Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Review: Lila Felix's "Hearten" (Bayou Bear Chronicle, Book Two)

Title: "Hearten" (Bayou Bear Chronicle, Book Two)
Author: Lila Felix
 
 
 
Blurb:
 
Determined to be the best Beta he can, Rev has made sure to keep his distance from Martha, the female he knows to be his mate. He’s not sure he even knows how to be a decent mate to her.

All that changes when the Alpha and the Coeur conspire to make sure that Martha and Rev both face what they’ve known to be true for so long.

One look is all it takes, but there is so much more to being a mated couple than facing the claim.

Martha is not ready to give up anything in her life, not even to make room for him.

Rev is ready, but only as long as his female bends her life to fit into his.

Pushing and pulling, each one will have to decide which is more important—the life they’ve built, or the one they could have together
 
Be sure to add Hearten to Goodreads!!!
 
 
Buy Links: (for ALL of Lila's books)
 
 
 
 
 
My Review:
 
I'm not lying or being over dramatic when I tell y'all I had a horrible time getting this review out!!!  I loved this book so very much, I was honestly afraid I'd never give it the justice it truly deserves!! There was so much to love about this book!! The bond between each character, the drive these people had to protect those they love the most and of course the all consuming romance!! *Sigh* Like the true artist she is, Lila had no problems mixing all of these elements into perfection I have come to expect out of her.
 
Hearten brings us back to the powerfully fierce yet extraordinary  bear clan we came to love in Lila's first book Burden. I always praise Lila for the gift of bringing us back to visit her characters.  It feels like you're visiting old friends and this book was no different. Hearten now focuses on Rev *sigh* and the sweet loving Martha. These two are the best friends of the main characters from Burden.
 
One of my favorite moments in this book is when these two discovered they were indeed mates. I must interject here that Rev knew long before Martha that they were mates and would watch Martha without her being aware of it.  I know that sounds creepy, but come on y'all it's Lila!!! She takes Rev's uncomfortable "stalking" and makes it funny. Back to what I was saying...The moment two bears realize they are mated, is a private intimate even between the two of them.  For Martha and Rev, it happened in front of most of the clan!!! Not that these two noticed! The moment Martha looked into Rev's eyes met, time ceased to exist and it was just the two of them *sigh* 
 
 
Now just because these two are mates and meant to be, doesn't mean they were ready to run off into the sunset together.  They don't know each other very well and so they had to learn to trust each other and in the process, fall in love.  This to me, made the book more realistic and even more interesting. I love that Lila always creates characters that are far from perfect ( yet loveable) but learn to evolve and heal not for the person they love but because of them!! It's such a powerful reminder of the power of love and personal strength. This is yet again one of those stories that will grab you from the moment you begin and hold you tight until the end. Martha and Rev's romance will leave you feeling fulfilled, renewed and wanting to go back for more!!
 
This made me think of Martha and Rev
 
 
 
 
**** OTHER WORKS****
Can all be found at given buy links & the author's blogs/websites
 

Skate Series
 
Love and Skate:
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?

How It Rolls:
Despite the odds, Reed Wolfe is making it, by the skin of her teeth. Her dreams and aspirations will have to wait until she can get on her feet. Because right now she’s homeless and churning on a downward spiral.

Falcon Black is existing. Not living, not thriving, just jutting along a path. But when he finds Reed, he can’t resist the urge to help her, lighten her load. But Falcon tends to go overboard, over the line, crossing boundaries he never thought he would and risking her trust in the process. 

Can she accept his love or will it end up smothering her?
 
Down 'N' Derby: 
 Maddox is running.
By accident, he discovered long ago that he was adopted as a baby and his need to find his biological father has consumed him ever since. Now, on a road trip, determined to find his father and his sanity, and armed with locations and his cousin, Nixon, to help him, maybe he can find the answers he’s been searching for. With nothing but a suitcase and a wad of cash to get him there, lead after lead takes him further from home.
But he’ll find much more than he intended.
He finds Storey, a pint sized pin-up model who has learned painful lessons about guys. Her wounds run deep, but so do his. She knows what she wants, but will she recognize it when it’s right in front of her?
Maddox can’t touch anyone without feeling like his skin is crawling, but just maybe his instinct to protect this amazing girl will supersede his own hang-ups.
If he can brush her skin and start to feel alive inside...everything will change
  
Caught In A Jam:
Nixon Black has made mistakes. He made one mistake that would change his life forever. Now he’s working and in school—and he’s got a three year old. He gave up dating when Scout was born, but every night he retreats to another life in his mind, one he could’ve had with her.

Journey spent her formative years on the arm of any boy that didn’t expect anything out of her. She was hiding from the one person who did expect something in return—Nixon. Years after being cheated on and dumped for the last time, she takes a job at a daycare center where there’s a genius of a ginger haired girl whose last name is Black.

But the roles have been reversed and Journey is no longer Nixon’s first priority. Can he make room for the new Journey? And when he does, will he be able to forgive the old one?
 
 
she's spent a long time in a bubble. In an odd turn of events, Corinne is taken out of boarding school and plunged into high school where bullies reign and nice guys come in last.

But this is after she's already fallen in love with Abel over the summer.

Abel is trapped, with friends he secretly hates, but has chosen to stay with the status quo. It's just high school, right?

What do you do when the person you love sees the very worst part of you? And how do you help them when they discover their life is a hoax?
 

Remi Harris has a plan. Graduate high school, go to college, become a history teacher, be self-sufficient unlike her mother who is a struggling single mom. And the word ‘boy’ has no place in her plan.
Cooper Neal has been sent to his estranged father’s house to spend his Senior year getting to know him. And maybe, just maybe, there will be some cute girls in the small town.

