Mature Fantasy Romance

Christmas is supposed to be the season of miracles. But seeing my ‘90s high school boyfriend change into a bear isn’t the miracle I’d hoped for.

Have a divorce party, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. It was, until I ended up in handcuffs. A group of Karens rained on my parade at the winery And in my drunken haze, I mooned every last one of them— Along with the responding officer called in to arrest my ass. Not a good look for a teacher starting off in a new little town. When he cuffed me, I stumbled into his rock-hard body, But he softened up once he brought me down to the station, Taking pity on me and caring for me throughout the night.

My husband got into a fight and plunged off a bridge, leaving me to raise our two children on my own. After struggling for the last fourteen years, I pack up my kids and move in with my crazy old aunt in Carlton. I land a waitressing gig, and the moment I meet the head chef, his deep green eyes have me spellbound.

An introvert like me had no business giving readings on stage, trying to prove myself to skeptical strangers—like the hunk across the room arching his silvery brow at me. The stormy-eyed firefighter asked for my help, looking for clues about his fallen comrade’s death. But the moment I envisioned bear paws instead of his buddy’s hands, weirdly enough, I made a believer out of him. I thought that was the last I'd see of Hugh, until he showed up at my door, wanting to know if I could tell him more—and then showing me a wild night neither of us would ever forget.

When a rugged stranger with soulful eyes showed up and asked me to take a round with him, I soon learned just how good this carpenter is with his hands. But there’s another side of Pax unlike anything I’ve seen. At the risk of sounding certifiably insane, when I was attacked by a client, Pax changed from the man I’d come to love to a snarling, ferocious bear.