With Hearts of Flame (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Dark Academia Romantasy Novel of Vampires and Dragons Featuring Stenciled Edges and Illustrated Endpapers (Bloodwing Academy, 4)
Briar Boleyn
THORN: Cozy Spicy Small Town Grizzly Shifter Romance (Bears of Burden Book 1)
by Candace Ayers
About this book
A runaway bride. A bear shifter bar owner. One mate bond neither of them expected.
Allie Bennett fled North Carolina with a half-packed trunk, an uncharged phone, and a fiancé she hasn’t officially said yes to. Stranded outside Burden, Texas, with no gas and no money, she takes a waitressing job at The Cave just to survive the week. She plans to earn quick cash and keep moving. No attachments. No complications.
Hawthorne “Thorn” Canton, owner of The Cave, lives by simple rules: no dating employees, no sleeping with the same woman twice, no permanent ties. Freedom is his priority. Until his new waitress walks through the door and his bear recognizes her instantly as his mate.
Allie has a fiancé back home. Thorn has sworn off commitment. But a shifter mating instinct doesn’t care about rings, road trips, or personal rules. The collision between duty and destiny is about to turn explosive.
A high-heat shifter romance packed with possessive instincts, forced proximity, primal tension, and a hero fighting the one bond he can’t outrun—complete with emotional growth and a guaranteed HEA.
Tropes: Fated mates • Runaway bride • Possessive alpha • Small-town shifters • Forced proximity • Engagement complication • Primal heat • Mate bond conflict
Heat Level: Very Spicy
Tone: Light, Humorous, Small-Town
Series Type: Standalone in a shifter series
Ending: HEA
POV: Dual POV
Content Notes: Explicit sexual content, possessive hero, mating/marking themes
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2026
- ASIN
- B01N2N0KRN
Reader Reviews
November 4, 2025
Such a cute story. I was lost in the characters. I never knew a bar could be fun. I caught myself rooting for Allie. I was glad to see the end result. Simply delightful. )
January 11, 2018
A quick read, about how a girl gets a guy to see her as a woman, not just his kid sisters friend. The writer has a way with descriptions that draws you in. Therese some twists and turns in the story's plot to keep you entertained. A quick , fun read that left me wanting more, and that more was the whole bunch of extra stories after the end of the book that kept me busy for hours. Lots of hot action for adult readers only, with some definite steam involved. ) One person found this helpful
January 24, 2026
So cute! Quick and fun read. I liked both characters and can’t wait for the other’s stories. Such a feel good book. )
August 23, 2020
Allie was running from her boyfriend, a known cheater, when she ends up on the side of the road outside of a small community in Texas. She starts working at a local bar for money to keep moving on. Until she met her new boss, Thorn. She feels chemistry with him that she never had with her past men. Not only that she feels like she is finally home. But what she doesn't know is that she is smack dab in the middle of bear shifters and he is her mate. Their courtship is what the rest of the story...
January 5, 2025
Although this is short read, the plot wasn’t sacrificed. The heat in the book is perfect. Many novellas are all heat and no substance. The author found the perfect balance in the unique and sweet love story. )
