The monthly #WhatToReadWednesday was coming up on my to-do, and I thought: Damn, what the heck am I gonna write about. Then I remembered that Holly made a post yesterday about it being Have a Party with Your Bear Day and thought: Great! I’ll do bear shifters.
I have Elevator Pitch, and Holly has Blown Away, and then there is… erm… that one with the pumpkin patch, and then… erm…
Thing is, I’ve read quite a few MF bear shifter stories, but when I try to remember MM, not many come to mind. And now that I mentioned MF, I think I have to go reread Shelly Laurenston’s Hot and Badgered. It’s awesome! LOL
But, okay, let’s give this a try:
Bag the Beast
Bag the Beast (Hardwood Pack 0.5) by Jane Perky – I don’t remember a whole lot of this story other than that it’s short and that, while I liked the characters, was a bit confused. One minute it was Halloween, the other Thanksgiving. But if I remember correctly, it’s a free read – went to check, and it’s free and now in a five-story bundle, but I don’t know if all are bear stories.
5 Short stories….
BAG THE BEAST
Stealing from the big bad werebear’s pumpkin patch may not be such a hot idea…
Clement is a submissive wolf with less sense than most. To win the town’s Thanksgiving pie-baking contest, Clement needs the best pumpkins, and only farmer Dall grows those. Dall, the reclusive werebear, is called The Beast for a reason. He’s crazy mean. Some say not right in the head, but…what are the chances Dall is Clement’s fated one? Clement got more than he bargained for, but what’s life without a little heat? Can Clement make the best pie, bag the Beast and win his happily-ever-after?
HIS ERRANT RUNT
Submissive Omega Brian Weller is the runt of the litter. The blind pup no one wanted. Brian knows he’s not mate-worthy material. He left home ten years ago and didn’t expect to come back scarred and heartbroken. Brian certainly didn’t expect to see his crush Tyler, but gone is his childhood friend.
Domineering and possessive, Tyler Jones is now Alpha of the Hardwood Pack. He’s waited ten long years for Brian and he’s done waiting. Now that the runt’s home, Tyler intends to claim Brian, make him his and never let him go.
BEST OF THE LITTER
I never expected things to turn out like this.
To be summoned by a group of powerful wolves.
Presented like a sacrificial offering, a gift, to a powerful Beta capable of setting my body on fire.
To be wanted so badly. Be good enough to be a worthy mate.
If Ray Torres wants me to howl for him, all I can do is ask: how loud?
PET MINE
Randy: I shouldn’t want him this much, but I do. Chad’s my boss and the enforcer for the Hardwood Pack. Me? I’m an unwanted Omega with no mate. We come from different worlds, but our paths keep colliding. My human half warns me to stay away. My wolf wants the opposite. All I want is to be his mate. His pet, but will he end up breaking my heart?
Chad: I’m not a man who takes rejection easily. I get what I want, who I want. Each time Randy Donalds walks into my office, I want him twice as bad. Not want. Possess. Cherish. Love. Randy’s going to be mine, no matter the cost.
DIRTY NAUGHTY MUTT
I am a lone Alpha without a mate, a man missing half his soul, but I’m done wandering from one place to the next. Seeing Jonas, the young bartender and Omega, I knew he was the one. Jonas is young and eager to please, reluctant because he’s been hurt before, but I can change that. Jonas is desperate for some action. Deep down, he wants to be my dirty, naughty mutt. He’ll submit beautifully. It’s only a matter of time before I own him, body, heart, and soul.
https://books2read.com/BagTheBeast
Bearly Dating
Bearly Dating by Calandra Hunter – A short little tale about a guy whose parents constantly are asking him when he’s gonna find a mate. In a weak moment, he lies and tells them he’s bringing a date with him home, so he has to find a guy who can play his boyfriend for a weekend. It’s cute if a bit repetitive.
Jonathan Goddard is a bear shifter with three problems: 1, he doesn’t like shifting and has ignored his bear for years. 2, his family is pushing him to find a partner and settle down. 3, he’s just lied to his overbearing mother that he’s bringing a boyfriend to his grandparents’ wedding anniversary to stop her from setting him up with random guys. The solution? Bring a fake boyfriend and pretend to be in relationship for one weekend, then go back to his happy, single, bear-free life.
Eric Warden has recently broken up with his cheating ex-boyfriend, and a weekend of pretending to be someone else sounds like the perfect distraction from his heartbreak. Pretending to be the boyfriend of a fun, attractive guy like Jonathan will be easy — so long as Eric can ignore his growing, genuine attraction to the other man.
From the moment Jonathan meets Eric, he starts to wonder if maybe they could have more together than just one weekend. But first, he’ll have to deal with his bear who doesn’t want to be ignored any longer and a family that’s already planning their wedding.
