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Bear Valley Shifters #6
Coveted by the Bear
Damaged goods, unlikely friends, good intentions, and dark deeds come together to create T. S. Joyce’s newest full-length, stand-alone shifter romance novel, Coveted by the Bear.
Mira Fletcher is crazy. At least that’s what her sleepy hometown thinks. She lives in a dilapidated house in the wilderness with her imaginary uncle, talks to soup cans, and rumor has it she’ll eat anything. That, and she believes in bear men.
It isn’t love at first sight when she finds Caleb McCreedy, the town’s most prominent and promising member, bleeding all over her front yard. He is easy on the eyes but light on manners, and with one look at his attacker, she’s pretty sure she knows exactly what he’s about to turn into.
A McCreedy always pays his debts, and Caleb owes Mira for saving him. He gives into an obsession with improving her future for reasons he can’t himself understand just as his world crashes down around him. Something dangerous is lurking beneath his surface now, and the only one who can settle his animal is the town crazy.
With an explosion of admitted secrets, Mira’s dark past comes back to haunt her, and she must decide whether to let Caleb go, or to allow him to save her back.
Content Warning: explicit love scenes, language, and sexy shifter secrets.
Adult only bear shifter romance.
Mira Fletcher is crazy. At least that’s what her sleepy hometown thinks. She lives in a dilapidated house in the wilderness with her imaginary uncle, talks to soup cans, and rumor has it she’ll eat anything. That, and she believes in bear men.
It isn’t love at first sight when she finds Caleb McCreedy, the town’s most prominent and promising member, bleeding all over her front yard. He is easy on the eyes but light on manners, and with one look at his attacker, she’s pretty sure she knows exactly what he’s about to turn into.
A McCreedy always pays his debts, and Caleb owes Mira for saving him. He gives into an obsession with improving her future for reasons he can’t himself understand just as his world crashes down around him. Something dangerous is lurking beneath his surface now, and the only one who can settle his animal is the town crazy.
With an explosion of admitted secrets, Mira’s dark past comes back to haunt her, and she must decide whether to let Caleb go, or to allow him to save her back.
Content Warning: explicit love scenes, language, and sexy shifter secrets.
Adult only bear shifter romance.
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 30, 2014
344 people are currently reading
644 people want to read
About the author
T.S. Joyce
160 books3,449 followersT.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She werebear swears there'll be no swooning heroines in her books. It takes tough-as-nails women to handle the shifters of Bear Valley.
She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it's gonna to be a wild ride.
She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it's gonna to be a wild ride.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
July 2, 2015
I just happened to start this last night on my new paperwhite because, well, it was there. I grabbed it while browsing Kindle Unlimited titles. So yes, this is Kindle Unlimited, if you're a subscriber.
I started reading around 6pm and finished after midnight. It's rare for me to consume a full-length novel like that in one sitting, so the book gets major props right there just for holding my interest!
I thought the writing was good. It's not particularly funny or witty but it has a nice clean simplicity and the occasional lyrical wording. It stayed very much 'on plot' rather than meandering, which may be why it kept me moving forward.
This is, essentially, an underdog, Cinderella type story with the town outcast winning over the rich man's son. I'm always a sucker for an underdog-finds-love story, and Mira is definitely a major underdog--starved, impoverished, and shunned by the town as 'crazy Mira'.
I quite enjoyed the romance aspect of the book. One thing I found a little odd was that the whole grizzly-bear-shifter thing was fairly glossed over. Since I've not read many grizzly-bear-shifter stories, I expected that element to be dealt with in a more prominent way. Perhaps because this book is part of a series (none of which I've read), that world-building was done in other books.
In any case, if you like Cinderella type stores, and/or shifter romances, I'd recommend this one.
I started reading around 6pm and finished after midnight. It's rare for me to consume a full-length novel like that in one sitting, so the book gets major props right there just for holding my interest!
I thought the writing was good. It's not particularly funny or witty but it has a nice clean simplicity and the occasional lyrical wording. It stayed very much 'on plot' rather than meandering, which may be why it kept me moving forward.
This is, essentially, an underdog, Cinderella type story with the town outcast winning over the rich man's son. I'm always a sucker for an underdog-finds-love story, and Mira is definitely a major underdog--starved, impoverished, and shunned by the town as 'crazy Mira'.
I quite enjoyed the romance aspect of the book. One thing I found a little odd was that the whole grizzly-bear-shifter thing was fairly glossed over. Since I've not read many grizzly-bear-shifter stories, I expected that element to be dealt with in a more prominent way. Perhaps because this book is part of a series (none of which I've read), that world-building was done in other books.
In any case, if you like Cinderella type stores, and/or shifter romances, I'd recommend this one.
January 26, 2015
A quick but satisfying read
I really liked the hero and heroine in this read. There wasn't a lot of "shifting" or other shifters so it didn't feel paranormal for the most part but I still enjoyed it and will check out more in this series. It was well worth its .99 price.
