Mating Season by Kitty Thomas-review & giveaway tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 17, 2024
Pop Quiz: You’re a woman alone in the forest… would you rather run into a man or a bear?
I’m lost out in the woods when I cross paths with a strange man. He offers to take me back to his campsite, feed me, get me warm, but every instinct in me screams NO!
He is an opportunistic predator, and I am his prey.
I run. He chases. And just before I’m traumatized for life, I hear a loud roar as a seven hundred pound Grizzly bear rips the man off me and mauls him to death.
So…. Team Bear?
If only it were so simple. This isn’t just any normal bear. He’s a bear shifter, and he’s convinced I’m his fated mate.
I appreciate the life saving and all, but I have goals and dreams, and I won’t allow fate to play matchmaker for me, no matter how otherwise appealing the shifter in question may be.
•••••
REVIEW:Not read this author before, but I do love a fated mate/shifter romance. Apparently this author is known for her darker reads. It has a little element of dark, enough for a trigger warning, but I’d say it’s grey rather than dark (my personal opinion.)
It’s a short read, easily read in an afternoon. But that’s not to say it’s not detailed and well thought out.
Rosalie thought that hiking out in the woods in the day was ok. Then it wasn’t…. Getting lost, then watching as the sun disappeared has Rosalie worried! Things escalate quickly, almost being attacked by a man offering help (hmm, that sounded dodgy before he turns nasty!) luckily (but not for the assailant) she’s rescued? by a bear! Rosalie faints…..
And then the bear takes her to a cave and cuddles her!! (Me. I’d be freaking out!!) falling asleep, she just hopes that when she wakes up the bear doesn’t attack her! (I did wonder why she didn’t try to escape! But if he has her in his arms, then maybe she can’t! 🤔)
Cooper is minding his own business, when he comes across a man attacking a woman, but before he can shift and rescue the woman, his bear has other ideas! Mauling the male quietens the beast, and the Cooper makes the discovery….. the female is his mate! And that’s why his bear attacked! And taking her back to his cave seemed like the logical thing to do….
Trying to convince Rosalie that she is his mate (fated mate to be precise) has Cooper frustrated! But if he’s careful and patient, then his reward will be a mate. But Rosalie tests his patience a lot! 😆 She doesn’t believe him, she doesn’t want a husband either! She’s got a life plan and that doesn’t include him! But whilst she can’t walk (and leave) he has a chance to convince her.
But Rosalie is stubborn, she finds a way to escape….
And every time Cooper finds her.
But her last escape attempt could be her last!!
Vampires are always on the lookout for humans who haven’t finished the mating bond (it’s a long story, you’ll have to read to find out more) and if captured they are drained or kept as “pets”! And that’s the situation Rosalie finds herself in now!!
It does have elements of danger. But it’s got funny moments too.
I liked how Rosalie is introduced to the shifter world. I laughed as she constantly refused to believe Cooper. He even threw in the fact he’s a rich bear! But the fact she doesn’t want/need or require a mate is a refreshing change. So many characters just accept it story ended,. Cooper has the patience of a saint! But after seeing his brother literally pine away after his mate rejected him, Cooper has one choice, convince Rosalie they are meant to be together.
So can Cooper really convince Rosalie that they are meant to be together? Or will he have to accept that she doesn’t want him or the life he can give her? Will he let her walk away? Can he let her walk away, or will his bear take matters into its own hands (or paws?)
I love how authors find their inspiration. And this one was done about a debate from social media.
So, are you team bear or not?
Me….. #teambearalltheway 😜
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Julie B 🦋
NOTE: The excerpt contains strong language that may not be suitable for anyone under 18 years of age.
I start to move off the dance floor when someone comes up behind me. A male someone. My first instinct is to have an embarrassing freak out… but he smells… wow he really smells good. What is that?
It’s strong yet subtle at the same time. Warm, musky. But also mossy. But somehow in a good way. I’m not sure I’m describing it right. I’m not sure mere words could convey it.
And the solid warmth of him pressed up against my back feels… comforting somehow. His hands skim my sides to land on my hips as he urges me to move with him. His erection grinds shamelessly against my backside as his arm wraps around my waist, urging me to press harder against his length.
It’s a heady cocktail of that powerful scent, pure masculine strength, sensuous movements, and stark primal possession.
He hasn’t spoken a word to me, and given recent traumatic events, I should be panicked, but all I feel is calm—and other things I’m going to ignore. Dark animal things.
I’m hit with a bolt of such overwhelming lust that suddenly I want this man more than anything I’ve ever wanted. I want him to hike up my skirt and fuck me right here in the middle of the dance floor. I want him to put me on my hands and knees and drive into me from behind in front of all these people—sweaty, writhing hot bodies that could never compete with the inferno building between us. I feel hot and cold all at once and the arousal between my legs thumps heavy with the beat of the music. The pornographic images flitting through my mind only grow stronger the longer we dance.
If you could call this dancing.
One of his hands has moved up to grip the front of my throat, holding me in place against him as he brings us impossibly closer. His other hand starts to slide up my thigh, under my dress, between my legs, his fingers barely brushing against the heat and wetness of my panties.
And then my fear starts to edge out my lust. No! I can’t let this happen.
Forgive me if I don’t want to just jump back out there and let a man touch me after… the woods. It’s normal to feel a bit of disgust toward all men when one tries to hurt you like that. It almost feels shameful to let any man touch you ever again.
So why the fuck am I letting this stranger so close? Why am I rewarding any man for the bad behavior of his kind? Bad behavior I have personally suffered. I don’t know him. He could be a fucking serial killer.
I come back to my senses and pull away. He grabs me and pulls me back to him, and instead of more fear, I feel a kind of rage I’ve never felt before. I stomp down HARD on his foot with my heel. He lets out a yelp, and releases me.
“Rosalie, wait!”
I shouldn’t be able to hear him over the noise of the club, but I do. I turn around, and there’s Cooper. I shouldn’t be surprised. Didn’t some small part of me subconsciously just know? It’s why I didn’t look back at him—just let him be a stranger, because the stakes are far too high with him as he really is.
He’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt that pulls tight over his muscles. His tattoos wind down his arms, ending just above his hands. Those warm brown eyes… that closely shaven beard… No. Absolutely not. His agenda might not look as bad on the surface as the guy from the woods, but it still involves his fucking boner… and controlling me. No. I’m not his mate. I’m not dealing with this alpha bro You belong to me, bullshit. I’m not going to just swoon into his arms because he’s pretty and saved me, as though a man doing the decent thing somehow now obligates me to give all my freedom away to him.
Men really are just living on an entirely different planet.
And he doesn’t get to just decide any of this.
I fight to get through the crowd on the dance floor, but his hand is around my wrist before I can get away.
“Let GO of me!”
A few people start to notice the conflict and back away, and I see a bouncer eyeing us. I’m pretty sure even as large as the bouncer is, that Cooper could take him.
He holds his hands up in surrender and takes a step back. “Just talk to me. I just need to talk to you.”
KITTY THOMAS writes dark stories that play with power and have unconventional HEAs. She began publishing in early 2010 with her bestselling COMFORT FOOD and is considered one of the original authors of the dark romance subgenre.
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