Heat Factor: Aww, this is so playful! … Oh … Oh MY! … That escalated quickly.
Character Chemistry: They have this cute crush thing going on
Plot: Secret Shifter version of CPS has a little problem with some missing kits and cubs
Overall: So silly and fun. Not full LOL, but definitely my jam.

I’m just gonna get out in front of this and say that I didn’t picture David like the cover model at all. He’s a bear not, like, svelte and ripped, right? He’s like a mountain man. That’s how you’d picture a werebear, right?

Anyway.

MaryJanice Davidson is a wordsmith. Reading this book was a pleasure. It’s silly, and it’s fun, and it involves a driving stream-of-consciousness aspect that clicks.

For example, here's how she describes David's shift:
"It was the delicious agony of pulling off a scab every time. He could feel his mind receding into quasi-sentience as his senses adjusted to being ten, thirty, a hundred times stronger, as everything got bigger and brighter and more, as his bipedal concerns
"(rent, unrequited crush, oil change, Skittles)
"faded, to be replaced by other, simpler worries
"(new territory, potential intruders, potential mate, protect cub, Skittles).
…
"He prowled and swam and ate a trout
"(all wriggling and shiny and tastes like summer)
"and when the sun was down and he had satisfied himself they were
"(safe)
"alone he remembered his other self
"(two legs no fur too small can’t smell but can think and talk-talk-talk)"

The voice is also a bit cheeky, and even though it’s a suspense novel, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. For example, when Annette’s foster-brother Oz, a forensic accountant, comes to talk about some shady things he’s found, here’s how it’s described:

“That’s missing the point right there! And then there’s his property. Warehouses, sure, but right on the floodplain? Just to insure them properly would cost more than the buildings are worth. Not to mention accounting stuff accounting stuff shell companies and more accounting jargon, and then jargon jargon, accounting stuff, and more jargon. Right?”

And that’s not the only time Davidson uses place-holder words instead of fully fleshing out some dramatic moment. I’ve never read this before, but as I did here I thought, “this is actually quite perfect.” I didn’t quite reach full lol with this book, but it was definitely humorous all the way through.

But the romance tho, right?

When I first saw this book on NetGalley, I was pretty sure it was categorized as romance, but when I went to download it, it was solely listed in the sci-fi/fantasy category, so I’m sort of straddling that smut-adjacent fence. Technically, I would say that Annette and David’s relationship does form a central storyline, although it might not be the primary one. There is also more than just kissing happening before the end of the book (not that that’s required, but it tipped the scales a bit for me in favor of smut), and I would say that we are looking at an HFN on account of they do get together in the end. And it’s an optimistic ending, if rather pragmatic/realistic (relationship-wise). So maybe this is for the light-on-sex, HFN-is-a-legit-ending-for-a-romance crowd? It’s the first in a trilogy, so maybe we’re dealing with a multi-book romance arc. I can’t find anything currently describing the plot of book 2, so it could just as easily be about a secondary character in this book.

Now that all that’s out of the way, I guess I’ll summarize the story? This is backwards, but I started with the important stuff first, so that’s how we’re doing this today.

Annette and David both work for the same Shifter version of Child Protective Services, Annette as a case manager and David as a security consultant. They are both beautiful, rare, and badass werebears. Annette thinks David is hot but is never going to ask him out and gets embarrassed when her co-workers bring it up with her. David thinks Annette is hot but is sure that if he gets with a Shifter it’ll ruin her life because he has some personal baggage. He is also confused as to why people at work are bringing up a relationship between himself and Annette. Crushes totally exist on both sides, but it’s not like they’ve spent much time together. Then they end up working on the same case when one of the kids Annette has to protect is brought in by David. Completely outrageous (we are dealing with shifters here) and sad (child abuse is super not good) crime-solving ensues, and naturally this brings Annette and David closer together.

In terms of relationship, Annette and David are terrible communicators because they keep saying stuff they absolutely don’t mean (like, “We’re never going to get together”) and the other one believes this, and that should be a lesson to all of us not to lie. Because lying is bad and can also ruin true love situations before they begin. And there’s plenty of egging Annette and David on by co-workers and friends. And also plenty of “this is an inappropriate time to be distracted by how hot he/she is because there are bad things happening” situations as well.

