Steel Beauty: Halle Pumas, Book 4 [Kindle Edition]

Dana Marie Bell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

She’s everything a big bad wolf could want.

Halle Pumas, Book 4

Coping with a devastating injury is hard enough for Belinda “Belle” Campbell. Forced separation from her destined mate while she heals is almost more than she can endure. Until she is strong enough to take up her duties as Luna of the Poconos Wolf Pack, however, the safest place for her is Halle. Now, after months of being alone, she is more than ready to be claimed. But is the pack ready for a Puma Luna?

Rick Lowell has waited long enough to bring Belle home where she belongs. He’s aware of the danger, as well—and it isn’t long before a bitch with an eye on Belle’s position issues a challenge. The only way to put down the threat is for Belle to defeat the usurper in combat.

There’s only one problem. Thanks to the pins in her broken hip, Belle can’t shift. Without that tactical advantage, it won’t be a fair fight. With his new mate’s life on the line, Rick is forced to make a decision that will change everything.

That is, if Belle gives him the chance to make it.

Warning: This title contains explicit sex, graphic language, lots of doggie (or is that kitty?) style and some songs Rick will never want to hear again. Ever.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 148 KB
• Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (April 21, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0026OQYYO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,953 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Dana Marie Bell wrote her first short story when she was thirteen years old.
She attended the High School for Creative and Performing Arts for creative
writing, where freedom of expression was the order of the day. When her
parents moved out of the city and placed her in a Catholic high school for
her senior year she tried desperately to get away, but the nuns held fast,
and she graduated with honors despite herself. She's now a best selling
author with Samhain Publishing.

Dana has lived primarily in the Northeast with a brief stint on the US Virgin
Island of St. Croix. She lives with her soul-mate and husband Dusty, their two
maniacal children, an evil ice-cream stealing cat and a bull terrier that
thinks it's a Pekinese. She's been heard to describe herself as "vertically
challenged" and "a lapsed brunette." Dana also suffers from osteoarthritis,
and can be seen walking with a cane or tooling around in her mobility
scooter. Her condition was the inspiration for Belle's hip injury in Steel
Beauty.

You can learn more about Dana at:

http://www.danamariebell.com
http://danamariebell.blogspot.com

You can join her newsletter at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themagicandmayhemnewsletter/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 blue ribbons from Romance Junkies, August 10, 2009

By 

C. Dionne "Chrissy Dionne" (Cloverdale, OREGON USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Steel Beauty: Halle Pumas, Book 4 (Kindle Edition)

Belinda `Belle' Campbell has had more than her fair share of pain - both mentally and physically. She's been practically ostracized by many of the members of the Halle pride and injured severely enough to require a steel pin in her leg - which means that she can't shapeshift until they're removed. The last thing she needs is more complications but that's exactly what she gets in the form of an Alpha wolf named Rick Lowell.

Rick Lowell is the Alpha of the Red Wolf Poconos Pack. He isn't exactly having an easy go of things here lately. He's been shot, killed a rogue, found his mate, learned of her injuries, and now been told that he cannot take her home. Why? Because she's Puma and the Wolf pack has to be prepared to accept a non-Wolf Luna. He could handle all that but throw in an uppity dominant female looking to take over as Luna and things are bound to get very interesting.

Belle has no doubt that Rick is her mate but she's not a push over and he's a little too full of himself for her taste. Besides her doctors are in Halle and therefore she'll be staying put for the time being - possibly until the pin in her leg can be removed. Rick's not willing to wait that long though, once the cast comes off he wants her with him - and it will still be another six months before she'll be able to shift.

