User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Well that sucked.
It's bad enough that there is a fucking apocalypse going on and we don't even get to kill any zombies and instead are stuck at home cooking for a bunch of ingrates all day, but now the book I've looked forward to for months sucked?
Jilly's feeling stabby.
Oh yeah, I'm ordering this model when we all get our robot bodies. I like his sweet moves.
So, you might wonder why it took me almost a week to get through this book when I can usually knock out 2 or 3 in that time. It's because this book is so damn put-downable. Where was the hilarity? Where was the fun? Did the Rona kill it or something?
Thanks for making me spend time with the hubs, killjoy! All he wants to do is spend time with me and shit instead of letting me read and internet all day. *sigh* It's so hard to be me.
Okay, so this one was about the "last" sister getting her mate. The sister was hilarious in past books, but completely fails as a romantic heroine. She is basically a sociopath without any empathy. I don't think a person like her can feel love, so romance? Doesn't work. Also, what's supposed to be funny is mostly just mean. Don't get me wrong, bitchy can be funny sometimes, but this wasn't like that. She was rude and mean to people for no reason - not jokingly either.
Yeah, that's the vibe she was throwing out. Good job, mean dolly.
The other problem with this mess of a book is that it was too jumpy. There was a constant mixture of POV's in each chapter - some of people who were very peripheral characters, some of people we didn't know, some of old characters, some from other series by this author - and then occasionally the main characters. It was messy. And they were just jumping from place to place the whole time. It was hectic in that way, but then there would be pages of the play-by-plays of a basketball game that was just filler. I would have preferred that the page time had been spent on developing the romance we were supposed to be buying.
But, the romance was not believable. The only thing these two had going for them was having been in the same massacre at the same time. There was absolutely no chemistry.
As a Houston resident, I can state this is true. And, much like vegan food, I ain't buying the romance in this book.
However, I will admit that the hero character, Ze, was the best part of the book. He finds out he is a cat shifter at the beginning and I love how his cat-like personality traits show up. My favorite is when he looks at another guy who is annoying him and swats the guy's drink onto the floor. That is one of my favorite cat moves. Those evil little bastards crack me up with that one.
I love him.
Still, all together, avoid this hot mess. The first two were fun, but this is not in the same league.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
ZeZé Vargas was hired to kidnap Max - and it seemed like a really, really easy job. That is until he realized
just how crazy she was.Max was ready to brush off yet another set of kidnappers with finesse and ease. That is until she realized
he was a jaguar-shifter.So...she kidnaps him instead.
As the enemies circle close, Max becomes desperate to protect what matters most - her family. And maybe ZeZé too.
So.
I
didn't quite enjoy this one as much as the other two.
It MIGHT just be because I read all of these books one right after another but the more I read this one, the more similar it felt to the others.
Each story introduced the audience to a different perspective.
Book 1 - introduced us to Charlie - the fiercely protective and loyal eldest sister, who is a huge baker
Book 2 - introduces us to Stevie - the fiercely protective/loyal youngest sister, who is also a genius
Book 3 - introduced us to Max - the fiercely protective/loyal middle sister, who is extra aggressive
Each perspective ended up being very, very similar across the series. And book 3, Max's perspective, just felt like Charlie's but with the intensity turned up 10x...I just wasn't feeling it.
Other than that, it was a fast-paced and overall fun read...
just too samey in terms of perspective.
With thanks to Kensington books for sending me a free copy in exchange for and honest reviewYouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Rating: really liked it
Shelly Laurenston is one author that has always had the most wonderful and diverse characters. Her Badger series is no exception. The cast is colorful, boisterous, fun, CRAZY, hilarious – one of a kind.
If you love PNR and shifters of all kinds, and you love entertaining, laugh-out-loud and ridiculously funny stories – you need to read this series – but please start with book one in her Pride Series The Mane Event. The author interweaves more and more of the Pride series with the Badgers – hello cameos from old favorite characters. And that’s also one of the reasons why I wouldn’t recommend jumping into this book without reading the other series first. There is definitely an overload of well known characters in Badger to the Bone.
I don’t think it makes much sense to talk about the plot. All you need to know is that Badger to the Bone is one of the most entertaining stories I read this year. I caught myself bursting out with laughter, snorting and giggling. It was crazily funny at times, definitely over the top crazy too. Very much what I was expecting when reading a Shelly Laurenston book. Lot’s of crazy but lovable shifters. Oh, and they are ALL violent – so you got to be ok with blood, and be ready for interesting food choices, and strong kick ass heroines – definitely those.
