Bear meets girl.

Nora has bad luck with men. When she meets an (actual) bear on a hike in the Los Angeles hills, he turns out to be the best romantic partner she’s ever had! He’s considerate, he’s sweet, he takes care of her. But he’s a bear, and winning over her friends and family is difficult. Not to mention he has to hibernate all winter. Can true love conquer all?

Review

A book I didn't even know I needed. Charming and with sly social commentary. I loved this whimsical romance in graphic novella form.

Well drawn. Expressive. Funny. Real. Honestly, the best thing I have read in a long time. I made three other people read it in the last two weeks. 

I loved this whimsical romance in graphic novella form. The conceit is charming the idea of just dating a bear as the other dating isn't going so well. Bright, happy, with emotionial depth. 

I really grinned over the look at dating. My favorite line can't be written here but it made me do a spit take. Friendships are also explored as are horrible morally questionable jobs.

With a hero who is good the heroine's cat. 

But the mirror to what a loving relationship should really be with the kindnesses to who each person is....wonderful.

And there is a cat. With a hero who is good the heroine's cat. Yea! And a HEA!

Nora and her Bear are the best.

My Boyfriend Is a Bear is the story of an unlikely romance between a woman and her bear. This is a sweet graphic novel that is not as perverse as the title may imply. Ribon provides a romance with all the elements you expect: an unlikely couple, a chance encounter, and the mistrust and pressure to evolve for a partner that causes division. Farris’s art is a simple and colorful comic style, but it fits the subject. One way this graphic novel stands out is in its lack of sentimentality. This is a sweet story, but it’s not cloying. It parallels a realistic relationship without losing its heart or trying too hard. Lots to grah here.

I love Sports Romance. I just love a hero or heroine who is really really good at something. 

I love capable heroines who aren't afraid to punch someone in the face. 

I use to be a competive speed skater. 

Thus, I love Roller Derby and if I can get it in a Romance Novel--Joy is Mine!

Here are some Romances with Roller Derby! My lists are never in any particular order. 

1.  The Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston

Growing up on the tough Philly streets, Gwen O'Neill knows how to fend for herself. But what is she supposed to do with a nice, suburban Jersey boy who has a tendency to turn into a massive Grizzly? Despite his menacing growl and four-inch claws, Gwen finds Lachlan "Lock" MacRyrie cute and really sweet. He actually watches out for her, and unlike the rest of her out-of-control family, manages not to morbidly embarrass her. Too bad cats don't believe in forever.

At nearly seven feet tall, Lock is used to people responding to him in two ways: screaming or running away. Gwen--half lioness, half tigress, all kick-ass--does neither. She's sexy beyond belief and smart as hell, but she's so busy protecting her family and friends that she's forgetting about her own safety. Lock probably shouldn't get involved, but he can't simply walk away. Not when Gwen means absolutely everything to him.

2. Falling Hard by Megan Sparks

When Annie moves from London to a small town in the midwest, she struggles to fit in. She gets off to a bad start when she makes an enemy of her school's queen bee, Kelsey. But she discovers a new passion, the exciting sport of roller derby, and makes friends with the cool and quirky girls on her team, the Liberty Belles. She also meets Jesse, the friendly boy who works at the roller rink, and Tyler, a cute, all-American sports star.

3. Found by You by Victoria H. Smith

He’s noticed by everyone… 

Griffin Chandler. 

He’s captain of our college’s basketball team. I swear to God I’ve already seen him in a Nike ad, and he’s one of the top picks when he goes pro following our spring graduation. 

His life is on display for the world. Both his accomplishments and demons there for judgment. 

I’m a girl who likes to play roller derby from, of all places, Wisconsin. My own demons better concealed. And one day… 

He notices me. 

Found by You is a new adult contemporary romance. 

4. Love and Skate: Books 1-5, The Complete Series by Lila Felix

On the rink she’s tough, she’s a leader, she’s fast and she’s the epitome of a rebellious girl. But Nellie’s been hurt, only once, but it was enough to make her look at life through different eyes and off the rink she’s a timid girl who loves with no pretenses. 
A long time ago Owen Black was betrayed by the girl he thought he loved and the guy he called his best friend. The anguish set off a domino effect of negativity in his life and he never has fully recovered. He meets Nellie Forrester and thinks he can let it go for her.  
But how can you love someone when the wounds from your past are still wide open?

5. The Derby Girl by Tamara Morgan

Roller derby girl Gretchen "Honey Badger" Badgerton lives in the moment, no apologies. Like every woman in Pleasant Park with a pulse, she finds Dr. Jared Fine irresistible, but she's taken by surprise when her unattainable new neighbor asks her out.

On paper, Jared is the perfect man: gorgeous, wealthy and charitable. But his golden image is just that, and opening an upstate practice is a welcome chance to start a new life. When Gretchen stops to help him with a flat tire, he's intrigued by her feisty attitude—and her sexy body art. There's something refreshing about being with a take-charge woman who doesn't expect him to be anything but himself.

Though Gretchen is hesitant to shatter Jared's "bad girl" illusion of her, she has to face facts: she's fallen for the good doctor. She's used to putting everyone else's needs before hers, but as their relationship heats up, can she handle having someone take care of her for a change?

6. Derby Girl by Shauna Cross

n this exciting collection of paranormal tales, best-selling authors Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), Kim Harrison (Once Dead, Twice Shy), Meg Cabot (How to Be Popular), Lauren Myracle (ttyl), and Michele Jaffe (Bad Kitty) take prom mishaps to a whole new level—a truly hellish level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper—and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.