I really liked the hero and heroine in this read. There wasn't a lot of "shifting" or other shifters so it didn't feel paranormal for the most part but I still enjoyed it and will check out more in this series. It was well worth its .99 price.
July 25, 2017
If you're not a huge fan of shifter/paranormal and lean more towards contemporary yet still a little curious and want to test out a shifter novel this is the book for you. It's VERY light on the shifter "lore" it actually reads almost like a regular contemporary.
Crazy Mira (human) was SO likeable. She was not your usual heroine. The entire town assumes she's completely crazy and who's Caleb to tell them their wrong? Until she saves his life.
Caleb (human) was attacked and barely survived. Now a werebear he's completely out of his element. There's no town of shifters or family members who share his plight to guide him as he figures out what it means to be an animal. Half of the time I forgot he was a shifter, that's how little it's really mentioned.
Totally justifiable reasons for the angst and drama that the H&h wade their way through. This book is my favorite combo of a swoony hero and a likeable heroine. Super fun supporting characters that made me a little sad knowing this was a true standalone. My one complaint was evil Becca (evil/mean chick who had a crush on Caleb) didn't meet some unfortunate end or really get her comeuppance.
1.) Cheating? Nope!
2.) Cliffhanger? No.
3.) HEA (Happily Ever After)? Yep!
4.) Violence? Um, yeah a tiny bit. Nothing worth of like a trigger warning though.
5.) Writing/Grammar? Well done.
6.) Sexual content? Very light, slow burn with one pretty mild sex scene.
7.) Would I recommend this book to my friends? Yep
8.) POV? Dual
Crazy Mira (human) was SO likeable. She was not your usual heroine. The entire town assumes she's completely crazy and who's Caleb to tell them their wrong? Until she saves his life.
Caleb (human) was attacked and barely survived. Now a werebear he's completely out of his element. There's no town of shifters or family members who share his plight to guide him as he figures out what it means to be an animal. Half of the time I forgot he was a shifter, that's how little it's really mentioned.
Totally justifiable reasons for the angst and drama that the H&h wade their way through. This book is my favorite combo of a swoony hero and a likeable heroine. Super fun supporting characters that made me a little sad knowing this was a true standalone. My one complaint was evil Becca (evil/mean chick who had a crush on Caleb) didn't meet some unfortunate end or really get her comeuppance.
1.) Cheating? Nope!
2.) Cliffhanger? No.
3.) HEA (Happily Ever After)? Yep!
4.) Violence? Um, yeah a tiny bit. Nothing worth of like a trigger warning though.
5.) Writing/Grammar? Well done.
6.) Sexual content? Very light, slow burn with one pretty mild sex scene.
7.) Would I recommend this book to my friends? Yep
8.) POV? Dual
January 31, 2015
We’re all caught up in circumstances, and we’re all good and evil. When you’re really hungry, for instance, you’ll do anything to survive. I think the most evil thing – well, maybe that’s too strong – but certainly a very evil thing is judgment, the sin of ignorance. – Anthony Hopkins
The human race is a herd. Here we are, unique, eternal aspects of consciousness with an infinity of potential, and we have allowed ourselves to become an unthinking, unquestioning blob of conformity and uniformity. A herd. Once we concede to the herd mentality, we can be controlled and directed by a tiny few. And we are. - David Icke
Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. – Bertrand Russell
Mira is hungry. Starving, actually. Alone. Isolated. Brutalized by family, hated by a whole town, to whom she is known as “Crazy Mira” and “Mira the Witch”. She suffers attacks – verbal, emotional and physical – from the town-turned-human pack. Even those who don’t attack turn their heads, ignoring the pain that Mira suffers. Ignore her youth, her loneliness, and her literal starvation. The humiliating acts and viciousness of the townspeople makes it hard, nearly impossible, to come to town, to buy even the simplest of food supplies with her meager funds.
The amazing thing? Mira is not bitter. Instead, she accepts – no, she expects their treatment, and doesn’t blame. She considers it her due. After all, she has never known anything but cruelty in her life, so there must be something wrong with her.
Right?
Right?
Mira lives alone, on a mountain deep in the woods, in a falling down shack left to her by her uncle (An uncle who died on the bathroom floor in a pool of his own alcoholic vomit.)
Out hunting her woods, hoping with all her might to bag a squirrel or rabbit, to ease the terrible pains of days of starvation, she comes across something she never expects. The town ‘pretty boy’ and member of one of the “five families” of their small town, Caleb McCreedy, is sprawled on her land, bleeding to death as a massive grizzly bear eats his horse – in all likelihood as an appetizer before eating Caleb.
Saving the pretty boy is hard – Mira’s life has left her terrified of people, especially those whose personal power can make her miserable existence even worse. But save him she does. And though she tries to warn him that being attacked by that particular grizzly may mean that he hates her for saving his life rather than appreciating her deed, he doesn’t listen. She is, after all, only “Crazy Mira”.