Badger to the Bone was a fabulously entertaining book and anyone who is a fan of this series will enjoy it. It was definitely the right book at the right time for me because I adored it. And I’m so happy the author is writing in her shifter world again. It’s my favorite series of her, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her shifters.
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Rating: really liked it
I'm so disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book more. I love Shelly Laurenston. She can make me laugh and smile like no other, but this book just didn't have the romance I come to love from her funny shifter books. I loved Charlie and Stevie's books, and I loved Max in those books, but this one was a bit of a mess. First off it jumped around so much. One minute we are reading from Max's pov then the next some random character from one of her many other series/books. The cameos of past characters was out of control. Truly I think I was visited by the ghost of every character of past. Some from books I read years ago and it would take me a bit to even remember who the heck they were. Which just took me out of the story and confused me. Add to that almost zero romance besides the rushed bit at the like 85% and it really didn't work for me. This book wasn't all bad though and it did make me laugh, but it's not want I wanted or expected.
Rating: really liked it
There is always one book in the series that disappoints me and usually it is the last one. Why? The endings are always rushed and here it was no different.
Seems I'm a black sheep when it comes to this book. It is most definitely Me and not the book!
I considered myself to be a very lucky lady and I am still of that opinion. However Shelly Laurenston writes hilarious female characters that are unique and know what they want and here with Max it is no different but out of these three sisters she is the wild card and I felt that she didn't really get her time in this book neither did the Hero Zé. There was just so much going on with other parts of the books and it was for me hard to keep track of who is who and why who was doing that. I can see potential for a lot of spinoffs for this series.
Rating: really liked it
This had me laughing so hard, my sides hurt! I was recommending this to friends before I even reached the 25% mark, it was that good!
Max was one crazy, whack-a-doodle and I loved how protective she was over those she cared about. I’ve never read another heroine like her but she’s the type that I could definitely get used to. With her madcap group of friends she was scary good at taking down the bad guys, or just anyone that ticked her off.
And when it came to Ze, she didn’t do the insta anything. She doesn’t like cats, and Ze was very much a cat...of course, he doesn’t know that.
Watching Ze as he watched the sisters was hilarious. His reactions to them, although mostly internal, kept me in stitches. Theirs was a life he didn’t even know existed and suddenly he was thrust into the center of a house of family full of chaos. Lots of prime material for hilarity.
This story branches off in several directions and while I was a bit confused a time or two, it wasn’t hard to catch up. How the plot all begins to interweave together was a pleasant surprise and made me love this book even more. This is definitely a reread!
Multi POV
Safe (view spoiler)
[no ow/om drama; no sexual background for either h or H (hide spoiler)]Triggers (view spoiler)
[only trigger here are honey badgers...but then again, they don’t care (hide spoiler)]
Rating: really liked it
Many thanks to Kensington Books for the free copy in exchange for an honest review! "I’m a fuckin’ honey badger and by this claw”— she held her hand up—“ I fuckin’ rule."
Well, now that I am at the end of the series (or at least, I've finished all of the books currently available in this series), I can say that, in my opinion, this series kind of went downhill.
So, what's this book about? She’s the woman he’s been hired to kidnap. But ZeZé Vargas has other ideas . . . like getting them both out of this nightmare alive. Just one problem. She’s crazy. Certifiably. Because while he’s plotting their escape, the petite Asian beauty is plotting something much more deadly . . .
Max “Kill It Again” MacKilligan has no idea what one of her own is doing with all these criminal humans until she realizes that Zé has no idea who or what he is. Or exactly how much power he truly has.
But Max is more than happy to bring this handsome jaguar shifter into her world and show him everything he’s been missing out on. A move that might be the dumbest thing she’s ever done once she realizes how far her enemies will go to wipe her out. Too bad for them Zé is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive . . . and honey badgers are just so damn hard to kill!
So....... so.... soo...... this series started out great. The first book was 4.5 stars but then the second book came around and it was four stars and now we're at the third book which was 3.5 stars. This series and its books aren't horrible but they did kind of get worse with each book.
I really loved the introduction of Ze. He was hilarious and I was really disappointed that the book didn't focus on him as much as I would have hoped. The book was more focused on Max and her sisters which wasn't horrible but at this point, I am getting a bit tired of their drama because it's just going in circles.
Finally, I was not a fan of the ending. It was very open-ended so I assume that there is going to be another book in the series. It was also such an abrupt ending which really annoyed me.
Overall, this book was eh... just okay. But I still recommend giving this and its series a read.
