I fell in love with MaryJanice Davidson’s books when I found her Undead series which follows the adventures of the Queen Vampire, Betsy Taylor. That series was always such a fun read, filled with lots of absurd situations and quirky characters. And Davidson continues with the quirky characters, but makes some of the situations more realistic in Bears Behaving Badly… although there’s still lots of crazy situations too!

One of the reasons I enjoy Davidson’s writing so much is the frantic pace that her characters end up talking from time to time. Four people will be talking, maybe not all about the same thing, and she doesn’t give you lots of definition as to who is saying what. For some people this can get confusing or they don’t like that style of writing, but I do, since this is in reality often how groups of people talk; everyone talking over each other, not really listening, but still wanting to be heard.

Davidson shines when it comes to character development, even if some of the characters are air-heads or vapid. And her secondary characters are always as complex as the main ones, and often time one of them will become my favorite over the leads. I’m really enjoying Oz and Pat. Nadia is stealing my heart since she reminds me of myself a bit, seems to not really like people, but is a soft, squishy mess under that hard exterior.

And her romance scenes are always full of wonderful awkwardness that leads to some hot sex. I love how well Davidson incorporates the strangeness that can be felt at the beginning of relationships when you’re not completely sure how the other person feels. And even though she used the trope; I can’t be with the other person for whatever convoluted reason I cooked up in my mind, it didn’t feel like it was mentioned too often.

If you enjoy Davidson’s other books, you’ll probably enjoy Bears Behaving Badly, and if you’ve never read her before, you should definitely give this one a try.

Annette is a protector of juveniles without homes, Oz her brother, Pat her roommate and avoiding David the hot werebear she works with. Dev, one of her charges, introduces her to Caro his mute by choice sister. What ensues is a chaotic, food filled, daring rescue, mystery solving and steamy romance. The story may be hard to follow as the dialogue is jumbled, it is a good read and you will fall in love with the characters.

Bears Behaving Badly by MaryJanice Davidson is the 1st book in her Bewere My Heart series. We meet our heroine, Annette Garsea, a werebear shifter, who works for the Interspecies Placement Agency as a social worker; usually working with juvenile delinquent children. Dev, one of her young charges, is a werefox, and is always running away and getting into trouble; but he also likes and trusts Annette.

David Auberon, our bear shifter hero, is an investigator who arrests the young children in her custody; when he arrests a young girl (wolf shifter), who doesn’t speak, it is Annette who tries to come to her rescue. She recognizes that something terrible happened to Caro, and is determined to discover what it is; especially since Dev tells Annette about Caro being like a sister to him. At first David, doesn’t have much sympathy, but because of his immediate attraction to Annette, he begins to work with her find out what is going on with the missing kids. When attempts are made on their lives, and dodging multiple murder attempts, they uncover a trafficking cartel kidnapping these kids. Both David and Annette are in a race to save the children.

I thought both David and Annette were a great couple, as their relationship escalated the more time they spend together, and their chemistry was off the wall. I have to admit though they were funny at times, they also bordered on being very quirky; and Davidson had such great group secondary characters like their friends Nadia, Oz and Pat, who were even wild and crazier. Those parts were very funny, but at times confusing too. I really did like Dev and Caro, which made it more important for them to be helped.

What follows was an intriguing mystery and adventure, that had a lot of tense, suspenseful and exciting moments. As the story raced to its climax, the danger rises, with lives on the line, as well as a few surprises along the way. Though I did like David and Annette together, some of their humor was a bit wacky. Bears Behaving Badly was a good start to this new series, which I look forward to seeing where Davidson is taking us in the next book.

An interesting and slightly zany Paranormal shifter story. It's the first book in a new series so you get introduced to alot of characters...which can be very confusing at times. But once you figure out who everyone is, it becomes an intriguing mystery about animal/shifter trafficking that kept me guessing who the bad guy(s) might be. I look forward to more books in this series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

This book is pure MaryJanice Davidson. The quick witty writing was spot on. I haven't read a book from the point of view of a werebear before and found it quite interesting. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

I enjoy shifter romances and was excited to get the chance to read this one early but sadly it just wasn't for me. This is a new to me author and I can't say I was a fan of the writing style, which I can only describe as confusing and abrupt. The plot was predictable but I did enjoy the two main characters. Their relationship seemed super relatable and awkward but in a cute way. I'm sure if you're a fan of this author's previous books you'll like this one just fine but I don't think I would recommend this to just any paranormal romance fan.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.*

The book entitled "Bears behaving badly" is an exciting romance novel with a setting in which shapeshifters secretly exist alongside people. To keep this secret, a shape-shifting youth welfare office was established. As an employee and bear shapeshifter, Annette Garsea takes care of difficult cases with love and defends her protégés - to whoever she has to.

This is an amusing story about a social worker, hmmm but not just any social worker, she’s a bear shifter who works with shifter kids. When a group of friends feel like she needs a man and I saw that in the nicest way, the set out to set her up! Throw in some juvenile delinquent teens, a couple assassins and you have a fun read!


I read and reviewed this advanced complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley

Lions and tigers and wearbears... oh my!!!!

Bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson is here with a brand spanking new paranormal series featuring a kicka$$ wearbear shifter, with a heart of gold, who works as a caseworker for the IPA (Interspecies Placement Agency - which has a lot in common with the State of Minnesota's foster-care system, except IPA has a bigger budget and a sundae bar on Fridays.) - you gotta love that MJD humor!

