Reviewer: Holly
No Ifs, Ands, or Bears About It by Celia Kyle
Series: Grayslake Bears #1

Publication Date: January 6th 2014
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 264
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Series Rating:

 The first day of Mia’s new life in Grayslake, Georgia is not going as planned. The house her grandfather left her looks ready to crumble, boxes cover every inch of the floor and—oh—there’s a bear cub in her pantry. It gets worse when the cub’s uncle comes by and busts out his fur and claws while on her front porch. Then it gets loads better because suddenly there’s a hot hunk of badge-wearing werebear on her lawn ready to rescue her. Yum. Of course, he has to ruin things by trying to take the cub out of her hands. Ha! The cub is hers… No ifs, ands, or bears about it.
Werebear Ty can’t seem to get the curvaceous, delectable Mia to understand that, even if she is one-quarter werebear, she isn’t keeping the cub. Ty is the Grayslake Itan, the clan’s leader, and the little werebear is going home with him… Unless it isn’t. It’s her smile. If she’d stop smiling and being gorgeous, his inner-bear would support him and Ty would get his way. But the beast wants to make their woman happy, so it’s perfectly content to let her do as she pleases. Then things change. Threats arise, danger comes close, and Ty demands she return to his den. No ifs, ands, or mates about that.

This is a free download. It started out really strong, but went downhill after a few chapters.

When Mia’s grandfather passed away he left her his house in Grayslake, GA. He was a bear shifter and so is her father, but her mother was human so, though she’s half werebear, she can’t shift. She’s looking to start over and doesn’t want to get tangled up with the local bears. When she finds a bear cub in her pantry and his abusive uncle shows up to claim him, she lands right in the middle of clan business. When the sexy sheriff shows up to help, Mia can’t deny her attraction to him. But she isn’t interested in starting something with anyone, much less the clan’s Itan (leader).

Ty doesn’t believe in happily-forever, but he sure wouldn’t mind doing some happy-right-now with the sexy Mia. His bear is in full agreement, especially after the way she protected the cub. Except it isn’t long before he realizes he wants more from Mia than a causal fling..and he’s willing to do whatever he has to to keep her around.

I think what this book really needed was a strong editor. I liked the first couple chapters where Mia rescued the cub and she and Ty got to know one another, but from there the story got choppy and the characters started waffling too much.

Ty is supposed to be the Itan of the clan, which makes him the leader. He’s supposedly the strongest, toughest bear in the clan, but he didn’t really act like it. He roared a lot, but he let those who served under him walk all over him. There was a plot against him and Mia and he didn’t pursue it. Supposedly Mia didn’t listen to him because she was the exception to the rule, but no one listened to him.

Mia seemed like a strong, independent woman. She didn’t let Ty walk all over her and kept her head when things got crazy. Except they drugged her so she didn’t lose it when things started going bad and she admitted she was close to being hysterical.It wasn’t written that way, but I was supposed to buy it based on what she said?

Eh..if the story had been cleaned up and the inconsistencies taken care of, this would have been a stellar read. As it is, I barely managed to finish it.

2.75 out of 5