I got an ARC of this book from netgalley and Kensington Publishing.

Sasha Silverman is busy running her family owned business the Silver Bear Shop and Factory. The company's sales rep Will Taylor is discussing some major changes at the factory that include some staff cuts, and sending the manufacturing over seas. Tempers are boiling over and Sasha or her sister Maddie can't seem to get in touch with their parents.

When the sisters discover Will's body in the bear factory, everyone becomes a suspect in his murder. The cop's main suspect is the girl's Uncle Ross but Sasha isn't buying that for a minute. No matter how angry Ross gets he would never kill anyone.. When Sasha launche her own investigation into the murder she discovers that Will had quite a number of enemies.

The story has an interesting premise with interesting characters, with a storyline that is intriguing and captivating.

The blurb sounded fun, and the general idea of this book was great, but the execution left me wanting. I expected more than talk about diapers, and burping, and bottles, and just kids in general from a book being billed as a romance.

Aiden has adopted his sister's two children, since his sister struggles with mental health issues and cannot take care of them. He works from home, mostly at night, and his adult interactions are pretty much limited to his twice-weekly trip to the local coffee shop where he meets with friends.

Devon is taking care of his much younger sister's newborn baby after she left town. He is completely over his head taking take of a baby, even three months in, and he hasn't started any legal proceedings either. Invited to join Aiden and the others at the coffee place, he's glad for some adult company too.

Most of this book is told in dialogue. Most of this dialogue is trite, bland, and non-engaging, and while a romance develops between Aiden and Devon, amidst taking care of the children, there just didn't seem to be any kind of believable spark. 

For a romance to work for me, there has to be more relationship development, and more to the relationship than just the commonality of taking care of kids. The kids just took over this book, and I was often rather bored while reading about their feeding times, their bedtimes, and their baths. While the romance itself was fine (what there was of one), the constant talking about the children was a major turnoff. 

There's some drama with Devon's mother who wants to take the baby from him, but that's also easily resolved, and her role in this book was slightly OTT, as was Devon's reactions to her threats. 

So yeah... this didn't do it for me. YMMV. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **

Plushinomicon: The Legends of Teddy Bear...

What, you may ask, did Jessie the Flufamancer do? Well, he animated the plush creatures of the children. Then he made them do his evil bidding. I can’t even begin to tell you about the bidding that he bade, but just believe me when I tell you that it was evil!

That's the third (or so) paragraph in this collection of short stories -- and it's the one that convinced me I wanted to finish this.

 

It's a collection of stories about various adventurers (or the like) going to Teddy Bear Island to try to find Jessie (for various reasons), to find treasure, just to prove they can -- or any number of other reasons that dwarves, elves, humans, orcs or kobolds might find themselves adventuring (There are more kobolds in this collection than I've probably ever read before -- and I really liked them). They're designed as campaign starters for the RPG, Teddy Bear Island, or to enjoy on their own. They work either way.

 

There's a sense of play, a sense of fun in the middle of traditional-ish fantasy adventure stories. The various plush animals are a hoot, my favorite idea was the hydra-bear. I don't know that I can point to any particular stories and say "This is one of the best," -- or the worst, actually. They're all delightful in practically equal amounts.

 

There are laughs, puns, pop-culture jokes and danger in the midst of the goofiness of stories. It's hard to explain, but imagine a less-intense version of The Lord of the Rings, but populated by stuffed animals (and you'll be pretty close).

 

I am not an RPG player -- I've tried, but just never clicked with me. But these stories make me really want to, first time since Dragons of Autumn Twilight that a book has had that effect on me. Which is sort of the point, right? Even without that, it was a fun collection of adventure stories.

 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the Publisher in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Lonely Teddy Bear - Chelsea Radojcic This remarkable book written by Chelsea Radojcic, The Lonely cover92860-medium Teddy Bear is about reality, our perception of reality and the real self.


What kind of reality and world do we choose for ourselves?

