Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston

SLaurenston-Bear Meets GirlI admit, when I first saw Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston, and read the synopsis, I wasn’t too excited to read it.  I put it in my pile, and pretty much forgot about it (totally forgetting I needed to read it before it was published) until a few days ago.  I reluctantly picked it up once I realized this, and after I smacked myself, and then I couldn’t put it down.

He’s big, burly, and way smarter than your average shapeshifting bear. He’s also about to get trapped by own his game…Lou Crushek is a reasonable, mellow, easygoing kind of guy. But once someone starts killing the scumbags he works so hard to bust, that really gets under his fur. Especially when that someone is a curvy she-tiger with a skill set that’s turning Crush’s lone-bear world upside down – and bringing his passion out of hibernation…As a member of an elite feline protection unit, Marcella Malone has no problem body-dropping anyone who hunts her kind. But Crush is proving one major pain in her gorgeous tail. The only reason she’s joined forces with him is to track down the wealthy human who’s got her entire species in his ruthless sights. It sure isn’t because Crush’s stubborn and contrary attitude is rubbing Cella in all the right ways…

This is one of those instances where the cover and the synopsis does Bear Meets Girl zero justice.  It didn’t mention the hilariousness that is on every single page, or the crazy fights amongst the shape shifters, or their weird sense of reality and odd quirks. If it had, I would have read it the second I got it.  The synopsis is very misleading, it makes it appear that Cella is a criminal of sorts that Crush is hunting down, and she’s not.  The criminal is someone else, and together they go after him.  I’m not sure why it’s worded this way, but it gives the impression of a totally different story.

Crushek, is a brooding, scowling, loner polar bear.  He is all about honesty, with his OCD like sense of right and wrong without letting feelings get in the way, and he’s a bit scary.  Turns out though, that he’s a big ‘ol teddy bear that just appears mean and dangerous.  Ok so he can be, and I totally believe his ripping your face off threats, but he’s a good guy and only shows his scary side in moments that matter.  Although I do like Crush, I LOVE Cella, or Marcella Malone, so much more; she’s so outrageous you either love her or hate her.  This girl holds nothing back, and pushes people’s buttons for giggles.  She’s a Siberian Tiger and everything she does is so like a cat.  She taunts, she struts, she plays coy, she’s demanding, she’s conceited, she’s dramatic, etc.  Her sense of humor had me laughing the whole way through.  Like the fact that she starts telling everyone that she’s Crush’s girlfriend when she’s not (she doesn’t even know his name for a while), she stalks him like a crazy person jumping in his lap in public and loving all over him only because it irritates him!   I know this sounds annoying, and you do feel really sorry for Crush, but the more she’s around the more you get her sense of humor, and the more you love her.  Then you have the humor of her and her friends, who argue like children and beat each other up, on a daily basis.  It’s one funny scene after another with this girl. How can you not love someone who is a spitfire, who can take on a grizzly bear without breaking a sweat and thinks a good time involves broken bones and blood?  Crush adn Cella together are really funny, he’s all quiet and brooding and she’s like a comic on open mic night wearing a hooker outfit because it would bug people.  Opposites attract with these two, they make a great fit, and one you believe.

I wasn’t that thrilled with the overall plot.  Mainly because I’ve read a few books with this very same concept, someone kidnaps shifters, drugs them and then hunts them down in cold blood.  I chose to ignore this because the rest of the story was far more entertaining and more attention was given to this aspect rather than the hunt for the murderer.  One of the sub plots that had me cringing was where Crush becomes Cella’s pretend boyfriend to ward off her matchmaker aunt who happens to hate her.  Which again, I’ve read enough times and I can do without it now.  There were also a few things that didn’t add up or wasn’t explained.  Like if Crush’s foster mother really hated him that much, how come she always takes it easy on him? Or what is the story behind Cella and her ex Brian? How can they be so close that she attends his wedding but are no longer together?? This may be due to the book being the 7th in Shelly Laurenston’s Pride series, all that info has already been told and I just missed it.  Oh well, the dialogue and the crazy characters made up for everything.

Bear Meets Girl is a fast read, a good read, one that will have you laughing and shaking your head and might even inspire you to be a bit ballsy and flirtatious.  It wasn’t the most creative book I’ve read, but it is one of the funniest I’ve read in a while and that gives it high marks for me.  I’m now very curious about the previous books, and I will definitely be on the lookout for any upcoming books.

Read Order:
The Mane Event
The Beast In Him
The Mane Attraction
The Mane Squeeze
Beast Behaving Badly
Big Bad Beast
Bear Meets Girl

About Nikki R 120 Articles
SAHM of 2, happily married bookworm, blogger and aspiring author. If I could read/write all day, every day, I would. Luckily I have a very understanding, and patient, husband who lets me get away with it as much as possible. Now if only the kids would understand my obsession, and the house would clean itself, then I'd be all set.

2 Comments

  1. Despite similarities to one of Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson books this does sound interesting, I love that you found moments hilarious. I agree the synopsis and what the book is about sound different..so glad you set us straight. I am tempted to grab this!

  2. Oh, Shelly Laurenston’s books are over-the-top, laugh-out-loud funny. You either love her style or hate it. The plot isn’t really the point, it’s all about the outrageous characters. If you liked this, I highly recommend her entire backlist (both the Pride and Magnus Pack series). She also writes a dragon shifter series under the pen name GA Aiken that is in a similar style.

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