Review: Can she open herself to the hurt, in order to find the love?
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2012
Book 5 of Bell's "Halle Pumas" series. Preceded bySteel Beauty. No further books at this time.Books 4 and 5 are available as a paperback anthologyAnimal Attraction.Plot:Now that Gabe has returned to town, Sarah needs to decide if she can trust him enough to give him her HEA.Comments:- Contemporary paranormal (shape shifting) SmallTown romance with explicit bedroom scenes.- 2272 kindle locations, 30,000 words, but finishes around 1940 locations.- m/f - explicit, reasonably frequent. Light bdsm including D/s, bondage, spanking.- Sarah has made cameo appearances in previous books. Gabe has also played roles as the town Sheriff and Adrian's Second. Events that occurred in Book 3, during Sheri's troubles, are referenced and affect The Senate's choice of Gabe as a Hunter.- "Only in my Dreams" starts within days of the destruction of the rogue wolves in Book 3.- Includes excerpts fromCabin Feverby Alisha Rai,Dance on the Wilde Sideby Beverly Rae, andVery Much Aliveby Dana Marie Bell.Opinion:I didn't like this story as much as I have the others in the series. It is pretty much all relationship-driven as Gabe tries to work out what he did wrong, and Sarah tries to forgive him. But too much of it just didn't gel for me, from Sarah being really, really hurt, and then rapidly forgiving him, to her inability or unwillingness to use her Super Senses to just work out what the heck is going on!!! And there seemed to be a big chunk of the book missing while Gabe went off to learn to be a Hunter. Is this a teaser to yet another series? Otherwise, it felt like an artificial roadblock put in the way of their happiness.On the plus side, I loved the karaoke scene, really enjoyed visiting with past characters, and thought the trip to Disney World was a nice touch. The bdsm aspects were tastefully done and Sarah and Gabe are very sweet together.Bell has set in motion her new "Halle Shifters" series as she introduces more shifter types into Halle. Gabe's "friend" Chloe plays a large role inBear Necessitieswhen her brother and cousin come to visit. It is nice to see her World developing, from coyotes in New York to Wolves in Poconos and now Bears and Foxes in Halle. It looks like an interesting, complex paranormal world. Definitely an author to keep an eye on.Overall, this is a good paranormal series with erotic tendencies. The books are reasonably short and mostly relationship-driven, with small dramatic plots to keep the stories running.  But in the end I just wasn't enamoured of this one. I wasn't sure if I really wanted Sarah to stay with Gabe, or stay quite so readily. But it is worth a read, if only to complete the Pumas series and slide into the "Halle Shifters".The "Halle Pumas" series:Book 1The Wallflower- Max and EmmaBook 2Sweet Dreams- Simon and BeckyBook 3Cat of a Different Color- Adrian and SheriBook 4Steel Beauty- Belle and RickBook 5  Only In My Dreams - Gabe and Sarah-CR-