The Bear

Title: The Bear
Author: P.A. Brown
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: M/M Contemporary Paranormal Romance.
Length: 17 pages
Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

THE BLURB

Scott Thompson discovers a dead bear, killed by poachers in the parkland he calls home. He is charged with investigating this tragedy and trying to bring the poachers to justice. Then a second bear shows up. Or so he thinks. But when Scott calls in his boss and mentor, a sturdy dark mountain man named Luke Stadler, to assist him, the “bear” turns out to be a naked man, seeking shelter in Scott’s barn, shot in the leg and seriously injured.

Luke and Scott tend the wounded man during a raging blizzard that traps all three of them in Scott’s isolated cabin in the mountain forest. During their forced confinement, Scott and Luke succumb to their mutual attraction and unleash a passion that burns hot and bright.

But what is the secret of the mysterious man who ended up in Scott’s barn? Where did he disappear to and where did he come from? Scott and Luke discover the answer to the riddle and stumble across a secret that hides in the isolated forests of the Rocky Mountains.

THE REVIEW

Mountain ranger, Scott lives in the middle of nowhere in the Rocky Mountains. His job is to police the area where he lives and keep an eye out for poachers. He discovers a dead female bear in the forest but before this can be investigated an injured bear turns up in his barn. Scott calls up his boss, Luke, who battles through bad weather to get to Scott. However, when Luke arrives the bear is gone and in its place is an injured man.

The Bear is a short enjoyable story. It’s not long enough to get a real handle on the characters, except maybe for Scott. Scott is a lonely gay man who has a bit of a thing for hairy men. I found the way that he salivates over Luke and Bjorn (the man from the barn) and their hairy bodies quite amusing and rather endearing too. The character of Luke is very one dimensional. In fact his hairiness is his one defining feature. This lack of depth was possibly as a result of the first person narration. We only see things from Scott’s point of view and he is so obsessed with Luke’s hairy body and large c**k that Luke becomes defined more for his physical endowments than his personality.

The story has a paranormal twist to it which I could see coming almost from the start. The fact that Scott took so long to figure out what was happening was a little surprising as was his total acceptance once he finds out the facts. However, it seems that as long as he’s getting lots of sex from Luke, then he’s a happy man and I couldn’t really begrudge him that. There’s also a nod to environmental issues surrounding the poachers and their killing of bears but again there wasn’t much space to expand on this.

One part which worked well was in the description of the Rocky mountains and Scott’s isolated life. I got a strong feeling of his love for nature and the outdoors and the forest which made this story that bit more than just a few sex scenes.

All in all, The Bear was an entertaining short with lots of sex and a bit of character and plot. However, at 17 pages it would have been difficult to cram any more in than what was already included. I’d recommend this story for those who are looking for a short, hot read with a paranormal twist or fans of PA Brown.