Like songs on a concept album, each story in Heather Paul’s riveting Love and Other Disappointments stands alone and in conversation with the others. In this relatable, wry, and often darkly comedic collection, Paul manages to vacillate between sparse prose and lush description, employing tension and inventive metaphors to explore the emotional landscape of women at various stages of life and love. Each story asks the protagonist, and by proxy the readers, to grow, to become, and even perhaps to question expectations—both their own and the ones placed on them. An entertaining yet profound collection of short fiction for anyone who has ever loved, or been in love, and lived through the inevitable disappointment.

Safety in Bear Country is Heather Paul's first novel. She has a Master of Arts in Literature from Memorial University St. John's NL. Heather has worked as a canoe and kayak trip leader, a yoga instructor, a high school art teacher, at a men's prison, group homes, and at a women's shelter. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including The Antigonish Review, Prairie Fire, The Nashwaak Review, and The Newfoundland Quarterly. She lives in Barrie, Ontario.

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