Let’s face it. There are a lot of paranormal romances out there. Some good, some not so good. But this particular PR is something different. Something better. Yes, it is a PR, and a well written one at that. But it is more important, at least in my estimation, as a lesson in the human condition. A lesson in how superstition and the pack mentality can turn even the best of us into cruel monsters, without a drop of compassion or kindness.
“My bones stuck out so much and my skin was thin as rice paper. When I hit something, it would split me open, and I was too young to know how to stitch myself up yet.”
This book is well worth your precious reading time if you want something different from the normal “boy meets girl, they boink, they marry, the end”. No. This is something richer, fuller, which I have now on my “keeper” shelf. T.S. Joyce’s books are bargains – anything from .99 to 2.99, or free with kindleunlimited, so there is really no reason not to enjoy them. I haven’t read her before, but I am looking forward to reading more to see if they are as good as this one.
The human race is a herd. Here we are, unique, eternal aspects of consciousness with an infinity of potential, and we have allowed ourselves to become an unthinking, unquestioning blob of conformity and uniformity. A herd. Once we concede to the herd mentality, we can be controlled and directed by a tiny few. And we are. - David Icke
Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. – Bertrand Russell
Mira is hungry. Starving, actually. Alone. Isolated. Brutalized by family, hated by a whole town, to whom she is known as “Crazy Mira” and “Mira the Witch”. She suffers attacks – verbal, emotional and physical – from the town-turned-human pack. Even those who don’t attack turn their heads, ignoring the pain that Mira suffers. Ignore her youth, her loneliness, and her literal starvation. The humiliating acts and viciousness of the townspeople makes it hard, nearly impossible, to come to town, to buy even the simplest of food supplies with her meager funds.
The amazing thing? Mira is not bitter. Instead, she accepts – no, she expects their treatment, and doesn’t blame. She considers it her due. After all, she has never known anything but cruelty in her life, so there must be something wrong with her.
Right?
Right?
Mira lives alone, on a mountain deep in the woods, in a falling down shack left to her by her uncle (An uncle who died on the bathroom floor in a pool of his own alcoholic vomit.)
Out hunting her woods, hoping with all her might to bag a squirrel or rabbit, to ease the terrible pains of days of starvation, she comes across something she never expects. The town ‘pretty boy’ and member of one of the “five families” of their small town, Caleb McCreedy, is sprawled on her land, bleeding to death as a massive grizzly bear eats his horse – in all likelihood as an appetizer before eating Caleb.
Saving the pretty boy is hard – Mira’s life has left her terrified of people, especially those whose personal power can make her miserable existence even worse. But save him she does. And though she tries to warn him that being attacked by that particular grizzly may mean that he hates her for saving his life rather than appreciating her deed, he doesn’t listen. She is, after all, only “Crazy Mira”.
Let’s face it. There are a lot of paranormal romances out there. Some good, some not so good. But this particular PR is something different. Something better. Yes, it is a PR, and a well written one at that. But it is more important, at least in my estimation, as a lesson in the human condition. A lesson in how superstition and the pack mentality can turn even the best of us into cruel monsters, without a drop of compassion or kindness.
“My bones stuck out so much and my skin was thin as rice paper. When I hit something, it would split me open, and I was too young to know how to stitch myself up yet.”
This book is well worth your precious reading time if you want something different from the normal “boy meets girl, they boink, they marry, the end”. No. This is something richer, fuller, which I have now on my “keeper” shelf. T.S. Joyce’s books are bargains – anything from .99 to 2.99, or free with kindleunlimited, so there is really no reason not to enjoy them. I haven’t read her before, but I am looking forward to reading more to see if they are as good as this one.
January 3, 2016
Totally surprised by how much I liked this book. I've read one other by this author that I rated decent and one that I thought was really poorly written so I wasn't expecting so much here. There was a lot of well thought out plotting. The story was well rounded and fully developed which was one of the major problems I had with the other two reads by this author. I have a tendency to enjoy a downtrodden but plucky heroine and they don't come much more downtrodden than Mira. The hero was nicely done and sympathetic. There was obviously some shifter stuff going on but it wasn't hugely important to the story line. This guy was a solitary shifter so no intricate shifter politics etc. my only major complaint is that I would have liked a bit more heft to the very end of the book, to have seen more scenes dealing with other characters' reactions to the resolution of the conflict. Still that's minor. I'm going to try more of this author based on this one.
January 4, 2015
SO COMPELLING !!!
