Shelly Laurenston – Beast behaving badly

The fifth book in the Pride series, published June 1, 2010.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: hot



Some men just have more to offer. Like hard-muscled, shape-shifting Bo Novikov--part polar bear, part lion, pure alpha. . .

Ten years after Blayne Thorpe first encountered Bo Novikov, she still can't get the smooth-talking shifter out of her head. Now he's shadowing her in New York--all seven-plus feet of him--determined to protect her from stalkers who want to use her in shifter dogfights. Even if he has to drag her off to an isolated Maine town where the only neighbors are other bears almost as crazy as he is. . .
Let sleeping dogs lie. Bo knows its good advice, but he can't leave Blayne be. Blame it on her sweet sexiness--or his hunch that there's more to this little wolfdog than meets the eye. Blayne has depths he hasn't yet begun to fathom--much as he'd like to. She may insist Bo's nothing but a pain in her delectable behind, but polar bears have patience in spades. Soon she'll realize how good they can be together. And when she does, animal instinct tells him it'll be worth the wait. . .


Only one more book to go in this series, and I am looking forward to that one, as the new main characters in that book, play a nice part in this one. Can any man really tame Dee Ann Smith? But this is the story of Bo Novikov and Blayne Thorpe.

Bo Novikov never forgot the female wolf dog who ran screaming away from him when he was 19 and she 17. So when he picks up her scent again in New York City, he accepts the crappy contract that is offered him, instead of the millions and other benefits other ice hockey teams are offering him. Bo is a hybrid too, a lion-bear mix, with OCD. He lives and breathes his precious schedules and cannot abide messy things. So he is in for a big shock with Blayne, who is incredibly messy and chaotic and cannot stop talking. But Bo doesn’t care, she amuses him and she is his. She just doesn’t know it yet and he senses that he will have to tread carefully or she will run again.

When Blayne finds out her best friend Gwen is about to replace her on the roller derby team because she just is not mean enough, she is determined to ask Bo Novikov for training advice. She will skate for the championship with her team! Bo is the most ruthless sportsman out there, totally brutal to both his opponents, his own team and his fans, so if anyone can teach her not to be so nice, he can. Bo is totally flabbergasted by the question, first she ruins his schedule, and then she wants him to change it to fit him in? And in return for training her, she will teach him to be more social, and make some friends. Bo is perfectly happy with his life as it is, he does not want to change, but he does want Blayne. And so he agrees.
But when she keeps being late as she wears watches that are pretty but don’t tell time, he has had it with her. She is driving him crazy, he does not care about her reasons and excuses, they had a deal. So when Blayne does not show up that evening for practice, her last chance, he goes to her house to tell her off, only to find her wounded and sick. Not only does he take care of her, without taking her to a hospital as she refuses to go, he cleans and cleans up her whole apartment while she is out cold.
To his own surprise, Bo wakes up the next morning on the floor instead of the couch, with Blayne snuggled up against him. And he likes it, but he has to go to a meeting with his agent. It takes a lot of yelling to get Blayne to hurry up, but Bo is relentless. When Bo later coerces Blayne to go out on a real date with him, the bad guys really ruin that.

There have been dead hybrids found all over town and New Jersey in the past few months, and the Group knows that they have Blayne’s name on their grab list. They have been using those hybrids for illegal dog fights. And so the Van Holtzes have tasked Dee Ann Smith with guarding Blayne, without telling her. Of course Blayne is not stupid and figured that out long ago, but she is hurt that they try to keep it from her. She really can take care of herself, something the kidnappers find out in a brutal way. Both Bo and Blayne are severely wounded, and Bo just manages to call for help from the bears in town. When contacting his uncle, a former Unit sergeant, he orders them to bring them both to Maine, where the bear hospital will take care of Bo and his little female. They will be deep into bear territory, where they will be safe. The Van Holtzes are very upset that they have lost Blayne, as she is friends with almost everybody they know.

When Blayne finds out that she has been chipped like a house pet, she is furious. How dare they! And so she refuses to go back home with them, when they finally have tracked her down. If they want her to come home, they will have to get her father to come and get her. She will stay with Bo’s uncle. And Bo makes the rash decision to stay as well, and to hell with the finals in two weeks. He never thought he could do that, but for her, he will walk away from the game. And did she not tell him he should relax and take a vacation?


This book actually had a bit of a plot, next to the romance part. But I really did like the romance a lot. It took a while for them to get into bed together, time for them to become friends first, and get to know each other. And they do fit together surprisingly well. I really dislike Blayne in the other books, because of her way to cheery and friendly disposition, she tires me out, but I did like her in this one. Bo understands her, and he takes her seriously. And when all her friends become big-brother-protective of her, she won’t take it, and of course Bo is never afraid. After all, he is the biggest baddest predator of them all.
I really enjoyed their time in Maine, where Blayne winds everyone around her little finger, even though bears usually really hate canines. They want her happy, and they want Bo to play with their team against the Canadian team, for a “friendly” little game.

This book has a perfect mix of action, fun dialogues, quirky characters and events, and some hot love scenes. I really enjoyed it, and think that this series is getting better with each book

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian