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Review: Bearly There (City Shifters #1) by Bailey Bradford

One surly bear and one bunny boy…what could possibly go wrong?

Jagger Osterman is having a bad day. In fact, he’s not the slightest bit impressed with 2015 at all. His job is on the line, and it’s not like he loves being a marketing wunderkind, but he has to do something to pay the bills. If he had his way, he’d just vanish into the mountains and live out his life as the black bear he yearns to shift into. Unfortunately, Jagger doesn’t have the time to let his beast run. He has responsibilities that he can’t walk away from. 

Kevin Kelly could tell Jagger a thing or two about bad days, bad years, and just out and out bad luck. He made the mistake of smarting off to a curandera years ago and hasn’t been able to shake the curse she put on him yet. There’s not an area of his life that hasn’t been screwed up in one way or another. As a pronghorn shifter, he’d be okay on his own in the wild. Sure, there’d be predators, but Kevin had come to realize the worst predators were the human kind.

 But he can’t shift. He’s been solidly bound to human form since being cursed.

Two men, both trapped in their own ways. They’re about to find out that freedom comes in many forms.


I’m a total sucker for Bailey Bradford’s shifter books. There are always memorable characters and they are generally hot AF. Bearly There fits that perfectly, but in addition to the characters and the hot, it was also adorably charming. This is more of a lighthearted shifter tale and perfect for when you need some low angst, chuckles and delicious dirty.

Jagger is overworked at a shitty job and while he works in the city, not a ton of time is spent in that setting which was fine with me, because I do love a country boy. I thought of this one as more of a suburban shifter tale. Jagger’s sister, Syn, is suffering from some serious issues after a traumatic experience and he supports her as well as himself. His sister is a total kick and I loved their banter. I loved the banter she ended up having with Kevin even more though.

While Jagger is having a rough time, Kevin is having a shit-tastic time. He had a curse placed on him when he was a cocky young punk and is barely getting by as one disaster after another comes his way and tries to knock him down. The two get thrown together in a meet cute that is, of course, disastrous. And adorable. Kevin goes through jobs pretty quick-like and manages to get another one that puts him in contact with Jagger again as well as his family. They had some undeniable heat when they met the first time, but there were way too many witnesses and humiliating moments to make anything of the time.

This second time around they have some time and some privacy to get to know one another, not that Jagger’s sister doesn’t nose her way in to add some color commentary though and it was hilarious. Like I said, her banter with Kevin was so good. As she eavesdrops on the two of them flirting, so very awkwardly, she says,

“Wow, this is like the mating dance of the socially inept . . . 
I should film it for a documentary.” 

Kevin has absolutely no filter and the times when his brain gets loose are my favorite parts. It really makes he and Jagger work. Jagger isn’t uptight, but he is old fashioned and a little shy for an apex predator, which made him completely my kind of shifter. He’s all quiet and strong and then when he finds what (or who) he wants, he goes and gets his man.

Because Kevin is a bit of a mess anyway, Jagger has a little trouble believing the curse, but he believes Kevin believes it and as the two of them get closer, Jagger will do anything to help Kevin out. Kevin is a typical dude in that he wants to handle it all himself and he gets a little stubborn, but Jagger is determined and he starts researching ways to break the curse so the two of them can have their HEA. Throughout it all, their connection becomes more obvious and I ate up their little moments with the touches and the looks. The “Only you” moment at 73% killed me to death with the feels. I loved it.

Not to mention the sex being fuck hot. Bailey Bradford can write some hot. No doubt. Especially when the dirty talk is coming from the soft spoken alpha hunk of man that is Jagger. Just, damn. Kevin melted into a puddle of goo and I was right there with him.

Jagger strode to the shower and cupped Kevin's chin. "I'm going to wash every inch of your body, then I'm going to lick you and rim you until you come. Then I'll fuck you, once you're ready for round two."
"Round three," Kevin whispered.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved these two together and was not ready to let them go. That would be my only complaint, the ending was a little rushed and I wanted more. I was all, “WHAT, you can’t be over, I’m not done! Get back here and let me love yoooouuuu.” But, it was over and it was all kinds of happy albeit cut too short. I hope the two of them get some more page time in the next in the series, these two have a lot more story in them and I want to read every word of it.

Check out Bearly There over on Goodreads.


**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

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