Surrounded by dozens of nosy family members, a terrible thunderstorm and an aggressive inner bear, can Jonathan and Eric find a future together, or will they only be bear-ly dating?
https://books2read.com/BearlyDating
New Addiction
New Addiction (Wingspan 1) by April Kelley – Growly bears are the best bears LOL It’s a fated mates story, but Rory, our grumpy bear, rejects Caerwyn the moment he sees him. It’s a problem, but Caerwyn has bigger problems. The attraction is hard to fight, though. I liked this more than I believed I would.
The first time Caerwyn meets his mate, it ends with rejection, growling, and bear shifters…oh, my!
After his parents die in a tragic car accident, dragon shifter Caerwyn Lewis doesn’t know how to grieve properly, not that he really has time. He has siblings that are relying on him to pay off the debt their parents incurred on the farm. Also, he has a brother who isn’t taking their parents’ death well. The last thing he needs is a distraction, but that’s what he gets when his Alpha calls him in to help another neighboring shifter town. The distraction comes in the form of a handsome but grumpy bear shifter named Rory.
https://books2read.com/NewAddiction
Mate Wanted for Christmas
Mate Wanted for Christmas by Angelique Voisen – We’re getting closer to Christmas, so why not read this one. It’s short, it’s cute, and I felt so bad for poor Pat (and Pat’s alarm clock LOL).
For the last decade, bear shifter Pat Singer posted a specific want ad in the December newspaper. Each year, Pat gets the same response—zero. Except this year’s different. Finally, someone agrees to role-play Pat’s dead mate.
Spending Christmas Eve with a rich psycho shifter might seem unreasonable to some. To survive the harsh winter, former soldier Jacob Reynolds has no choice but to turn to desperate measures…except Pat Singer isn’t the crazy bastard Jacob imagines him to be.
The sexy, but reluctant werebear pushes all of Jacob’s right buttons, and if Jacob doesn’t guard his heart, he might end up getting burned.
https://books2read.com/MateWanted
I don’t have much more to offer, I’m afraid. Making this short list made me realise that 1. I need to read more bear stories. 2. I need to write more bear stories. I’m throwing in The Bear Claw in the mix – none of the main characters is a bear shifter, but most of the people surrounding them are.
Bjorn Ritter only wants one thing—to live his life away from nosey, demanding bears. That’s easier said than done when you’re the son of the female running the Bayside Bear Community. Cecil Baxter might be a bat, but he grew up away from shifter communities and he’s doing his best to continue to keep his distance. Shifters aren’t an accepting bunch and Cecil has never fit the norm.
Already facing a dreaded meeting with his mother, the last thing Bjorn needs is a stranger using his elevator to escape a pack of werewolves. And Cecil, whose day just seems to be getting worse and worse, could really do without the added stress of finding himself trapped in an elevator with a huge bear shifter.
Still, what could go wrong in three minutes?
Espen Urso would rather stay inside and enjoy a nice, sweet cake than be out in the worst storm of the year. But there’s a group of alpha shifters trespassing, and he needs to defend his territory and keep the people in his village safe. A group of wolf shifters he can scare off, but when he realizes they’ve hurt a defenseless little bird, he loses his patience.
Arvid Rai is having a bad day. He’s an omega on the run, with a group of alphas on his tail. If there hadn’t been a storm, he could have easily flown away before the stupid wolves got their hands on him, or the angry bear noticed he was in his territory. But there is a storm, and the idiot who grabbed him broke his wing, so now he can’t fly anywhere. Still, he deems it best to stay with the growly bear rather than having the other alphas fight over him.
Espen has never believed in the myth of omegas, and it isn’t until he takes Arvid in he realizes how much trouble he’ll be in when shifters from near and far learn he has one in his home. Will he be able to keep Arvid safe from other shifters? Is it even possible to defend his territory with an omega in it?
In a world where all supernatural beings are either dominant or submissive, Shiro Amano doesn’t have many choices. As a submissive, any dominant walking into his bakery can order him around. He hates it. All he wants is to live his life in peace and bake pastries he can spike with emotions far away from obnoxious alphas.
Pitch Rhys wants a mate, but he won’t settle for anything but a true mate. As a powerful wolf shifter, he has subs flocking around him, but his true mate is hiding in the kitchen of a bakery and refuses to see him. He can order him to, of course, but since he threatened Pitch with a knife when he allowed his power to leak, he doesn’t think it’s the way to go. Instead, he’s settling to see how many pastries and cups of coffee he can consume in a day.
Two years ago, Shiro escaped an abusive relationship, and he’s not looking for a new one, but when word gets out Shiro is an unmated sub, dominants are invading the bakery. Pitch does his best to scare them off so he can woo Shiro at his own pace, but things escalate too fast. Will Pitch be able to get Shiro to trust him before it’s too late? Can he convince him he wants nothing more than to make him happy and keep him safe?
Ofelia Grand 