Series: | Honey Badgers #1 |
Pub. Date: | March 27, 2018 |
Publisher: | Kensington Tantor Audio |
Narrator:: | Traci Odom |
Length: | 433 pgs 13 hrs 14 min |
Source: | Publisher |
Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston is the first book in a fun new paranormal romance series, the Honey Badgers, featuring three certifiable sisters and a diverse cast of paranormal characters.
You don't find many honey badgers in the shapeshifter world of romance, so I was glad to have something a little different here. And the honey badger family in this series are nucking futs, much like their real honey badger kin. They are high strung, anxiety-ridden, vicious, obstinate, and largely unconcerned with others lives besides their own (and their close family). All of the sisters in this family are POC for those readers looking for a little diversity in their romance.
Our first heroine of the series is Charlie MacKilligan, a hybrid wolf/honey badger shifter who isn't actually able to shift. Charlie is the oldest of the MacKilligan sisters, and the most sane. She was the caretaker of the family, keeping the others safe and making sure their deadbeat father stayed at arm's length. She always put others before herself, and had a tendency to bake when she got stressed. I really liked Charlie. She was a good mix of crazy and controlled. She was tough and capable as well, and didn't need a man taking care of her or her sisters. And as crazy as they were, the sisters had a great relationship with one another.
As much as I liked Charlie, I loved our hero, Berg Dunn, just as much. Berg is a huge grizzly bear, one of a set of triplets. He is pretty much the polar opposite of our honey badgers. He was more even-keeled and less quick to anger. But he could definitely knock some heads when he needed to. He seems like the type of guy that can get along with almost anyone, and its no skin off his nose if he has to settle any drama that breaks out.
The relationship between Charlie and Berg was a slow burn. They really became friends first, and that evolved into more as we proceeded with the story. I thought it was funny that Charlie thought she had to protect Berg. And I liked that Berg looked out for Charlie and her sisters in ways other than the physical.
There is a huge cast of characters in this story, and I loved all of them. The other bears were so funny and bear-like. Much of the story involved food so be prepared to be hungry... especially for honey-flavored things. The drama with Charlie's dad and the other villains was also laid out well and kept the story moving at a nice pace.
I switched between print and audio for this book. While I liked both, I thought the narrator did a great job at bringing the characters to life. She really captured some of ridiculousness of the sisters' personalities, and she had me laughing out loud many times.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publishers.
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