Blue eyes, dimples, and silky brown hair; Grant Luther has all of Alison’s weaknesses. When he asks for one last chance to save their marriage, she agrees to relocate their family to isolated Strawberry, Kentucky in pursuit of his career dreams.Grant views Alison’s sensory issues as limitations and protects her from outside threats. When he finds his new job includes changing him into a shifter … shifter in a war against the soul-sucking Sluagh he vows to keep the changes a secret. What he doesn’t know is Alison has been hiding a magical secret of her own. One that makes her a target of the Sluagh. Will Alison emerge from Grant’s shadow to protect her family? And can Grant learn that being different can be a strength not a weakness?
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Strawberry Shifters Book 1: Bear with Me by Marilyn Barr is a wonderful story that I have had the privilege to read and review. This is book number one in this wonderful start to a brand new series written by a brand new author for me to read and I can not wait to read more of this series. I highly recommend this story to everyone who love reading about bear shifters, small town and paranormal romances.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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.
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in the hopes I’d review it.
My Rating: 4 stars
This book was a delightful surprise! Told in alternating first-person POV, it’s a fun, fast-paced mashups of elements I wouldn’t expect to find together: shifter romance, fantasy elements (fae gone bad, benign vampires and benevolent witches), corporate intrigue, marriage in trouble, neurodivergent heroine, found family, and a wise pizza-mama guru. The story begins as I’d expect for a gentle contemporary romance, then takes off, gaining speed as it barrels toward the climactic battle scene. Lots of enjoyable surprises, some tasty steam, and a delicious twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. Well done! I look forward to reading more books set in the magical town of Strawberry, Kentucky.
This is a wonderful book and I couldn’t put it down. I love the journey that the main characters take through this book. I especially love that through Alison the trials and tribulations but also the triumphs of living with a disability are shown so beautifully. Her inner strength and amazing qualities shine throughout.
The plot is action packed and there are many unexpected twists. I look forward to reading more in this series.
I fell in love with this setting and these characters from page one. We have Allison, a botanist and plant lover with sensory processing disorder (and paranormal abilities with plants!) whose difficulties in her marriage include an estranged husband who sees her as weak and asks their 12-year old son (I so loved him, too, such an adorable music composing kid!) how she “did” on outings. Ouch. Grant works in pharmaceuticals… and it turns out his job results in him getting involuntarily recruited into the war between shapeshifters and the fae. (Bonus points for the hilarious snow leopard turning scene.)
This is a fun twist on the paranormal romance genre with a GREAT setting in small-town Strawberry, Kentucky. I love and seek out books that have unusual settings and give you a little slice of life from somewhere else and while immersed in Allison, Grant, Henrik and Rosie’s world, you also get to see the ins and outs of rural life far from the big city. Cute, quirky scenes, from what happens when you’re trying to get frisky with your wife and your new shifter body decides to grow claws (LOL!) to plant lessons in a homeschool setting. I loved every minute in Strawberry and can’t wait for book two!
This sexy paranormal romance was amazing! I loved falling into the world of Strawberry and flew through this book quickly. Bear With Me pulled me out of a reading slump and fully immersed me in the world and romance. I especially loved that it was a romance about a married couple. It was refreshing, sexy, and magical. I highly recommend this novel.
Fun shifter romance that offers a great blend of heat, humor, and paranormal elements. I was fascinated by the world building and LOVED how the author used the shifting elements as a metaphor for the main characters’ marriage as they adapted to their new situations and learned to how find each other, and their passion, again. The characters were complex and drawn with care, making them easy to root for and empathize with. A unique setting and vivid descriptions totally pulled me in (the bad guys were terrifying in the best way!), and the setup for the sequel was well-done. Can’t wait for the next installment of the Strawberry Shifters!
. . . A new home, a fresh start, and magical secrets that could destroy them. . .
Bear with Me, book 1 of the Strawberry Shifters series, released by the Wild Rose Press.
Alison has magical gifts, one of which is bringing new life to dying plants, the other is SPD—sensory .processing disorder. After an unplanned pregnancy, Grant marries her, believing he could protect her from herself and the outside world. But the marriage turned into a long-distance relationship as he pursued a high-stress career and she remained at home with her parents, learning how to protect herself from the outside world, and raising her child.
After Grant is offered a lucrative position with a pharmaceutical company in rural Kentucky, the two decide to give their marriage one last try. But Strawberry, Kentucky has multiple secrets. Beneath its beautiful scenery lies a collection of evil Slaugh, former fairies, cast out for their bad behaviors. And they’re out for the blood of the local clan of shifters. As the new moon approaches, Grant, as the new leader of the shifters, and Alison, as a green witch, find themselves and those they care about in grave danger. Together, they battle the Slaugh, discovering new, underexplored facets to each other—and rescue their marriage.
Our Review: This non-stop action series with its deliciously hot sexual undertones, features two multi-layered lead characters whose strong wills and bold facades hide bleeding hearts and deep devotion to their beloved son. The author brings true and clear emotions to this story, ones that ring true and clear.
On a scale of 1-5, Bear With Me deserves a 4.
Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews
This story revolves around the stale marriage of Grant & Alison, paranormal elements, misunderstandings and renewed love. It was different and I loved it. If I get into details, it’ll give everything away, but I will say if you like witches, vampires, Fae, and shifters, with a healthy dose of sexy, you’ll love this book. Read it. You won’t be disappointed.
This is a very good first book. Alison and Grant’s marriage has been falling apart for years and there is hope their move to Strawberry, KY will offer them a fresh start. They still love each other but Grant seems to bulldoze his way through life and Alison is willing to let him do the driving. Until the fae become a problem. Everyone around them recognizes Alison as someone more than Grant thinks she is. He does a lot of growing as a person after he realizes there is more going on than he thought. The ending is a “happy for now” with a lead in to the next book. This is a sweet and exciting read.
I received a free copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.
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!
Alison and Grant Luther agreed to move to Strawberry, Kentucky, for his career. Their marriage has been stagnant for 5 years, so Alison agreed to the relocation, not realizing the danger to herself by doing so. Grant sees his wife as weak and needing to be taken care of. He is unaware of her true power.
Things are still not good between Grant and his wife. With him away most of the time, they can’t work on their marriage. But on his way home, he is involved in a car accident. Two men from his workplace show up at the scene and bite him, changing him into a shifter to be used in a war against the Sluagh (criminals exiled by the Fae). And the Sluagh have a definite interest in Alison! Will they kidnap her? Or will she have to step up to protect her family by revealing her strength?
This is an exciting story line, but their secrets from each other were very frustrating. I hope it’s just a tool of the writer to give us the story and not a comment on people as a whole who seem unable to communicate truthfully with their spouse. So it turns out their move to Strawberry was a smart one since supernaturals occupy the town. They will both fit right in, if they survive the Sluagh!
This book started out a bit slow for me. The wife is a witch with a sensory problem who is in love with her husband. The husband a workaholic who loves his wife and doesn’t want to push her into anything she is uncomfortable with due to her condition. Due to their youth, education and other things, they married, and had a child, yet lived separately for many years. This book tells of their working their issues out while having to deal with a move into shifter territory and having to fight the slough. Overall, it was a good book. I would recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A well written book with an interesting story line. The characters are strong and the story flows quickly and smoothly. I enjoyed reading this story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.