If you’re in the market for a fun, well-written, shifter story with a low-key romance, this is a very good choice. Even if you’re not in the market, consider reading it just because it’s a fun literary exercise.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

This isn't my first time reading MaryJanice Davidson, and I had forgotten how uniquely she writes. Was this book a little bit ridiculous? Yes. Did I thoroughly enjoy it? Also yes.

The story follows Annette Garsea, a social worker for shifter children in a world that doesn't know shifters exist. Anette's job is hard enough, but it's about to get worse when she and investigator David Auberon stumble into a shifter-trafficking operation. Add in lots of delightful tropes, a murder plot, and some romance, and you have a surprising recipe for a good book.

Bears Behaving Badly took a bit of work to get into - I was reading the first chapter, and I was super confused. I thought I had missed a book in the series or accidentally skipped a chapter. However, it quickly moves past that problem and straight into action. I'm excited to see where MaryJanice takes this series.

A handsome werebear with a sweet tooth to rival Buddy the Elf teams up with a beautiful and clever she-werebear to protect the discarded and displaced were-cubs of Minnesota. They’ll fight the bad guys but maybe along the way stop fighting their attraction to each other.
Bears Behaving Badly is the first book in a new series and it sets up a literary world that isn’t so unlike our own. Except of course, there’s a hidden community of shifters. Bad guys are still bad guys and foster care kids still need someone watching out for and fighting for them.
The element of foster kids as were-shifters was a definite draw for this reader. The fact that one, Caro, is described as ‘selectively mute’ had me wondering about her story. I knew it wouldn’t be pretty but I didn’t see the direction the story would take and that’s a good thing. It wasn’t cookie cutter lit.
A major theme or thread in the story deals with child trafficking. If that’s a sensitive subject, be forewarned. It’s handled very well but it’s there.
The dialogue is pretty funny, clever really, but what I thought the author did especially well was to make the actions of the characters, while in human form, fit their inner were-beast. The werefox are quick and nimble. The bears are protective and strong. The prey animals are meek. Loved Nadia’s fierceness! And Pat is…something different. Pat added some serious color to this novel.
I really enjoyed watching David and Annette’s story develop. They both start out in denial outwardly but totally on board, inwardly, with admitting their attraction. I could see right away it wouldn’t take them long to give in but not without bumps and bruises along the way. Someone is out to kill Annette’s charges and this mamabear isn’t playing around.
Pop culture references are always a win with this reader and the story is chalked full of some of my favorites. There’s also a decent sprinkling of Gen Y and Millennial speak. Having teenagers at home helps to decipher.
An exciting foray into the paranormal with a well built story and a mystery to solve.

This is my first book by the Author and the first in her new series …. BeWere My Heart

Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is a social worker for at-risk shifter children and teens and works for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA) which manages the shifter foster care system.
When teenage shifter , Caro mauls a guy and ends up in custody but won't speak , Annette is tasked with trying to solve the problem of why she used her claws .
Bear shifter and IPA contract investigator David Auberon , who has had a 'thing' for Annette , works in the same building and volunteers his services .
The trail leads to child abuse and torture ……….. just who are the bad guys ? What will they do to cover their
tracks ?

The romance between David and Annette is a slow burn ………… who will be the first to admit their attraction ?
The secondary characters are key to making this book an enjoyable read , although I felt there was a little too much un-necessary dialogue .
I look forward to the next book in the series .

I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

BEARS BEHAVING BADLY by MaryJanice Davidson is a paranormal romantic suspense story that has a unique story line and it is the first book in the BeWere My Heart series. Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is a social worker for at-risk shifter children and teens and works for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA) which manages the shifter foster care system. She teams up with bear shifter and IPA contract investigator David Auberon when multiple murder attempts occur after she has a selectively mute teen werewolf in her custody.

The characters are compelling with their own flaws and virtues and the secondary characters were well-rounded and did not overwhelm the story. The relationships between the characters were believable and not contrived. The stakes were definitely high and the tension made this a page turner. The story line was fresh and the plot twists were believable, but not totally unexpected. Serious themes of kidnappings, beatings, murder, attempted murder, a mole, cover-ups, romance and much more are included along with the suspense and action.

