Bite Me by Shelly Laurenston

 

5 Stars

Honey badger Livy Kowalski doesn’t have patience for idiots.  As a photographer she always has a camera in front of her until her father’s funeral. Since the funeral she’s lost her muse and then she has to deal with her family.  When Vic asks her to break into an apartment again, she agrees and discovers a secret that will bring the shifter world to their knees.

I loved this story so much.  There was one scene where Livy is jousting shifter cats to work off her aggression and Vic was livid, but he dealt with it.  It was one of the funniest scenes I’ve read or listened too in a while.  I loved seeing how the honey badgers found out where their man was and got to him.  It was hilarious how much the other shifters feared the collection of honey badgers.  One of the best books I’ve read by Shelly Laurenston.

Audio Book

Charlotte Kane is the best narrator ever.

Book 9 Pride

Wolf with Benefits by Shelly Laurenston

 

3.5 Stars

Toni Jean-Louis Parker is the eldest sister to a family full of prodigal jackals.  She has spent her life making sure they are cared for and get what they need.  When she takes a job working for a family friend negotiating a contract for the hockey team to play against Russian bears.  Ricky Lee Reed thinks hanging around Toni the fun will come to him and it does.  They are both up for a no strings affair until things take a turn to the more serious.  Toni’s family is threatened, and Ricky’s employer is hired to keep the kids safe.  However, when one is kidnapped by someone close, they will tear the world apart looking for him.

This book had a good idea and for the most part a good story, but it does seem a little slow in the middle.  There were times I wanted it to hurry up and get to the point already.  I liked Ricky a lot, but Toni frustrated me some of the times with her whining.  Ricky helps level that out and by the end she is better.  I liked seeing the old characters come into play and the introduction of new characters.  It was still worth reading just a bit slow to get to the point.

Audio Book

Charlotte Kane did an amazing job on the story.  She gets 5 stars from me for her job giving each character a voice.

Book 8 Pride

Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston

 

4 Stars

Lou “Crush” Crushek is usually a mellow easy-going bear until he is outed as an undercover cop which forces his transfer to the all shifter unit.  When he finds out about the transfer, he decides jello shots is a good idea which leads him to waking up with a feline on top of him.  Marcella Malone decided it was a good idea to cozy up to a bear because she was cold.  She also thinks it’s a good idea to call him her pretend boyfriend.  This comes back to bite her in the ass when she needs him to actually pretend to be her boyfriend to get her family off her back.  He begrudgingly agrees to be her pretend boyfriend.  Their lives also cross at work where his new unit is back up for Marcella and Dee-Ann.  They need to track down the person who is behind new shifter fights.

I loved this story so much.  I loved how Crush and Marcella’s relationship shifted through the book to be more serious and yet they were still pretend dating.  I loved the intermixing of past characters into this book.  Just a really well written story.

 

Audio Book

Charlotte Kane is amazing, and she could read a law book to me and I would probably love it.

Book 7 Pride

Big Bad Beast by Shelly Laurenston

 

4 Stars

Former marine Dee-Ann Smith left the Unit and joined the Group to help protect shifters.  Her supervisor Ric Van Holtz is a weird wolf who just wants to feed her.  They need to work together to discover who was backing the shifter fights.  Ric may look pretty and is the captain of a hockey team as well as chef in his family restaurants, but he also works hard to keep the shifters safe through the group.  When he met Dee-Ann he was smitten and new she was the wolf for him.  Now he just have to take it slow to entice her in as well has to make sure her daddy doesn’t bury him in the backyard.

This book had so many funny scenes.  I loved how Ric won over Dee-Ann’s dad through her mom.  He also never wanted to change her because who she was it what drew him to her.  There were some absolutely hilarious scenes in this book like when Dee-Ann gets attacked by some hyenas and it is shown from another character’s perspective of Dee-Ann running back and forth.  This was another good edition to the series.

Audio Book

I’m just going to be honest here Charlette Kane narrated and she’s just awesome.

Book 6 Pride

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

5 Stars

Blayne Thorpe first met Bo Novikov 10 years ago when she was in high school.  He was enthralled by her but he never got to meet her.  Now that he’s moved to New York to play hockey he’s run into her again and wants her.  She is determined to use him for his hockey skills only and help him learn to be nicer.  When they are assaulted by humans looking to kidnap her for the shifter fights Bo saves them both and the end up in Maine recuperating.

I loved this book.  It was so funny the way Blayne was oblivious to what Bo wanted.  I think my favorite part of the book was a conversation Gwen had about Blayne with Lock and Ric.  She’s all you don’t know Blayne she’s not some sweet innocent girl who can’t defend herself.  That is how she is portrayed throughout the book until they are assaulted and then she kicks major ass. Gwen just keeps repeating you don’t know Blayne.  It was awesome.  Was a good addition to the series.

Audio Book

Charlotte Kane narrates this audio and she does an amazing job with each character.  

Book 5 Pride

Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston

5 Stars

Gwen O’Neill is used to cleaning up her mother messes.  When she decides to move from Philly to New York with her best friend Blaine she is ready for a new start.  Even though she left her mother behind she still is dealing with her mother’s messes.  While she is exploring a relationship with Lock

My description does not do justice to this story.  It is so funny but yet had some serious moments.  I could listen to or read this book over and over again.  I loved Lock.  He was a sweetheart except when those he loved were at risk.  I never felt like there were any lags in the story.  It moved along nicely.  It sets up future books nicely, too.  Definitely worth checking out this series.

Audio Book

Charlotte Kane does an amazing job with the voices in this story.  She captures the different people with ease.  I could literally listen to anything she narrates.

Book 4 The Pride

Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston book 1 Pride – 4 star

This book is two short stories by Shelly Laurenston. 

Story One
Mace Llewellyn, lion shifter, has love Desiree “Dez” MacDermot since they were in middle school.  Mace fresh out of the Navy is determined to track Dez down and make her his no matter what.  She been married and isn’t interested in anything but figuring out who killed a man connected to Mace’s sister. 

Story Two
Brendon Shaw, lion shifter, kidnapped and held by the hyenas in the last book is going through the fever.  Ronnie Lee Reed, wolf shifter, is tasked with sitting with him to get him through the fever.  She is determined to find a mate and settle down.  Brendan is determined to be that mate even if she doesn’t want it he will find a way to win her over.

The books are very fast paced but don’t feel like they are going too fast.  There doesn’t seem to be any backstory missing, which some short stories have issues with.  The books are also very so funny.  There is so much humor between the characters.  I did enjoy Mace’s story more than Brendon’s.  I think it was more to do with the interactions between Mace and Dez then anything being wrong with Brendon’s.

Audio

Charlotte Kane does an amazing job bringing voice to the different characters.  When she is reading you know exactly which character is talking based on how she is speaking.  Would highly recommend listening to this whole series by Charlotte Kane.  She gives Dez this very Bronx accent that just makes you think definitely a New York girl.  Mace and Brendon both get a very cultured voice but they were both different.  Ronnie was given a very southern girl slow drawl that makes you think south.  All of this made for a very good book to listen too.