When pastry chef Annabeth Jones goes on the run from her abusive fiancé, the small town of Bearpaw Ridge offers her a safe haven. Nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, with friendly neighbors and a bakery/cafe that needs a new owner, it’s the perfect place for her to start over.Firefighter and bear shifter Dane Swanson knows at once that kind, curvy Annabeth is his fated mate. She’s also … She’s also human, in a world where shifters must keep their existence secret. Annabeth has no idea that Bearpaw Ridge’s population is more shifter than human … but if they’re to be mated, Dane will have to find a way to tell her everything.
Wary of new relationships, Annabeth can’t help warming to the strong, handsome man who can’t get enough of her cinnamon rolls … or her. But her fragile hopes are shattered when her ex tracks her down, determined to reclaim her.
Dane is equally determined to protect his mate — but will Annabeth still accept him when he reveals the other side of his nature?
Heat is a novel-length steamy standalone paranormal romance with no cliffhangers.
more
This book hits all the marks. Stalker, shifters, opening of a bakery and smack dab in the middle is a human!
A wonderful, wacky, love story! An vengeful, abusive ex, a hunky, a handsome, kind, new boyfriend, a new town, a new start , and new business! What a fantastic, new place, lots of awesome new friends! When her evil ex shows up, will Dane get there in time to save her? When tragedy strikes, will everyone rally around to rescue, protect, and help her rebuild! Is a happy ending in store or will his secret tear them apart? Will she stay around and rebuild? Will she accept Dane secrets and all?
Annabeth moved to Bearpaw, Idaho after leaving California and her abusive ex-fiance. Turned out that Bearpaw was the perfect place for her. She liked it there and made lots of new friends. Then she met rancher/firefighter Dane. There was an instant attraction between them, especially for Dane. As soon as he saw Annabeth, he knew she was his mate. But he was worried she would not accept him as a shifter since she was human.
Too soon her ex found her. He wasn’t letting her go as easily as she had hoped. She stayed strong against his demands but was worried that he would do something to the town and people she had begun to love
The problem I had with this book was the amount of sex. It took up a lot of the second half of the book. After the first couple of sex scenes, I started skimming them – flip, flip, flip, they’re still going at it, flip, flip, okay done. I gave it 4 stars. It would have been 5 stars if there had not been so much explicit sex.
loved it
Heat – Ophelia Sexton – A firefighter bear shifter falls for the new small town baker. Annabeth is starting over in Idaho to get away from her stalker ex Roger. And just when things start heating up between Dane and Annabeth, secrets and her ex rear their ugly head! New author and new series for me, and they are on kindle unlimited. Score! Happy Reading!
I’m all for small town and shifter romance stories so when I saw this pop up on my KU suggestions I thought why not give it a try. Annabeth and Dane seemed to have an instant attraction and somehow their relationship is best described as both slow building and quick at the same time. They go from dancing around wanting to give in and be together to jumping off the deep end and talking about forever soon after they finally give each other a chance. I’ve read many shifter stories before and this one doesn’t seem to follow the usual rules of animal behavior (possessive) when it comes to his mate. I expected Dane to be more alpha, take charge and not so laid back guy next door type that he was. Regardless I still enjoyed the story line and the characters (even if there wasn’t that much passion between the two main characters). For a book called Heat I guess I was just expecting a bit more steamy romance than what was offered.
Annabeth just wants a chance to start over after her ex fiance. Her old boss sets her up with a new shop and a new town and Annabeth is thrilled.
Dane is hoping someday to find his mate. Little did he know stopping in at the new bakery was going to change his life.
I loved the slow progression these two took. It was nice and romantic. I loved how taken his family was with her especially his brothers and how angry they would get when he hadn’t told her their secret.
A fun read. Nice and sweet. Throughly enjoyed the development of the relationship. The time jumps at the end was a bummer. But I was glad she got her HEA.
Oh wow I loved this book so much I couldn’t put it down. Dane sounds so yummy and so manly, double yum. Annabeth was very smart to get away from Roger and even her mother. I don’t like a mother that would interfer in her daughter’s life like she was. Roger was a sick f**k and deserves to rot in jail. I hope he went to jail. No woman needs a man like him and his anger manament class didn’t work, lol. Counselling didn’t either. Oh well Dane got the girl and she deserves the best. Thank you for the wonderful story.
3.5 stars
Annabeth has left California and her abusive ex-fiance and mother behind for Bearpaw, Idaho. She has opened her own bakery and meets sexy firefighter Dane. Dane knows that she is his mate after the first meeting but he is afraid she won’t accept that he is a shifter.
I really enjoyed this book and couple. They were instantly attracted to each other but their relationship was still slow building, which I appreciated. I liked the town and all the side characters and plan on reading the next one.
Sweet and predictable
Will read more from this author.
It’s first read for this author. I’m bummed I can’t get books from library. Kindles r too high in my opinion for such a quick read. But it was fun.
I liked it a lot. It was a cute story that held my interest. Even the jackass ex boyfriend was interesting. It wasn’t as sexy as the other shifter books that I’ve read but I still liked it. I want to read the other brothers stories.
It’s getting hot in here
Annabeth works with her boss, Maggie at Cacao, when they return to work one morning…they’re disheartened to find all their hard work ruined. They discover the culprit is Annabeth’s fiancé Roger. Maggie suggests to Annabeth that moving to Bearpaw Ridge might be the answer as she can open up her own bakery
Annabeth makes the move and settles in with the locals nicely…and she meets Dane, a rancher and local volunteer firefighter. It soon becomes clear that Roger is not letting Annabeth go quite as easily as she had hoped and she’s not willing to risk her new relationship with Dane and the town she’s learning to love
A really good story that I enjoyed
5 OUT OF 5 STARS
This is the first book I’ve read written by Ophelia Sexton and I am happy I read it! I love paranormal/shifter stories and this one is very good, nicely written, good strong characters, perfect twists in the story to keep it exciting and I love happy endings.
Annabeth was stuck in a bad relationship with a horrible, mean man who thought everything was suppose to go his way, well after he decides to punish her for working at her job instead of spending time with him, she sees the relationship is not a good one so she picks up and moves to Bearpaw Ridge and opens her own bakery and it’s a hit. Annabeth meets Dane the first morning the bakery was open, and sparks fly the attraction between the two is thick enough to cut with a knife.
Annabeth’s ex starts causing problems for her and Dane steps in to the rescue.
How will Annabeth handle finding out Dane is a bear shifter? Get yourself a copy via Kindle Unlimited or for purchase it for FREE from the Amazon Kindle Store.
This is a book for adult readers.
I enjoyed the constant worry of Roger. Will he come after her? Will her just harass her? Will her give up and go away?
This was a well written shifter story.