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Synopsis
A man with a plan…
John is the Alpha bear of Grizzly Cove, a town built to his own design, made up mostly of bear shifters. He brought them all together, so it’s on him when the community comes under attack.
A woman of power…
Ursula is more than she appears, and when her secret comes out, she’s afraid the shifters aren’t going to take it well, but John surprises her. He needs her help to combat the evil targeting the town, but there seems to be more to their relationship.
A battle to the death…
When evil attacks from the ocean, can John afford not to utilize Urse’s skills to protect the town and people in it? Better still, can John reconcile his inner bear’s demand that she is his mate, with his lifelong dream of leading his people into a new way of living—in a town built just for them? Or will he have to give up Grizzly Cove in order to keep the woman he loves?
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Excerpt
It had been hard to leave home—and especially Nonna—but
she’d practically forced them to go. Nonna had a bit of foresight and had been
known to make the odd prophecy now and again. The girls had learned to listen
when she gave them advice, and this time, she’d been adamant. She’d told them
that their futures were waiting for them in Grizzly Cove and that they
shouldn’t be afraid to embrace their destinies.
The fact that she’d been so vague, while at the same time
being so forceful, meant that she knew a lot more than she was saying. But that
was her burden as a clairvoyant, she’d always claimed. She had to balance how
much to reveal of the future with what she called la forza del destino, or in
English, the power of fate.
Luckily, that particular gift hadn’t manifested in either of
the girls. Personally, Urse thought it would be a real pain in the ass to know
what was going to happen and have to decide how much to say in order to arrange
the best outcome. That was a little too much like playing the Almighty for her
comfort. She didn’t trust herself not to mess it all up by saying too much or
too little to the wrong person.
Better such things were left to Nonna. She had years of
experience and the purest heart Urse knew. Nonna could handle that kind of
pressure way better than either of her granddaughters. Which was probably why
that gift hadn’t passed to either of them, though Nonna claimed it could
manifest later in life.
That was something Urse was definitely not looking forward
to—if it should ever come to pass.
Thankfully, her thoughts were interrupted by the tinkling
bell that hung over the door that led to Main Street. Since they weren’t open
for business yet, it had to be Mellie returning from her sugar run to the
bakery down the street.
“Thank the Goddess! I’m about to starve over here, Mel.
Gimme one of those honey buns, right now!” she yelled toward the front of the
store.
Urse had been stacking books all day, taking them from the
back storeroom to the shelves out front, where she was working on their
displays. Mellie was supposed to be helping, but she’d gone AWOL about twenty
minutes ago, claiming she was just going to make a quick run to the bakery to
get snacks.
“I would if I could, but I’m afraid I don’t have any on me,”
a deep voice said from the open doorway that led to the front of the store.
Urse jumped to her feet, dusting herself off. She was a
mess. Dammit. And in front of the hunky mayor of all people.
“Oh, sorry, Mayor Marshall. I thought you were my sister,
finally returning from the bakery.” She smiled, hoping he didn’t notice how
messy her hair was, or the fact that she was wearing zero makeup. Great. Just
great.
“Call me John. We don’t stand on ceremony around here all
that much.”
Except for maybe full moon ceremonies, she thought
privately. She and Mel were still arguing over whether or not to come clean to
the shifters about who they were and what they knew. Urse thought they should
tell someone—probably the sexy mayor—before they went any further. If the
shifters in town didn’t want two strega in their midst, that was their right,
and Urse certainly didn’t want to stay where they weren’t welcome. She might be
doing all this backbreaking work setting up the store for nothing.
But Mellie didn’t agree. She wanted to keep their secret a
little longer. She was enjoying ogling the handsome shifters a little too much,
if you asked Urse. Of course, nobody was asking her, and Urse didn’t want to go
against her sister’s wishes.
Urse was trying to talk her around, and for the moment, they
were at a stalemate.
Continuing with her work, in order to hide the real
direction of her thoughts, Urse bent to pick up a heavy box of books. She was
just getting her hands under the edge of the box, when two much bigger hands
appeared beside her, shooing her away. John lifted up the cardboard box that
felt like it was stuffed with anvils—Urse had tried to lift it before—like it
was loaded with feathers.
“Where do you want this?” he asked casually.
“Just up on the workbench, please,” she said, unable to keep
herself from admiring the way his muscles stretched out the fabric of his shirt
sleeves. Hoo-boy. The man was built!
And those sexy brown eyes that flashed with intelligence
just made her heart go pitter-pat. His lustrous golden brown hair made her want
to run her fingers through it too. She and Mellie had drooled over the mayor
when they’d first met him, and the reaction hadn’t faded. The man certainly
made an impact on Urse every time she saw him. One she tried hard to tamp down.
The rumor mill around town—aka the Baker sisters who owned
the shop down the street—said that the mayor was single, but Urse feared the
Alpha shifter wouldn’t want to get involved with a witch. Plus, there was the
fact that he didn’t seem to realize that she and her sisters weren’t entirely
human. That would have to come out, eventually, but… Oh, it was just so
complicated.
John tossed the box easily to the workbench and stood back,
just looking at her. She didn’t know what to say, which was unusual for her.
Urse was usually the more glib-tongued of the two sisters. But there was
something about the way he was looking at her.
Their eyes met…and held. Time seemed to stand still. The
earth seemed to stop spinning. Just for a moment.
And then, the bell out in the front of the store rang
cheerfully, and the world started turning again.
“Hey, Urse!” Mellie yelled on her way into the store. “I got
the honey buns. Damn, those Baker sisters got lucky with their shifter mates. I
can’t decide which one is hotter—or cuter when they’re running to keep up with
their gals. I’ve never seen so many shifters in lurve before—” Mellie’s
explosion of words ceased the moment she stepped into the back room and
realized they weren’t alone. “Oh, crap,” she blurted out, coming to an abrupt
halt in the doorway. “Hi, Mayor Marshall.” The last came out on a squeak.
John looked from Urse to Mellie and back again. “And just
what would you two know about shifters?”
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About the Author
Bianca D’Arc is the USA Today bestselling author of over 50 romance novels. She has twice won EPPIE Awards for her work, along with the Australian Romance Readers Favorite Erotic Romance eBook of 2008 for her first werewolf romance, Lords of the Were. She is a native New Yorker who worked as an executive on Wall Street during the summer of 2001. She changed careers after the tragic attacks of 9/11 and started seriously pursuing publication in 2005. She has a Bachelors degree in Biochemistry, a Masters in Library Science, and a Juris Doctor, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously. She loves her garden and plays the piano, ukulele and guitar.
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