Oh my! I was so touched by this story! I laughed! I cried! I sobbed! Well Written! Smart! Exciting! Compelling! Heart Wrenching! Endearing! Sweet! Romantic! Mira Fletcher is so alone - she has no one. She is misjudged and tormented by everyone in town. They bully her, whisper about her, call her crazy, say she is a witch - Crazy Mira. Everyone except Caleb McCreedy. He just feels kind of sorry for her. But none of that was really his problem. Or at least it wasn't until she saves his life. But when Mira tells him that the bear who attacked him was really a man - a bear shifter, then he knows that everyone was right about her - she is really crazy. But after awakening in the hospital, he knows he has to repay that debt. That's all it is - just repay her for saving him from the bear. But he doesn't understand why he can't get her out of his mind and his overwhelming desire to just be near her. And in a tragic but heartwarming story, the beast falls in love with beauty. I was so touched by this story. I loved it. Simply exquisite!
Oh my! I was so touched by this story! I laughed! I cried! I sobbed! Well Written! Smart! Exciting! Compelling! Heart Wrenching! Endearing! Sweet! Romantic! Mira Fletcher is so alone - she has no one. She is misjudged and tormented by everyone in town. They bully her, whisper about her, call her crazy, say she is a witch - Crazy Mira. Everyone except Caleb McCreedy. He just feels kind of sorry for her. But none of that was really his problem. Or at least it wasn't until she saves his life. But when Mira tells him that the bear who attacked him was really a man - a bear shifter, then he knows that everyone was right about her - she is really crazy. But after awakening in the hospital, he knows he has to repay that debt. That's all it is - just repay her for saving him from the bear. But he doesn't understand why he can't get her out of his mind and his overwhelming desire to just be near her. And in a tragic but heartwarming story, the beast falls in love with beauty. I was so touched by this story. I loved it. Simply exquisite!
April 22, 2021
I thought this was a bear shifter story but it was not so much. Of course I felt compassion for Mira's trials and tribulations but I felt beat over the head with it repeatedly. Enter one Caleb McCreedy and suddenly you're somebody cause somebody (of importance) loves you. The townspeople are complete trolls. This story plays to every stereotype possible. There is little that's paranormal about this story...false advertising as far as I'm concerned. Having said that, on my Were Scale of Hotness, 0 stars.
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April 25, 2025
DNF, don’t ask me why I thought I would like this. It makes sense that I couldn’t finish it and that it wasn’t good.
September 16, 2021
Heat Level: High
CW:
*This book was part of the Bookoplathon readathon this month. I landed on Community and chose a card with the prompt "Book Buddy Choice" This book was chosen by my friend Melissa.*
So the synopsis, the title, and the cover all made me think this was going to be a good time. I wasn't expecting high quality if I'm being honest, so I was pleasantly surprised when this one exceeded my expectation (even though they weren't very high).
This is a novella, which usually means I won't have enough time to connect with the characters or the romance. That was not the case with this one. The writing was good. The pacing was good. The angst! I loved it! Where this one lacked though was probably in explaining things. The hero is a bear shifter. There's really no explanation about it or why it exists in this world. I don't know if it's in the author's other books, but since this is my first one and it's considered a standalone, a little bit of lore or whatever would have been nice.
Regardless, I enjoyed these characters and am kind of shocked that I was pulled in so quickly. I will definitely be trying other books by this author.
CAWPILE Score: 7.86 = 4.25 stars
Characters: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Writing: 9
Plot: 8
Intrigue:8
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 8
CW:
*This book was part of the Bookoplathon readathon this month. I landed on Community and chose a card with the prompt "Book Buddy Choice" This book was chosen by my friend Melissa.*
So the synopsis, the title, and the cover all made me think this was going to be a good time. I wasn't expecting high quality if I'm being honest, so I was pleasantly surprised when this one exceeded my expectation (even though they weren't very high).
This is a novella, which usually means I won't have enough time to connect with the characters or the romance. That was not the case with this one. The writing was good. The pacing was good. The angst! I loved it! Where this one lacked though was probably in explaining things. The hero is a bear shifter. There's really no explanation about it or why it exists in this world. I don't know if it's in the author's other books, but since this is my first one and it's considered a standalone, a little bit of lore or whatever would have been nice.
Regardless, I enjoyed these characters and am kind of shocked that I was pulled in so quickly. I will definitely be trying other books by this author.
CAWPILE Score: 7.86 = 4.25 stars
Characters: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Writing: 9
Plot: 8
Intrigue:8
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 8
January 24, 2015
Mediocre
The name of the story, and the tagline drew me in. Coveted by the bear...he'll risk it all to save his mate. The warning of explicit love scenes sold me. The thing is, this book was none of that for me. Mira didn't feel coveted or cheriwsed to me at all. Often, Caleb is thinking that she is crazy, and that he can't fix her. It was heartbreaking the way she is treated and talked about, even by Caleb, and almost everyone around her. More often than not, Caleb was being a complete jerk. I admire Mira, for being so strong. For going through everything that she did, and being a survivor. For how she handled the abuse the town dished out. I disliked Caleb and how he treats her, hurts her. 2/3 of story was his hot and cold and being and saying hurtful or disinterested things, then all of a sudden he can't get enough, and turns sweet...like he's two different people. Being a bear shifter got lost somewhere in the story, like it's not that important though it was shaping his actions. I would have liked more emphasis on being a shiftet, and what it was like.it never seemed like he came to terms with being a shufter, and what that meant. There was a Random plot line introduced at 80% and I'm like wtf, no clue this was even an issue, and it through me off.
