Breaking Badger by Shelly Laurenston

 

3 Star

Finn and his brothers rescue the Honey badger team from a bad situation.  When they try to make nice and are rebuffed Finn knows he needs to get back in their good graces.  Mads likes Finn and understands where he’s coming from with wanting vengeance for his father’s murder so she will help him get his revenge.  This is twofold it helps him and keeps her out of her own family drama.  Plus getting hot and heavy with him isn’t bad.

I wanted to like this more than I did.  It suffers from trying to be too much and not quite enough.  There are some incredibly funny parts of the book that I loved but it got very wordy and had too many plots going on at one time.

Book 4 Honey Badger Chronicles

Amazon

How to Drive a Dragon Crazy by G.A. Aiken

 

3.5 Star

After the death of his friend Éibhear the Blue is uncontrollable and is sent to the Mi-runach in hopes he will work out his anger.  For 10 years he fought with the Mi-runach until his mother sends him on a mission to collect Izzy and come home.  He, the Mi-runach, and Izzy are needed to escort Izzy’s sister to their relatives for training.  No trip can be easy and if it can go wrong it will.

This is not my favorite book.  The two just kind of irritate me.  The story takes a while to get to the point.  Once it gets to the point I enjoy it but it took way too long.  It still had the humor the other books have but I had been anticipating the romance of these two since it has been building since book two and it just fell flat for me.  The romance took a backseat to the rest of the story.  It just comes across as a bridge book that will lead into the rest of the series.

Audiobook

Morgan Hallett narrates this book.  She did a pretty good job.  Not my favorite narrator but not enough to make me quit listening.

Book 6 Dragon Kin

The Dragon Who Loved Me by G.A. Aiken

 

4 Star

Rhona the Fearless was raised to fight.  One of the Cadwaladr Clan with all the craziness but awesome fighting skills.  She is asked to go after Annwyl and make sure she gets back from her mission.  Vigholf knows Rhona is his she just hasn’t realized it.  When she agrees to go after Annwyl, Vigholf will follow.

I would have loved this book and given it a 5 if not for the jumping between characters in the first half of the book.  I loved Rhona and Vigholf’s characters as well as their love story.  With all of the characters so far this one was kind a quiet couple. I don’t know how else to explain them.  They aren’t outgoing.  They aren’t kings, queens, princess, prince or any other bigwig.  They are the foot soldiers and I just really enjoyed them.  It was a good addition to the series.

Audiobook:

I liked this audiobook.  The shift in the narrator made it a little difficult since I had been listening to Hollie Jackson.  Morgan Hallett wasn’t bad by any means I was just used to Hollie Jackson.  I know G.A. Aiken has no control over the narrator but I wish when author or publisher would just stick with one person for a series barring something major for consistency in the voices.

Book 5 Dragon Kin

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

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston

4 Stars

Zezé was hired to kidnap her but he has other plans once he meets her.  Max “Kill it Again” MacKilligan let herself get kidnapped so she could take care of a problem created by her mother.  Instead she rescues Zezé from her team and gets him to realize that he is a shifter.  Now her sisters are forcing her to help him learn the ropes.

 

This book was a little slow to start but once it gets going it moves.  It is the conclusion of the Honey Badger Chronicles and it does an excellent job wrapping up storylines.  My most favorite part of the book was when Charlie went into the police station to get Max and her team out of custody.  All of these other bad ass shifters are like wasn’t us swear and she proceeds to have a knock down drag out fight with some new shifters and puts them in their place to get her sister out.  It was so funny I couldn’t stop laughing.  It would have been a five star for me but was a bit slow in the beginning.  I liked Max and Zezé together.  They balanced each other out and supported each other.  I also liked how the book ended with MacKilligan sisters’ father.  Overall, it was a really good book and tight up loose ends nicely.

 

Audio Book

Charlotte Kane did an amazing job once again.  She makes this book so much better.  If you don’t have time to read this book take the time to listen to it.

Book 3 the Honey Badger Chronicles

In A Badgerway by Shelly Laurenston

4 Stars

Youngest of the MacKilligan sisters Stevie, is brilliant at just about everything except life scares her.  She is even terrified of the bear shifters she lives by.  Everyone except panda bears.  Which means Shen must deal with her.  When Stevie gets asked to go undercover to investigate her ex-boyfriend Shen gets roped into helping her.

 

I loved Shen.  We met him in Bite Me and he was the annoying best friend but was awesome.  I loved how Stevie and Shen liked to screw with everyone around them.  There was no time in the book I felt went to slowly.  The shenanigans Stevie’s family got up to was just hilarious.  I can’t wait for the next book!