When Annette (previously mentioned wearbear shifter) finds out that vulnerable kids (cubs!!) are being trained and held as 'pets' she loses her ever-lovin' mind,

With the help of private investigator/bear shifter /the object of her desire David, the hunt is on for those responsible..

Now, if only they can stay alive long enough to discover who's trafficking shifter cubs... and, you know, prevent the world of bipeds (um, that would be us humans) from discovering shifters exist, at all, life would be swell.

Annette's strength, humor and merry band of sidekicks makes Bears Behaving Badly a quick and super enjoyable read.

If you like Davidson's other books - you will love this one, too.

I really wanted to like this one. I loved Mary Janice Davidson's Undead and Unwed series, but this one just didn't do it for me. I didn't like the shifting perspectives between David and Annette. The constant inner thoughts seemed tedious and distracting from the story. There were also way too many characters introduced early on, so it was hard to keep straight who was who.

Bears Behaving Badly is a sassy, humor filled bundle of joy. Annette is a social worker for the hidden shifter community and a safety "Net" for the charges in her care. David is a big sexy bear of an investigator with a major sweet tooth. When they begin investigating some missing children, the fur flies and pheromones fill the air as the bears slightly resist their attraction and jump claw first into danger to save some spunky young pups. The characters are pure enjoyment and their attraction heats up the pages and the teenagers are all sass and trouble for undeniably fun and action packed story. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

A fun take on the shifter mysteries when werebears look into a case of animal trafficking. ARC from NetGalley. I have read most of MaryJanice Davidson’s books and this was refreshingly fun and engaging.

Really fun start to a new paranormal/shifter series!

In a world where shifters exist in secret, Annette Garsea, a werebear shifter is a sort of social worker for the Interspecies Placement Agency that functions very similarly to child protective services. One of her long-term problem "sheep" (her term for her 'flock' of were-children she has placed and cares for) and his 'sister' are discovered in relation to a crime. The girl has many secrets and has sworn herself into selective mutism. Now Annette and her 'partner' David, a growly, gruff private contractor must work together to solve the mystery that grows more mysterious at every turn.

It is no secret that I LURVE all things shifter... and then add to that BEAR SHIFTERS! I'm all grabby hands...

While it took a bit for me to get into the pacing, I really did enjoy the story. Davidson always has a way of weaving a mystery that keeps you guessing and suspecting practically everyone until the very end. The writing is humorous and the secondary characters really add a lot of fun. I especially loved her rommie, Pat!

The writing is in a stream of consciousness and maybe it was the copy provided but it does take a little bit to grasp onto before you can fully immerse yourself in the story.

I definitely recommend for those that love a good mystery and/or shifter story and am totally looking forward to the next in the series!

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.*

I like this author, and she has a style that I've enjoyed. This time, though, I got tired of all the inner head monologues the two main characters kept getting stuck in. It just got boring, so I skimmed through most of the book.

Ok, this is by no means a horrible review or even a really bad one. I love MaryJanice Davidson and adored the Undead series. This series just started off rough. You were thrown into a world and had multiple characters thrown at you with little to no backstory and it left me feeling a bit lost and disoriented. Towards the end of the book I felt a bit more connected so there is hope that as the series continues you are drawn more into it and become more emotionally invested.

Quirky, sexy and fun!

This is the first book by this author that I've read, and after a little period of getting used to the sheer crazy that is this book, I adored it. The characters are all adorable and ridiculous. The world of Were animals that Davidson has created is fantastic and very urban... I mean, really. A Were social worker and a PI running around investigating a case that is constantly getting ahead of them.

The romance aspect is definitely a slow burn, starting at a funny joke and turning into PHEW! I think I needed them to get down to it as much as they did... if they could just find some time, damn it.

I loved just about everything about this book, but 4 out of 5 stars for the sometimes slightly confusing dialog that seems almost too much at times. Funny once you get the hang of it, but a little work at first. I'll definitely have to check out Davidson's other books though, especially if there's more to come in this world.

Annette Garsea is a caseworker for the Interspecies Placement Agency. She is a bear shifter with a past in the foster care system giving her a heart for the job. David Auberon is an investigator that aids the agency that Annette's works for who is fighting his attraction to her because of his own history. Secondary characters make the story and events flow but felt the main couple was hindered because of the fight to ignore their attraction to each other. "A copy of this book was provided by SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca via NetGalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion." ALL IN ALL AN ENJOYABLE SHIFTER TALE! LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT IN THIS SERIES.

I just remembered why I love this author so much! I had such fun reading this book. I fell in love with the characters, except the ones I wanted to smack. Readers will enjoy this book and be kind of sad when it is over because you want to spend more time in this world. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rapid fire dialogue between characters keeps you on your toes as to who is speaking, but it is easy to slow your reading speed down to follow. Laugh out loud funny at times, very serious other times. Enjoyable characters, hopefully future books will be around these people. Good mystery involving children and social workers looking for answers to their questions. I found myself yelling at them with a clue, but in reality it takes time to figure out what is really going on with the kids, and the whole situation they find themselves in. Looking forward to future adventures of these characters. Thank You NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for granting me this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In my opinion the bears weren't behaving badly, they were behaving goodly. I found this book to be engaging, and the kids adorable. Their predicament got to me, and what Annette and David did to find and fix the problem was great even though it risks their careers and lives. The fight scene near the end is great. I could have gone without the sex scene, more imagination than graphic details but to each their own. I hope the kids get to stay with Annette and David. #Bears Behaving Badly #NetGalley