I’ve been reading Allie Ritch’s sexy romances for some time now and am so pleased to share her latest with you! Welcome, Allie!
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Hi, Rosanna. Thank you for hosting me and my frost bear shifters. I know you’re a fan of sexy men who turn into bears (Go, Ryland and Soren!), and I’m thrilled to announce the release of my book Bare Season.
On the arctic planet of Jensen, winter is the bare season. Food is scarce, the trees are stripped, and snow covers the landscape as far as the eye can see. Man must battle against nature, surviving hungry predators, cracking ice, and deadly avalanches. Most villagers hole up for the winter and use it as the mating season—a time to pair up and test out a romance. That’s certainly one good way to stay warm.
Now in her forties, Idonea has pretty much given up on love. The last man she wintered with abandoned her, leaving her to be eaten by an attacking frost bear while he saved his own skin. She doesn’t have a very high opinion of males. And needless to say, she’s terrified of bears. Idonea wouldn’t venture into the wilderness during such a brutal season if it weren’t for her parents. Her father was injured saving her from the bear that almost killed her, so her family needs her help to provide food. When she comes nose to nose with an enormous male bear while she’s out hunting, she is sure she’s as good as dead.
Then the bear shifts into a gorgeous naked man and presents a whole other challenge. Massak is sure Idonea is his mate, and he’s been following her scent for miles. The attraction between them is instantaneous. Earning her trust is a much slower process. He’ll have to use the winter season to win her over. Given her opinion of men and fear of bears, that won’t be easy.
Bare Season is the fourth book in my Children of Nanook series. When I wrote the first book, Mating Season, I had no idea it would be my most popular work. I’m delighted readers have embraced my frost bear shifters, and I hope they enjoy Massak and Idonea as much as the previous characters.
Buy Links for Bare Season:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bare-season-allie-ritch/1129557891?ean=2940156131785
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bare-season
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/bare-season
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1436435635
Excerpt:
A dazzling flash of light blinded her before she could draw back the bowstring. Spots danced before her eyes, followed by a shimmering rainbow of lights like the auroras that sometimes lit up the sky. Then the night dimmed back to normal. She blinked her vision clear…and then blinked some more.
Where the frost bear had been, there now stood a naked man who was equally remarkable. Though he had to be in his fourth decade of life like she was, his white-blond hair wasn’t streaked with gray. Instead, it had a darker color that probably looked like yellow gold in the daylight. His whole body was roped with muscle beneath his pale skin, and his abs were as well defined as the rocks studding the mountainside. A dusting of hair that looked almost transparent trailed from his bellybutton down to a blond thatch of curls. Against it, his long, thick shaft looked darkly flushed, especially when it started to harden.
Idonea forced her gaze back up.
“I like the way you look at me, female. Does my body meet with your approval?” Lust twinkled in his brown eyes, and a smile flirted with the edges of his full lips.
All the blood that had sunk to her feet reversed course to flame across her cheeks. She was far too old to be blushing like some young girl, but telling herself that didn’t seem to stop it.
With no safe way to answer his question, she said the first thing that popped into her mind. “You’re two-skinned. A Child of Nanook.”
It was the only explanation for what she’d seen. A frost bear had been standing there one moment, this blush-inducing male the next. The Children of Nanook had once been like her people. They had traveled across the stars to settle on Jensen long ago, but in order to survive, they had joined spirits with the native frost bear. In this way, they had become a new race—one that could shift forms between man and beast.
“You know of my people.” His voice was so deep it seemed to vibrate through her. When he looked her over from head to toe, his slow perusal left her feeling as if she were the one who was naked. “Are you wearing one of my people?”
“What?”
“Your coat,” he said. “It is made from the pelt of a frost bear.”
Idonea glanced down at the front of her coat and finally shook her head to clear it. “A regular animal, not a shifter.”
“You killed it yourself?” His tone was inscrutable.
For all she knew, the Children of Nanook protected frost bears, and harming one might be considered a grave offense. She answered carefully. “My father and I did, and only because it was trying to kill me.”
He appeared to accept her response and flicked his gaze over her again. “You look good in fur. Like a little bear.”
Flustered—and annoyed that he’d made her feel that way—she glared at him. “Whereas you look terrifying in fur. You nearly scared me to death, sneaking up on me as a frost bear.”
“Ah, yes.” He bent to pick up the leather bag at his feet. “The ‘poor person’ you believe I ate.”
Now she was sure he was laughing at her, which did not improve her temper. “What was I supposed to think? Why else would a bear be carrying a pack and snowshoes?”
“To hold my clothes,” he explained. “I was tracking a scent and decided it was easier to travel in bear form. You came from the village of Idona.”
He didn’t make his last statement a question.
She frowned at him, confused and still distracted by his nude body. “I visited the trading post there a week ago. I’m from another village, but my mother’s family is from Idona. That’s why she named me Idonea: to carry a piece of home with her after moving to my father’s village. I know about your people because a Child of Nanook took a woman from Idona as his mate last year. Raiders from the north abducted her, but he got her back before they could carry her over the mountains.”
“Yes,” he said. “Tuaq ran the clawless men down in his bear form.”
Idonea shivered as she envisioned a frost bear, motivated by wrath and enhanced by a man’s intelligence. She wondered if there had been any pieces left of the raiders.
“I’ve just come from Tuaq,” he added. “Before that, I visited two of our females who found mates among your people.”
“Shila and Miksa.” She had heard about them too, though only through the gossip at the trading posts. “I heard Shila found protection with a distant villager after two of her own kind assaulted her. Miksa couldn’t find a mate among your people because she couldn’t change into a bear.”
“Yes, and now she is mated to a runt who is as ferocious as a wolverine.” Humor colored his voice, and the curve of his lips brought her attention to his mouth.
Against her will, her gaze swept over him again, taking in his chiseled form all the way down to his toes. His shaft was still semi-erect, which was impressive, given how cold the air was. Idonea had to exert all her self-control to avert her eyes.
“If you have clothes, why don’t you put them on?” And stop making her so hot she expected steam to rise from the top of her head.
He kept his shoulders back, clearly unabashed. “Because you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Question?” What question? How could he expect her to think straight with him standing there, pointing that thing at her?
“My name is Massak,” he said. “And I asked if my body meets with your approval.”
Buy Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07HDTNNDF
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bare-season-allie-ritch/1129557891?ean=2940156131785
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bare-season
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/bare-season
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1436435635
Author Links:
Website/Blog: https://allieritch.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllieRitch
Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/allieritch
Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/AllieRitch
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111312224583397875521/posts
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/allie-ritch
Manic Readers: http://www.manicreaders.com/AllieRitch/
Learn more about the Children of Nanook series from this guest post at Rosanna’s: https://rosannaleoauthor.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/allie-ritch-children-of-nanook-series/
Rosanna Leo 