Reviewed by Dan
This is a Series Review of Bear Memory Series (Books 1 & 2)
AUTHOR: Eden Cole
PUBLISHER: Amira Press
SERIES REVIEW:
This is a Series Review on the first two books of the Bear Memory Series from Eden Cole. I say the first two books, because Book 2 ends in a complete cliffhanger. I might have given the Series a slightly higher score, but I truly do hate Cliffhangers! Even worse, I can’t find any information on the continuation on Amira Press’ website, nor on Ms. Cole’s blog. That said, I really did enjoy these two novellas and can’t wait for more! Please Ms. Cole….make that happen soon?
I’ll be honest, I chose these books and requested them from the publisher to review. I was unfamiliar with the author’s works but the covers grabbed me and I had to read them. The cover artist deserves a huge nod. Great covers that will definitely sell books!
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: Bear Memory (Bear Memory #1)
LENGTH: 79 Pages
BLURB:
In a bloody war, Harrison lost his mate, and it nearly destroyed his mind. He abandoned his people to their fate. Not only did he suppress the bear shifter in him, which shouldn’t be possible, he also lives as a straight human and forgot who he is.
Orion—big, dark, and wounded—has suffered at the hand of the enemy while longing for the day he will find his alpha. He was low in the hierarchy of his sleuth and beaten lower. Used and abused, he has only ever looked at one man. He believes if he can find the alpha, he could force him to return.
Harrison doesn’t want to remember. Orion can’t forget. In some ways, Orion blames his alpha. But he also loves him. Will Orion’s touch be enough to bring his alpha back? He must try for the survival of his people.
Warning: This book contains explicit male/male sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable.
REVIEW:
Orion and the rest of his sleuth have been imprisoned by the enemy alpha who captured them several years previously. He is tortured daily in an attempt to get him to break and tell the enemy where his alpha, Harrison is. By taking the torture on himself, he has managed to protect the other weaker members of the sleuth. All that is about to change…Orion has escaped and is looking for Harrison.
Harrison stumbled out of the woods several years previously and was taken in by a shelter. He didn’t remember anything about who he was, where he was from, if he had any family, or basically anything. What he did have was a sharp mind. In the years since, he has gotten a GED, then went on to college, and has established himself as an upstanding member of the community in the small South Dakota town he now calls home. He is even semi-engaged to marry a fine upstanding young woman (total bitch actually). What will happen when Orion arrives and starts to trigger memories? Memories not only of the sleuth, but the brutal murder of his mate at the hands of the enemy alpha?
I really liked this story. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
RATING: 3.5
BUY LINKS:
TITLE: Bear Persuasion (Bear Memory #2)
LENGTH: 81 Pages
BLURB:
Noll is determined to bring down Harrison using any means necessary. He miscalculated letting Orion escape, but he won’t screw up with Harrison’s human friend, Evan. Evan is ripe for Noll’s seduction. Noll must first get over the fact that he himself is a virgin when it comes to men.
Confident that he will get his way, Noll plays the abused victim to lure Evan to care for him. His second big mistake comes when he takes Evan home to his compound where no one wants the human there, and they are determined to defy their alpha for his own good.
Warning: This is the “bad guy’s” story. The book contains explicit male/male sexual content from a dark-hearted anti-hero, graphic language, and situations that some readers WILL find objectionable.
REVIEW:
Again, I really liked this book. Probably more than book one if I’m being honest. This time we’re looking at the story from Noll’s point of view. Because of his miscalculation, he has lost the ability to use Orion as leverage. Orion has escaped to Harrison and is beyond his reach for now.
Harrison’s best friend Evan, though, is not. But this pursuit of Evan won’t end where Noll expects it to. It definitely comes under the heading of “be careful what you wish for”.
What will Noll do when Evan’s true strength shows through? What about when some of Noll’s people go behind his back and do exactly what he doesn’t want?
An entertaining story. I will be honest, as I said above, I absolutely HATE a cliffhanger in a book, and it caused the final rating to be a little lower than it would have been. The end of this book appears to be a page randomly chosen for the high tension level. You flip the page and find “The End”. Kind of pissed me off a little. That doesn’t mean I won’t be eagerly awaiting the next installment though!
RATING: 3.5
BUY LINKS:
These do look good and I love bear shifters. I’m leery to try it with a cliffhanger in book two until I know for sure that book three is going to happen. Great review.
Well…what a great honest review, and you now have sold me on the second in this series. Thank you!