Bear Meets Girl (Pride #7) by Shelly Laurenston
Paranormal Romance
March 27, 2012
Brava

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m going to my seat and forget I ever met you and then I’ll decide whether to sue the makers of delicious Jell-O products.“

Bear Meets Girl is #7 in Shelly Laurenston’s hilarious, snark filled, sexy as all get out Pride series. In here we meet polar bear undercover detective Lou (Crush) Crushek and feline hockey enforcer and contract killer, Marcella “Bare Knuckles” (Cella) Malone.

Crush is an easy going laid back polar bear shifter who is transferred when his cover is blown. He is sent to The Group in order to investigate a group of humans who are hunting and killing shifters. Partnering up with Dez McDermont (The Mane Event ) and Dee Ann Smith (Big Bad Beast) brings him to the attention of Marcella Malone. Cella, a feline shifter, is a contractor for the KMZ, and plays enforcer for the Carnivores hockey team. She, along with other shadow shifter groups, have been pulled into a mass joint effort to help find these human hunters and shut them down. When Cella and Crush meet, the sparks fly in a shower of snorting and laughing. They are exact opposites. Crush needs nothing more than his foster dog, some fat to chew on, and a quiet home. Cella needs family, noise, and controversy. Cella believes it is her mission to make the uptight Crush chill out and relax while Crush believes Cella is certifiably insane and needs to be committed with no hope for release. When Cella’s interfering aunts try to set her up with her second cousin, Pete the “RV king”, Cella begs Crush to help her out by being her “pretend” boyfriend. They soon realize though that there is nothing “pretend” about this relationship at all.

Crush and Cella are hilarious together and apart. Though Blayne and Bo (Beasts Behaving Badly) remain my top favorite Pride couple, these two are a close second. From Crush’s fan girl obsession with hockey to Cella’s constant war with Dee Ann Smith, these two will keep you howling as they attempt to work together and maintain a “pretend” relationship with everyone and their brother’s cousin’s uncle interfering, giving unwanted advice, and eating them out of house and home. Watching Cella and Crush try to even understand each other is like piecing together a 2000 piece puzzle, blindfolded. Crush is an orphan with no family ties and Cella has a huge family that she loves but drives her nuts. Crush has a very high moral base while Cella has checked the qualities of a sociopath on line and is almost positive she isn’t one. I love how the Malones “adopt” Crush, giving him a sense of finally belonging somewhere. While Crush and Cella work on the shifter problem and try not to kill each other, Crush is also having to deal with the BPC and his foster mother, Peg Brasslier. Peg wants Crush out of the picture permanently since he has information on her that could get the BPC disbanded and her executed. When she strikes at Crush through Cella, Crush realizes how much Cella means to him and then all bets are off.

What makes this series so great is Ms. Laurenston merges past characters into present storylines with fantastic results. I love seeing old friends and the ties that bind them all together. Blayne and Bo are featured heavily in here, as unpredictable as usual, and help provide a bridge that allows us to see future storylines. The hybrid storyline also has a strong presence and I look forward to seeing where that goes.

What I really enjoy about this series is that while you have a very sexy physical romance and a solid plot line, there is no heavy emotional angst involved. Non stop action and crazy antics keeps this series delightfully fresh and addictive.

The ending is action packed and resolves the main conflict perfectly. Loose ends are tied up and we get a few clues to who Ms. Laurenston may write about next. If you enjoy non stop laughter, snark, and witty banter in your shifter romances then look no further then Shelly Laurenston’s Pride series. I guarantee you’ll be as addicted as I am.

Overall Rating: A

Recent Reviews:
Ramblings From a Chaotic Mind – 4/5
The Book Pushers – A
Under the Covers – 4/5
The Reading Café
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