Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Choose Us
SERIES: Bears-4-U
AUTHOR: Freesia Woodley
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 170 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 24, 2023
BLURB:
Overprotective twunks, Daddy otters, and little bears…Oh my!
Ollie Koch had all but given up on finding himself a Daddy. None of the ones he’d met were interested in a little that was hard of hearing. When Bears-4-U rolls out a new event, he hopes it will help him find the man he’s been searching for.
Hal Mathison is fed up with trying to find his dream little. None of the men he’d gone out with matched his ideal at all. If something doesn’t change he may consider giving up on ever being a Daddy.
Gunner Benson’s mission in life was to protect his best friend. Heartbreak is a pain he strives to save Ollie from. The Bears-4-U event threatens to ruin all his hard work.
When these three men meet the chemistry is electric, but not all the sparks between them are friendly. Prior desires and new attractions send them into a whirlwind they have no hope of escaping. Can they come together to find love or is this just one more failed romance?
Bears-4-U is a MM Daddy romance multi-author series, featuring a host of delicious Daddy pairings. The Bears-4-U dating app is all about putting Bears and Teddy Bears together for their honey-sweet HEAs. Psst, no real bears involved. Each book can be read as a standalone, but why not snuggle up with all the bears?
A Daddy/little, best friends to lovers, enemies to lovers novel with feeding/food kink and a HEA
Trigger warning: Mentions of parental death, mention of prior relationship with cheating and abuse
REVIEW:
Another fun book in the popular Bears-4-I series. Same theme with different authors but this one has an unique twist to it.
Ollie has his big brother (older step brother by 2 months) who is also his best friend and protector. Gunner knows Ollie’s secret, his need to regress and be cared for and he does his best to help him out. But Gunner just isn’t a daddy and Ollie seriously needs one. When the Bears-4-U app starts a new promotion that allows Bears and Teddy Bears design their perfect mate Ollie thinks he may have one more chance. But protective Gunner is skeptical and concerned. Poor Ollie has been tossed aside way to many times. His severe lack of being able to hear, even with hearing aids that resulted from a horrific automobile accident has left him near deaf and his father dead, has left Ollie discarded every time he puts himself out there looking for his very own daddy. And Gunner can’t bear seeing his best friend and brother being used like that. Especially when he harbors his own dark secret. But Ollie is determined to try and Hal appears to be the perfect daddy match but Gunner simply doesn’t trust him! And why is he developing these strange feelings for his brother and his brother’s new boyfriend?
I really enjoyed the journey that these men set forth on to find their true needs met and love for all. However, I really feel like this story would have been been better served if I hadn’t felt like it was so rushed and tied up suddenly in a quick nice tidy bow like the ones that you get on teddy bears. I wanted more of their journey and how they reached their happily-ever-after than could be allowed in this short of a book. Hal was both the perfect daddy for his little Ollie Bear and yet the perfect dominant force for his hazelnut Gunner to let go. And Gunner tried so hard to be everything for his brother but he simply didn’t have it in him to be a daddy. He was a nurturer and a caregiver so he tried so hard for Ollie but that wasn’t him. And he also truly needed some extra special TLC that Hal could provide while cuddles from his Ollie Bear soothed him.
The part I really got was Ollie’s conflicted feelings. Yes, the two boys were step-brothers but he felt from the start that Ollie was his true brother. So when those sexual thoughts and feelings started popping up he was both conflicted and confused. I could also see some readers having a tough time with their relationship because of the pseudo-incest feelings that both brothers struggled with. I also had a hard time believing that Ollie never figured out Gunner’s past abusive relationship. These two were so close and had always lived together. I can’t believe he wouldn’t have questioned his brother more about his abrupt discarding of his dancing career. Plus he never disclosed to his closest friend/brother that he had met someone and was having a secret affair. That seemed unlikely knowing how close they were. I know it was a secret from the dance troupe but I couldn’t see him keeping it from Ollie.
As I stated, I really liked the premise of this story but I struggled with the book because I felt it was too short and didn’t let the story fully develop. I was also surprised that the Landon/Duke relationship was just dumped there at the end of the book. I saw that as a second book to make this a side series from the author’s group series. I saw where the author’s hints were leading but felt just having this dumped in the epilogue was a missed chance.
RATING: 
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