Book Reviews

Book Blurb

As an omega, Woody Fry balances the unity of his wolf pack and serves as a gardener and healer. He’s an outspoken and optimistic twink who always supports his family and is ever ready to take a leap of faith. An unexpected intrusion into the wolf territory on an autumn’s day brings Woody face to face with a sullen, young coywolf and an equally morose, hostile bear in his prime.

 

Brown bear Lyss Arthur doesn’t trust anyone, preferring to keep to himself and radiating an air of rage. When the two opposites realize they’re mates, all bets are off. But Lyss isn’t on the market for a mate, so Woody has his work cut out.

 

Soon the wolf pack learns that the bear and coywolf are on the lam. They’re pursued by a lethal enemy who’ll stop at nothing to get them back. Protecting the bear and his teenage ward might prove deadly for everyone concerned.

 

Book Review

The ‘Pariah Pack’ series with a multishifter “extended pack” consisting of a pack of wolves, a pride of cats, a flock of sheep, and a colony of rabbits at its center, all run by alpha wolf shifter Max and his mate, bunny shifter Peter, is one of my favorite incarnations of rejected-shifters-band-together paranormal worlds. Why? Each book has an unusual pairing of shifters at its heart, the wolves all have fun designations (beyond the usual alpha, beta, and omega names) with specific tasks within the pack, and the enemies have been varied and dangerous so far. There is also lots of humor and the stories are funny and very entertaining. This time it is omega Woody who discovers his mate is bear shifter Lyss – only Lyss is on the run, doesn’t want to stay despite being offered support, and is not interested in a mate. At all.

Woody is an omega, and his “job description” is similar to that of many other omegas out there: he balances the emotions of the pack. But the author goes a step further and has made him the pack gardener and healer as well, with a Native American shaman as his mother. Woody is an optimist through-and-through, he has an indomitable spirit, and he is as stubborn as any alpha. Nobody tells him what to do, and once he decides to support someone, he does it 100 percent. Family means everything to him.

Lyss is a brown bear who is almost the exact opposite of Woody: he has trust issues out the kazoo (and for good reason), he is a loner, and he is determined to protect Randy, the teenager who travels with him. A mate can only get in the way of what Lyss thinks he has to do – alone – so despite his attraction to Woody, Lyss is determined to stay away and keep running.

It all comes to a head when Lyss and Randy’s enemies catch up with them and the pack has to decide whether to support and stand with them. And what a confrontation that turns out to be! There are unexpected revelations, exciting new characters, and a solution that left me smiling.
 
If you like this series with its shifter stories that don’t take themselves too seriously, if you think an optimistic wolf and grumpy bear can make a go of a relationship, and if you’re looking for a read that is full of anger and grumpiness, conflict, a few surprises, and funny, then you will probably like this novella. I certainly did and – as ever - hope there will be more. Soon!

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 34365 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	07-September-2016
Price	$4.50 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.bookstrand.com/book/open-omega-and-his-bitter-bear