Overall, an ok book. But iwas kind of disappointed. Though it was interestingthat Caleb was a turned bear shifter instead of being born like in most stories.
The name of the story, and the tagline drew me in. Coveted by the bear...he'll risk it all to save his mate. The warning of explicit love scenes sold me. The thing is, this book was none of that for me. Mira didn't feel coveted or cheriwsed to me at all. Often, Caleb is thinking that she is crazy, and that he can't fix her. It was heartbreaking the way she is treated and talked about, even by Caleb, and almost everyone around her. More often than not, Caleb was being a complete jerk. I admire Mira, for being so strong. For going through everything that she did, and being a survivor. For how she handled the abuse the town dished out. I disliked Caleb and how he treats her, hurts her. 2/3 of story was his hot and cold and being and saying hurtful or disinterested things, then all of a sudden he can't get enough, and turns sweet...like he's two different people. Being a bear shifter got lost somewhere in the story, like it's not that important though it was shaping his actions. I would have liked more emphasis on being a shiftet, and what it was like.it never seemed like he came to terms with being a shufter, and what that meant. There was a Random plot line introduced at 80% and I'm like wtf, no clue this was even an issue, and it through me off.
Overall, an ok book. But iwas kind of disappointed. Though it was interestingthat Caleb was a turned bear shifter instead of being born like in most stories.
January 18, 2022
One of my favourite couples, and a great example of rejected trope. The abused h has been bullied her whole life by evil OM, and most of the people in her town. The H fails her too but when he's attacked by a shifter she doesn't hesitate to save him. It's all very dramatic, the h is quite pathetic but their story really worked for me. It's sad and sweet with a lovely epilogue.
December 21, 2019
1.5 stars
For the majority of the book, I found the hero simply unlikable and at times unnecessary cruel. There is a lot of „no communication“ going on, which I always hate, deciding what is best for others and juvenile characters that were acting like teens instead grown ass people. Not a fan.
For the majority of the book, I found the hero simply unlikable and at times unnecessary cruel. There is a lot of „no communication“ going on, which I always hate, deciding what is best for others and juvenile characters that were acting like teens instead grown ass people. Not a fan.
December 4, 2015
Overly long. Hero and town's people are HORRIBLE!
October 5, 2015
I really felt bad for her how they just assumed this about her and said things about her. I liked who she was getting to know her she was really great.
December 5, 2016
slooooooow buuuuuuurn
Read
October 7, 2022This is one of those paranormal romance books that is so light on the shifters it's basically just a romance book. Seriously, the three paragraphs that involve bear shifting can be deleted and nothing in the story needs to change.
There's a lot of weird metaphors and it's pretty basic writing, the intimate scenes are just awkward, and they never actually have a conversation with each other. It jumps quite a lot, and the end conflict only exists for like 10 pages. It's not even mentioned in the story at all before then. I love a lot of her other books, but not this one.
There's a lot of weird metaphors and it's pretty basic writing, the intimate scenes are just awkward, and they never actually have a conversation with each other. It jumps quite a lot, and the end conflict only exists for like 10 pages. It's not even mentioned in the story at all before then. I love a lot of her other books, but not this one.
January 9, 2024
Shifter romance. The first half would've made for a five-star read — gripping emotion, wrecking circumstances, and a strong dual POV. The second half kind of lost me — petty drama, a lost plot, and throwing in shifter terminology. I would've loved another 100 pages of plot and character development. CW: extreme poverty
January 4, 2020
Amazing with roller coaster stomach flutters!
This book was a change of pace. It was a roller coaster ride with all crazy ways the plot twist went. The best was 2 lost souls conquering the most evil of human being and learning that they saved each other and their physical scars told their beginning. I adored this book. I hope you all do to.
This book was a change of pace. It was a roller coaster ride with all crazy ways the plot twist went. The best was 2 lost souls conquering the most evil of human being and learning that they saved each other and their physical scars told their beginning. I adored this book. I hope you all do to.
September 8, 2015
I've read a series from T.S. Joyce and although I liked them I wasn't entirely sold on her writing. I picked this one up because one I love bear shifters and two I really liked the plot. Once I started it I knew it was going to be a favorite and I wasn't wrong. I didn't like the town because if their false claims on crazy Mira but she didn't help stop the rumors. Caleb always had a soft spot for Mira but he let her 'crazy' status overshadow who she really was. When she saved him, he knew deep down he truly cared for her but as all men do they think they will protect us by pushing us away. This story is about a journey of a man turned finding his way both as man and beast while trying to protect the ones he loves. And about a girl hiding from her demons and protecting the bear she loves. It's a beautiful read that had me hurting for both Mira and Caleb but also joy when they found happiness in each other. I will definitely be reading more from this author!