The plot was engrossing, moving, fascinating, heartfelt, and interspersed with humor. The one detraction was the excessive amount of cursing which did not add anything to the story. Overall, this was an enjoyable book and a good start to a new series. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and MaryJanice Davidson for an ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Ok so I love Shelly Laurenston and everyone has said if I love her books that I will love this author's books. This is the first book I have read by her and I am honestly not sure about it. The story itself was alright for me. Part of it were good and the writing was fine. Nothing strange about the writing at all. But I had a hard time getting connected to the characters. I think part of it was because the romance portion to me just seemed extremely slow but that could be just me. It wasn't horrible by any means and there were parts that I did laugh at. I just think the romance was slightly lacking for me and it threw me off.

Bears Behaving Badly is a story told as only the incredible MaryJanice Davidson can tell it. This is a laugh out loud tale of child abuse. Yes; I know there is nothing funny about child abuse but when you have two foul mouthed social worker bear shifters fuddling their way through an investigation I dare you not to laugh out loud. I totally enjoyed watching Annette and David find their way supported by a quirkily fantastic supporting cast. Run, buy this book.

Annette works at a shifter placement agency and helps shifter kids when they get in trouble or need a home. She's been lusting after David who works in her office but they've never dated.

David works in the same building as Annette and has feelings for Annette so when they work on the same case and it seems that someone is after them for some reason, they get closer and get to know one another.

When teenager, Caro mauls a guy and ends up in custody but won't speak, it's up to Annette and David to find out what's going on. Once Annette and David start their investigation and find out that Caro was tortured and abused and that's why she went after the guy, they find themselves in danger more than once.

They find themselves in the middle of a bunch of bad guys, child abuse, and maybe officials who are in on all of it.

The romance between David and Annette was a slow burn throughout the book but they are so cute together because neither of them knows the other likes them. It was fun watching them get to know one another and see who makes the first move.

The secondary characters and the kids in this story really had big parts and made the story what it was. While a lot seems to happen in this book and there's a lot of dialogue, it's quite drawn out and a little boring at times but it was a good story.

Disclosure: I was given an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for a review but all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is a social worker for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA). She stands up for the young shifters who seemingly have nowhere else to go or have no one else looking out for them. When a young werewolf is put into Annette's custody following a violent altercation, Annette begins to understand there's more to the girl's story than meets the eye.

Enter independent investigator David Auberon. He and Annette have crossed paths on occasion (and no they're not dating!). While he admires her work with the children, he likes to remain at arm's length from anything having to do with work. But Annette's investigation opens up a huge can of worms and it soon becomes apparent, as they suss out corruption within the system, that the only people they can trust are each other. Buckle up, it's about to be a bumpy ride.

This is the first book in a new series, but I felt like there definite moments where I should have already had a clue about things such as world building or shifter politics. While Mary Janice Davidson does give us world building I felt a lot of times like it would be small off-the-cuff remarks that would eventually piece together to form a bigger picture by the end.

I really enjoyed the investigative aspect of the story. I liked that Annette is not a like a typical detective. It's certainly not her job description, but she does what she does because she truly cares about the young ones that she is tasked with helping. It's more than a job to her. So I wouldn't say she charges headfirst into confrontation, but she certainly doesn't restrain herself either, and I think her inexperience causes more than a few hiccups along the way. But overall, I liked the mystery surrounding this young werewolf and why she got violent. How one seemingly straightforward and simple explanation continues to blossom into something bigger and bigger than expected.

Of course there's the Mary Janice Davidson wit thrown in throughout which makes it a lighter read, but also kept me on my toes because of the characters's (especially Annette's) penchant for changing the subject at a moment's notice. For me, this was definitely not a book that I could read well with a lot of distractions in the background.

I really enjoyed David and Annette's rapport. The continuous back and forth between them was almost like a dance. But I really liked that neither one of them was in the lead. They both took turns being the alpha and the beta. It didn't fit into the normal shifter stereotypes that often feature the alpha-possessive male. I'm not sure if it's the fact that they are werebears and a little more laid back by nature or not, but whatever it is I'm here for it.

I felt like the fun and serious, mystery and romance aspects were balanced pretty well. Everytime I found myself wrapped up in the pacing and the quick dialogue it was hard to put down. With such a fun variety of side characters in this one, I'll definitely be picking up the next book to see where the story goes next.

It's been a while since I've read a book by MaryJanice Davidson. When I saw this I knew I had to give it a try. Those of you who follow me regularly know how much I love me a bear shifters. So in my mind, I had to try this one.

It turns out that there was much of this book that I really enjoyed. I liked the humor even though at times I felt it was a little forced. Enjoyable just a bit too far.

