Bear With Me

I loved this book! The writing was great, the story spectacular, and the characters were interesting. This book is unique in that it has a heroine who has sensory processing disorder. Alison can hear the buzzing of fluorescent lights and restaurant coolers. She can’t feel sensations on her skin as much as others can. And textures in her mouth are difficult to cope with, which has her sorting her food before she eats.

I love Alison’s special gift. Her tears make pumpkins grow. Her touch gives life to plants. Her power grows and heals, which is a strong theme throughout the book when it comes to family. The story focuses on family relationships, about rekindling love in a marriage and putting family above work, above career goals, above your own needs.

I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the Strawberry Shifters Series and finding out what happens next!

Although Grant and Alison have been married for years, they have spent most of it apart. A move to Strawberry Kentucky is meant to be a fresh start - but only if they can keep from falling into bad habits. Alison's sensory sensitivity makes crowds difficult and Grant is so concerned with providing financially for his family that he doesn't see Alison is ready to stretch her wings. Both will have to look at each other with fresh eyes and open hearts if they want to change their family dynamic.

Told in alternating voices, Bear with Me is a good reminder about the importance of communication and meeting people where they are rather than where you think they are. This is a paranormal subplot in this book too - Grant;s new job comes with a big change and Alison's plant magic is a not so hidden secret. There were some unexpected twists in the plot to keep one guessing.

Grant and Alison's marriage is on the verge of collapse. Grant pleads with Alison for one last chance but there's a catch: move to Strawberry, Kentucky and leave all her friends and family behind. Alison agrees and hopes she can finally be herself and not have to hide her magical ability. She has no idea what she's in for, least of all the shifters war with Sluagh, a soul-sucking demon. Grant has just put his wife and son in the clutches of the Sluagh. Can he unleash the beast inside him to protect his family or will he lose them forever?

Bear With Me is an original paranormal romance with a new slant on shifters. Original? Yes, in this day and age, it's hard to find a shifter romance that isn't like the rest but the Strawberry Shifters series is indeed different. While the beginning was slow and a little hard to follow, once they arrived in Strawberry, the action picked up. Told in dual POV, you get both viewpoints which I found insightful when it came to the male and female points of view on marriage. The characterization was well-crafted and carried the plot along. The emotional narration allowed me to feel what the characters were feeling. The romance is hot and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Instead of a boy meets girl, it's a married couple trying to inject romance back into their marriage. The antagonist is what I call a big bad and its torturing of the main characters went on and on. I didn't care for the ending but for a first book in a series, it wasn't bad. If you like your paranormal romance intense with the big bad almost winning, you'll love Bear With Me. Well written with a new spin on a classic trope, Bear With Me is a roaring good read.

My Rating: 4 stars

I loved the story. I really enjoy reading books about shifters, how they change, their habits and how they interact with the people around them. This book also had another element thrown into the mix, magic, books about magic are also my favourite books to read. I enjoyed the story about Grant and Alison, there was however parts of the book that I did not like. The author struggled with writing in the first person, some parts felt really stilted and then there were parts that was a bit to soppy to go with the strong shifter characters. That being said I can't wait to read the next book in this series to see what happens to the people that we have already met.
3.5 stars from me.