Tynga's Reviews: Pride

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Like A Wolf With A Bone (Howl For It) by Shelly Laurenston

Shelly Laurenston never fails to entertain me. Even with a novella, she is able to tell the story of two people coming together, falling in love while having fun with it at the same time.

I guess you could say Darla Mae is your typical Shelly Laurenston female protagonist. She can be self sufficient, she's intelligent and she is definitely strong and able to take care of herself. Meeting the intimidating Eggie was probably not in her plans but she ends up trusting the guy instantly even if he did kidnap her in order to save her life. As a marine and a werewolf, Eggie is known ny everyone, including his family, a wolf not to meddle with. He is a relentless hunter and a man that will do anything in order to protect, whether if its to protect his country or his female. He and Darla couldn't make it stranger couple with him being a marine, and her a baker. Despite the unlikely pair, their relationship simply works.

There's never a dull moment in the book, with humans hunting down Darla Mae, road car races and an endless supply of pies. The banter between characters also makes it ingesting and things can get out of control when family members get involved in Darla and Eggie's business.

Overall I would definitely recommend LIKE A WOLF WITH A BONE to anyone interested in a quick read in paranormal romance. Even if it's part of a series, it's the first book in the chronological order of the series, despite it being written later on. Truthfully, I've been reading this series completely out of order and now that I've read #0.5, I think I'll definitely read the rest in order. It's not a must since I strongly believe this series can be read out of order but I'm interested in learning more about all the different characters mentioned in this story and all the other books I've read so far.

A fun story, you can never go wrong with Laurenston. This is type of story that keeps me reading, even if I know it's time to sleep. It definitely kept me up late into the night because I wanted to know more, right away. It's not the best story ever written by the author but she makes you care for her character, which is truly important when it comes to romance stories.

by Tynga at Sunday, November 10, 2013

Kensington, Novella November, Paranormal Romance, Pride, Review, Shelly Laurenston 3 People left their mark

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Wolf With Benefits by Shelly Laurenston

I guess you could say I’m sort of addicted to Shelly Laurenston’s books. I’ve read about half of her Pride books in less than a year and I keep going back for more (there’s eight in total and WOLF WITH BENEFITS is the latest one). She definitely entertains with her quirky characters and their non-stop witty humor. You have to be in the mood for funny moments because there’s probably a laugh-out-loud moment in every chapter. Each book tells the story of a different shapeshifting couple and that’s excellent because that means you can pick up any book from the series and not be completely lost. However, some characters do come back from previous stories so reading them in order could be helpful to understand some minor details. But you can trust me when I say it’s not necessary.

A new couple in every book does mean that characters are starting to add up. I might have said it before, but I find that Shelly always includes too many characters. As a reader, that can get confusing when trying to keep track of everyone. Especially with this latest book where the main character, Toni, doesn’t just have a few siblings. She has 10! And all of them prodigies with special talents in the arts, in music and in academics. Out of all her siblings, she’s the only one that doesn’t have a special talent, and as the oldest of jackal offspring, she has taken the unofficial job of manager/nanny/caretaker while her parents are busy doing their own thing. Managing their schedules is a full time job, and when Toni decides to enter the workforce and finally get a real paying job, it’s chaos at home as everything crumbles because Toni isn’t there anymore to prevent fights and control everyone’s agendas.

It takes Toni a little while to realise she has to start living her own life, and not the life of her brothers and sisters. I think it’s Ricky Lee, a huge wolf who’s attracted to her messy hair, that finally helps her realise that her own life is worth living the way she wants it, and not the way her family demands it. Toni and Ricky Lee are an unlikely duo. Jackals and wolves don’t always get along but Toni eventually warm up to Ricky Lee’s wolfy charm. They make a great team, especially when they go Siberia to negotiate with unpleasant bear shifters. Not only are they frigid, these bear are very serious when it comes to negotiating hockey. As a new member of the administration of an elite shifters-only hockey team, not only is this negotiation important to the hockey team and for her new job, it’s also important to Toni because it’s the only way she can prove that she’s much more than a nanny. However, bears aren’t the only new thing Toni has to worry about. Her little brother Freddy has gotten involved in something major and has been kidnapped, probably because his sticky fingers compelled him to steal something very important in the world of bad guys. It’s no wonder Toni has separation anxiety when she leaves her family. The first time she’s truly away from them, her younger brother gets into a huge amount of trouble.

Although I found this book rather slow and lacking in some action and story elements, it was still a very fun read. It was somewhat repetitive when it came to organising the jackal clan and the fights between the siblings. On the other hand, it didn’t hurt that the story involved hockey players. Since I’m a big fan of the sport, I can’t really complain about that. I only wish there could have been more hockey action. The book also redeemed itself with the great character interactions since the author excels at easy and fun dialogue. I can’t wait to see which shapeshifters she’ll pair up next and see what new mess will arise in her shapeshifting world.

Read an excerpt