Jared Hunt has a problem. The stuck-up blonde he’s currently working for just might be his mate. Christine Lascombe is a rich bitch whose lousy attitude isn’t affecting him the way it should. He should be filled with disgust, not lust. What the hell is wrong with him? Then Pristine Christine gets amnesia and all Jared wants to do is drag her back to his trailer and hibernate. Somehow, along the way, she gets the idea she’s his stripper girlfriend from out of town… A stronger bear than he wouldn’t use this situation to his advantage. Problem is, the longer the pretence lasts, the stronger his conviction grows they belong. But how can that be, when it’s all built on a lie?
Bear Faced Liar is a Bear-Shifter novel of over 75,000 words and is a stand alone story. It contains adult situations and strong language. If either of these offend you, please do not purchase.
3.5 stars. A tough story to fully wrap my mind around, very different from any romance I’ve read recently. I’ll give AC kudos though… at no point in time did I know how she was going to resolve the mess that the hero made. I felt like the hero was just drowning in so much deception at one point - that he would have to just move away and never interact with anyone he knew. But that’s not what happened & this story was unpredictable imo.
So, basically, this is a shifter romance, with a large amnesia element. The hero lies and tells his entire community that the heroine is a different person (saying she’s his ex who was a stripper), and she plays along because of the amnesia. It’s a really creative & unique story, and the ending was really tied together nicely… even though I personally wished there had been more groveling from him. A LOT more groveling (and there really wasn’t any). TBH, not sure how I feel about the ending overall. I’m still processing my feelings. I really was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more drama at the end. The epilogue was good, but I hated knowing that the hero didn’t face any consequences for his actions.
Safe for the most part; no virgins, hero not a man whore, no real OW drama, hero’s last relationship was with a stripper in a different town about a year ago. This may bother some of you more than others, but hero told everyone that the heroine was his stripper g/f and that her name was Priscilla, (which was his ex stripper’s name) he then called her by the nickname Pris. There was definitely a constant reminder of hero and OW all throughout the book because of the name thing and everyone thinking she was a stripper. Heroine was in a relationship with OM who caused some drama, but not too much. She got amnesia and started living with the hero while still with OM, it wasn’t her fault, and he was a slime-ball, so I don’t consider it cheating. No scenes with OM/OW.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Jared the blue collar were-bear, and Christine the unhappy heiress.
I enjoyed the heck outta this one!!
They hated each other, (or did they?) until one of her weasely fiancee's sculptures hits her in the head and she doesn't remember hating him... or anything else for that matter!
Now the weasel needs Jared to hide her away till she gets her memory back because he is too selfish to care for her. Jared kinda likes the idea of having 'Pristine Christine' under his thumb, living in his trailer. But he didn't expect her to have a total change of personality! He also never thought of the consequences until he's is making up stuff on the fly, and in the process digging himself a very big hole!
The personality change was a little hard to believe at first, but AC has a way of making anything believable. And she does it in a humorous, engaging way. Jared was sweet, yet alpha, considerate, yet stubborn. Pris is bubbly and affectionate but not about to let anyone push her around.
Jared is a bear shifter and he's pretty sure that the horrible woman he's building a house for is his mate. What's a bear to do? When "Pristine Christine", as he's nicknamed her, has an accident and gets amnesia, he takes her back to his trailer and tells her she's his fiance.
For a minute, I thought this book might be too much for me. I mean, amnesia? Really? And then I remembered I was reading a book with were-bears. So I suspended my disbelief and joined the fun. And fun it was!
I don't know what it is about Alice Coldbreath's writing, but I really enjoy it. She has a way of telling a story that draws me in, and endears the characters to me. I really liked this story, silly as it was.
This had a touch of "Overboard", the Goldie Hawn movie from the 80s. (And I really loved that movie back in the day). Poor Pris can't remember anything of her old life, and soon finds that she loves this new life. The secondary characters were well written and I loved the relationship between all the women.
As most amnesiacs do, Pris gets her memory back eventually and when she realizes she's been lied to, she is pissed.
This was just such a fun, sweet, sexy, romantic story. Keep them coming Ms. Coldbreath!
I really liked reading this book, but it's nothing like the other Alice Coldbreath books that I've read. Also, this reads more like an over-the-top contemporary romance book. The paranormal/shifter aspect is almost non-existent.
I really liked the small town vibe, and the heroine is awesome. I liked the hero too, but he could have handled the amnesia thing much better, while still keeping the plot the same. He didn't need to tell her that she was his stripper ex-girlfriend or that she was flaky and takes advantage of other people, etc.