Belle's all for starting her life at Rick's side but she's not at all ready to take on Gina and her demands for full protocol. Fortunately Belle isn't afraid to fight for what's hers and if that means taking on one conniving bitch then she'll use every means at her disposal to ensure that she comes out on top. Rick is aware of just how devious Gina is and he's willing to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that Belle's transition into the pack is as smooth as possible and that she be allowed to recuperate before facing Gina and her challenge. He shouldn't have worried. Even being unable to shift, Belle is more than capable of facing down Gina and she does it with such style that you'll be left with no doubt that this `cat' is far superior to the `dog.' Belle's the perfect match for Rick, but what will happen when Gina's plans push Rick and Belle into making decisions that could have disastrous results?

Just when I thought the HALLE PUMA series couldn't get any better, it does! STEEL BEAUTY is the fourth book in this delightful series and revisiting these characters is a pleasure you won't want to pass up. This story is infused with humor, some real kick butt action, a memorable romance and proof that cats and dogs can be friends - and so much more. Belle won me over with her `in your face' attitude and the hilarious way she taunts Gina - as well as Rick. She's not a gal who's going to let anyone get away with anything and I adore that about her. Rick is exactly the sort of man Belle needs, he's just got to learn to share problems and worries - and she is chock full of ways of ensuring that he doesn't forget that she is his life partner.

If you haven't read the other titles in this series, I'd highly recommend doing so - not because it's necessary to understand this book but because they're delightfully fun. In order, they are:

THE WALLFLOWER

SWEET DREAMS

and

CAT OF A DIFFERENT COLOR

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to read, and re-read, August 9, 2009

By 

LAS Reviewer "The Long and the Short Of It Re... (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steel Beauty: Halle Pumas, Book 4 (Kindle Edition)

If there were a recipe for the perfect book, Dana Marie Bell would be a master chef. Steel Beauty has all the ingredients for a fun and fantastic reading experience. Start with one sexy Alpha male who is anxious to claim his mate. Add his chosen mate, who just happens to be a Puma. Into the mix add one bitch with the desire to take the mates place as pack Luna, and stir in humor, action and some very spicy bedroom action. Garnish with politics and pack protocol, and you have one fantastic book.

Steel Beauty is the fourth of Dana Marie Bell's Halle Puma stories, and it is a fun book to read. There are places where I laughed out loud. The heroine, Belinda "Belle" Campbell has to face several hardships in the beginning of this book. The steps Belle takes once she gets to the Pack lodge to take her place as Luna are hilarious. The passage at the beginning of the book, with Belle and Rick texting each other is an imaginative use of technology and a great piece of comic relief. Belle continues to handle things with grace, humor and just a little bit of underhandedness. Do Belle and Rick get their happily ever after? Will Rick ever get the air horn away from Belle? Pick up a copy of Steel Beauty to find those answers.

Dana Marie Bell writes such believable characters, and I became lost in the world of the Poconos Wolves and the Halle Pumas. I wonder if anyone else would have dared to pair an Alpha wolf and a Puma as life mates. I enjoyed the banter between Belle and Rick, and there were places she made me laugh out loud at the antics Belle got up to in order to thwart Gina over and over. I also cried at the pain and suffering she endured in order to make it to the happily ever after that she and Rick so richly deserved. I had never read the Halle Puma books before this one, but I bought the other three in the series after reading this one, because Dana Marie Bell created a world I wish I could go and visit, and I will time and again through these books.

Originally posted at [....]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, fast read with two great characters, June 17, 2009

By 

NoSleep2Nite4Me "MCO" (Elkins Park, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Steel Beauty: Halle Pumas, Book 4 (Kindle Edition)

Get this, read this, and have a great time reading. I couldn't stop reading it. This story has humor, irresistible main characters, enjoyable background characters and hot sex scenes. Like the earlier books in the series, it's more like a short story but it's just long enough that nothing is left incomplete. I don't think you'll get lost if you don't read the earlier stories in the series first but those stories do provide a better understanding about the heroine Belle and why she is in her current predicament. If you do get the rest of the books, I agree that they should be read in order. I wish the author would write faster as this is one addicting series. This series reminds me a lot of Shelley Laurenston's shifter books which I also love.