January 8, 2015
Part of Kindle Unlimited. This book was different than most bear shifter books because the he was created - not born a shifter. She has lived a sheltered life that was unfair and hard. I felt for her character because all she has ever known was pain...(so be forewarned that you may find the story line a little said and hate some of the other characters in the book). He has lived a privileged life but for some reason is drawn to her. Though if fights it with insults he lands at her door. An event brings them together that will forever change one of their lives. Can they make it through all of the people and events trying to pull them apart? This book is written well and had me pulled in from the beginning. This is a standalone book - so NO CLIFFHANGER!
October 6, 2017
Wow. This book snuck up on me. I went into this hoping for a decent read. What I got was a female lead who was totally shockingly badass. I LOVED Mira. She is the woman who has been kicked down every single day of her life, but still kicks back. Her attitude toward every shitty part of her life was blunt and amazing. She was the perfect character. And even though Caleb has some weak shithead moments, I loved his growth in this story. I truly believed in his change by the end. Even though this book itself has some minor grammatical errors, it wasn't enough to distract me from the story and I still throughly enjoyed every single moment of reading.
January 12, 2015
Powerful read!
T.S. Joyce is very talented at weaving an enthralling story. She takes the reader through gut wrenching isolation and loneliness, survival of unspeakable trauma and cruelty to grudging respect, growing affection and all encompassing love. At times
This story is heartbreaking and at other times life affirming. Wonderful romance, huge story of triumph and a happily ever after that will stay with the reader long after the story finished.
T.S. Joyce is very talented at weaving an enthralling story. She takes the reader through gut wrenching isolation and loneliness, survival of unspeakable trauma and cruelty to grudging respect, growing affection and all encompassing love. At times
This story is heartbreaking and at other times life affirming. Wonderful romance, huge story of triumph and a happily ever after that will stay with the reader long after the story finished.
January 26, 2015
4.5 stars
March 4, 2015
DNF. Started really well and I was really feeling for poor Crazy Mira, but about 60% in as the 'romance' progressed I felt the finesse fell away and it started getting hokey so I gave up.
July 18, 2023
This is a tough one to review. It's rare that you come across a writer who can tell a good story. Who can write quite well, with evocative prose and compelling characters and emotions. And who is just such a mess with plotting. It turns out, though, that messy plotting isn't a dealbreaker for me, like terrible writing or a lame story might be. But oh boy, how good this book would be with a glow-up.
Mira and Caleb were so lovely together. Good, solid people, you just rooted for them to find happiness with each other. They were both carrying some heavy baggage... that often got lost in the plotting sauce. Mira had faced a horrifically abusive and neglectful childhood. Caleb realized she was basically starving when they met and is determined to help feed her. So she is fed... and little further discussion is had about the starvation she had been experiencing for years. And yes, there are plenty other traumas from her childhood to discover. But you don't go from starving so much that your frail skin is scarred from tearing, to having access to food so let's not discuss this any more. Caleb has been attacked by a bear and discovers he is a bear shifter. He is concerned about this. Butttt they don't really talk about it much, or freak out or even go online and frantically google "bear shifters." It's just like "Fuck, I am a shifter. This is no good. I don't want to talk about it." So while it is there, causing occasional problems of the "I can't be with you, and burden you with loving a shifter" variety, it is also just really not a part of this book. If you came here expecting a shifter romance, I warn you - the shifter part is more like an off-screen plot device. Occasionally mentioned, rarely seen.
It's a slow and easy kind of book, and yet it feels like nothing ever gets its due. There is no explanation for a town that hates a woman and calls her crazy because they watched her grow up neglected and starved. There is no satisfaction from her acceptance at the end by such a town, because why should we be happy she is now friends with such people? Caleb has a jerk brother. The sort of guy who would grope the waitress at the diner. Am I supposed to think that once he accepts Caleb is with Mira, he will leave her alone? Why would that make me happy?? Why should I want her to be accepted by a guy who gropes a waitress?? There's just a strange lack of gravity to anything, like every serious and terrible thing is kind of sad, but also totally normal.
And while all of this sounds like negatives, the positives outweigh it all. I am dissatisfied because I was so invested in Mira and Caleb. I want to know why he approached her in that first chapter, that is barely mentioned again. I want to know what they both knew and thought of each other before. I felt Mira's pain and her need so acutely because the author wrote it so well. And I needed more Caleb chapters so I could feel his devotion for Mira, which was like a reward, the rare flashes we got of his viewpoint. I feel all that because the good part of this book - the couple - is just so so good. And that's really the most important part in a romance novel.
