She came to Bear Creek to help her best friend.  She didn’t expect to fall for her best friend’s boss…

Or discover he’s a bear shifter.

Tessa has come to Bear Creek to heal. When her best friend Rachel twists her ankle, Tessa steps in to cover a few shifts at Thornberg Restaurant—just until Rachel’s back on her feet. Simple. Sensible. Temporary.

Just until she meets Matt Thornberg.

He’s calm, capable, broad-shouldered…and watching Tessa like he’s been waiting his whole life for her. Which, as it turns out, he has. Because in Bear Creek, fate doesn’t whisper.

It roars.

Matt knows Tessa is his mate the moment she walks through the door. But winning her heart comes first…even if every instinct in his bear is ready to claim her. Between busy shifts, stolen glances, a fairy-house building project with two adorable little girls, and one wildly romantic dinner at his cabin, Tessa starts to wonder if “temporary” is just another word for “running scared.”

But when a dream job threatens to pull her away, Tessa has to make a choice:

Play it safe… Or take a chance on the home—and the mate—she never saw coming.  

Titles in the Bear Creek Forever: Thornberg Restaurant series include:  The Bear’s Accidental Mate ~ The Bear’s Chosen Mate ~ The Bear’s Spicy Mate ~ The Bear’s Fiery Mate ~ The Bear’s Fixer-Upper Mate ~ The Bear’s Homecoming Mate ~

(Connection to the Bear Creek Forever: Thornberg Ranch and Bear Creek Forever: Thornberg Vineyards series)

This story may include language, potential violence, and/or sexual content intended for an adult audience 18+.

Title:  The Bear’s Chosen Mate
Series:  Bear Creek Forever: Thornberg Restaurant #2
Author:  Harmony Raines
Published:  March 5, 2026
My Rating:  4.5 stars

The Bear’s Chosen Mate is the second title in the Bear Creek Forever: Thornberg Restaurant series.  This time, Tessa, a woman in need of the healing she’d denied herself, makes a stop in Bear Creek to visit a friend, Rachel.  Simple enough.  Yet, Bear Creek isn’t just another small town, and Matt isn’t just another restaurant owner who needs a bit of help when one of his servers is injured.  He’s her fated mate, in a world she doesn’t understand… but finds herself wishing that just once, she could choose what felt right to her instead of always taking the safe path.  She’d been a caregiver for her deceased mother, journaling that situation with ideas to help other people in the same position.  She hesitates to get involved with Matt, believing that this small town is not the path she’d chosen… until leaving the man she’s come to love, and the community here that welcomed her, feels like the wrong choice.  Add in Rachel’s adorable little girls and their building a fairy house project, and you’ll find all the sweet and tender moments and the steamy moments of mates finding each other.

I enjoyed The Bear’s Chosen Mate so much.  I love coming back to the connected world of Bear Creek, time and time again.  Their story is well-written, emotional, and passionate, with understanding family (that meddles a bit with love) and a found family in so many ways for Tessa.  As a caregiver myself, I appreciated Tessa’s devotion to helping others in similar situations, sharing her insights through her drawings and journal.  Rachel’s daughters, Lucy and Aria, stole every scene they were in.  If that sounds like your kind of Paranormal/Shifter Romance, then you’d love Tessa and Matt’s story.  You don’t “need” to have read the earlier series to completely enjoy this story, but I would highly recommend getting caught up in the amazing world of Bear Creek.  I’ve followed the adventures of the residents of the small town full of shifters from the very beginning… and I’ve loved every moment spent there.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

If you love this author’s work, be sure to visit our Harmony Raines page for reviews of other series or to discover series you might have missed

This title is available at Amazon