Review: He didn't see the wallflower in HighSchool and boy does he regret those lost years with his Mate
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2012
Book 1 of Bell's "Halle Pumas" series. Followed bySweet Dreams.Books 1 to 3 are available as a paperback anthologyMating Games.Plot:Max and Emma are Mates. Once Max explains the whole "changing into a puma" thing, convinces the pride to accept her, and gets the annoying ex off his back, they might even get their HEA.Comments:- Contemporary paranormal (shape shifting) SmallTown romance with explicit bedroom scenes.- 2340 kindle locations, 25,979 words, but finishes around 1739 locations.- m/f - explicit, reasonably frequent. Includes a caring and sweet de-flowering.- Emma is a "larger" woman and has some insecurities associated with that (but not too many). "Hips made for birthing, plain brown eyes and nondescript hair, at five-foot-two inches Emma would never, literally, be able to stand up to Livia." But she reminded Max "of an old-fashioned pin-up girl, all soft curves and feminine strength."- Includes excerpts fromTreasure Huntingby Jenna McDonald,Rachel's Totemby Marie Harte,Claiming Their Mateby Paige McKellan,Tiger by the Tailby Kaye Chambers, andEven For Meby Taryn Blackthorne.- There is a "free read" available on the author's website which gives us a little epilogue of Max and Emma, "The Ornament Book 1".Opinion:A good little paranormal story with originality and humour. At the end of the day, it makes me smile. Bell gives a wicked humour to her characters, as well as lots of hot sex and a different take on shifters (our main characters are *human* before pumas, and have a human life, job, loves, friends). Okay, Max and Emma getting together was somewhat sudden, and she wasn't exactly given a choice with the whole shifting, but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief and just *believe*.4.5 stars rounded up. It's short, and I wanted a little more story, but it works."The Ornament Book1":2 months later and it's their first Christmas together. When Max hangs lights on the house so "the space shuttle could land safely on [the] driveway" Emma really hopes there's more to her Christmas surprise than that.A happy erotic short story (just a few pages) available free from Bell's website, that gives us a sweet epilogue to Emma and Max's story. A nice add-on.-CR-