood & Lyric series:

✓ Poisonwood #1

â—¦ Wyrmwood #2

â—¦ Hardwood #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showPoisonwood (Poisonwood & Lyric #1) by Sam Burns – Goodreads

Synopsis:

A starving incubus.

A bear alone.

Jasper Jones is Lyric’s most pitiful incubus. He can’t feed and doesn’t want to if it means hurting people. When a witch gives him a chance at breaking the cycle of hunger, he rushes half cocked into the woods in search of a cure.

Caleb moved into Poisonwood Forest to escape the crowded city of Lyric, but it’s lonely by himself. He doesn’t expect to find his mate when he trips over an unconscious young man in the middle of the woods, but there he is, perfect—except for a peculiar fondness for processed cookies.

Their only problem is that Jasper’s sick, and when he doesn’t get better, his one shot at survival is in the hands of a bear shifter who’ll do anything to save him.