Bearly Hanging On by Sam Hall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When she goes to the hardware store looking for DIY materials and instead finds her fated mates.

Harper has two don’t take life too seriously, and never ever fall in love. After growing up with a mum who had a revolving door of boyfriends, she’s learned that love is messy and guaranteed to ruin your life.

So when a quick, flirty trip to the hardware store turns into a supernatural ambush of pheromones, fate, and three sinfully attractive shifters claiming she’s their fated mate, Harper does what any gun-shy woman would do.
She runs.

But the bond won’t let her forget them. The wolf who’s as grumpy as he is intense. The tiger who flirts like it’s his full-time job. And the bear who knows she’s the only woman for them.

Harper doesn’t do forever. She doesn’t do mates. And she definitely doesn’t do three of them.
Too bad fate, and these shifters, aren’t taking no for an answer.

Bearly Hanging On

Finding Home with Three Outcasts

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💛💚❤️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋🙂😁🤓
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

Character Backgrounds and Plot Summary

Harper has spent years surviving on her own, never expecting to find a place where she truly belongs. When fate throws her together with three outcast shifters, wolf shifter Mack, Tiger shifter Tor, and bear shifter Kieran, she finds herself caught in a complicated mix of danger, attraction, and healing. The men had formed an unconventional sleuth with them being three different types of shifters. Their parents and other shifters didn’t think it was a good idea. Their isolated existence is turned upside down once Harper enters their lives.

One of the things I enjoyed most was that the story never treated the three heroes as interchangeable. Kieran has the steady, protective instincts you would expect from the group’s anchor. Mack’s loyalty and quiet support made him surprisingly endearing, while Tor’s confidence and playful attitude added much needed humor to balance the heavier moments. I especially liked the scenes where Harper slowly lowers her guard as the men consistently prove through their actions that they will protect her without trying to control her. Those small moments of trust made the eventual romance much more satisfying.

Highlights and Limitations

The strongest part of this book is the emotional development between Harper and each of her mates. Rather than relying only on physical attraction, the relationships are built through shared struggles, dangerous encounters, and the growing realization that all four of them have spent too much of their lives feeling unwanted. The found family aspect ended up being just as rewarding as the romance.

I also appreciated that each shifter’s personality reflected his animal nature without becoming a stereotype. Mack’s protective instincts, Tor’s steadfast loyalty, and Kieran’s more independent confidence all felt distinct, giving each relationship its own identity. Watching the group work together whenever Harper was threatened highlighted how well they complemented one another.

My biggest criticism is that I wanted more exploration of the larger world surrounding the Ursa Outcasts. The conflict involving them being outcasts is interesting, but I occasionally felt those broader political and social tensions took a back seat to the romance. Expanding that aspect would have made the stakes feel even higher.

Narration

Rupert Channing and Sofia Lette delivered a performance that kept me engaged from beginning to end. Rupert gave Mack, Tor, and Kieran noticeably different voices and personalities, making it easy to distinguish between the three heroes even during scenes where they were all interacting. His deeper, protective tone for Mack contrasted nicely with the more relaxed delivery he used for Tor and Kieran.

Sofia Lette has an awesome Aussie accent, and she captured Harper’s emotional journey beautifully. She conveyed Harper’s uncertainty during the early chapters and gradually added more confidence as Harper found her place with the three men. The emotional scenes landed well because both narrators gave the characters genuine warmth instead of overplaying the drama.

Final Opinion

I ended up enjoying Bearly Hanging On more than I expected because it balanced romance, action, and emotional healing so well. My favorite part was watching Harper slowly accept that she deserved love and a family after spending so long believing she had neither. The relationship development felt earned because the characters built trust through countless small acts of kindness before fully embracing their bond.

While I would have loved a deeper dive into the world building, the character work easily carried the story for me. If you enjoy reverse harem romances with multiple shifter species, strong found family themes, and characters who heal each other as much as they fall in love, this is a great start to the Ursa Outcasts series. I really enjoyed the Ursa Shifters series, so I hope Sam Hall bangs out more of this series quickly.

Blog|Goodreads|Facebook|Instagram|Pinterest|BookBub



View all my reviews