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gmay11's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
peyton_'s review against another edition
3.0
I’m not a fan of Laurenston’s writing, but I do like that her romances come with adventure and intrigue. I find a lot of flaws with her intimate scenes and language, but the characters are alright and there is always something going on with the plot. I’ll still keep reading her books.
mrsbsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This book is the beginning of a series but this one has two separate stories inside of Lion shifters who find their mates.
Mace is a breeding male lion and is in a pack where the females are the ones in charge. One of his sisters is the head of the pack and she is not that nice a person. Having come back from the military he wants to find the person that he knows is his mate, the only problem being that she is a human.
Dez is a cop and when Mace show back up in her life thing get turned on their heads especially then she find out about the shifter world, but she takes that all in her stride. Mace however will do what ever he needs to do to get her to accept him as the man in her life and certainly helps with her safety especially when she is taken by hyenas.
The other story in this book is of Lion shifter Brendan Shaw and wolf shifter Ronnie Lee. Ronnie is another strong female character and when she is told to look after tan injured male lion while he is at the hospital she finds a man that does not give up like Mace for what he wants. He too plays dirty and sneaky to make sure he get what's he wants from his woman. For her to accept him as her mate.
Although I enjoyed these stories and the main story line continues within, I was not expecting two short stories with insta love. Although old I did thing there was a little something lacking for me to get completely absorbed into the story.
Mace is a breeding male lion and is in a pack where the females are the ones in charge. One of his sisters is the head of the pack and she is not that nice a person. Having come back from the military he wants to find the person that he knows is his mate, the only problem being that she is a human.
Dez is a cop and when Mace show back up in her life thing get turned on their heads especially then she find out about the shifter world, but she takes that all in her stride. Mace however will do what ever he needs to do to get her to accept him as the man in her life and certainly helps with her safety especially when she is taken by hyenas.
The other story in this book is of Lion shifter Brendan Shaw and wolf shifter Ronnie Lee. Ronnie is another strong female character and when she is told to look after tan injured male lion while he is at the hospital she finds a man that does not give up like Mace for what he wants. He too plays dirty and sneaky to make sure he get what's he wants from his woman. For her to accept him as her mate.
Although I enjoyed these stories and the main story line continues within, I was not expecting two short stories with insta love. Although old I did thing there was a little something lacking for me to get completely absorbed into the story.
ceena's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't totally sold by this book. If I hadn't read Hot and Badgered already, I might have ended it here. It does have some funny moments, but it felt like it was missing something. I did like the first couple more than the second.
I'm glad I continued on to book two...
I'm glad I continued on to book two...
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
3.0
These Pride/Pack books by Shelly Laurenston are more like novellas than full length novels, and lack any real storyline, which I know sounds really bad, BUT, what they lack in storyline they make up for by having some of the funniest, most likable characters and great one-liners, and are really easy to read.
I've also read the three Magnus pack novels by this author and they are much the same style.
I think perhaps if you're in between books or maybe waiting for something else to come out and you just want to read something fun, that doesn't require you to think, like, AT ALL, then these books are fine. They really do make you grin in places. Laurenston writes very snappy, witty characters and makes up scenarios that are just too damn funny.
The book is separated into two stories; Christmas Pride and Shaw's Tail. The first is about a couple who haven't seen each other since high school and they've both been off doing other things for 20 years; she's a cop, he was a marine, and he's never quite forgotten his first crush. So he comes back to town to make her his. P.S he's a shapeshifting lion, which seemed to have very little to do with the story in any way, shape, or form.
The second story is about another shapeshifting lion, who decides he's in love with a commitment phobic, country bumpkin, wild child, hell-raising wolf shifter. As you do. What they hell are their kids going to look like?
Anyway, the books have quite graphic love scenes, literally, one every 3 pages or so (and there aren't a lot of pages to begin with).
Because of the lack of storyline I can't give it anything above a 3 star. They could have been so much better. It's a shame really because this writer has a good eye for characters. She's funny and writes great dialogue. If I were her editor I would have told her to go away and flesh it out a bit. But hey, what do I know? They are what they are I guess. Geez I'm not really selling this am I?
Anywho I give this ★★★
If I had half stars I might throw one of those in too, but alas, I do not.
I've also read the three Magnus pack novels by this author and they are much the same style.
I think perhaps if you're in between books or maybe waiting for something else to come out and you just want to read something fun, that doesn't require you to think, like, AT ALL, then these books are fine. They really do make you grin in places. Laurenston writes very snappy, witty characters and makes up scenarios that are just too damn funny.
The book is separated into two stories; Christmas Pride and Shaw's Tail. The first is about a couple who haven't seen each other since high school and they've both been off doing other things for 20 years; she's a cop, he was a marine, and he's never quite forgotten his first crush. So he comes back to town to make her his. P.S he's a shapeshifting lion, which seemed to have very little to do with the story in any way, shape, or form.
The second story is about another shapeshifting lion, who decides he's in love with a commitment phobic, country bumpkin, wild child, hell-raising wolf shifter. As you do. What they hell are their kids going to look like?
Anyway, the books have quite graphic love scenes, literally, one every 3 pages or so (and there aren't a lot of pages to begin with).
Because of the lack of storyline I can't give it anything above a 3 star. They could have been so much better. It's a shame really because this writer has a good eye for characters. She's funny and writes great dialogue. If I were her editor I would have told her to go away and flesh it out a bit. But hey, what do I know? They are what they are I guess. Geez I'm not really selling this am I?
Anywho I give this ★★★
If I had half stars I might throw one of those in too, but alas, I do not.
emilyberrios's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Technically comprised of two novellas: "Christmas Pride" and "Shaw's Tail". Reviewed separately below and the star rating average rating of the two.
Christmas Pride 2.25
Frankly, while I don't regret reading it I didn't love it and toiled through it. Dez, the female lead, is apparently Puerto Rican-Irish a detail that seemed unnecessary to the story other than to justify her curves and give her a semblance of being "ethnic" or "exotic", her heritage never was part of the plot or a part of her character. Mace, the male lead, is a were-lion keen on dominating and humiliating because the woman he loves is strong and he must be the one to break her. Great. Love that. Whole thing felt crass, immature (think highschool mean girls, but the characters are supposed to be in their 30s), regressive, and half baked with a little bit of plot thrown in. The author seemed to be trying real hard to be sexy, all the time... trying too hard. First sex scene had too much anticipation built in and ended up feeling underwhelming and even abrasive. The world building was interesting, and I wish the author had spent less time obsessing over sex and more time developing plot and character building... Mace and Dez both felt flat to me. Lots of telling and not showing. Definitely not my favorite, but not bad enough to keep me from reading more in the series. Fortunately, this was just a novella and there are other much stronger entries.Magical penis trope. That's it. That was this book's main pull. Mace's magical penis will fix "whatever little issues" (actual quote) Dez has. 😑
Shaw's Tail 3.75
I had a much better time with this one! Characters are likeable and more well rounded. Ronnie, the female lead is a she-wolf of beta status, a southern gal, and a 30 year old college drop out trying to get her life back in order. Brendon (Shaw), the male lead, is a were-lion, a breeding male with 2 cubs he loves, on his way out of the pride after doing his duty, and with a wayward brother which he's worried about. These characters have lives, aspirations, goals, and hopes. They're flawed and funny, they have dialogue and silly banter, the chemistry is palpable and that makes them sexy. A far cry from the try-too-hard flatness of Mace and Dez. This novella is much more plot and character driven, more showing and less telling. Loved the world building and character development. They read like people I'd like to talk to. I ate this up.
Christmas Pride 2.25
Frankly, while I don't regret reading it I didn't love it and toiled through it. Dez, the female lead, is apparently Puerto Rican-Irish a detail that seemed unnecessary to the story other than to justify her curves and give her a semblance of being "ethnic" or "exotic", her heritage never was part of the plot or a part of her character. Mace, the male lead, is a were-lion keen on dominating and humiliating because the woman he loves is strong and he must be the one to break her. Great. Love that. Whole thing felt crass, immature (think highschool mean girls, but the characters are supposed to be in their 30s), regressive, and half baked with a little bit of plot thrown in. The author seemed to be trying real hard to be sexy, all the time... trying too hard. First sex scene had too much anticipation built in and ended up feeling underwhelming and even abrasive. The world building was interesting, and I wish the author had spent less time obsessing over sex and more time developing plot and character building... Mace and Dez both felt flat to me. Lots of telling and not showing. Definitely not my favorite, but not bad enough to keep me from reading more in the series. Fortunately, this was just a novella and there are other much stronger entries.
Shaw's Tail 3.75
I had a much better time with this one! Characters are likeable and more well rounded. Ronnie, the female lead is a she-wolf of beta status, a southern gal, and a 30 year old college drop out trying to get her life back in order. Brendon (Shaw), the male lead, is a were-lion, a breeding male with 2 cubs he loves, on his way out of the pride after doing his duty, and with a wayward brother which he's worried about. These characters have lives, aspirations, goals, and hopes. They're flawed and funny, they have dialogue and silly banter, the chemistry is palpable and that makes them sexy. A far cry from the try-too-hard flatness of Mace and Dez. This novella is much more plot and character driven, more showing and less telling. Loved the world building and character development. They read like people I'd like to talk to. I ate this up.
angel_rod's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0