 

Audiobook:

Charlotte Kane did an amazing job narrating this story.  She got all the of the voices down for all of the old characters and all of the new ones.  Best narrator ever!

Book 2 of Honey Badger Chronicles

Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

5 Stars

Honey badgers can survive just about anything.  Charlie Taylor-MacKilligan knows all about this.  She and her sisters are cursed because of their father.  The world would be better off if he would just die already. When she is saved by a shifter Berg she needs to figure out what her father’s done this time.  Berg just wants to get to know the beautiful naked stranger that fell out of the sky.

 

I loved this story so much.  It was so funny and I couldn’t put it down or really stop listening.  The pacing in the story was spot on.  There weren’t any parts of the story that I felt needed fleshing out or were over explained.  I really liked how Berg and Charlie were together.  I also loved the interactions between Charlie and her sisters.  I cannot wait for the next book to see where the MacKilligan sisters are going.

 

Audio Book: 3 Stars

This is going to be a weird review.  I have listened to all of Shelly Laurenston’s books on audio and have absolutely adored all of them.  Charlotte Kane narrates all of her other books.  I got used to her voices for each of the characters.  When this book was released the publisher had picked Traci Odom to narrate this new series that was spinoff of her other books.  It shared characters but had some new ones as well.  When Traci Odom would speak in the new characters voices she did an excellent job narrating the book.  The issues for me came in when she was speaking for the characters from the last series.  They had definitive voices that I hear in my head and it just screwed with me.  Plus there was some issues with some of the characters.  There was one character, Bo, she gave him an eastern European accent.  He was from Maine.  When I haven’t listened to the other books I can disregard the issues but I tend to just read this book instead of listening to it.

Book 1 Honey Badger Chronicles

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.

Undoing – Shelly Laurenston – 4*

Jace Berisha has never had an easy life.  When she was a child her mother took her from her grandmother and moved Jace into a cult.  When she is 16 she is married to the leader of the group.  It is noted nothing sexual happens until she is 18.  She is the keeper of knowledge for the cult and uses this as an excuse to read everything and learn multiple languages.  When her husband realizes she is not a true believer he kills her.  Skuld comes to her and changes her into a crow.  All of her sister crows think she is just shy and try to pull her out of her shell which leads her to hide from them every chance she can.  The only crows who seem to get her is Kera and Erin and they try to run interference with everyone else.  The goddess they thought they had destroyed in the last book wasn’t actually destroyed and she has only gotten stronger.  The Protectors are trying to find a way to kill her or take her out of commission but all of the books are in Russian and they don’t know anyone who can translate them.  Protector Ski Eriksen wants Jace to translate for them but that would require her to interact with more people.  When a sister crow decides Jace needs a job to socialize more, Jace decides the Protectors is the lesser evil. 

I loved this book so very much.  Jace was a fun character.  She has rages where she sees red when she is fighting and destroy her enemies.  I laughed through a lot of this book.  One of the best scenes was when one of the crows is trying to get Jace to less shy so she needs a job.  Jace not being interested in what this woman wants runs, literally, to the Protectors house and accepts their job offer and is set to run home.  Instead she gets a ride with Ski and part way home she bales out of the car because of his chattering.  That is just how she is.

Unleashing – Shelly Laurenston – 3.5*

Unleashing – Shelly Laurenston – 3.5*

Unleashing is the first in a new series by Shelly Laurenston.  It was not what I was expecting.  In fact I didn’t write a review of it until now because I didn’t think I was being fair about it.  The other books under her Laurenston name are much lighter books.  These books are more like her G.A. Aiken dragon books.  All of Laurenston/Aiken books are funny and have interesting characters but her Laurenston books I think of as lighter and less blood and guts though I know her shifters has fights and battles they just didn’t seem as series as this one.  Done with my justification here are my thoughts on Unleashing.

Kera Watson recently left the marines.  While she was taking out the trash she is stabbed in the chest and killed HOWEVER, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has been in love with her for a while and begs Skuld to save her which Skuld does and makes Kera a crow.  Norse gods are each represented by humans and those who have died and come back for their second life.  Kera becomes a crow while Vig is a raven.  All of the groups are supposed to stop the end of the world from coming about.  There is so much that goes on in this book it is hard to write a succinct summary.  Basically Kera is thrust into this new world, she butte heads with her fellow crows, she falls in love with Vig, and is tasked with preventing a Goddess from entering our world and starting the end of times.

I liked the book.  It had the humor that all of her other books have.  One of the detractors is that there are a ton of characters to keep track of.  The reader is given a dump of characters and at times it is hard to keep track of who is who.  Saying that her other series are like that in the later books but I think those books also slowly introduce the additional characters.