Skyler Drake is in way over her head. As a breeder chosen by a Crestfall warrior, she’s had plenty of time to accept her fate. But when a chance encounter in Saratoga thrusts her into the path of a mysterious, and strange-talking shifter, Kellen, she begins to realize just how big the world is. And when Kellen-the-kidnapper turns out to be a battle-hardened werebear, she’s thinking she just might … might have stumbled upon someone who could love her despite her flaws—and possibly survive the wrath of her people.
Kellen would rather be hanged than watch a woman be hurt and trapped in a life she doesn’t choose, and when he gets a glimpse at just how much Skyler is keeping inside, he doesn’t think, only acts on protective instinct. Sure, he’s kidnapping her, but he knows what she really is, and she can escape any time she wants. Unfortunately, his bold moves and determination to show Skyler just how unbreakable she can be put his crew of lumberjack bear shifters in peril. But if he can toe the edge of danger, and avoid the wrath of his alpha, he just might find a mate worth sharing his secrets with.
Content Warning: explicit love scenes, naughty language, and piles of sexy shifter secrets.
Adult only bear shifter romance.
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Woodcutter Werebear (Saw Bears, Book 2) by TS Joyce is the second book in the series and just as good as the first. TS makes it easy to read, laugh out loud and become immersed in the lives of the complicated men and women of this crew. They are more than they seem, but they love and care in their own way and that way is stronger than any human bond. It is sexy and hot and complicated and just right to get lost in for a few hours.
3.5 stars. Still don’t understand why the author labeled her audio book as the “unabridged” version. Is the ebook abridged? I don’t know. I have written to her and am still waiting on a response if one’s coming.
Compared to Lumberjack Werebear (Saw Bears #1), I enjoyed this one far more. Less continuity issues. Less questions unanswered. Less questions created. Still didn’t explain any of the questions I had when I finished Lumberjack WereBear, but I was quite pleased to see the crew back, better than ever, this time.
Kellen, Tagan’s second, is the hero of this tale. Unfortunately, how he is represented here wasn’t how he was represented in the first book. It was as if the writer thought: “Oops! This is how I really wanted him to be!” before writing WW. I’m pleased she didn’t try to over-explain her switcheroo because that would have encouraged more questions from the readership than necessary. It’s not that Kellen is mentally retarded. He’s socially maladjusted but in a good way if there ever was a good way in this regard. He just doesn’t do crowds well. He doesn’t do keeping-your-mouth-shut well. He does do speaking his mind well and being overly open and honest, but I’m in the business in which is this more desired than not. I mean, I’m tired of people not saying what they mean even if it comes out poorly. I’m at the age that I don’t have an ego to be coddled. Just tell me what you mean and I’ll deal with the fallout happily.
Kellen’s definitely my kind of guy. And in Skyler’s case, he’s definitely what she needed at the right time.
Skyler is your typical, badly abused female who’s been promised to a status-seeking guy who has no qualms in using physical and emotional violence to get his way. Except she’s never put out to him, refusing to do so until the claiming ceremony. And who should she run into at a grocery store (sounds a lot like Costco, for some reason) but Kellen who had gone to pick up some things because Brooke (see book #1) was coming back to the crew. Skyler mistakes Brooke to be Kellen’s mate (after all, who else but a mate would buy a woman flowers?) and is saddened because he has been the first male in his life that made her feel more positive about herself, and he’s apparently taken. But when Kellen sees the bruises around her eyes she’s been hiding behind her curtain of hair, he kidnaps her, telling her to take all the time she needed to heal, but she wasn’t going back to her promised. Over his dead body…
So begins the rather rapid and unusual courtship of Kellen and Skyler. Kellen worries he would be inadequate as a mate. She worries that her being so physically and emotionally damaged would repulse him. But together, they mesh beautifully despite the fact that her family has a legacy which makes her genes important, something any of her kind of were would want. But Roger isn’t the kind of male to insult or steal from.
Unlike Book #1, I found these two main characters to be far more interesting to read about. I immediately liked how TSJ wrote his character, not truly a bumbling village idiot but a big, strong guy who wore his emotions on his sleeve. I doubt he would ever socially exist like most people, but does he need to be like the rest of us? I hope not! That’s the charm of this character. You can’t help but to like him, to hurt for him when he hurts. He also knows enough about psychology to understand how victims eventually heal and what they need to heal, but he has had a few good teachers in that department. At least he learns from his lessons. As for Skyler, she is the typical brow-beaten female whose pleas for help hasn’t done her any good. She may have been raised to be a breeder (placid rather than “willful”), but I guess it required violence and pain to make her submissive. Funny how well Kellen could read her as he does on the trip back to the trailer park. I was pleased to see how these two grew into their relationship. We don’t necessarily see that in most books. It’s hard not to not rush things, but there was a limited number of pages to fit this story into. At the end, I was very satisfied on how their relationship matured without the questions I had with Book #1.
In terms of world-building, as I mentioned before, I didn’t get much explanation of my questions from Book #1. I was intrigued by what Skyler’s animal was. (I didn’t guess it! Should have…) In regards to more details about logging, I was pleased to know that she did do better research in this department for this book. It made it only feel that more real.
In regards to editing, the same as in Book #1. Better than most books. I didn’t see any continuity issues. There were a few places I wished TSJ could had elaborated upon. But I was way more satisfied by this book so I’ll be reading Book #3. Therefore, I highly recommend this book/series now.
One of my go to authors! Always a great time.