On his first night renting a cottage on the Cornish coast, widower John Tennant comes face to face with, of all things, a grizzly bear. Fearing for his life, John tries to convince the animal he isn't worth eating, and is relieved when the bear ambles away. Maintenance man Mitch Benjamin is two hundred years old but doesn’t look a day over forty. As a werebear, he needs to stay under the radar. The new renter is making that difficult. Not only is John attractive, but his vulnerability triggers all of Mitch’s protective instincts. If that wasn’t trouble enough, Mitch is struggling with his inner bear’s desire to befriend John. He knows what his bear is up to, but Mitch doesn’t want another mate. His last one was murdered ninety years ago, and he’s still grieving. John is confused by Mitch’s mixed signals. Physically, Mitch -- with his bulging muscles and hulking frame -- is a gay man’s wet dream come true. But emotionally, he keeps closing down. John discovers more comfort with the magnificent grizzly bear he occasionally meets on his evening walks along the beach. In an effort to help, Morwenna, the owner of the cottages, uses her psychic gifts to give John a message from his dead lover, George. Far from helping, it adds another layer of strangeness to what’s already turning out to be the strangest summer John can remember. Can a well-meaning medium and a determined grizzly bring John and Mitch together? Will Mitch come clean about his werebear nature? If he does, can John accept that a man and bear exist in the same body?

Summer's Lease

Mitch swallowed. “It’s just…I have to be careful.”


She stroked his cheek. “John, the guy renting six, is no threat. Boris likes him.”


Mitch’s eyes swivelled to the cat, who was still standing on guard, watching his every move. “Why doesn’t that fill me with reassurance?”


Trust was something Mitch found hard to give, but Morwenna had never let him down. It was still odd that she hadn’t mentioned this John guy earlier, but he guessed she had her reasons.


“Okay.” He found a smile from somewhere.


Morwenna withdrew her hand, stood on tip toe, kissed his cheek, and then went back to her herbs. Over her shoulder she said, “Oh, and John said the cold-water bath tap was leaking. Would you be a sweetie and take a look?”


He shook his head, muttering, “Okay.”


Chapter 4