Hot and Badgered was my first Shelly Laurenston book but it definitely won't be my last. This book was over the top, psychotic, and just down right fun. Do you think dark comedy is funny? Do you think Shameless is funny. Then, I definitely recommend Hot and Badgered. This book has it all: crazy shifters running around, people trying to kill each other, plus a hot romance. I could not stop laughing my head off.

Hot and Badgered is about three Honey Badgers half-sisters who think they are cursed. Why would these three sisters think they are cursed? Their dad is a worthless being who has gotten the three sisters almost killed or sold into indentured servitude more times than they care to admit. Hot and Badgered opens with a naked woman running for her life and the action doesn’t stop from there. Charlie can’t believe that the bear shifter who came to her aide would continue to want to help her. Charlie’s family is crazy like serious issues crazy. It all works for this family and nobody thinks it is weird that one of the sisters like to hide in a cupboard. That is how the three sisters find themselves living in a bear shifter community, getting into fights with she-weasels, and ending up with a jackal shifter renting a room from them.

There is a lot packed into this story and many points of view that I do admit that it can get a bit confusing. But, it all comes together in the end. The product is hilarious, touching at times, and a steamy read that had me hooked from start to finish. I adore these psychotic sisters and I can't to find out what is in store for them in the next story.

Amazing story as always from Laurenston. If you have read any of her books before and enjoyed them you will love this one two. Great characters that pull you in and don't let you go.

Shelly Laurenston has stayed one of my all time favorite writers and this books is a reread fest waiting to happen.

I was sad when the Pride series ended but with this book we can see that did it did not really, it just shifted to focus on these badger shifter sisters. All good.

The whole gang is here from the Pride Series so while I adored this book I think if you haven't been reading the Pride Series this book is good but not great as the cast can be overwhelming and because there is so many characters the romance gets less time than I would like.

But I like all the action, snark, fun, the hero, the heroine, the family (Bear family the most) and the romance.

Yea!

I was given this book for my honest review. So, there you have it.

Hilarious and fun! Shelly Laurenston has an uncanny knack for writing zany and fun characters who you root for even when they drive you crazy with their antics. This is a five star read!

If you like comedy, action, steamy love scenes and just an overall good story then you will love Hot and Badgered.
First off, I would suggest that you be familiar with previous Shelly Laurenston works to be able to follow some of the characters in this book. Mainly Wolf with Benefits and Bite me.
Charlie has lived her entire life taking care of her sisters and when I say take care of I mean keep them from blowing things up and attacking people. I thought this book was a nice change from previous Pride books because these two of the three honey badger shifter sisters are hybrids. The author has previous hybrid books, but none as bloodthirsty and hilarious as these sisters. Throw in a neighborhood of bears, a thieving father, periodic attempts to kidnap one of the sisters, and vicious honey badger kin and you've got the makings for the best paranormal romance for Spring 201.8.

What a great start to this series! Some of the characters from this book are from another of Laurenston's series but I don't think a reader would be lost if they started with this book. That said I would highly suggest that you read all SL's books in order to get the most enjoyment out of each book and the Easter eggs of past character's cameos.

This book started great with a lot of action, a fast pace and great dialogue. It continues the theme throughout the book as we meet Charlie and her sisters and the bears that want to help them.

The romance in this book isn't too pronounced. A large portion of the book is a set up for the series and an introduction of the characters. That said the story is fabulous and it didn't feel like we were just getting a rundown of plot and character points.

I loved getting more from the honey badgers. They are amusing and viscous all at the same time. Charlie and her sisters aren't the typical shifters with all their quirks but they were still hilarious and highly entertaining to read about. Then there's the bears who just kinda mosey along, not in any hurry until they see something that peaks there interest and they will do anything to appease their curiosity. Berg was great in that way. He was interested in Charlie and he just kept inserting himself in her life until she noticed him. Then he has to deal with her feelings of responsibility to her siblings that seem to keep her from living her life but that just makes things interesting. His brother and sister were interesting too and I am looking forward to seeing them more in later books.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and I am eagerly waiting for the rest of the series. I can't wait to see what SL does next.

My reaction once I saw the title for this book and knew it was about HONEY BADGERS:



via GIPHY

This might be one of the ways I imagine our favorite honey badgers:



via GIPHY

But I am torn on how to review this because I loved it so much and don't want to even partially spoil anything so...  it is LIST TIME!!!

Why do I love this book so much?  Well..

We get to see HONEY BADGERS...  I mean come on now who wouldn't love it just for this alone.
A certain character I love gets their ass kicked and... also gets what's coming to them from another source as well.  When a mama says "I hope you have a kid just like you", pray this doesn't happen.
Bo!!!!!  Yes Bo is back in all his OCD glory.
Kyle!!!!!  We gets lots of psycho Kyle and man oh man did I miss him.
The sisters are divine!
Lock makes a fun appearance.
A certain overly focused older genius makes an appearance.
I really hope that one of the sisters ends up with my favorite panda.
We get another species that I didn't expect but should've cause he's just priceless and I can't wait to see more of him in future books.
Another bear shifter so you know what he's especially good at *waggles eyebrows*
A love story that makes sense even as the world around them goes crazy they just work...
Now on to my warnings..