The sad thing is that this book starts off very rough. I felt like I was thrown into something and I was the only person that wasn't getting it. It did level off and I started feeling the flow of the book and was enjoying it. I just wished that lasted.

I did really enjoy the characters and the whole idea of the story. I think what got to me was the writing. I felt it was like she used to write, just not well. I think part of the issue is with the hero and heroine. The author makes it where they fight their attraction but I think it went too long. It makes for funny moments and some tense once but you don't see their growth as a couple enough. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't reading a romance.

Then something would happen that I really liked and it pulled me back in.

As a whole, this is an okay book. I didn't love it but it wasn't all bad either. I might try to read it again in a few weeks when it's out of my mind.

Whenever I find out about a new release by MaryJanice Davidson I run straight to the bookstore. Her gift for dialogue is just that - a gift. As an avid reader of well-written paranormal romance with a good plot line, this is just the book for me. The main characters are well drawn and the supporting cast and their motivations make all make sense. For those sexy scenes you'll definitely be fanny those blushes away.

Bears Behaving Badly is the second book I’ve read from author MaryJanice Davidson. Unfortunately, I keep having issues with getting into her books like I do other authors. I think it’s due to her writing style. I’m not used to it. I did manage to read and finish the first book in her new BeWere My Heart series, but only gave it three stars.

I enjoyed where MaryJanice Davidson had the storyline going in Bears Behaving Badly, but I was confused most of the time when reading the book. In the first chapter alone, I was confused because I didn’t feel like I got an introduction to the main characters. It went straight into the story without any explanations if that makes any sense to other readers.

I also didn’t connect well with the main characters Annette Garsea and David Auberon. I liked what they were doing as far as their jobs in the story. Annette is a caseworker at the Interspecies Placement Agency and happens to care for the children that she is placed within her career. There’s David, who assists with the Agency but doesn’t work for them. He appreciates what Annette does at her job and has feelings for her, but doesn’t want to let her know about his feelings. (I’m going to touch base on the issues of why he can’t have feelings later in my review.) Both Annette and David have never worked together until they have to solve why one particular teen werewolf was mute and attacked another person. That person she attacked ends up being a horrible person in the story. When they both start investigating, they realize that something else sinister is happening to some of the kids that get placed at the Agency.

First off, as I’ve stated before, I liked where MaryJanice was going as far as the storyline. She had the characters investigating something horrible that was happening to young shifters. I enjoyed the secondary characters more than the main characters in the story because that not wanting to have feelings crap drove me crazy. Both Annette and David kept their feelings from each other, and it drove me nuts. It was a miscommunication between the two, and I don’t like that in stories at all. Finally, at the end of the book, they realize they were wrong about each other. Grrrr!!!

I will say this that MaryJanice Davidson had me laughing with some of the interactions of the main characters and secondary characters. I love Nadia, Pat, and Oz in the story. I will also say I loved finding out what kind of Were Bear Shifter that Annette is finally in the book. She shocked everyone, even David.

Will I read the next book in the series? I’m not sure at this time. It won’t be a top priority on my TBR list.

Overall, the book gets 3-stars from me, but I would recommend it to readers that have read MaryJanice Davidson’s books before and are fans of hers.

This book does not ease you into the characters or the events, I read the first few pages and then went back to see if I missed a few pages as it was quite confusing to just jump into a book. However, the more I read this book it really reminded me of the You, Me and I series also by the same author so if you don't like that series then this book is probably not for you. Overall, i enjoyed the premise of this book. The idea of social work for vulnerable shifter children and how they might be exploited is a completely new take of shifter/paranormal books that I have read. The relationship between the characters is really fun and I like the general message that family is not necessarily the people related to you by blood. The only negatives I had about this book was the heavy use of pop language/slang terms (almost felt like I needed a dictionary at some points to understand the dialogue) and the lack of introduction of the characters. I would probably read the next in this series to really make up my mind but I thought it was a promising start to a series.

I loved Ms Davidson's Undead series and found this book, the start of a new series, entertaining and engrossing.
The plot is sometimes a bit unbelievable but I liked the characters and had fun at read the story.
I liked Annette, I think it's good to read about a caseworker, and appreciated the world building.
I want to read other books in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request for an arc of this book. This review is entirely my own opinion.

This was a fun and very entertaining read. I enjoyed the dialogue and the pace. At no point was I bored. But I do have to say that I actually ended up liking the secondary characters, one in particular (hello Dev Devoss!), more than the MC’s.

