He’s twice my age, dangerously protective, and built like sin. The man wants distance. The bear wants his mate. Then there’s the bathtub incident.

My business partner ran up a debt with the wrong man and skipped town. I got to keep the shop, the debt, and the man collecting it.

I’m twenty-five, broke, and out of options. When the collectors set up outside my apartment, I sleep in my car in my biggest client’s parking lot. As one does.

Cyrus Holt is fifty, grumpy, and unfairly handsome. For three weeks, I’ve been carving custom woodwork through his mountain mansion while pretending not to notice the enormous man watching me work.

Then he finds me sleeping in my car.  By nightfall, I’m living under his roof, and Cyrus has rules: separate floors, closed doors, no walking around in my underthings.

His rules. Not mine.

They last until he walks in on me in his bathtub.  And that’s before I discover my grumpy client isn’t entirely human.

Cyrus is a bear shifter, and the possessive beast inside him has apparently decided I’m his mate. The bear wants me close. Cyrus wants to keep me safe. And the man is doing everything he can to ignore the fact that I’m very interested in being more than his houseguest.

Falling for a growly bear shifter twice my age might be the one debt I can never repay.

Titles in the Iron Mountain Bear Shifters series include:  Claimed by the Bear ~ Hunted by the Bear~ Rescued by the Bear ~ Chased by the Bear ~ Guarded by the Bear ~ Stalked by the Bear ~

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Title:  Guarded by the Bear
Series:  Iron Mountain Bear Shifters #5
Author:  Lyla Boone
Published:  September 30, 2026
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Guarded by the Bear is the fifth title in the Iron Mountain Bear Shifters series.  Frankie is in serious trouble.  Her business partner (her brother) has made irresponsible decisions and left her holding the bag to clean up his mess.   With a particularly nasty debt collector camped outside her door, Frankie’s taken to sleeping in her car in the only place she feels somewhat safe right now… her most important client’s business parking lot.  Going to Cyrus for help is her least favorite option because he’s stubborn, gorgeous, and she might have the tiniest crush on him… ok, she’s downright half in love with him, and he’s her client!  But saying no to being Cyrus’ houseguest isn’t an option.  Especially when his bear claims her as their mate, ignoring all logic and that rather huge age gap between them.

I enjoyed myself so much back in this world.  One thing I enjoy about this series is that, although the stories are somewhat connected, I don’t “have” to read them in order to understand the current story.  I still have a couple of stories to catch up on in this series, so that “small” detail matters to me.  Frankie and Cyrus’ romance is well-written, emotional, engaging, certainly passionate, with an underlying suspense running through it.  Frankie’s brother has gotten her involved with some bad guys, and Cyrus will do anything to protect his mate.  Watching them deal with the “debt collectors” and Cyrus’ obvious hang-up over their age difference was an enjoyable, steamy experience.  I’m enjoying this series very much.  If this sounds like your kind of Shifter Romance, then Guarded by the Bear is perfect for you.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. I chose to leave a review with my personal opinion of this book.*

This title is available on Amazon