After Dark Review of Bear Necessities by Dana Marie Bell

I have added After Dark Reviews to my blog as a way of notifying you of a review of a book with Adult themes and scenes. From now on I will keep my reviews of all books I read that have explicit scenes in them for late night posts for those of you who prefer to avoid them or easy to find for those of you who seek them out ;)

Synopsis: "To hold onto his love, he must release his beast. Halle Shifters, Book 1 Once a Bear sets his mind on a mission, it's best to stay out of his way. Alexander "Bunny" Bunsun is that Bear. Something's not right with his cousin Chloe, and he's come to Halle, PA, to sort it out, turn his Harley around and head home to Oregon. Until an enticing scent lures him into the local tattoo shop. There she is. An inked, Southern-drawled she-Wolf with lime-green hair. His perfect mate. Tabitha Garwood's rotten day just got worse. Her Outcast status makes her a target for harassment with alarming regularity. And now, in the middle of a root touch-up, looking like a half-melted Skittle, she's met her destined mate. The only upside? She finally has a protector in the form of a huge, tattooed, shaved-head Bear who vibrates with carefully restrained power. When Chloe is left for dead and Tabby is threatened, only Alex can keep his growing family safe. Giving Tabby the loving home she needs, though, could come at a price-Alex must give up the control he's worked a lifetime to attain. Which means someone could die at the hands-and claws-of his beast. Warning: This novel contains explicit sex, graphic language, a hunky Bear named Bunny and . . . Yes. I said a Bear named Bunny. I don't know about you but I'm not brave enough to make fun of it."

My Review: Normally I absolutely love everything by Dana Marie Bell but this one wasn't quite up to my expectations. It could have been a mood or funk I was in but I just felt like it was overly dramatic and too much stuffed into the book. I realize that she was trying to set up characters and story lines for future books in the series but it was too much in my opinion. We bounced from one crisis to the next without really getting to know Bunny or Tabby or get a feel for their relationship. What I did get to know about the two of them was that I really like Tabby's personality but Bunny was just a little too overbearing and moody for my liking. With all that said it was a great start to a branch off series. I am really looking forward to getting to know Cyn, Glory, Julian and Cleo in the next several books.

 

My Rating: Well while this wasn't as spectacular as I wanted it to be I was still thoroughly entertained.  I just happened to like the sub-characters more in this book. I also felt it was a little too much action, both in and out of bed and less of a story and character development. I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag.