Cant’ bear to be without you by Mandy Rosko

 

Published on October 30^th, 2019

232 pages

I read the paperback version

Back cover

Some fires never go out...

Jonas MacBride left Lakeview in his past, including the woman who spurned him. There was no place there for a subhuman like him – someone born to shifters without the ability to transform. Yet after years of building a life for himself, and a career as a firefighter, he's sent back to Lakeview to investigate some recent brushfire incidents. And on his first day in town he runs right into the woman he once thought he'd spend his life with.

Taylor Daniella Norina thought she'd seen the last of Jonas until he shows up asking questions about fires – questions that none of the shifter community is interested in answering. She can tell that Jonas doesn't want to be there, and she'd prefer he left as soon as possible too. Someone might be hiding the truth about who's setting the brushfires, but Taylor has her own secret – one involving the child she carried when Jonas left her behind.

Can't Bear to Be Without You is book 3 in the You've Got to be Shifting Me series.

My review

This is the third book of the series, but you don’t have to read them all to understand the story. I will recommend to do it because some characters are making a cameo, but each novel are different. If you like shifter, I think you will like it. Since I am a sucker for second chances, I enjoyed reading Jonas and Taylor’s adventure. Since the book is short, I did not have a chance to get bored. It’s a turn page. Don’t worry, 240 pages is enough to complete even though, I thought the end was a little rush.

The author used a trope I saw a few times in romance, but it was refreshing to see the protagonist was shifters especially bears. It changed from werewolves that we see so many times in that genre. Except the fact that Jonas was complaining to not be a full shifter, I had the feeling they were humans. You do not even have to like shifters to read this novel. 

I would give a star at Taylor because she had to raise her daughter alone without any support because her people didn’t accept her situation and Jonas was gone. In the same time, Jonas grew up enough to take his responsibility. He is not perfect, but I started to like him at the end. He risks his life for the woman he loves. I like to see that in romance.

Excerpts 

" So, have you been fighting a lot of fires lately? "

" Not really. My first two times out were to help a woman who called us to tell us her entire house was lit up. "

" That’s..pretty terrible. Was she all right? "

He snorted a laugh. " Yeah. Her house was fine too. Her dog just got stuck beneath the porch. She wanted our help getting it out. " (p.4)

If you chose not to have Meg, that was up to you. If you wanted to give her up for adoption because you weren’t ready, also up to you. If you wanted to keep her, then that was going to be on no one but you. It was the same with Jonas. That wasn’t my decision to make for you. (p.17)

He was only part shifter. Not human enough for the humans to call him human, and not enough of a shifter to change his form or be taken in by any shifters. (p.64)

My interview with the author

 My review of Owl will always love you