David, our H, wasn’t alpha enough for me. I like my H’s bordering on OTT, all alphalicious, growly and grumpy, and protective-possessive. He’s a tad too beta. Annette, our h, on the other hand, while witty and kickass, just talked too much for my tastes. *shrugs*

Still, I would definitely go out and read the succeeding books. I think fans of Shelly Laurenston’s style of PNR rom-com would also enjoy this book.

Bears Behaving Badly was the first book in MaryJanice Davidson's paranormal romance BeWere My Heart series. This was my first book by this author. I have heard good things about her Undead series, so I wanted to check this one out. It was...different. I admit I had some issues sticking with it; however, it is entirely possible that problem was due to what's going on in the world right now and being stressed other than with any actual problem with the story. I enjoyed it enough that I will definitely check out the next installment.

Annette Garsea is a werebear shifter who works as a caseworker for the Interspecies Placement Agency (picture a shifter version of Child Protection Services). She cares deeply about her charges and goes all, well, "Mama Bear" on anyone who threatens them. When Annette is assigned custody of a possibly dangerous young wolf shifter, evidence begins to emerge of a trafficking ring that targets young shifters. Together with David Auberon, a disheveled, sexy werebear private investigator with a serious sweet tooth for Jolly Ranchers and Skittles - red only - Annette throws herself into a dangerous investigation to stop these evil traffickers before any more kids have their lives ruined.

I really enjoyed the quirky lead characters in this story. I had fun with their playful and sexually charged chemistry. Annette is a loving women who would do anything for her charges while constantly thinking of food. David has had a huge crush on her for years. Oh, and he often hears his dead mother in his head giving him advice or nagging him. I also loved the supporting characters here, especially Annette's roommate Pat, who was a total hoot, and her former foster "brother" Oz. What I did find a bit odd was Ms. Davidson's writing style. Many times there was frantic pacing, switching quickly from one thought to another, going on for more than a page at a time. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with what was going on, or grew confusing as to whom was speaking at the time. The plot and characters were fun, though, and I'd be up for another visit to this intriguing world.

have received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I wanted to like this. I kept reading past the point I would have normally called it quits in another book, hoping for a spark. But…. I finally called it quits at round 40%.

Bears Behaving Badly is the first book in a new series by MaryJanice Davidson. This is an author I remember reading and enjoying way back when, and I kind of wanted to pick her up again and see if I would enjoy her as much as I had in the past.

Ms. Davidson introduces an entire new world of shifters and her main protagonists work in the shifter version of child protective services/juvenile courts. They discover a big criminal ring involving two of the children they are protecting. This is some serious subject matter and the light, almost comedic, banter between the main characters during some of their investigating threw me off. I never really connected to anyone in this world so it was an easy decision to skim to the end and then set it aside.

Not my cuppa, but might appeal to fans of the genre.

Bears Behaving Badly is the first book in the BeWere my Heart series by MaryJanice Davidson. It is currently scheduled for release on March 31 2020.

These social worker bear shifters give the term "mama bear" a whole new meaning! Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is a caseworker for the Interspecies Placement Agency. When a selectively mute and freakishly strong teen werewolf is put in her custody, Annette has to uncover the young girl's secrets if she's to have any hopes of helping her. And not even the growling of a scruffy private investigator can distract her from her mission. Bear shifter David Auberon appreciates Annette's work with at-risk teen shifters, but he's not sure if her latest charge is so much a vulnerable teen as a predator who should be locked up. All that changes when he, Annette, and her motley band of juveniles find themselves dodging multiple murder attempts and uncovering a trafficking cartel that doesn't just threaten the kids, but risks discovery of the shifters by the wider world of homo sapiens.

Bears Behaving Badly has a good deal going on.Annette and David had some great dialogue, and I enjoyed the clueless, thought to be unrequited love, aspect of the story. They were fun and I liked getting to know them. I also really liked the secondary characters- and found some of them more interesting and entertaining than the major players on occasion. I like that parts of the character backstories are slowly revealed rather than having a massive information dump. I thought that the mystery of what was going on and who the mole was had a good pace and had a good balance of danger and character exploration. Although, I have to say that some of the big picture was a little obvious to me and I wanted to facepalm when Annette and David finally figured it out. The story was fun and enjoyable. However, there several occasions when the transitions were sudden and I had to go back and reread bits to see if I missed something, some clue, as to how they got to be somewhere or which line of dialogue when to which character. Everytime that this happened with a scene transition I was taken out of the story and it took away from my enjoyment a bit.