So overall, I recommend the book. And plan to try more from the author. Perhaps the years since this one have honed her plot focus.
Mira and Caleb were so lovely together. Good, solid people, you just rooted for them to find happiness with each other. They were both carrying some heavy baggage... that often got lost in the plotting sauce. Mira had faced a horrifically abusive and neglectful childhood. Caleb realized she was basically starving when they met and is determined to help feed her. So she is fed... and little further discussion is had about the starvation she had been experiencing for years. And yes, there are plenty other traumas from her childhood to discover. But you don't go from starving so much that your frail skin is scarred from tearing, to having access to food so let's not discuss this any more. Caleb has been attacked by a bear and discovers he is a bear shifter. He is concerned about this. Butttt they don't really talk about it much, or freak out or even go online and frantically google "bear shifters." It's just like "Fuck, I am a shifter. This is no good. I don't want to talk about it." So while it is there, causing occasional problems of the "I can't be with you, and burden you with loving a shifter" variety, it is also just really not a part of this book. If you came here expecting a shifter romance, I warn you - the shifter part is more like an off-screen plot device. Occasionally mentioned, rarely seen.
It's a slow and easy kind of book, and yet it feels like nothing ever gets its due. There is no explanation for a town that hates a woman and calls her crazy because they watched her grow up neglected and starved. There is no satisfaction from her acceptance at the end by such a town, because why should we be happy she is now friends with such people? Caleb has a jerk brother. The sort of guy who would grope the waitress at the diner. Am I supposed to think that once he accepts Caleb is with Mira, he will leave her alone? Why would that make me happy?? Why should I want her to be accepted by a guy who gropes a waitress?? There's just a strange lack of gravity to anything, like every serious and terrible thing is kind of sad, but also totally normal.
And while all of this sounds like negatives, the positives outweigh it all. I am dissatisfied because I was so invested in Mira and Caleb. I want to know why he approached her in that first chapter, that is barely mentioned again. I want to know what they both knew and thought of each other before. I felt Mira's pain and her need so acutely because the author wrote it so well. And I needed more Caleb chapters so I could feel his devotion for Mira, which was like a reward, the rare flashes we got of his viewpoint. I feel all that because the good part of this book - the couple - is just so so good. And that's really the most important part in a romance novel.
So overall, I recommend the book. And plan to try more from the author. Perhaps the years since this one have honed her plot focus.
October 18, 2021
Rating: 3 Stars
I specifically read this book for the FMC-misjudged-by-the-entire-town angst, and on that front it delivered. But everything else felt lacking.
“I wanted to protect you. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I can’t do it anymore. I can’t hurt you or stay away from you.”
➢ The MMC was a tool. He decided that his best course of action was to repeatedly treat the FMC like trash so that she would be able to resist him.
“Why didn’t you put me in your uncle’s room? He won’t need it.”
“That room is haunted,” she said matter of factly.
➢ This is a paranormal book, so when the FMC—one who is aware that supernatural beings such as bear shifters exist—declares, in all seriousness, that a room is haunted, I expect the author to elaborate or explain. Instead the subject is dropped.
Half of the town had helped me scour my woods for him years ago, but there was no evidence he had ever existed.
➢ No explanations. Just BTW the dog was imaginary.
➢ This was one of the most unparanormal-paranormal stories I’ve ever read. The fact that the MMC is a bear shifter is basically ignored for most of the story. Supernatural healing isn’t a thing. The MMC is admitted to a hospital without any acknowledgement of blood tests.
➢ Tell me why I thought the author was trying to imply that Mira’s family had some sort of supernatural connection to the land they lived on? There were multiple instances that made it seem this way, one of them being the fact that Mira and her uncle knew about shifters when nobody else did.
Overall, this book needs a lot editing. The plot was all over the place and the storylines were giving me mixed signals.
Title: Coveted by the Bear
POV(s): Dual—First Person (H/h)
Interconnected Series: No
Standalone: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
HEA:
Genre(s): Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Triggers: Yes
Tags/Tropes:
❖ Bear-Shifter
❖ Class-Difference
❖ Hero-Pushes-Heroine-Away
❖ Hero-Turned-into-Shifter
❖ Heroine-and-Hero-with-Scars
❖ Heroine-Saves-Hero
❖ Heroine-Town-Outcast
❖ Heroine-with-Painful-Past
❖ Isolated-Heroine
❖ Misunderstood-Misjudged-Heroine
❖ Rich-Hero-Poor-Heroine
❖ Shy-Heroine
❖ Small-Town
❖ Tortured-Heroine
❖ Town-Golden-Boy-with-Town-Pariah
❖ Virgin-Heroine
February 13, 2020
“Coveted by the Bear” is a great Cinderella retelling with the rich setting descriptions unique to T.S. Joyce. The main character, Mira, pulls the heartstrings of the reader from the first chapter. Alone in an off-the-grid cabin, Mira is a social outcast that is relatable to anyone who has been excluded. I was on her team from the end of the first scene. Her complex backstory is kept hidden until the final scare at the end of the book which would be better served earlier for the reader to understand why she stays alone. Monetarily she could leave town but doesn’t due to psychological reasons shared with the reader by townsfolk but not explained early enough.