This reminded me of the film Overboard. Really funny at times and a sweet story. No intimate scenes other than the Hero and heroine. She was a bit of a push over about the lie situation. HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
So while I wanted to give this book 5 stars because I have a huge, mad love for all things Alice Coldbreath, I just couldn't. One because fan-gurling reviews don't really help anyone who isn't familiar with an authors work and two I need to be truthful. So hear goes the truth, if you loved Overboard with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel this book is that kind of troupe. Then you add a bear shifter on top then it just becomes pure cat-nip...errr...bear-nip??? However the reason I didn't give it 4 or 5 stars was it was problematic in the fact that this was a shifter story, but all shifting happened off page and we didn't really see a bear shift in the woods...hah...you thought I was going to say something else...admit it!
Another thing was there were grammatical errors, I am not talking lingo errors, as Alice is in the UK and that came through sometimes, I am talking about sentencing errors. Overall though, the book was well worth my time, I laughed many times as Cris/Pris found herself and made everyone around her fall in love with her as well. Jared was a goner from the beginning, as his bear said so. :-) I wish this genre would be Alice's third series to write in. She does a lovely job and I am so glad I picked this up. You should pick it up as well, as it is well priced and worth it!
I think the lies just got a little irritating for me. I liked Jared's morals though, he didn't sleep with her until she got her memory back, but still. It made me incredibly uncomfortable that he crafted a whole new life of lie for her. Sweet ending though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The 80s movie Overboard + bear shifters + fated mates = Bear Faced Liar.
Jared is the possessive alpha male who desperately wants to claim Pris/Pristine/Christine, except he’s manipulated the situation with her amnesia so she doesn’t remember that she is not his ex-stripper fiancee, she actually hates him and is engaged to some guy who drives a ferrari… whoops!
I really enjoyed the whole set up - there are lots of fun/charming/sexy moments (when they’re being couple-y) with an angsty undercurrent (because she’s gotta discover the truth at some point). Wish there had been more grovel from Jared though - we only get light grovel here. The book also needed more thorough edit (quite a few typos and errors) and there was definitely some magic wand problem solving going on, but there’s just something about Alice Coldbreath’s stories I really enjoy so I’m still rating this 4 stars.
This is a very early work of Alice cold breath so quite different from what I am used to reading from her. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve read but also not the worst. I was engaged enough to read until the very end so that says a lot. There was enough that I finished the book feeling alright so 3.5 stars from me
September 2020 Reread: Adjusting this story up from a 3 to a 3.5⭐︎; it improved upon rereading. Still trying to figure out what second movie this reminds me of, besides Overboard as the overall premise. There's something really familiar about the salon overhaul and makeovers storyline as well. (To Wong Fu, maybe??)
-------------------- April 2020 Review: Roughly similar premise to Overboard but with a bear shifter and more concern about the ethics of the relationship’s start. A lot of typos and errors in this one. Not impossible to read, but very vexing to try and figure out what was meant. There’s also a weird disorienting effect from trying to write an American-based story with a huge hunk of UK terminology and slang.
H is shifter and he is works for human h as a contractor. He thinks she's his mate, but she's always angry and they don't get on well. Then she's has an accident, results in amnesia and he picks her up and takes her home. He knows he's wrong can't resist her. As he cares for her she falls in love with him. I liked the plot as an idea more than the actual execution. Long descriptive tracts when she works as a beautician, and that premise just seemed so OTT to me. I still enjoyed their rather silly story.
I enjoyed this one. It was fun and flowed well. The characters were interesting and the storyline worked.
*spoiler* The only bit that I didn’t like *spoiler* is when the h found out the H had lied and she begged him to take her back and pretend like she’d never found out the truth 😳. I lost respect for her in that moment, because she wasn’t showing any self respect. If that single moment had been removed, I would’ve enjoyed the story a lot more.
3.5 stars. If you ever wanted the Goldie Hawn movie Overboard reimagined with a contractor who is also a bear shifter then this is the book for you. No adorable horrific kids, though.
I liked it. It was sweet and adorable. When Christine gets her memory back she was really, really, really forgiving in an unrealistic way. That was the biggest drawback for me in this novel. Other than that, I enjoyed it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is one of the few shifter books that fits between the young adult and erotic adult genres. It leans toward a clean read with only a brief, mild sex scene, no violence, and just a bit of angst. Aside from the 38 F-words, it's fairly tame. While it was cute or funny at times, it was more often dull and overly sweet, similar to a fairy tale. None of the characters felt like real people, as they were either all good or entirely bad. Though there are many bear shifters and lots of growling, no actual bears appear in the story.
