A draw holding and draw releasing mechanism assembly comprises a mounting bracket, with a passageway controlled by a levered cam, secured to a bow. A draw bar is movable and lockable within the passageway by the levered cam. The draw bar includes a hand grip and an adjacent linear slot with an adjacent cam member, having a cradle notch and finger grip. The cam member rotates from a bowstring accepting position, with the cradle notch open to the draw bar slot, to a bowstring retaining position, with the cradle notch intersecting the draw bar slot. Moving the draw bar within the passageway brings the bowstring into the linear slot and into the cam member's cradle notch. Grasping the finger grip rotates the cam member to retain the bowstring. Moving the bowstring to the desired draw and then actuating the levered cam temporarily locks the draw bar. Releasing the finger grip allows the cam member to rotate and release the retained bowstring, firing an arrow.