Bears Behaving Badly is a fun romantic adventure with a nice balance of humor, mystery, and a touch of heat.

MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead series was my introduction to paranormal romance, and I have fond memories of the utter ridiculousness that was Betsy, shoe-loving queen of the vampires. I was excited to see she had a new series, this time starring shifters, and it’s exactly the hilarious fluff I needed right now.

Annette is a werebear social worker who cares deeply for her charges and knows the system – after all, she was once a foster kid herself. What she doesn’t have time for is any other sort of relationship, even if it’s with David, the super hot investigator that she’s worked before. All that changes, however, when they’re thrown together on a case involving a violent attack by a teenage werewolf who refuses to speak – and then suddenly goes missing. Another attempted murder, a dead body, and some Skittles later, it’s clear that something suspicious is going on, but will Annette and David be able to solve the case in time to save the kids?

“I’d hoped my residual class would have rubbed off on you—”
“Rude.”
“—but you just suck it in,” Pat lamented, “like a classless black hole from which nothing can escape, including class.”


Annette was, literally, exactly what you’d expect a mama bear to be. Her life revolves around the kids she works with, and she even volunteers at the local (secret) shifter NICU. Her soft exterior, though, doesn’t mean that she won’t fight back hard if her cubs are threatened! David was a bit harder to get a read on. Part of the fun is that bits and pieces of the characters’ back stories are revealed as the story develops, but I think, for David at least, it was a distraction, as all I really got from him initially was that he liked sweet stuff and had a crush on Annette. She and David have known each other for around two years, and while they’re both attracted to the other, they also believe the other isn’t interested in them. Their coworkers, however, have been shipping them for ages and are spreading rumors that they’re dating, which they both vehemently deny, reinforcing the belief that the other isn’t interested. So, yes, this was definitely one of those situations where a simple conversation would’ve bypassed most of the angst.

“Uh. Guys? It’s way past time to get back to the problem at hand. It was time to do that five minutes ago, but I got caught up in the narrative. Which happens a lot around here,” David muttered.”


But, look, I’m going to be honest, that’s just one minor bit of a completely and utterly ridiculous plot. A social worker and an investigator almost get run over in a parking garage, so naturally they’re given temporary custody of one of the affected kids, and then they’re pretty much left to their own devices to investigate. Riiiight. Of course, the investigation involves copious discussions about food (Skittles, salmon, sushi are favorite topics) and frequent digressions about pretty much everything under the sun. The writing style is quirky, sometimes very stream-of-conscious, and took a little getting used to, and I can see that it would be off-putting to some readers. At times, the secondary characters outshone the main characters, from Dev the teenage Houdini to Annette’s best friend, Nadia, her foster brother, Oz, and her roommate Pat.

“He could feel his mind receding into quasi-sentience as his senses adjusted to being ten, thirty, a hundred times stronger, as everything got bigger and brighter and more, as his bipedal concerns
(rent, unrequited crush, oil change, Skittles)
faded, to be replaced by other, simpler worries
(new territory, potential intruders, potential mate, protect cub, Skittles).”


I have a lot of reservations about Caro, the “selectively mute” teenage character. For one thing, the description isn’t accurate – Caro won’t talk at all, period, not just in select social situations. It’s a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but I don’t like when mental health rep is so obviously wrong. Also, when David and Annette are forced to seek shelter with a Stable (that is, a non-shifter) couple who’s friends with David, he casually outs her as a Shifter. Annette herself feels uncomfortable about the outing, and it sat wrong with me, as well. Yes, they’re practically family to David, but Annette’s been taught all her life that the survival of Shifters depends on hiding themselves from Stables. I did find Annette’s musings about Stables and how Shifters interact with them (for the most part, they don’t) fascinating, and I’m guessing that’ll be something that’s explored as the series continues.

Overall, this is absolutely delightful fluff, and I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I was really excited to read this new series by one of my go-to authors. I wanted to give it 4 stars but there were a few issues. I really struggled to follow along for the first 15 % of the book. It was confusing and did a poor job of building the background/world that it is set in. I persisted and I'm glad I did since I ended up enjoying this story and look forward to another. I love the quirk and humor MaryJanice Davidson always brings to her stories. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.