Dual Review: Bear Naked & Figure of Speech by Dana Marie Bell

Bear Naked

Halle Shifters, #3
Dana Marie Bell

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date of Publication: February 11, 2014
Number of pages: 236
Word Count: 73,045

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Kobo     ARe

To win a frightened heart, you have to bare your own.

Any woman would be eager to be Ryan Williams’s mate. Any woman but Glory Walsh. The sexy bear shifter is beautiful, strong and persistent, she’ll give him that. But Glory’s past taught her one simple truth: people leave. She can’t get past the fact he left her once before. Okay, so he had a good reason, and he did come back. Try convincing her emotions.

When Glory finally agrees to a date, Ryan feels like shouting hallelujah. He only left his mate to hunt down the man who’d shot her, but convincing the stubborn woman she has a permanent place at his side is tougher than he thought.

Their date takes a turn for the bizarre when Glory thanks Ryan for the series of romantic gifts—gifts Ryan never sent. It seems her past is coming back to bite her, and before it has a chance to sink its teeth in and tear her out of his life, Ryan will have to bare it all, right down to his soul, to protect the woman he loves. Even from herself.

Warning: This title contains explicit sex, graphic language, a blue-haired heroine, and a hero who isn’t afraid to get all kinds of naked.

I read the first book in this series, Bear Necessities back in February of 2013 and enjoyed it. The next book, Cynful, earned a 4 star rating and quickly made me a fan. I grabbed this book when it came out, but then got busy and forgot about it. You know how that happens.  So when I saw that book 4, was coming out, I thought that they would make a great double feature.

It didn't take me long to dive right back into the world created around three female friends who run a tattoo parlor. Glory has powder blue hair, is about the size of a minute, but acts like she's 10 feet tall. She has spunk and sass and attitude to spare. She was a great secondary character, but now that's she gets her own story, we get to know the real Glory. Let me give you a hint: We hadn't even begun to scratch the surface on Glory. She was fun.

Ryan, for the most part, is your average bear. I liked him, but this story - for me, was all about Glory and her dealing with her issues. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story. There was some nice action, some suspense and some "say what?" moments that kept things lively. But overall, a 3 star read.

Figure of Speech

Halle Shifters, #4
Dana Marie Bell

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date of Publication: March 3, 2015
Number of pages: 242
Word Count: 71,096

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Kobo     ARe

When two hearts speak as one, no words are needed.

Chloe Williams has waited four long years for her mate to acknowledge her. Time and again he has turned her away for being too young, even when she was hospitalized, recovering from a beating that left lingering after effects. Now that he’s been turned into a Wolf, his mating instincts are kicking in big time. Chloe has to decide if it’s worth risking her heart yet again.

Ten years older than Chloe and dealing with issues she knows nothing about, veterinarian James Woods is about ready to howl in frustration. He’s been drawn to Chloe since she was a radiant nineteen-year-old college student, but the age difference held him back from making a move on her. Now his Wolf wants what’s his, and Jim is finally in a place where he can claim her.

Between meddling mothers, Hunter brothers, and a mystery that threatens to end Chloe’s life, they might find an opportunity to tell each other just how they feel. Or find themselves separated by more than just misunderstood words.

Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, and two people who finally get their damn act together.

Where as the last book, Bear Naked was all right, this was a fantastic read. Poor Chloe has not had a good time in the previous 3 books. She was beaten and almost died - on top of dealing with a mate who refused to acknowledge her. But he was human, and human males are clueless to the mating thing, so everyone kept giving him a pass. All that changes with James being changed into a Wolf against his will. Suddenly he has a mating instinct driving him to claim that little Fox, Chloe as his own.

Due to the beating that Chloe received, she has a speech impairment. One that substitutes a rhyming word for what she really means. The author did an excellent job of walking a tight line between comedy and tragedy. We get Chloe's frustration and her family and friends rage at their inability to help Chloe. But we also get some hugely hysterical moments with the things that are said.

I hadn't liked Jim in previous books, thought he was a bit of an ass. But now that we actually get into his head and really get to know him, I understand why he portrayed the way he did. And applauded every bit of why he was acting the way he was. Jim totally redeemed himself in my eyes.

There is more world building and both the story arc and the world arc advances hugely in this book. This series is tied to the Halle Pumas & the Poconos Pack by secondary characters in the area they all live in. Mention is made of the Pumas and Pack, and we do get some updates on characters from those series. I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars.