About In Bear Country
by Kiernan Kelly
115 pages / 53300
ISBN: 978-1-60370-008-5, 1-60370-008-0
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
Pride hasn’t had an easy life. No matter what he does, things seem to go bad. This time, though, he’s not sure he can get out of his predicament, and he figures he might just have to call it quits.
Bear is a mountain of a man, making a home where most folks woudn’t, and he comes across Pride right when the other man’s irons are all hanging in the fire. Bear doesn’t even hesitate, he just barges in and saves Pride’s bacon, taking the man home with him to give him a second chance. Or third or fourth…
When they get snowed in for the winter, they figure they have plenty of time to get to know one another. They laugh, learn, and love, both of them finding it incredibly easy to get to know all about the other.
It’s not all easy with these two hard-headed men. Pride lives up to his name, and Bear is just as stubborn. They can survive their petty struggles, but will the bigger demons in Bear’s past tear them apart before the spring thaws come?
Kiernan Kelly spins a great tale of the late 1800s in Colorado, with a heartwarming relationship that will keep the home fires burning for a long time to come.
Review
Jourdan Lane, author of the Soul Mates books, writes:</i> Life hasn't been easy for Pride, but he doesn't let that get him down much. He works hard and keeps on going, just hoping to scratch together enough to call his own. But it seems the cards he's dealt just keep getting worse. That last straw is almost too much to stomach. Hell, he might not even make it out of it alive, this time. Just when he thinks he's done for, his savior comes along, his likeness fitting his name.
Bear is a hulk of a man, living up in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies, making a home where few would dare to tread. He finds Pride in the worst of positions and doesn't even hesitate to give him the help that Pride so desperately needs.
Snowed in for the winter in Bear's cabin, the two men strike up an almost immediate friendship. They've never trusted others before, but this time it seems different. There's something else there, a deeper level of understanding that makes it almost easy for them. But their relationship is far from easy. Pride and Bear are both strong-willed and proud, and it's hard not to let that get in the way.
However, Bear's past threatens to put an end to it all.
I fell in love with Pride and Bear immediately, laughing when they laughed, aching for them when their pasts came to light. This story owned every emotion I had, from the first page to the last. It is, at times, as heartbreaking as it is heartwarming. Two men, both with so much love to give, hurt in ways that seem unimaginable. Some of it, while rough, is the harsh realities of life in the late 1800's. And some, just proves how cruel people can be.
A wonderfully rich and complex tale of friendship, love, and trust – In Bear Country is not to be missed. Kiernan Kelley is a very gifted storyteller and I, for one, thank her for sharing this one. It's from the heart and is one I will re-read over and over again.
Sample
Bear’s deep blue eyes looked black in the firelight, wide with wonder and more than a little nervousness, but he did as Pride asked. Pride shivered, knowing that what he’d wanted since he first laid eyes on Bear was being offered to him, part and parcel. All of Bear, wherever Pride wanted to touch him, taste him. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. Got to go slow now. Easy.
The neck of Bear’s long johns exposed a deep vee of his chest. Black hair curled over his smooth skin, and Pride slid his hand across it, feeling the silken texture of is under his palm. He slipped his hand under the fabric of Bear’s underwear, coming to rest over one of his nipples. Rubbing the tiny nub under his palm until it tightened, he worried it between his fingers. Leaning over Bear, Pride kissed him again, longer this time, harder. He swept his tongue over Bear’s lower lip, gently pushing it between them until Bear opened for him.
Sweet and tangy and hot, that was the taste of Bear, Pride decided.