After a week, the drama is wrapped up within 24 hours, and the MCs are happily mated with lots of off-page sex. Then the story was dragged out and I had to skim to finish. What I liked best was the bear-shifter H who proved to be growly, protective, and possessive. He's what earned the book 3 stars. 🐻
☹️ I could have done without the many pages about preparing food, eating, and how to apply makeup.
📕 A BRIEF BOOK SUMMARY 📕
Christine (27) is described as a "pain," a "royal B," an "ice queen," and a "rich b*tch." Basically, she's a beautiful, blue-eyed blonde with a bad attitude.
Jared (32) is a dominant bear shifter, and the one who built 'Pristine Christine's' modern glass and steel home. Sometimes he's a big growly teddy bear. 🤗
At first, the MCs don’t get along. Everything changes when Christine gets amnesia, and her freeloading artist fiancé hands her over to Jared. Although Jared dislikes her, he wants her and soon realizes she’s his mate. He takes her to his trailer in Cranston Falls. Despite what the blurb says, Jared is the one who lets Christine think she's his stripper ex-girlfriend Priscilla. She's then called Pris or Pristine. Christine turns out to be loving with a heart of gold. She was just an heiress pretending to be someone she’s not.
In Mary Sue fashion, within a week, Christine wins over the town and makes it a better place. She becomes a popular makeup artist (just from watching videos), makes friends, improves the beauty shop and others’ lives, discovers her true self, reconciles with Jared after learning who she really is (one of my favorite scenes), gets rid of her jerk ex-fiancé, and moves in with Jared. He marks her as his mate. HEA.
In the epilogue a year later, their wedding is weeks away, and they now live in the renovated family farmhouse. It ends with them deciding to try for a baby and racing to the bedroom.
This was so utterly sweet! I have now finished all of this authors books, and I am greedy for more and sad that I have to wait lol but it’ll be worth it! I’m a sucker for super affectionate characters, I love it when their love language is touch and physical affection. The FMC is such a lovely and fun character. The love interest is gruff, but knows what he wants and yes, goes about getting it in the wrong way, but in his own weirdly sweet way. This is very much like the movie Overboard, and I love it! A great read, and I love how Alice develops her characters and their relationships. Highly recommend!
It’s a good book. But it’s not like any of the authors other reads and I don’t mean because it’s a shifter romance. There is no steam. Zip zero. I waited the whole book for it to fizzle at the end. It was very disappointing especially foe a big OTT Alpha bear book. All the books I have read by her were not steam less! So I feel like a warning should have come w it. As some people like G rated books and some don’t. But I won’t score it less as I like the author and some people like this type but it won’t be a reread that’s for sure. I didn’t even bother w the epilogue I was so frustrated at that point.
This is a cute shifterish story. The main emphasis is really the relationship between the two main characters. The whole shifter thing is just an added bonus. It had a few mistakes, but I liked the story so much, I didn't take much off for those. I loved the characters, including the secondary characters. I loved the growth of the relationship, the dialogue and all of the domestic details.
Maybe because I just came off a book that irritated the crap out of me, but within the first few pages this book is irritating me and I cannot keep on going. What is an “exotic brunette”? And there are no such things as flat pumps, at least in the US. The very definition of a pump is something with a heel! Anyway, I don’t like the antagonism in the set up. I’m just not in the mood.
This story has some of the best tropes: Enemies to Lovers. Poor little Rich Girl. Amnesia, resulting in the one with memory loss thinking they are in a relationship. Fabulous!
Loved this! I thought it would be a lot more drama / angsty bases on the premise but it was lighthearted and fun! Genuinely enjoyed it beginning to end and glad I read it without getting into the spoilers so I won't share any.
It was like a shifter version of Overboard (1987). I loved all the movie references and how the characters weren’t one dimensional. Great read, like all Alice Coldbreath books!
It was sweet and at the beginning quiet funny story. You do have to suspend all belief and just go for a ride. However I did find a few scenes specially about make up application quiet unnecessary.
Good 1/3 ...became boring with makeup arts...really not my interest...the end had to skip forward,no feeling at all ....like reading a documentary book .
I've had a Karadok Shaped hole in my heart for MONTHS, now imagine my delight I realize Coldbreath has PNR novels I never knew about. It was like getting hugged.
Every Alice Coldbreath story I read just gets better - Bear Faced Liar is no exception. The main characters are well rounded and I very much like all the secondary characters. I was so pleased to be granted this with ACs recent newsletter (thank you Ms Coldbreath) because I had tried to source it online with no luck - so it was a super bonus for me. Can’t wait until her new books are out in 2023. Basically, I read every AC book I can acquire and am so happy when I find a story I haven’t read before - I know I’m in for a real treat because she never disappoints.