Wintertime blew into Virginia fast this year. Almost as soon as I raked the autumn leaves, the wind blew in with an icy chill that forced me to pull my boots and heavy coat from the back of my closet. I’m not a big fan of cold weather, but there are some aspects of winter I do love, like hot apple cider, peppermint bark, and driving through different neighborhoods at night to see houses adorned with festive decorations.
Watching the snow fall, if I’m indoors with nowhere to be,
is a beautiful, calming experience. Nature does what she wants, though, and
sometimes a light dusting of flakes turns into several inches of snow. Each
season has its own kind of magic and what seems, at first, like bad luck and
bad timing can actually be the beginning of a beautiful love story.
A snowstorm on New Year’s Eve brought bear shifters Ellie and AJ together
but a secret threatens to tear them apart.
#HavenForestResortSeries #PNR #ParanormalRomance
#RomanticSuspense #shifters #EnemiesToLovers #ShifterRomance #RomanceNovels
#BearShifters #SteamyRomance #winter
Blurb:
She had every reason to hate him
Aiden "AJ" Shepherd's mistake during
a Shifter Army Enforcement rescue mission cost Ellie Ortiz's brother, Marco,
his life. She despises AJ with a passion until a chance encounter with him on
New Year’s Eve reveals he's not the cold, heartless man she once thought him to
be. Her attraction to him takes her by surprise and she vows to ignore her
feelings. When a new job puts her in contact with him every day, the heat
building between them threatens to flare out of control.
His secret could ruin everything
During a disastrous assignment with Shifters
United, AJ uncovers some information that changes everything. Keeping the truth
hidden from Ellie is killing him but he might lose her forever if he tells her
what he learned on his mission. When Ellie ends up in danger, AJ will stop at
nothing to save her. To survive, they’ll have to work together to stop a
reporter who is determined to prove the existence of shifters.
Excerpt:
AJ staggered toward Ellie, holding his side. She
caught him before he fell. Blood poured down the side of his face. She pulled
the hood of his coat over his head to hide the blood.
People rushed over to them, asking
if he was alright.
I guess they only care how he is
now that the fighting is over.
“He’s fine. Just a little bruised
up.”
The wolf shifter woman cleared a
path to AJ and guarded his other side. “I’ll help you get him to the woods. My
friend can stall the cops and do crowd control while you guys shift out your
injuries.”
“Thank you. Seriously, thank you.”
The wolf shifter nodded. “No
problem. Hurry.”
Ellie grasped AJ’s face in her
hands and looked him in the eye. “We just have to get to the woods. It’s not
far. Stay awake and stay with me. I can’t carry you. Understand?”
“Yeah.” His voice was barely
audible.
An eternity later, they found a
spot amongst the pine trees and bushes with enough cover for him to shift.
“Hold on. Don’t shift yet. Let me pull these chunks of metal out of your head
first.”
He cursed as she pulled one
particularly large, jagged chunk out of his scalp. Blood poured down his face
and neck. His eyes drifted shut.
“Come on! Wake up! Shift!”
He slumped over, oblivious to her
yelling. She stripped him then dug her fingers into his stab wound. He growled
and shifted into bear form. A sob of relief escaped her. AJ shifted back to
human form, then, a split second later, he was a giant furry brown bear again.
The bear walked around for a moment, dug his claws into a tree, then pressed
his nose to Ellie’s cheek, making her laugh. In the blink of an eye, he was in
human form again.
“You’re alright now?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?” She ran her fingers
over the places on his head she’d seen cut and gouged. No sign of any wounds.
She looked at his eyes. He focused on her properly. She breathed out a sigh of
relief. “I’ve seen more than one shifter be pressed for time to heal and they
weren’t healed up as well as they thought.” His injuries hadn’t been
superficial. He wouldn’t have made it to their room to shift in privacy without
being stopped by well-meaning regulars—shifters and psy often referred to
humans with no strange, extraordinary abilities as regulars—insistent on taking
him to a hospital.
People who hated shifters lurked in
hospitals, watching, waiting to destroy anyone they found out of the ordinary.
Today, some ignorant haters had almost killed AJ, at a damn winter festival
celebration. Nowhere was truly safe. She was still freaked at how close he had
been to losing consciousness and never waking up. She knew damn well he would
have died if he hadn’t shifted when he did. She didn’t want his light to burn
out. Didn’t want anybody’s light to dim, really, but he was… She shook her
head. A good guy. That was all. She didn’t want to see a good person die too
young. She wrapped her arms around herself and her eyes teared up.
“Hey,” he spoke softly, “look at
me.”
She met his gaze, reluctantly.
“I’m all right,” he assured her.
“The important thing is, a group of angry men didn’t get the chance to beat the
living hell out of a shifter teenager.”
She nodded.
He gently stroked her cheek and his
hand came away bloody. “Your turn to shift.” She hadn’t felt any pain in her
face. Probably because several of her ribs were cracked and her stomach had a
fist-sized knot in it where she’d been punched. She stepped behind a tree,
undressed, and shifted. B shook out her thick black fur and walked around a few
paces in the woods. After a moment, she reluctantly shifted back to human form.
Ellie stopped still when she caught AJ staring at her.
“Damn, you’re beautiful.” His
appreciative tone wrapped around her. She gulped and ducked behind the tree to
put her clothes back on. She emerged, wrapped back up in her bloodstained
winter coat and clothes. At least the blood wouldn’t show up since everything
she was wearing was black.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Bears-Dream-Haven-Forest-Resort-ebook/dp/B09XT1WX5G
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bears-Dream-Haven-Forest-Resort-ebook/dp/B09XT1WX5G
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bears-dream-christina-lynn-lambert/1143427363?ean=2940160979106
Apple iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/bears-dream/id6448857265?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=books_box_link
Kobo Books: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bear-s-dream
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1388315
Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christina_Lynn_Lambert_Bear_s_Dream?id=psu8EAAAQBAJ
What I’m working on now:
I’m currently working on book five in my Stranger Creatures
series and book two in my Haven Forest Resort series. I’m also working on
writing poetry as well as short horror, science fiction, and women’s fiction
stories.
If you’d like to follow me on social media for my latest
book information and excerpts, poems, contest info, book recommendations, and
other fun stuff, you can find me at:
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Christina-Lynn-Lambert/e/B01MCYK0K7
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/christina-lynn-lambert
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinalynnlambert
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15900423.Christina_Lynn_Lambert
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinalynnlambert
Wordpress: https://christinalynnlambertwordpress.com
2 comments:
Bear's Dream sounds perfect for this time of year, Christina. :) Happy Holidays!
Thanks, Tina! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!!
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