Bear’s Edge, a Paranormal Romance from Christina Lynn Lambert

Please help us welcome Christina Lynn Lambert to the blog today. Christina Lynn Lambert is here to share Bear’s Edge, a paranormal romance. Bear’s Edge is the second book in her Stranger Creatures Series. Welcome, Christina! We are all excited to hear more about Bear’s Edge.

Bear’s Edge

Stranger Creatures Series (Book 2)

Bear’s Edge Blurb:

A boss can’t date her employee—simple as that. No matter how much Shayla wants to unravel a few of Grant’s mysteries and take her friendship with the shy, sarcastic man to the next level, she’s determined to keep her fantasies of him to herself.

After bear shifter Grant lost his girlfriend and three best friends in a fire, he did his best to shut himself off from everyone around him. Falling for Shayla wasn’t part of his plan, but after a kiss that leaves them both speechless and hungry for more, Grant can’t keep his desire for his boss under wraps any longer. When things between the two of them get hotter than he could have imagined, Grant wonders- will some of his darker desires be too much for Shayla or will she embrace the needs he’s kept hidden for so long?

An obnoxious reporter and Shayla’s bitter ex have teamed up to chase down conspiracy theories that could destroy Shayla’s business and worse, put her life in danger. To find their happily ever after, Shayla and Grant will have to trust in each other and find a way to crush all the obstacles standing in their way.

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Excerpt from Bear’s Edge:

What is it about Grant? Looking at the man beside her was no hardship; that was for damn sure. He had the tall, broad body of a heavyweight UFC fighter, but he never used his size to intimidate the people around him. Shayla wanted to sweep his wavy, slightly shaggy dark hair out of his gorgeous brown eyes. His dark hair and eyes complemented his bronze skin. He was hot, in a serious, dangerous kind of way. But in the two and a half years he had worked for her, she had hardly learned anything about him.

The waitress at the popular nature-themed restaurant, the Greenhouse Effect, showed them to their table. The plants growing around all the walls and columns made the place look like a wild garden. The smell of lavender and jasmine mixed with the delicious scents drifting from the kitchen. She tried not to drool, but breakfast seemed like eons ago. Shayla sat next to Sydney and across from Grant. A too-tall centerpiece of yellow-and-purple flowers blocked most of her view. Being short occasionally sucked. Grant moved the centerpiece to the side and gave her a shy smile. His smile made her want answers, among other things.

She knew he was from New Jersey and had gone to school in Wisconsin before moving to Richmond, Virginia, to work with Brook’s Comprehensive, a huge company that did everything from urban development projects to financial management for celebrities and politicians.

“Why do you want to make such a big change from a large corporation to a simple start-up company?” she’d asked him in the interview.

“Honestly?” He had paused then, the question hanging.

“Yes,” she’d assured him. She’d take honesty over smooth-faced, calculated interview answers any day.

“I want to live somewhere I can have a house and some land. Maybe spend more time outside. Also, I want a job where I can do more than just run numbers for projects where I never see the outcome.”

The last part had seemed to come as a surprise to him. Maybe he hadn’t really known he wanted something more than a change of scenery until he had said it out loud.

His answer had been simple and honest instead of a long, drawn-out elaboration about the projected success of new companies in the area or an extensive list of projects he had helped to fruition. She could look at his résumé for those kinds of details. He had wanted to be there, so she’d hired him. Simple as that—after a clean background check and drug screening, of course.

Grant the mystery man—a delicious mystery Shayla would like to unravel, piece by piece, layer by layer. Ah, but I can’t. I’m his boss. In a different lifetime, if we didn’t have the whole boss-employee obstacle going on…. No harm in looking, though, just a little, since he sat so close. She promised herself to keep her thoughts G-rated—okay, maybe PG-13. Grant had a talent with numbers and paid attention to detail. Also, he was a little shy and standoffish to a lot of people when it came to anything other than work. Shayla wondered where he sometimes went in his head, because, every now and then, his smile slipped from his face, just for a second, before being replaced with one a little harder. None of my business, she reminded herself.

She had really wanted to hug him this morning after seeing him so frustrated but decided it might be wiser and more appropriate to show him there were a few people on his side. Seeing him break things and try to be all strong and humorous about it made Shayla want to unravel the Grant mystery even more. It kind of hurt to watch him pretending to be fine, but all she could offer him was lunch and good conversation. Hopefully, Mr. Strong and Silent—Sydney called him that sometimes, although never to his face—knew Shayla and Sydney cared. And Shayla did care. Because he’s a friend. Just a friend.

Grant raised his soda in a toast. “To things not being worse,” he announced with a rueful half smile. “And, uh”—he cleared his throat—“to good company.” He nodded at Sydney, and when he met Shayla’s gaze, he held it. In his dark eyes, she saw hunger, wide-open desire, and about a million other things she couldn’t puzzle out. Grant looked at her that way sometimes, and she did her best to ignore it. He might have a small crush on her, or he could have a thing for petite, small-breasted girls possessing a great fashion sense.

Sydney broke the silence. “To good food and even better friends.” She clinked Grant’s glass, and Shayla came back to reality and smiled, pretending she wasn’t experiencing several different kinds of inappropriate thoughts and feelings for a sexy, complicated man who was her employee and also her friend. She needed to behave and remember things could never go any further than a panty-melting gaze.

About Christina Lynn Lambert:

A few years ago, I read my first romance novel and I was hooked, so much so that I decided to give the idea of writing a story a chance.  My style is more gritty than sweet and I look forward to writing many more stories with strong heroines and imperfect but determined characters. Love, courage, hope, and second chances are a few of my favorite themes. When I’m not writing, I enjoy spending time outside and finding ways to avoid cooking. I live in beautiful Virginia with my husband, two daughters, and a sweet, hairy monster of a dog.

A little bit more about the author:

When I first started to put some of the ideas coming together in my head down on paper, I didn’t yet have the whole plot of the story outlined. In the beginning, it was more about the characters. For me, it’s always the characters that come to my mind first. I create characters struggling with their pasts, their fears, and their insecurities, because I want to show that even though these characters aren’t perfect, they’re trying, and they still deserve a chance at happiness.

Over the last several decades, expectations about relationships have changed. Society in general has changed. Women can have careers and not just as lower level employees. We can take an active role in the bedroom too. After reading a few modern romance novels (books by Shelley Laurentson, Nalini Singh, Shannon McKenna, and Rebecca Zanetti captured my interest), I knew for certain I wanted to be a part of a genre that represented strong female characters who ask for what they want and play a key part of a relationship with their significant other, rather than simply settling for a role as an afterthought or an inconvenience.

Here’s what I’m working on now: In Stranger Creatures book 3, Detective Nikki Jackson isn’t looking for love. She has a great job and some other side work that keeps her busy. When a strong, quiet, dark-eyed man arrives in Great Oaks to assist Nikki on a case, she’s determined to keep things professional. So is he. And yet…

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