Book 4 of Bell's "Halle Pumas" series. Preceded by Cat of a Different Color. Followed by Only In My Dreams.
Books 4 and 5 are available as a paperback anthology Animal Attraction.
Plot:
Now pretty much healed, Belle is off to join her Mate in the Poconos. Will she find acceptance as a Puma in a Pack of Wolves?
Comments:
- Contemporary paranormal (shape shifting) SmallTown romance with explicit bedroom scenes.
- 2167 kindle locations, 25,969 words, but finishes around 1800 locations.
- m/f - explicit, reasonably frequent.
- Belle (Belinda) has made appearances in all the previous books. First, she was Olivia's backup babe. In Book 2 she was Max's wannabe Mate. And in Book 3 she is injured trying saving Sheri, the fount of all Blonde jokes, and finds her Mate while healing.
- As the fourth book in the series, "Steel Beauty" picks up as Book 3 concludes, with Rick wanting to take Belle home. The book proper begins in February, three months of PT later, and as she heads off to the Poconos to join her Mate and his Pack.
- Includes excerpts from Forsaken Talisman by Ashleigh Raine, Called by Blood by Evie Byrne, and Very Much Alive by Dana Marie Bell.
- There are two "free read"s available on the author's website giving us a little epilogue of Rick and Belle - "Little Red" and "'Twas a Coyote Christmas".
- The Poconos Pack have their own series. First book Finding Forgiveness is m/m and tells the story of Ben Malone (Marshall) and Dave Maldonado (Beta).
Opinion:
Another good, solid story in Bell's "Halle Pumas" series, linking the Pumas with her new series on the Poconos Pack. It's certainly interesting and opens a whole new avenue of shifter romances. Tossing in some telepathy and a holiday resort, it should make a good new series.
As far as "Steel Beauty" goes, it's a nice romance. Belle proves herself to be everything a Luna should be - strong, caring, intelligent - and Rick is a lovely Dominant Alpha with a loving streak. It is an easy paranormal romance with explicit bedroom scenes and a HEA. It fits well into the series.
"Little Red":
When Rick finds the costume Belle left him for the Halloween party, he's just about ready to kill her. But when he saw her, and the additional goodies, he knew this would be a very memorable party.
A little story emphasising the joy in Bell's stories, especially once we have our HEA with caring, happy, respectful, loving h and H. It's sweet, erotic, and very original. Definitely worth a look.
"'Twas a Coyote Christmas":
Rick tells Belle a Christmas story to ease her pain.
Sometimes an author just wants to pop in on her characters and give her readers a little smile - and that's exactly what this is. There's nothing too it except maybe a little introduction to some of the characters in future Poconos books. But that's okay. it's a few pages to make you smile.
-CR-
