Mated to Four Werebears: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance (Bear Shifter Island Book 1)

3.5 stars. This review contains spoilers.

Finally, a PNR that spends a little more time about relationships and the usual crap you get with reverse harems with more than one alpha male. Try. Four. Big. Bears. All four of them are heads of werebear clans found on an obscure island off the California coastline, probably closer to Southern California based on the weather. The small shifter community is finding itself floundering with problematic economics, dwindling resources, and lack of advancement within one’s clan… or maybe I should say caste. Sounds like a nice entry into a fascinating story… but it isn’t enough.

Any alpha should have a better understanding of the issues involved between three (excuse me), FOUR clans. Should three (there I go again) FOUR clan leaders learn the basics of cooperation?

I wish writers would understand that writing reverse harem is far more complicated than it appears. And if this is what most readers accept, well, then I’m in the wrong department.

What saves this book from being just of one- or two-star quality is its action/adventure portion which is its saving grace. Diana, our heroine, is convinced the Alphabet Killer is after her, despite what the responding cops feel. But someone is stalking her, and the dead dog IN her home isn’t just a sick joke. She’s also found herself in a hot conversation with no less than four fantastic guys on a dating website, and the real-time conversation has been really… hot. So with the last of her attempts to get attention to her security plight, she travels to SoCal, hopefully to meet these guys (whom she’s already aware of the fact that they all live there and know each other) more as a surprise visit but to find a means to protect herself from further terroristic attacks. They’re more than welcome to see her… it’s just that they don’t know she’s coming! And she’s lucky Noel was in his boat when she travels on her own by boat to their island, and she is thrown overboard. Noel blows all the guys’ cover when he morphs into his bear form to rescue her from the dangerous coastal waters.

Diana takes the news of shifters well. Better than they expected. What she doesn’t realize is that the four of them want to “date-to-mate” (like rent-to-buy) her. Again, she takes the four-guy routine better than even she imagines, but it isn’t that easy for all five of them. The three top alphas — Noel, Ricky, and Kurtis — are literally at each other’s throats, and they disrespect Bobby who’s the alpha of his clan only by a vote. (This clan is composed by those from the other three clans who are unhappy with how their own clans have treated them. I guess this is the Land of Broken Toys who are described to be nothing better than hippies.) Noel rules the hunters. Kurtis is the financial mastermind that controls the economics of the island to his own personal benefit. Ricky is the ag guy who doesn’t have what he needs to raise enough produce for consumption and sale. And Bobby? They’re rehabbing sandy soil for agriculture and spent most of their funds for a desalination plant, supplying potable water to the inhabitants of the island. They seemingly never have enough to survive as a whole, and the clan alphas can’t stand each other, therefore can’t cooperate.

Until Diana first came into their lives. She needs to become their queen and they her council alphas to bring the bickering clans together because it’s only together they can survive… but barely. You’d think it could be that simple. And it never is, but at least they can try…

I appreciate the fact that T.S. Ryder is willing to explore the issue of bisexuality which is something more RH storylines need to deal with. (And, no, bisexuality is a real deal, not just confused or experimental gay guys. My physician colleagues will argue there is no such thing as bisexuality, but biochemically, it’s real.) And for those who aren’t comfortable with this subject, you won’t be exposed to overly MM behavior. I do laugh at the comment made by one of the straight alphas when he wasn’t getting any action during the final fivesome in that the two bisexuals could be kissing each other and give him a chance at kissing Diana! (Wait your turn in line, dude! Reverse harem’s a sharing thing!! Leave it to the straight guy to complain like that…)

I do appreciate the writer exploring the conflict between cultural behavior vs environmentally protective behavior in that sometimes there isn’t a straight answer that will keep both sides happy. So there are good points in this novel.

My biggest problem? The writer should had spent more time developing storyline and characters. It’s difficult to bite off this much and try to keep the novel under three hundred pages. So I wasn’t satisfied because there were subplots not adequately addressed despite the warm-up, storylines that were rushed too much, and unrealistic expectations made from the characters developed. Too many times my suspension of disbelief was threatened with “this is way too much for me to expect this to be realistic” And that was the problem. Realism. (And shifters aren’t real, huh? Grrr! You know what I’m talking about!) Other than arguments with one’s internal bear, I really didn’t see why this book was any different compared to a wolf shifter story or a lion shifter novel or a panther shifter tale… You get what I mean. Being a BEAR didn’t factor into the difference I was be expecting in the storyline as bears act differently than wolves. These guys should had been wolves based upon their temperament. They were impossible. I would have cut their balls off long before Diana tried to put the kibosh on them.

I can say that the difficulty in maintaining a five-way relationship was well-documented. It’s tough. And T.S. explores how difficult that is when so much is on the line. I think the alphas should had been far more mature despite the fact that they were brought onboard at a very young age. (That was another point of unreality. ALL the previous alphas died or in another way indisposed? That’s a lot for me to swallow.)

There are way too many spelling errors and grammatical problems, not to mention improper use of commas. At least the world-building was better than expected.

I will try the next book in line, and I’ll base my decision on whether or not I’ll continue with this series depending on how I feel. I would hope there is better exploration of the many questions I was left with in this novel.

ONE HOT SIZZLNG READ!!!
If you’re looking for a fast paced, easy to follow, heart pounding, pulse racing, smooth flowing read that captures your attention from the start. Congratulations my friends you’ve found it. This little jewel has it all. A full range of emotions, heat and steam. Did I mention a little heat? Oops, my bad. I meant white hot, off the charts, sizzling chemistry that is explosive and adds a little spice to the mix. The characters and scenes were intriguing and complex. They’re are written with such realism it really pulls this bad boy together beautifully. So graphically detailed and descriptive it’s easy to picture each scenario as they play off one another in perfect balance. A strong storyline that keeps your focus on the pages and frozen to your seat. Ryder did a remarkable job bringing this little jewel to life. Fantastic job Ryder and thanks for sharing.