Audiobook Review: In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston

Series:	Honey Badgers #2
Pub. Date:	March 26, 2019
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Charlotte Kane
Length:	13 hrs 43 min
Source:	Hoopla

Shelly Laurenston's honey badgers are a ridiculously good time - and whether you are reading or listening to them, they can't help but make you smile. It's hard to believe this is only the second book in the series, because these seem like beloved characters that have been around for a while.

In this second installment, In a Badger Way, our three misfit honey badger sisters (Max, Charlie and Stevie) are still living in a neighborhood of grizzly bears for their own safety.  This story sees them, once again, protecting one another while trying to figure out exactly from where the danger is coming. I love the relationship between these sisters, whether they are fighting like banshees or bonding over horror movies. Charlie has taken on an overly protective motherly role. Max is still a mad sociopath. And Stevie is the youngest and most babied of the group... but isn't as vulnerable as her sisters treat her.

Our romantic entanglement in this story is between Stevie, a badger/tiger hybrid, and Shen Li, a giant panda shifter. Stevie is a highly strung, genius prodigy in both music and science, and Shen is her opposite in about every way as a laid-back sports enthusiast more interested in munching bamboo. But Shen's calmness is just what Stevie needs to help her manage her anxiety and distract her when things get too intense. And Stevie is what Shen needs, a sweetly pushy female to prod him into the relationship. I thought they were a great complement to one another, and they had good chemistry.

I also enjoy all of the secondary characters in this series. From jackals to lions to bears (oh my), each species adds something fun and humorous to the story. I love that so many of the characters are psychotic killers and masochists (in a fun way)... and their arrogance and sometimes obliviousness slays me. Providing POVs for so many characters can't be easy, but Laurenston pulls it off with ease and I like getting so many different looks at the same story and situations.

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