Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Bear Essentials
SERIES: Bear Lake Chronicles #1
AUTHOR: Rain Carrington
PUBLISHER: AAS Publishing
LENGTH: 403 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 25, 2020
BLURB:
A sleepy little town doesn’t know what, or whom, is about to hit it when Ked, Kaden Edmond Donegal, comes there to live.
Hyper and determined, Ked longs to be a great forest ranger, taking care of the land, watching over it like its protector. What he didn’t count on is falling in love with the people there nearly as much as the land, and one in particular that doesn’t give him the time of day.
Sean Ashby moved to Bear Lake to hide away from the world after he nearly died while serving in the army. A local artist, he makes his living bringing pieces of wood to life with stories of their own. When he sees Ked, he sees someone who needs tamed, but he doesn’t feel as if he’s up to the job.
Not giving up on the bearded ginger bear, Ked does everything he can to get in the way of the man, and he finally gets what he wants. Or, at least, what he thought he wanted. Sean is a dominant who needs a submissive, and Ked never thought of himself that way. With Ked’s rambling voice hushed and his hyper movements slowed, Sean leads him into a new life he didn’t realize he needs so badly.
The townspeople take him in as family, a man loves him unconditionally, and poachers are in need of catching. Is Ked up for his new life? Can he be a part of a community that is quirky and quiet, or will his own quirks and rarely silent voice make him permanently an outsider?
Contains BDSM and consensual sex between two men. Trigger warnings: abuse, violence and PTSD flashbacks.
REVIEW:
I seem to be on a “Bear” hunt lately! And I think this is my first Ginger Bear or would that be a Cinnamon Bear???
Ked, oh you will hear many times (maybe too many!) why this young man goes by that name, has recently moved to Bear Lake to be the new Forest Ranger after finishing college. Bear Lake is a small, close-knit community that tends to keep to itself but that’s all about to change when Ked blows into town.
Ked’s non-stop verbal diarrhea about did me in at first. Don’t get me wrong, I loved his youthful enthusiasm but reading his non-stop babbling made me want to put my fingers across his mouth and tell him to just breathe! When Sean finally got him to focus, with the help of some BDSM, I’m sure the whole freaking town wanted to cheer! I know I did. Speaking of BDSM, I thought there would be more but it was a small part of the story.
I think the townspeople really warmed my heart, especially Millie, Hannah and Dan, with the way they simply “adopted” Ked and made him their own. They truly made this story special.
I will say, this booked seemed like several books put together. You had Ked coming to Bear Lake to learn his job. Next you had all the suspense of the poachers. Then it switched gears and had Ked trying to figure out what made Sean tick so he would like him. Then you had Ked exploring BDSM. Next you had Ked’s life in danger. Then you had Ked and Sean confronting their pasts. Then you had Sean and Ked exploring more of their BDSM relationship. Add in the sub-plots with Hannah and Dan, Millie’s backstory, bringing in another ranger and how Ked would react. There were A LOT of story lines going and I was almost overwhelming but made me want to know more. I know several characters were mentioned briefly, like Karolin, Wolf and Max and are part of upcoming books.
One of the things that did perplex me was the point of view. Most of the book came from Ked. Then, all of a sudden, we were hearing Sean first person and I was looking to see if the author titled the chapter to prepare you. Then, when they went to Texas, it was first Ked, then Sean and then seemed to be a narrator that was telling what was going on. It was very confusing and took me out of the story to figure out who was talking.
I did like this story and really liked the character development of this town and its residents. Looking forward to the next book.
RATING: 
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