From angels fighting demons to a twisted take on getting what you wish for, these five stories will entertain better than any DJ in a bad tux can. No corsage or limo rental necessary. Just good, creepy fun.

10. Demon Derby by Carrie Harris

Casey kicked cancer’s ass. Now a demon wants to kick hers. . . .

Casey hates being known as the girl who survived cancer. She wants people to treat her like her old self, fearless and strong. And after a creepy encounter with a crazy guy in an alley, Casey is all about reclaiming her power.

So when she has a chance to try out for the Apocalypsies roller derby team, she jumps on it. Being a derby girl would prove that she doesn’t need anybody’s pity. It doesn’t hurt that Michael, the team manager, is almost unnaturally hot. Which makes sense when Casey finds out that he’s not human.

Michael’s got a secret: he trains demon hunters. That crazy guy in the alley? Demon. And the fact that Casey went head to head with evil and lived makes her a threat to demonkind. Casey thought she’d already fought and won the battle of her lifetime. But it’s only beginning. . . .
 

Did I miss one? Let me know!

Vote on my Goodreads list: Jam: Roller Derby in Romance Novels 

Pamela Ribon has been showing up a lot in my recent life. First of all, she shows up with that horrible barbie book nonsense, bringing it all to life in her blog post. Then I see her name mentioned in a Smart Bitches post and think, "Oh! I recognize her! She is the one who wrote the hilarious thing on the sad barbie book". And finally, it came to a point when I looked at the book my friend from work had loaned me and realized it was her again. At that point I knew I was going to like this book. 

My friend had told me that this was their bookclub pick this month and most of the ladies had liked it though it took a bit to get into. I liked it from the beginning though did skim through some of the more cringe-worthy stories. 

Let me back up. This book is written on the concept that Pam saved all of the notes she wrote to boys as a teenager. They are just brimming with 15 year old angst and feeling. I would read them and cringe to myself on her behalf and then cringe again remembering some of the things I did as a teen. All this cringing would culminate in the grateful realization that I was no longer 15 and did not have to worry about overwhelming feels anymore.

My favorite parts of this book were not the notes themselves but the context and stories around them. Pam is a fantastic writer who drew me into her past quite easily. I want to read more of her books now that do no center around these notes. The notes were my least favorite part actually. I enjoyed them more toward the beginning, but as the book went on I had enough flashbacks thanks. 

Anyway, I enjoyed this book. Give it a shot if you are interested in a memoir centering around some of the more embarrassing aspects of teenage girlhood doused with a good dose of humor. 

Pamela Ribon did and kept copies of them all. Tiffany Turpin Johnson reviews a memoir of adolescent fervour for LitReactor.com

Title:

Notes to Boys (And Other Things I Shouldn't Share in Public)

Who wrote it:

Screenwriter and author Pamela Ribon, who already has several bestselling books to her name.

Plot in a box:

In a mostly funny memoir of her 1990s-era teens, Ribon recounts the hardships of being a pubescent writer with too much word vomit and no internet trash can.

Invent a new title for this book:

Wherefore Art Thou, Adolescence?

Read this if you liked:

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Meet the book's lead:

Little Pam is like any other thirteen-year-old girl...who writes two-hundred-page notes to boys. More than once.

Said lead would be portrayed in a movie by:

Eden Sher from ABC's The Middle, if she dyed her hair blonde. She's so adorkably irritating, but you know she's going places, and you wanna go along.

Setting: would you want to live there?

Um, no. Let me rephrase that. HELL no. There's racists, bullies, bigots, book-burners, and boys who don't write back. And I thought my high school was hell!

What was your favorite sentence?

Life. It's pretty much bullshit. Brought to you by the number fifteen. 

The verdict:

There’s basically two main characters switching perspective throughout the memoir, although they’re ultimately the same person. Grown-up Ribon narrates us through her early ‘90s journey as Little Pam (LP), the wannabe writer who kept copies of the copious letters she sent to every teenaged boy unfortunate enough to look her way—and sometimes even to those who never did. Here and there we get sprinkles of (mostly bad) poetry and short stories. You can’t read too many chapters in one sitting, either because you feel too embarrassed at LP’s follies or too overwhelmed by flashbacks from your own adolescence. If you were ever a teenaged girl, at least.

Ribon’s a comedian at heart, so most of the book is funny, with just enough heaviness to remind you that you’re reading a memoir, not a Disney Channel script. There are some dark moments, although Ribon mostly glosses over them in favor of focusing on the more widespread embarrassments of adolescence. There were a couple places where this became an issue, because in our culture of rape and bullying, it’s no longer okay to play down the inflated feelings of angst that go along with the teen years, especially for young girls. But if you can get past the one suicide joke, in particular, she does get serious on the issue later on.

The letters are reported as-is, so there’s loads of distracting [sic]s in the way, and Ribon can’t help interjecting commentary every other sentence, leering at each of LP’s imperfections like a nitpicking mother. I remember being a teenaged girl struggling to be heard, and I just want to scream at Ribon, Let the girl speak already! But it’s just because Ribon’s made me see myself in LP, so that even while I’m annoyed by the girl I want to hug her and tell her everything will be okay, that I love Siamese Dream too, that I miss my K too, that we all find our Nice Boy one day and so will she.

So ultimately I enjoyed the book, and I rooted for LP even when I wanted to slap her. The last quarter of the book is the best, so hang around for the payoff.