'Big Bad Beast' Pride series #6 by Shelly Laurenston

From the BLURB:

When it comes to following her instincts, former Marine Dee-Ann Smith never holds back. And this deadly member of a shifter protection group will do anything to prove one of her own kind is having hybrids captured for dogfights. Trouble is, her too-cute rich-boy boss Ric Van Holtz insists on helping out. And his crazy-like-a-fox smarts and charming persistence are making it real hard for Dee to keep her heart safe...

Ric can't believe his luck. He's wanted this fiercely-independent she-wolf from day one, but he never expected teamwork as explosive as this. And now is his last chance to show Dee what she needs isn't some in-your-face Alpha male-but a wily, resourceful wolf who'll always have her back in a fight…and between the sheets.

Dee-Ann Smith is a double-dose of bad-ass. Not only is she one of the infamous Smith wolves, she’s also an ex-marine turned special supernatural forces officer. Dee-Ann specializes in kicking butt and taking names. So it’s a little unusual that Ric Van Holtz (of the snooty Val Holtz wolves, and doubly-snooty restaurant chain) would take such a fascination to her.

Truth be told, Ric fell in love with Dee-Ann a long time ago, over a Hershey bar . . . and he fully intends to make her his mate. He knows she’s tough, independent and quick with a Bowie knife ... and he loves her every which way! But before Ric can concentrate on bringing Dee-Anne around to his way of thinking, there are a few problems with slaughtered hybrids that need his attention.

Someone is killing-off hybrids, whether for amusement, sport or just plain genocide . . . it’s wrong, and it has to end. So Ric puts his best girl on the job, Dee-Ann.

‘Big Bad Beast’ is the sixth book in Shelly Laurenston’s ridiculously addictive paranormal ‘Pride’ series.

I have been jonesing for this book for MONTHS! I ravished Laurenston’s ‘Magnus Pack’ and ‘Pride’ series over the course of a few weeks . . . and I was seriously starting to miss my regular dosage of funny-sexy-shifter-romance. So I definitely went into ‘Big Bad Beast’ with high expectations . . . and came away with a smile on my face and a rabid-need for the seventh instalment in this series.

We met Dee-Ann and Ric at the beginning of the ‘Pride’ series. Dee-Ann is cousin to the numerous Smith wolves who pop up throughout the series (namely Bobby-Ray and Sissy Mae), while Ric is best friends with the grizzly Loch MacRyie. These are two established characters whose romance has been brewing for a few books now . . . ever since Ric laid eyes on the ornery she-wolf and decided he loved her. There’s always the chance that an established romance can fizzle when the couple finally get around to their time in the spotlight. But this is Shelly Laurenston we’re talking about; I don’t think this author is physically capable of writing a sub-par romance.

What makes Dee-Ann and Ric work is that they’re opposites-attracting. Dee-Ann is an Alpha through-and-through. She has scars and a dark side; she’s one tough chickie and doesn’t apologize for it. Ric, on the other hand, is a cultured food connoisseur and chef-extraordinaire. Ric is Beta to Dee-Ann’s Alpha . . . and it just works. It’s not that Ric is a ‘sissy’ or in any way unmanly, it’s that he respects and loves Dee-Ann’s strength and revels in it. Plus, Laurenston takes plenty of opportunity to poke fun at the switch-up between this doting male and his tough-as-nails female;

“Oh, come on. Can I at least sit here and watch you strut into the bathroom bare-ass naked?”

“No, you may not.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed. “However, you may look over your shoulder longingly while I, in a very manly way, walk purposely into the bathroom bare-ass naked. Because I'm not here for your entertainment, Ms. Smith.”

“It’s Miss. Nice Southern girls use Miss.”

“Then I guess that makes you a Ms.”

The ‘Pride’ series is a guaranteed chuckle-fest. There were plenty of bellyaching laughs throughout ‘Bid Bad Beast’ . . . a stand-off between Dee-Ann, Ric and a mother rat was amongst my favourites. And fans of the ‘Magnus Pack’ series should be on the lookout for an hilarious cameo appearance by Angela, who is as bitchy-brilliant as ever!

What I love about Laurenston’s funny is that it comes so effortlessly. This is a paranormal series with shifters, hybrids and were-politics. Not to mention healthy doses of hellsa-sexy erotica . . . so throwing comedy on top of all that could get messy and forced. But Laurenston is incredible at effortless repartee and easy wit. So it’s totally natural when characters start improvising and running with a joke;

Ric crumbled the cigarette in his hands until it was nothing but bits of paper and tobacco. “If we think about starting up again, we’ll call each other.”

“And chat about it like girlfriends?”

“Only after we talk about what Prada is coming out with in their latest fall shoe line.” When she only stared at him, Ric quickly added, “I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I don’t wear Prada. They make my ankles look fat.”

I love Shelly Laurenston’s ‘Pride’ series, hard-core. With ‘Big Bad Beast’ we’re now six books deep, but realistically I can see this series continuing well into the double-digits. We’re introduced to a few new characters in ‘Big Bad’, among them a down-on-his-luck Van Holtz cousin called Stein and Dee-Ann’s horny best friend, Rory Lee Reed, who has a penchant for human one-night-stands. We also get to know a few peripheral characters a little better, like the hybrid girl Hannah. I would also love it if Laurenston gave us a book about the puppy-love teenagers, Johnny and Kristan (who don’t really make an appearance in this instalment, but who I am rooting for nonetheless!). I would love books for any and all of these characters . . . and since ‘Big Bad Beast’ just whet my appetite for more of Shelly Laurenston’s sexy paranormal chuckle-fest, I have my fingers crossed that there is more in store for the ‘Pride’!

5/5