Review: Bear Meets Girl (The Pride Series Book 7) by Shelly Laurenston

Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bear Meets Tiger

I really didn’t know much about Crush and Cella before this book as they are pretty minor characters in other books. However, it was lovely to find out about them.

Crush is a polar bear shifter who has been a cop for nearly 20 years. He has recently gotten a transfer to the all shifter team of the NYPD despite his wish to continue working as an undercover vice cop. He lives a solitary life, with only his dog Lola for company. He lives quietly and lives by a strong moral code. His main hobby is watching ice hockey. He happens to be a huge fan of the local team.

Cella works as a contractor for KZS, the cat shifter only protection force. She was in the marines and trained as a sniper before joining KZS. She has a 17 year old daughter and is still friends with her daughter’s Dad. So much so, she a bridesmaid at his wedding.

Cella is a Malone, a family of Irish Travellers who also happen to be tiger shifters. They are ruthless, bawdy and in each other’s business all the time. As well as working for KZS, Cella plays ice hockey for the local team. Her Dad is said to be one of the greatest shifter ice hockey players of all time.

Crush wakes up after a party next to Cella. He remembers nothing about their night and Cella toys with him, just like a cat. Not a great start to their relationship, especially when they find themselves working together in Crush’s new job.

One of the things I like about this author’s paranormal romance books is that the men are not all alphas. More often than not the women are in charge, or at least hold all the cards in the relationship, often by making the man crazy, which is the case in this book. Crush is a quiet, determined and nice guy. He doesn’t have to be in charge and it’s such a refreshing change in a PNR book.

As always with this series, the plot is great, the lines witty and the character captivating. Read it people!

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Review: I Am the Storm (The Night Firm Series Book 2) by Karpov Kinrade

I Am the Storm by Karpov Kinrade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Theft of a Dragon’s Egg

This is the second book in ‘The Night Firm’ series. This book is set exclusively in The Otherworld and though the MFC Eve starts out as a human, it is pretty obvious in this book that she is not, so it feels more like a full fantasy book, than the Urban Fantasy book the first in the series started out as.

The Night Firm has successfully defended Dracula in his murder trial and Liam (a vampire made by Dracula and a member of The Night Firm) has discovered he is a father. When he is arrested for a crime his did not commit, his brothers and fellow vampires, along with Eve, do their utmost to try and exonerate him.

At the same time as trying to prove Liam’s innocence, Eve is keeping a secret with the power to cause much upset in the household.

There is much internal philosophical debate in this book. There is conflict about when is it right to do something for the wrong reasons and wrong to do something for the right reasons. There is also much contemplation about the nature of light and dark.

Sometimes I felt that the morality questions got in the way of connecting with the characters a little. It felt that the intellectual questions overtook the emotional nature of the characters. This meant it was harder to really engage with the relationships that were becoming stronger in this book.

The plot is excellent, and really draws the reader on and the world building is superb. The magical Otherworld is beautiful, dangerous and corrupt and it is all conveyed eloquently by the authors. I just felt a little disconnected from the characters in this book. I hope that will be re-engaged in the third book, as I want to know what happens next!

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Review: Haunted by Pride (Gesa's Menagerie Series Book 8) by Kaye Draper

Haunted by Pride: Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy by Kaye Draper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is mainly about Halstead. In the last book Halstead was beaten and kidnapped by the Mage Guild. They set it up so White couldn’t return the mage at the end of his contract, all the time planning to pass on his contract to someone else.

After the pride accepts that Halstead is actually Gesa’s mate they have to work out a way to get him back. Of course White is on hand to exchange help for even more favours.

Whilst searching for Halstead we learn more about Kai’s history too, and I think the next book is set up to go deeper into her history.

This book was quite a feel good part of the series. There wasn’t too much danger and angst, but as the next book is the last in the series, I’m assuming that one will go with a bang.

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Review: Big Bad Beast (The Pride Series Book 6) by Shelly Laurenston

Big Bad Beast by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Wolf Dynasties Merge

Ric is a Van Holtz wolf. Van Holtz wolves are incredibly wealthy and have a proud history at the forefront of shifter politics. They also run a chain of extremely successful shifter restaurants and nearly all the members of the family either work or have worked in them to fund college. Ric happens to be a chef that runs the Manhattan restaurant. He also owns and plays for the local shifter ice-hockey team and run ‘The Group’ the organisation that protects shifters in the US. He’s a busy man, he’s also gorgeous, refined and unbelievably nice.

Dee-Ann Smith is a hillbilly and trained killer. Trained by her assassin father from a young age how to kill people, her temperament and upbringing left her little choice other than to follow in his footsteps. She joined the marines and then joined ‘The Unit’ the US Government’s shifter only team who go after people that hunt shifters. After retiring from ‘The Unit’ Dee-Ann ends up working for ‘The Group’ which she finds frustrating at times.

Ric fell for Dee-Ann the first time he met her and spends months subtly trying to woo her. This mainly involved not killing her when she randomly showed up in his apartment and feeding her great food.

These two seem so unlikely and it’s really fun watching how the author creates just the right circumstances to start their romance. This author really seems to excel at bringing unlikely characters together in a way that doesn’t seem obvious or unlikely.

The plot from the previous books of the hybrid hunters continues in this book as ‘The Group’ continues to seek out the source of the financing for them.

I love how this author is able to create a wonderful love story and weave it around a great plot, making the two inseparable from each other. Having the continuing plot certainly makes you more likely to pick up the next book in the series, if the quality of writing didn’t make you do anyway.

Another great book from this author.

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Review: Beast Behaving Badly (The Pride Series Book 5) by Shelly Laurenston

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve always wanted to read the story of Bo Novikov and Blayne, ever since I read the Badgered books. The idea of a hybrid with sabre-toothed fangs appealed and the fact that he is grumpy and aggressive whilst Blayne is perky and kind just always made me wonder what their story was.

I’m so glad this book lived up to my expectations. Bo is a hybrid Asian lion and polar bear. He is also an extremely successful ice hockey player in the shifter league and has made a fortune. However, he’s not very popular and pretty much feared by everyone. 10 years ago he caught a glimpse of a teenage Blayne and was captivated. When he visited New York for a meeting about coming there to play he saw her again and took the deal despite it not being the best one.

Blayne is terrified of Bo, ever since he stared at her and chased after her 10 years ago, she worked on the assumption he was a serial killer. When he comes to New York and gives her the same stare she is petrified.

It is some very sleek story telling that gets them to the end of their HEA from this very rocky start. The author, as always, has a deft hand with plots as well as characters. I also fell in love with Ursus County in the Winter, the descriptions were so beautiful.

The back drop of the hybrid hunters from the last few books continued and added extra drama to the exceptional romance and I found it really hard to step away from the book once I started reading it.

Once again, a great book. You won’t be disappointed.

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