How It's Supposed to Be

By: T. S. Joyce

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Auxor Bane has made a pact. He and his brothers made a promise to each other that they would let their bear shifter lineage die off with them, for the betterment of mankind. They aren’t fluffy, and they aren’t cute. As one of the three remaining bear shifters alive, Aux struggles daily with the predator inside of him. His life is simple and manageable so long as he never breaks the rules enforced by his brothers. Rule number one: Never touch a human’s skin. Rule number two: never fall for one of the fragile creatures. Rule number three: never, ever let a human know what he is. But when he stumbles upon a car wreck in the remote Montana mountains, during the biggest snow storm of the year, he can’t just leave the stranded human to die. And in a series of unfortunate events that follows, he also can’t let her out of his sight if he wants to survive her. Gwen Smithers had a plan. A great plan. A plan that will get her out of the stagnancy of her life and onto an adventure. This week was going to change her life, but in a split second on an icy road, all of her plans were derailed. Her rescuer is growly, and ill-mannered, and won’t show his face. And his eyes are such a strange color. But as she struggles to trust the mysterious mountain man, he’s revealing a strange and dangerous culture she never would’ve imagined existing. For the life of her, she can’t conjure up fear of Aux. Her human instincts must be broken, because it’s becoming clearer and clearer…Aux isn’t the man she thought he was. In fact, he isn’t a man at all. And the more she tries to understand him, the more she wants to break the oath he has made. Don’t miss this first novella in T. S. Joyce’s exciting brand-new Oath of Bane series. Content Warning: Explicit love scenes, naughty language, and piles of sexy shifter secrets. Intended for mature audiences.

Good start to series

This is an okay story. I didnt love it. I think it just needed more. Not of Gwens side..hers was explained but Aux is an enigma. We learn he is lonely and plans to be alone but his family situation is just weird and not what we normally see from this author. I really felt like I was reading a one sides story. I did like him and all his growliness and how he changes with her around.

Captivating story.

This one took me by surprise in a good way. I was looking for a quick listen in the romance category. I don’t usually listen to paranormal, but sometimes. This is my first time listening to a audiobook by this author. When I started listening and realized it was AI narration, I almost turned it off… but I’m glad I didn’t.
The premise is simple… you’ve got a woman recovering from a bad relationship that goes on vacation, gets into trouble in bad weather, and so the hot guy rescues her. He happens to be a bear shifter. He is trying to avoid people, so he’s not too happy at being her champion. Romance ensues. Simple, but complicated… because it’s not really safe for either of them.

The writing was put together in a way that pulled me in. The characters came alive, and I was really hoping they’d be OK/figure it out. The descriptions of landscapes, animals and scenes were vivid and all worked well. The romance was captivating and steamy, but the heat didn’t come until the right time. Thanks TS Joyce for taking me on an exciting, feel-good mental journey.