Her love interest, Caleb, has a complete backstory and likeability that was delightful. While scenes with him become steamy quickly, the relationship between them is believable and a joy to watch unfold. It is his turning into a shifter that brings them together but is only mentioned in passing until the final scare. This is a missed opportunity for T.S. Joyce to display the beautiful shifting descriptions found in her other books. Cute references to him watching over her or hunting to feed her are told rather than shared with the reader. This book could be a contemporary romance instead of paranormal with only changes to the final scare.
There are many other characters in the novel who steal the show at times. My favorite characters Opal and Mr. McCreedy. They deserve their own book. The dialogue and description of these characters are entertaining when the storyline gets too heavy. Opal, in particular, is the comic relief to lighten some of the harmful situations involving townspeople. Most of these situations were brought out by Evan, Caleb’s brother, and Becca, Caleb’s former flame. Both of these characters are cruel to Mira and (besides an impromptu fistfight) are forgiven without apologizing, when the true villain appears in the final chapters. I would have liked to either know about the true villain earlier or have some resolution between Mira and the red herring characters.
Overall, I enjoyed Coveted by the Bear for the character development of Mira and Caleb. I flew through the book because I was anxious for Mira to get her happily ever after and T.S. Joyce came through for her. Mira is a character I will not soon forget.
Her love interest, Caleb, has a complete backstory and likeability that was delightful. While scenes with him become steamy quickly, the relationship between them is believable and a joy to watch unfold. It is his turning into a shifter that brings them together but is only mentioned in passing until the final scare. This is a missed opportunity for T.S. Joyce to display the beautiful shifting descriptions found in her other books. Cute references to him watching over her or hunting to feed her are told rather than shared with the reader. This book could be a contemporary romance instead of paranormal with only changes to the final scare.
There are many other characters in the novel who steal the show at times. My favorite characters Opal and Mr. McCreedy. They deserve their own book. The dialogue and description of these characters are entertaining when the storyline gets too heavy. Opal, in particular, is the comic relief to lighten some of the harmful situations involving townspeople. Most of these situations were brought out by Evan, Caleb’s brother, and Becca, Caleb’s former flame. Both of these characters are cruel to Mira and (besides an impromptu fistfight) are forgiven without apologizing, when the true villain appears in the final chapters. I would have liked to either know about the true villain earlier or have some resolution between Mira and the red herring characters.
Overall, I enjoyed Coveted by the Bear for the character development of Mira and Caleb. I flew through the book because I was anxious for Mira to get her happily ever after and T.S. Joyce came through for her. Mira is a character I will not soon forget.
August 11, 2017
I've read all her other books before I had gotten to this one. It was published 3 years ago. Its not my favorite and I did want a little more closure than we got. Thats ok though. We cant always know the answers and get our way. :) You can tell the author was in a different place when she wrote this book. I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt really bad for Mira. She's been through some traumatic hell and managed to survive it. She's got such a low self-esteem and self-worth that it hurts your heart because a lot of people experience this. I could relate to her. Caleb definitely had his flaws and how he treated her. He lumped Mira in like the rest of the town. Sad thing is nobody gave this girl a chance and didnt wanna know her. Believed all kinds of gossip. She saved his life and she was starving to death but she did it. That takes tremendous strength and resilience. I liked her character. She really grew too. I'll admit I didnt like Caleb sometimes but he had a lot going on too. His brother Evan was a porch dick. Sadey Caleb's sister who befriended Mira was really sweet. Who didnt love Opal? Am I right? :) Enjoyed the book.
December 29, 2019
This is a completely standalone book which a little different for T.S. Joyce. Mira is thought to be crazy by the whole town. Unfortunately, nobody in town even really knows Mira or bothers to talk to her at all. Caleb is out in woods when he attacked by a bear. Mira finds him and kills the bear. Caleb’s whole life is about to change. Mira knows he wasn’t attacked by a regular bear but a bear-man. She tries to tell him but he just thinks she is crazy like everyone else. Caleb pays his debts thought. He owes Mira for saving his life or at least that’s how things start. It doesn’t take long for Caleb to begin to feel different. His bear has formed an attachment. Caleb must find his way in his new life. He can’t let anyone he knows besides Mira know that he is a bear-man now. This book has lots of twists and turns and not just for Caleb. Mira gains so much with Caleb’s help but she also forms an attachment to Caleb. Could there be anything between them besides a debt being repaid? I love this book and I can’t say enough about it. I would love to read more about these characters but I don’t see that happening. I look forward to reading more books by T.S. Joyce.
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