Review: A gentle bear and his fierce little bird - not a bad combination.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2014
Robert is a Bear shifter that doesn't shift due to horrific trauma when he was small.  He lost his parents and was raised by hippies who are experts on Bears.  Vy is the Kuar of his ket at a relatively young age, and his lack of maturity shows in his dearth of empathy and insight with his people.  He is the leader and he is strong but he also has a lot of growing up to do.Vy identifies his mate by smell, he wasn't expecting a male or a Bear as a mate.  Robert is everything he wants, and Vy is what Robert wants to have for...a session in an alley.  Awkward!  But maybe Robert wants Vy for a bit longer, however because he doesn't shift Robert doesn't recognise the mate in Vy.  And because he was brought up by humans he also doesn't recognise Fate choosing mates, because how stupid is that?  Needless to say it is so not smooth sailing, and there is the occasional mishap or twenty, but they forge a relationship that isn't a full mating.  It takes danger and the full mating instinct to rear up in the form of a seven foot bear before they can progress further.The characters are interesting although Vy appears very young in his behaviour with Robert and as the Kuar of the Ket it seems he should be much more mature.  What kind of leader or man goes off in a sulk at the least provocation?  What great leader jumps to conclusions and freezes people out rather than to discuss rationally - I found that very frustrating.I have to say I was intrigued that these two authors have paired up and was excited to see what they came up with.  I am not fully enamoured with the book, it was easy to put down which I haven't found with Mary Calmes books before, and I have enjoyed Cardeno C's books in the same manner.  I don't know about this book - my test is do I want to read it again?  Mary Calmes' book Frog, for instance, is one I constantly re-read, same with Again - this one hasn't grabbed me by the throat and given me a shake.  For all that it is enjoyable - just not compelling.