Bear With Me ‏

Written by Jessica Redland ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Published by      Little Bear Books 1 edition (25 April 2017) Genre Romance, Fiction Pages 270 ASIN B08QCVY8LV ISBN-10 1800484445 ISBN-13 978-1800484443

My thanks to the author, Jessica Redland, and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to join this Blog Tour, and a free copy of Bear With Me in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb:

Bear With Me

Jemma has the job of her dreams as curator for the children’s section of a museum in London. She spends each day surrounded by the one thing she’s absolutely passionate about: teddy bears. When boyfriend, Scott, shows a genuine interest in her passion instead of laughing at her for “playing with teddies all day”, she knows he’s a keeper.

Returning home to the North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitsborough Bay to celebrate her birthday, Jemma thinks she’s heading for her happy-ever-after when Scott unexpectedly proposes. So, a few days later, why isn’t he returning her calls or responding to her texts?

Julie has always been a wonderful single mother to Jemma and her little brother, Sean. As owner of specialist teddy bear shop, Bear With Me, and the creative genius behind the successful range of Ju-Sea Bears, she inspires Jemma with her ability to balance a demanding career with home life. So why is the shop now in disarray and why is Sean so upset?

Sam thought he had his future all worked out. With a promising neurology career, a home, and a devoted fiancée, life was looking good. But now he’s all alone in a strange city, far from everyone and everything he cares about, struggling to rebuild the tatters of his life. Did he do the right thing by running away? What does the future hold and is he strong enough to face it?

Sometimes love finds us when we least expect it. But sometimes love leaves us, just as unexpectedly. When you’ve loved and lost, can you bear to let love in again?

Bear With Me, as all will be revealed …

Fiction    Romance   

My thoughts:

The optimist in me was immediately attracted to this book by the beautifully illustrated, cheerful cover and the strap-line "When you've loved and lost, can you bear to let love in again?". "I do hope so", is my answer.

I was a little confused at the beginning, until I realised that this story is being told in the first person from the point of view of both Jemma and Sam. Once I got that straight in my mind, I found it a really enjoyable story.

The two main characters have both suffered heart-ache in their previous relationships and have what seems like a myriad of other issues to deal with before they are ready to find love again.

I felt very sad reading about Sam's relationship with Nikki, but I was suspicious of Jemma's boyfriend, Scott, from the outset, and could not understand why alarm bells hadn't been ringing in her head too. I would have shut the door firmly on him, the minute his secret came to light, if not sooner, yet Jemma continued to think kindly about this man, Scott, and that irritated me. The author tries to evoke sympathy for Scott when Jemma finally learns the truth about him, but my heart is too hard to forgive or feel sympathy for him, and I was glad she was already thinking about a relationship with Sam.

This is a lovely story about two very genuine people finding love a second-time around, and one that I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Purchase from:

Amazon US    Amazon UK    Amazon CA    Amazon AU

Author Bio – Jessica Redland

Jessica had never considered writing as a career until a former manager kept telling her that her business reports read more like stories and she should write a book. She loved writing but had no plot ideas. Then something happened to her that prompted the premise for her debut novel, Searching for Steven. She put fingers to keyboard and soon realised she had a trilogy and a novella! She lives on the stunning North Yorkshire Coast – the inspiration for the settings in her books – with her husband, daughter, cat, Sprocker Spaniel, and an ever-growing collection of collectable teddy bears. Although if the dog has her way, the collection will be reduced to a pile of stuffing and chewed limbs! Jessica tries to balance her time – usually unsuccessfully – between being an HR tutor and writing.

Social Media Links –
Web site	http://www.jessicaredland.com/
Facebook Author Page	Jessica Redland Writer
X	@JessicaRedland

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