Read this ONLY with people around you that won't get distracted by snort laughing as you hit some of the funniest parts.

Don't read this while DRINKING ANYTHING...  Yes I do mean DRINKING ANYTHING...  You will spit take a few times if you do and there is a distinct possibility of laughing hard enough where it will come out your nose.

Be prepared to want MORE NOW as this book reminds you of why you love this series so much and so badly missed the world that Shelly has built for us.

So.... just go ahead..  buy it and prepare to not get anything else done until you've read it.  Also...  I might be a WEE bit excited that Shelly will be the keynote speaker at a RWA luncheon this summer.  I will try to contain my fangirling but...  yeah...  I WILL BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS SHELLY... *hyperventilates* I'm cool...  I'm cool...  I'll be cool....

I have long been a Shelly Laurenston fan. I read the preview for Hot and Badgered a couple of months ago and couldn't wait to read it. I devoured it in one sitting! Fantastic job!

The romance gets lost in the huge amount of characters that I didn't know that are apparently from earlier books? I must say, a cast of characters in the front of this book would have been more welcome. I like the sense of humor in the book, as always, but found myself completely lost in the huge number of characters. Overwhelming. More of Berg & Charlie would have been nice.

Honey badgers are one of my favorite characters in Shelly Laurenston's shifter series. This new series is about hybrid honey badgers, which means they're even more over the top than the regular honey badgers.

I admittedly struggled through the first 25% of the book. It was disjointed, with a lot of chaos and confusion. If I hadn't read Laurenston before, I might have given up. The story really doesn't start coming together until about 30% through, which is probably typical for new series, but seemed weird given that this wasn't a new world, but a new spinoff in an old one.

The thing that makes Laurenston books different from the vast majority of paranormal romances out there is how the women are portrayed. There are no passive women waiting for their "fated" mates. Every single one is a warrior, and most are actually considered more dangerous than the men. That is the case with this book.

What I also love about Laurenston heroines is that just because they are badass, it doesn't mean they eschew things that are considered "girly" or feminine. Charlie bakes when upset or stressed (something I loved, because I am totally a stress baker). New here, but greatly appreciated, is the matter of the fact way that medication for mental health is dealt with. It's just a fact. Like taking a vitamin. It was simply discussed like any other health condition, which I liked and which made me realize how little we see of that in fiction.

I think this book needed an outside eye, someone who maybe hasn't read all of her books twenty times, because there is a ton of back story and world building that is just assumed here. There are also some incredibly brief cameos that won't make any sense unless you've read her other books. Don't start with this book if you're new to Laurenston!

More disappointing was the lack of heat between Charlie and Berg. It may have been me, but there was zero sexual tension here. It may also have been that most of the book is about the sisters and their antics, so the romance takes second (or even third) place in the narrative. At any rate, it felt like the author was far more interested in the caper aspects and sisterhood aspects than the romance. I really liked Berg, liked Charlie, and liked their slow slide into a relationship, but I wanted more desire.

I love the pride series and this off branch will be as promising as the original. Same characters but now the very noisy honey badgers will get their own series. I can’t wait for more. This one gave me what I wanted and more. I’m not spoiling it for no one :p.

I got an ARC of this book.

The cover just looks damn awkward. The pose makes that guy seem like his neck is broken. That's what I am really stuck on. 

But on to the actual book. I was unable to tell the characters apart until about half way through the book. Then it was only because they were constantly refereed to as their main character traits. There was the mentally unstable genius, the one who couldn't shift, and the violent one. I could not tell them apart and if you ask me in two days what their names were I wouldn't be able to tell you. So the character development was pretty weak, but the characters were fun. Even if I couldn't tell them apart I enjoyed reading their interactions. 

The dialogue was pretty close to perfect. It was sassy, it was deep, it was near the end really funny. Though, again, I couldn't tell the characters apart so the jokes I saw may or may not have been real jokes. I could have really mangled the story in my head. I even had a cheat sheet that told me who was who since they were impossible for me to keep straight. 

The plot itself was really annoying. It was slow and agonizing to get through. It did set up for a series of books, but it also alienated me. I couldn't care less about international issues with honey badger families. I wanted a romance. The romance was so secondary it hurt. There were two sex scenes, the first appeared 75% of the way through the book. Then there was a rather short one not too long later. Then again total international honey badger politics again. This is not a romance novel that I enjoyed because if I blinked I would not have gotten romance. Instead if this was marketed as a werebadger novel, then I might have gone into it with different expectations and actually cared about the larger plot. 

