Daddy Soldier Bear: Shifter Nation: Special Ops Shifters, Book 1 by Meg Ripley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Between caring for his shifter war brothers at the VA, being a single dad, and attending to his duties with the elite Special Ops Shifter Force, Dr. Drake Sheridan has his hands full. Being called away to covertly diffuse the most complex issues among clans – ones that even the shifter conclave can’t handle – can be tough, but this Special Forces medical sergeant is always up for the challenge. When he gets a call about an alpha who’s supposedly been brainwashed by her three mates, Drake knows he has to step in.

Nikki’s triad of mates treats her like a queen, or so she thinks. She doesn’t see a problem in her Eureka, California bear clan, but her sister won’t stop telling her otherwise. When a newcomer named Drake shows up in town looking for a clan to join, Nikki knows he’s a good fit, but her inner bear goes berserk whenever he’s around. She’s already found her mates, so what’s going on with her bear?

As soon as he encounters Nikki, Drake’s bear craves to claim her as his. But his mate died in childbirth, years ago. He still beats himself up for not being able to save her and never thought he’d love again. But the way his bear yearns for Nikki now has him thinking otherwise.

No matter what his bear wants, he’s in Eureka on a mission and won’t give up until he gets to the bottom of the mystery behind Nikki’s devious mates.

He can’t let his heart get involved. Or can he?

Daddy Soldier Bear

Nice military and shifter romance!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💜❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍🌏
Character development: 🤓😀😘🤩
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Solo Narration

The heroine: Nikki – she is an alpha bear shifter who is serious about her clan. Her sister Piper is her second in command and has been complaining lately about the fact that she hasn’t seen Nikki much lately. She says that Nikki locks herself away and doesn’t do anything except clan business. She is mated to Clint, Max and Neil, who Piper also has a problem with. Piper thought the three men were very controlling of Nikki and that she did whatever they said. Piper told Nikki that the clan had been talking about the fact that she only does what is best for her and not for the entire clan.

The Hero: Dr. Drake Sheridan – he is a grizzly bear shifter and a member of the exclusive Special Ops Shifter Force. He is an alpha and a single dad who also works as a medical doctor at the VA and spends his time caring for other shifters, his military brothers. He has a young daughter named Lindy. Her mother had died the day Lindy was born and Drake felt guilt for not being able to save her. Though she was cared for by a good team of doctors throughout her pregnancy.

The Story: One day Drake gets a call from Piper, the beta of a bear shifter clan in Eureka California. She tells Drake that Nikki had done well until recently when she found her mates. She says that they are very controlling, and Nikki is almost never out of their sight, and she always does what they say, which has caused trouble and infighting in the clan. Another thing that was odd, was the fact that she has three mates, not just one. Drake decides he is best for this mission and goes out there by himself after taking time off from the VA and getting his sister to care for his daughter. He plans to pose as a lone bear shifter looking for a new clan.

As soon as Drake got to California and met with the clan, Nikki felt something she hadn’t felt before. Her bear was instantly trying to get out and she couldn’t figure out what was going on. She had already found her fated matches, so she couldn’t think straight when it came to Drake. Drake also felt something when he was around Nikki, kind of like what he felt with Amanda, Lindy’s mom.

The story was actually much better than I expected. The mission was complicated, and I don’t want to give anything away, but it was really interesting. The romance was a bit of a slow burn despite the two main characters being fated, especially because Nikki had the three mates. Though there was a connection between her and Drake.

This audiobook was narrated from multiple perspectives, done in solo narration by Stephen Borne. Stephen Borne has a deep, gravelly voice that I quite like for the alpha bear shifter. Of course, any man with a deep voice does not have the best voice for the female characters, though his isn’t as distracting as some. Overall, the narration was done well, though I do tend to listen to dual and duet narration much more often than solo.

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