The Jaguar's Romance, Emilia Hartley

The nature of a cat and the nature of a bear are not too different, according to Oscar who shares the soul of a jaguar, and he's about to entice Sally to believe the same thing.  He's determined to draw out her innate sensuality himself.  And maybe find a way to keep her out of trouble with the law at the same time.

Sally is confused, frustrated, and frightened by the situation in which she finds herself.  Turned into a were-bear by a murdering, sadistic, insane grizzly out to ruin them all for unknown reasons, she's struggling to make peace between her and her bear.  With Thorn as a mentor she feels awkward and very like a burden.  Her crush on him makes her dependence on him bittersweet.  Sweet because he can understand her dilemma and she gets to ogle his hotness, but intensely more bitter because his lover and mate, Felicity, is never far away and her presence reminds her that she'll never have a chance with him.

Their situation is made infinitely more complicated by the fact that her sire is in the wind and his control over her might lead to Thorn's demise.  They need help to solve the mystery and Oscar is more than willing to help Sally in every way he can.

They have great chemistry and I like that the player in him can see what Sally has inside of her.  Not just her enticing curves, but her intelligence and goodness.  There's potential between them because her innocent curiosity and need to be desired for herself are drawing her to Oscar, not just the sexy facade, but the real man inside.  She breaks down his walls and opens his heart to more than just physical pleasure, something he didn't think existed.

Sally and her bear needed more assistance in accepting one another as well as honing her skills.  Her "jaunt" in the woods was kind of a hot mess and unsatisfying to say the least.  The romance was better, thank goodness, and I liked Oscar's explanation of why he accepted monogamy with Sally.  Hearing his thoughts about other women was slightly off-putting but actually not too bad because we knew from The Bear's Home and from the beginning of this story that he is quite the libertine and he had his own evolution to go through.

There's a ton of drama in this one.  With a number of plot points to cover in this relatively short story I was fairly impressed by how everything came together.  I did think it was a bit over the top at some moments and the resolution was slightly unsatisfying.  Yes, we didn't want Oscar to be like their nemesis but I'm really not sure human law enforcement is enough.  And unless the next story comes from Iwalani or The Vet, this just doesn't seem like a fitting end.  Whether the series continues or not, we'll see.  I'm hoping so because I'd like to get to know these other characters (I have my suspicions about The Vet) and I'd also like to see all the loose ends get tied up.

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*Meet Sally and Oscar before they find one another

in The Bear's Home and find out

how they get involved with the murderous interloper.

Being the largest shifter in the area, Thorn had plenty of responsibilities. Unfortunately, there were only two things Thorn cared about. Fighting, and sex. This made Ripple, Oregon an easy target for other Apex Shifters. Especially of the sly female variety. Thorn could spot her a mile away. The sexy, confident blonde definitely didn't belong here. Not that it mattered... he was just interested in getting in her pants.

The small town was Felicity's next playground to tear apart. With plans to commercialize it with skyscrapers and malls, she could already feel the money in her hands. To make matters easier, the current Apex was a dumb brute named Thorn. Taking over this town was going to be easier than she'd originally thought, all she had to do was convince Thorn... and she knew exactly how.