Cooper sees Remi and he falls hard. Remi sees Cooper and wonders if she can do both. The question is; will he ruin her plans, or will she let him be a part of them?
 

Jenna has spent too long being complacent and accepting. Her mother and step-father constantly belittle and berate her for simply being alive. She passes through life keeping everyone and everything at arm’s length because it’s just not worth the questions or the pity party. She takes what they dish out and just tries to survive.
She has thought up a million different ways to get away from them, but lacked the motivation and the sheer will. Like a fast moving tornado, her motivation comes in the form of a boy who cares for her as none other has and who shows her a glimpse of hope, a glimpse into a life she never thought she could have.
But is her new motivation enough to get her out....

 
Anguish was the status quo, until she walked in.
Breaker James Collins is confined in a prison of his own making. Scarred doesn’t begin to define his hell since finding out his girlfriend had cheated, stolen, and lied two years ago. It led to a single event—one that would blacken his days and his nights from then on. Since then, he hasn’t left his house, crippled by fear of people and any social interaction.
Ashland talks too much and has the voice of a meth-laden prairie dog, or so she’s always been told. She’s been called annoying and irritating all of her life and gave up on having friends for a long time. College has given her a new lease on a social life and she’s embraced who she is. But now she’s waiting for the one guy who can take her breath away and put up with her antics.
A simple note pinned to a corkboard will lead Ash right to Breaker’s solitary world and she will learn that just because a guy doesn’t fit her ideal, doesn’t mean she won’t fall head over feet in love.
 
 
 
All she wanted was a friend---one that knew her and not her circumstances. She needed somewhere to call home. Hers was an open door for countless men looking for the services her mother offered them. She camouflaged herself against lockers and blackboards to avoid the stares and whispers at school.

And then she found Cal...and Fade.

Cal lives like Frankenstein, rising at night to work and just trying to make it until dawn. He avoids most relationships, afraid of the things he will be asked to do. He moonlights as Fade, a radio station DJ who spends hours counseling his peers on their troubles. It was all mundane until Jocelyn called the station.

Cal and Havok pursue a friendship.

Jocelyn and Fade pursue a relationship beyond the confines of the radio waves.

But when Havok disappears, Cal will find that Havok has been guarding a lifetime worth of secrets. And when Fade and Jocelyn’s all night phone conversations cease, he finds a link between them he never saw coming.

 
In the depths of the Louisiana swamps, clans of bear shifters roam freely. Hawke Turnclaw, the Alpha over all of his kind, is drowning in the legacy left to him by the Alpha before him, his own father. When he goes on a rescue mission to save a rogue Black bear from the clutches of a Grizzly clan, he finds more than just a Black bear, he finds his mate.

Echo has always been told she's an anomaly, a fluke. She's the only bear of her kind and that makes her a hindrance to her clan. She's tried to run away, but they keep her tethered through guilt and a shock collar around her neck.

And then someone shows up claiming he's her mate.
Now belonging to a new clan, will she ever be able to understand that she's so much more than just a burden


 
Forced Autonomy Phase 1 (& Phase 2)
 
The United States has collapsed. Those citizens who are left are in one of two classes. One: Citizens who have undergone forced lobotomies, as mandated by the United Nations. Two: Those who fight against their tyranny.
Petra Kingsley falls under both classes. She falls in line with the drones, pretending her procedure worked. She’s existed among their ranks, hiding in plain sight, being worked to the bone and starved almost to death.
Lawson is a bounty hunter of sorts. His target isn’t the guilty, it’s those who are lost in the folds of a broken society.
When he spots Petra working in the masses, he stops at nothing to help her escape.
But he has no idea who exactly he’s helping—and who will now be hunting them both?
 

Breaker James isn’t the boy who is imprisoned in his home anymore. He’s not the guy who is afraid to leave the house. He doesn’t need Ash twenty four hours a day anymore.
Hell, he might not need her anymore at all.
He’s a heart breaker, pure and simple.
Love is easy when you’re secluded from the world within four walls.
Ash now has to learn how to let Breaker love her—without being his crutch.
 
 

 Coming Soon!!!
 
 
19073233
Number ten is plastered on his team jersey and on his ego. In his own mind, Crown Sterling is the shit. He dates the prettiest women, he dominates on the soccer field, he pours money out of his pockets like it’s water. Until a debilitating knee injury puts him out of commission on and off the field. He’s sent to an isolated town in Louisiana to recoup, undergo physical therapy and heal. But it’s when you’re down that you find out who your real friends are, and what they value in you, if anything at all.

All Lyra wants out of life is peace and quiet. She grew up with a regular, everyday family. When she turned sixteen, rummaging through her grandmother’s hope chest in the attic, she discovered a secret that would turn her simple, normal life into a ball of chaos that revolved around her. But while she seems to face her fears head on in her career, she lives a life that’s secure and well hidden.

A new neighbor moved in next door and he’s decided that everyone needs to listen to his rap music, shattering Lyra’s quiet existence. Enraged, she stomps to the next townhouse over and who should open the door but a man whose good looks and charming smile knock her breathless.

How good looking? Just ask him.

How charming? He’ll tell you that too.

The king must be dethroned.

And a small town girl who’s been through hell is just the one to do it.
 
More Forced Autonomy
and
 
You Little Thief
 
 
About my Lila:
 
Lila Felix lives in the swamps of Louisiana with her husband and three boisterous children. She loves coffee, anything cinnamon and loves to cook. She is a big roller derby fan. When she's not writing, she's watching 80's movies, reading, and collecting duct tape. 
Where to Stalk Lila:



 
 
 

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