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

John felt surrounded by Mitch, his body, his warmth and his unique smell. “Like your aftershave. Really woodsy.”


“Don’t use any,” Mitch mumbled, his head tipped back as it rested against the cushion.


John felt too warm, safe, and content to want to question how Mitch smelled as he did. All he wanted to do was float away. Closing his eyes, he could almost imagine it was George holding him.


Their friends—more George’s than his as it turned out—would often accuse John and George of being old before their time, as they often preferred to stay at home and watch television, read books, or just snuggle. Alas they hadn’t had an open fire, but they’d made do with an imitation log gas fire.


Mitch shifted position. With reluctance, John sat up. From the relative peace outside it was obvious the storm had all but blown itself out.


For the past few minutes John had been receiving messages from his bladder which were becoming harder to ignore.


Chapter 25