Hers to Bear by Tamara Hoffa ♥ Book Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Paranormal Romance)

Twenty-five and never been kissed, Jenna Raynes is a beautiful woman with a rubenesque figure often overlooked by men. In the mood for a little honey, the sassy new schoolteacher is stopped in her tracks by one growled word from an alpha bear…“Mine.”

Bern Helms’ inner bear catches the scent of his destined mate. His animal’s desire is drawn to her curves, but Jenna is human, and not lured to him by instinct. Convincing her begins as a sizzling, sweet affair that is soon spoiled by danger. In their small backwater town, nerves are strung taut. Someone is abducting shifter children.

When confronted, Jenna is as protective of her students as a mamma bear. For Bern, all bets are off when the kidnapper’s take Jenna too. Nothing will keep a bear from his mate. The hunters will become the hunted…

Hers to Bear is my first paranormal romance. I’ve always wanted to write PNR, but never had a story come to me. The way Hers to Bear started was really a funny story. I was at a release part for a friend of mine and she had a guest author hosting. This author asked the question. “If you were to write a shifter romance, what kind of shifter would your hero be? And how would he meet his heroine?”
Just a silly little prompt and I was hooked. I knew immediately my hero would be a bear. I just have a thing for bear shifters, but I had to stop and think about how he would meet his heroine. Just goofing in my head I thought, bears love honey, right? So what if he met his heroine over a jar of honey?
That was the start of Hers to Bear and once I had that scene in my head I couldn’t let it go, I had to write the book. Honey Corner’s was born and the rest followed.
There is a lot of “me” in this book. Andy’s market was a real place about two miles from where I live. It went out of business a few years ago, when Andy retired, but I used to love to go there. Andy knew everyone by name and he stocked all kinds of local fare, from honey and jam, to handmade crafts. It was a great store.
Jenna’s best friends, Alice and Bev are named after my two real life best friends. And we are all originally from Chicago. Alice is of Polish decent, although that is where her similarity to the Alice in the book stops. In real life she is actually very prim and proper and would never cuss like a sailor.
Bern’s last name, Helms, is taken from my grandfather’s last name. When my grandparents immigrated to America their name was Von Helms. During WWI there was so much anti-German sentiment that they changed their name to Helm. So, I used the Helms portion for Bern’s name and the Von portion for Sebastian’s name Von Drake.
So now you know some of my secrets. You’ll have to read the book to find out the rest! Thanks for letting me stop by today. Happy Reading!

Bern had come into the store for his daily honey fix. He admitted it, he was addicted to the stuff. He had just bought two dozen biscuits at the bakery and he was going to drown them in honey, along with a nice piece of salmon for dinner.

When he stepped through the door he stopped in his tracks. His nostrils flared and his heart began to race. What was that fabulous scent? Like honey and vanilla, but something else too. Something that was making his cock stand up and do a happy dance in his pants.

Mate. Oh my God and goddess, his mate was in this store. He couldn’t think. Instinct took over and his legs carried him to the source of the tantalizing scent that had his libido raging and his bear roaring.

He was beside her before his brain had caught up with his body. He had to touch her. She was his. His hand covered hers as she reached for a jar of honey on the shelf. “Mine,” he growled. When she looked up at him with crystal blue eyes he thought he’d fallen into them and drowned.

Flawless porcelain skin covered a face that could have been painted by Botticelli. Pale blonde lashes framed her startled eyes and her cheeks were flushed an enticing pink. She bit her bottom lip and he wanted to kiss away the sting her torment caused the luscious flesh.

“There’s more than one jar,” she said, and her voice was husky and sweet.

She took a step back and a low growl escaped his throat. His bear didn’t like their mate backing away from them.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You are mine. You are my mate.”

Tamara Hoffa lives in central Tennessee, with her husband of 30 years, her parents, 2 dogs and 2 cats. She started reading at four years old and has rarely been seen without a book since. At home you will usually find her in “nana’s chair” with her kindle, her laptop or one of her precious, precocious grandson’s in her lap. Tamara is an author, an editor, and reviews/promotions coordinator for Secret Cravings Publishing. Tamara is proof positive that it’s never too late to reach for your dreams.