Who is a stranger? Or better: who can be a stranger we meet along our way and we treat as our brother?



Our perception of the world and the beauty of it, if we are not good people would change when we look at a pot of flowers, a wonderful sunset, or at the poeticity of the world? A strong lack of humanity brings with it horror or in the scheme of things a soul can accept the big discrepancies and divisions existing into ourselves, accepting also the beauty, relaxing part of the living as a biggest scheme?
Maybe, sometimes for compensating the horror of the reality?

Can a man with a heart like a stone feels the beauty of the world?


It's an impressive, captivating story from the beginning The Lonely Teddy Bear.

I started to read it yesterday and in a few hours I completed it.


The first part, bucolic. This man Jink is missing a lot Janie, a girl, it will be explained later, with which he lived when she was still a kid and that she should be 18 years old now. Still unclear why he lived with this kid. At first, with terror, you think this world and the other, of course.


It's 8 years that he doesn't see her and he is missing her a lot.


He starts a trip, discovering various people, Sam, a past as a veteran and his choice of living in a tent. Jink will join him for a long while. Then Amber a girl with a sad past of abuses, and a dad often too drunk for being present and good for all of them.


Then a nice couple who will feed and give hospitality to Jink for months and months before he will leave them and the memories of their beloved son Jimmy dead in war, behind.


His works at a bar and he knows the young waiter...


You will love all the characters Jink will meet along the way because they're all beautiful souls.


I had recently read a book about "famous" couples like the ones portrayed in this book. The one of Jink and later Janie. Strong situations.


The life of Jink appears perfect although limited by windows. He doesn't want to look at the world through windows but take action. That's why he leaves his idyllic Yellow House for searching for Janie.


The style is shockingly interesting, because when you think you are reading a certain kind of book, later you will discover that you have in your hands something completely different.


But...This one is a book that for creativity and geniality is able to make the difference and I warmly suggest it to all of you.


The cover is beautiful, and it attracted me from the first time and it was why I picked up this book at first. I was right because you can't put it down for any reason but you must discover what will happen next.


It is a reading for adults only. I strongly exclude or suggest it for teenagers.



I thank Netgalley for this book.

"There's just something about a Teddy Bear that's impossible to explain. When you hold one in your arms, you get a feeling of love, comfort and security. It's almost supernatural." ~James Ownby

Tyler's flight is cancelled and he's despondent, realizing that he won't be with his family for Christmas. When he finds a lost teddy bear, Tyler immediately thinks how upset the child who lost the bear must feel and makes it his mission to find teddy's owner.

Tyler soon begins to treat the teddy bear as if it were his own, anthropomorphizing it with loving and humorous results. He takes it to the information desk, hopefully to get it to the airport's lost-and-found. Tyler is really trying to help teddy get back to its child who surely must be frantic by now. There, he meets Aaron, who becomes caught up in the magic that is inherently in a teddy bear. Together the men come up with the idea of telling a story about what Teddy does during his Christmas vacation posing him at various places in the airport. It's so much fun that Aaron forgets to be bored and Tyler feels a lot less lonely. Before they realize it, Aaron and Tyler begin to see that the magic that often happens during the holidays has influenced them, making them feel like they have known each other for years. Aaron offers his guest room since there are no flights happening that day and Tyler, although wary, follows his heart and decides to take up his invitation. They have a wonderful, passionate time together and hate to see it end. When Tyler gets an early call that he can catch a flight, he leaves with regret which Aaron feels as well. Is the Christmas spirit willing to let it end, or will it continue?

It would be difficult for me not to enjoy any story with a teddy bear in it, especially one with as much personality as this particular bear. An act of kindness is rewarded with the gift of warmth and companionship between two men who otherwise would not have had it. If you like teddy bears, Christmas magic, and a cure for loneliness, then you may enjoy this story. Thank you, CC for touching my heart and making it feel warm and fuzzy.