Honestly, if you enjoy fluff don't read this. If you enjoyed the third book in the Twilight series, then this book might be for you. I did like the writing. It drew me in again and again, despite me disliking anything else. I will try this author again, but I probably will avoid this series.

This new spin off badger sister series is jaw dropping. I had to reread this book twice in order to fully digest all that happens. I love these shifter books.

No one does humor and sexy the way Laurenston does. No one. I loved this book and can not wait for the next one. Seeing characters from her other book was wonderful. Bring back the Shaw boys!

This is my first book by this author and I loved it. It is the story of three sisters who after a loss decide it is them against the world, which is demonstrated in the prologue and is the perfect set up for this story.

The sisters are Charlie, Max and Stevie. Each is a shifter with special talents. The story focuses more on Charlie but it is really about all three of them. All honey badger, these women kick butt and get it done while maintaining a sense of humor and sibling rivalry. There are quite of few characters introduced throughout but each is a welcome addition to this tale. Berg is a grizzly shifter. He assists Charlie early in the story and when she and her sisters find themselves in New York he once again offers to help. Berg enlists his brother Dag and sister Britta as well as other bears to help the sisters stay safe, as their father has gotten himself into trouble once again putting their lives in danger.

This story has it all. there is action, romance, shifter politics, nosy neighbors, family drama and a group of assassins. There is a part with a rocket launcher and a mental hospital that I found extremely entertaining. One thing that does bother me about this book is that there is a man on the cover. I understand that it is a romance and that a little skin on a cover doesn’t hurt sales but there is so much more going in this book than the romance. I am definitely looking forward to the next book.

This book was probably my favorite of 2018 so far. The story moved along nicely and was very exciting. The characters were great. I'll be waiting for the next one.

This book was a love for me. Charlie and her sisters were amazing, lovable and hilarious. Berg and his siblings were pretty funny too. I loved the scenes with previous characters. This book was great can't wait for the next one.

(Before I get started, I want to quickly apologize to those who were depending on me writing my review. Due to some unforeseeable health issues, I have been physically unable to do anything for almost a month. But, I am back now..)

I received a free, advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. ***Received March 26, 2018 Finished March 29, 2018***

I don't give 5 star reviews out very easily. So, it must say a hell of a lot about me doing it for this book by Shelly Laurenston. And let me just say, this book SO deserves it!!! I had read the other 10 books in this series called the Pride Series and while reading this book, it sure brought back memories of all the other characters, and what a treat! It helped that a few of the characters from the other books make an appearance in this one. And DAMN! I sure have missed them. Guess time to reread the entire series over again!!!! Okay, enough about that, let's get into my review on this one.....

It starts out with a woman dropping naked onto the balcony of a hotel room with blood on her and masked men chasing her, well shooting AT her is more accurate. The room of the balcany she drops into has 2 men in it. Shifters to be exact. One is a Grizzly and the other a Jackal. She doesn't have time for them because, like I said, men in masks are chasing her with guns. The masked gun-wielding men charge into the room to get to the female and startled the Grizzly shifter when they shot him as well. Uhhhhh startling a grizzly is bad enough, but to shoot one? So, Hell rained down on those men! As the woman goes to leave the room, the grizzly shifter reminds her she is naked and hands her a t-shirt that he realizes too late, was his favorite. This is a hell of a start to a book, right? Well, it keeps on going! It never slows down in suspense, excitement, action and so much freaking humor!!!!! I could explain more about how there are 3 sisters that are on the constant run because their father is a worthless shifter that only cares about himself which in turn causes those that he pissed off, to chase and kill/try to kill, his daughters in hope of reeling in their father. Problem is, well, one of them, is that the father could care less. At least the girls claim this. The other problem is that these girls are far from easy to kill.

I'd love to go into more details on this book, but half the fun of enjoying a book is learning things yourself from reading it. I know I mentioned that this book has some of the other characters from the other books in this series. It is not needed to read all of those to understand this one. However, with that said, I would recommend you read them anyway. Not only do you get to understand a little bit more of the dynamics of some of the things mentioned in this one, but you get to learn a little bit more about the other shifters and people and what they are about, but you also get to laugh your butt off in the process. You won't be sorry you did it!

As for recommending this, it's an absolute, without a doubt, HELL YES!! I cannot wait for her next one to come out and I have no doubt you will feel the same. Happy reading!

This was so AWESOME on many levels, the stories were ever evolving but never out of control. The writing was funny, witty, great detail, and well developed characters that just made it a page turner.

HONEY BADGERS DON'T CARE IF YOU MAKE POOR LIFE DECSIONS!

Well except for Charlie, who is determined to make sure she keeps her sisters alive and out of jail.

Interestingly this was far less romance-y than previous volumes in the world and I wonder if that's partially because it has an over-arching plot that connects it (instead of being a bunch of connected world stories).

As always the humor is on point here and I loved the dynamic between Charlie, Max and Stevie. And between Dag, Berg and Britta.

Siblings and family ruled this story. For good and ill