Bottom Line:
3 stars
Age Rating - [ R ]
Positive Messages (0/0)
Violence (4/5) - [Gore, Fights, Gun, Death]
Sex (3/5) - [Sexual themes, Brief semi-detailed sex scene]
Language (4/5) - [C*nt, F*ck, D*mn, Sh*t, Wh*re, Sl*t]
Drinking/Drugs (4/5) - [Alcohol consumption, Medicinal drugs]
Content and Trigger Warnings - Violence, Sex scenes, Death, Loss of a loved one, Sexual themes, Language
Publication Date: March 31st, 2020
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
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Okay... that was an abrupt ending
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Happy Pub Date!
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Rating: really liked it
Snarky...outrageous...."tongue in cheek" humor...Shelly Laurenston at her best!4.75 stars.
I loved this one so much....but then I never had any doubts to start with...."mad" Max Mackilligan and her crazy honey badger sisters..... such divine stuff!!!! ....absolutely hilarious reading!!!!...plus the added benefit of super-cool cat..... ZeZé Vargas.....and all the usual suspects.
OUTRAGEOUSLY FUNNY!!!!
I SAVORED EVERY MINUTE OF READING TIME!!!
In fact, I am totally incapable of being objective here as this is my absolute favorite type of snarky, tongue-in-cheek humor. So I say, if you like to laugh or enjoy "quirky" paranormal romances then with this series you have hit the motherlode!!!
Max “Kill It Again” MacKilligan possibly my most favorite of the honey badger sisters.
Not to overlook the equally as wonderful first two books:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review (truly, I would have begged for this one!!!).
Rating: really liked it
Badger to the Bone is book three in the
Honey Badger Chronicles by Shelly Laurenston and narrated by Charlotte Kane.
I had a blast with the audiobook. I smiled a lot. Laurenston, weather writing as Akin or Laurenston; always makes me smile and feel good. I know when I pick up one of her books I’m in for a good time.
As always the books are full of humor, quirkiness, action and entertainment. This was no exception! We still get that fun loving feel and silly humor plus some suspense and mystery added to it.
The downside to this one is that there is so much happening. The author brought back a lot of old characters from her
Pride and Magnus Pack series to make appearances. I love revisiting older characters and having them worked into the story, but it was too much. It was just too many appearances and this ties into the POV issue. We get so many POV switches that it threw me. Even with the audio it took me moment to realize we where moving onto another character.
Besides the old characters we also meet a number of new characters like Max’s basketball team who are all honey badgers. This leads me to believe the author might be giving them stories of their own.
As for the romance. Nothing stood out to me. It was quick and almost rushed. I can’t really say they had a romance. It was some smiles and flirting; here and there.
I will say I like Max. She’s a fun honey badger and then we get to meet ZeZé Vargas a character that doesn’t know he’s a shifter. I liked how they first meet up. It was fun! I also liked that Max took him home and helped him figure things out.
Narration: Charlotte Kane did a great job on ALL the voice. As I said so many past characters came into the story that she had a lot of voices to do. They were distinct. The audio also helped to move the story along since we jump around so much in character POV’s, which slowed the pace down, and so having the narration deal with that, moved it along.
Badger to the Bone was another fun listen in the
Honey Badger Chronicles. I liked the audio and would recommend this series in audiobook formate.
Rated: 3.5 Stars 
Rating: really liked it
I can't possibly express enough how much I am loving this series. I don't think I have laughed so hard as I have at these sisters. They are totally kick ass woman and living on the crazy train!
This one focuses on Max, but where Max is, so are Charlie and Stevie. I love that. These sisters have each others back and really show what family is meant to be. They seem to hate everyone and everyone seems to hate them, and yet they are constantly surrounded by other shifters.
Even though each book focuses more on one of the sisters, I would recommend reading this series in order. You learn so much about all these characters, it will just increase your enjoyment of each book.
I will also warn that the romance is not a priority in the story. It's still there and I do love who Max is paired up with. Ze brought just as much entertainment to this book as the sisters did.
I have no idea if there are plans for more books in the series, but I sure do hope so. I don't think I could get enough of all these characters. If you love silly humor and love to laugh, read this series!
Rating: really liked it
Absolutely hilarious.
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway!
Rating: really liked it
Tons of humour, quirkiness, action and entertainment is what I've come to expect from Laurenston's books, but this book and the series it is a part of for me have not been up to scratch (to varying degrees) - especially when compared to a number of her previous books. I know to leave reality at the door and enjoy the often very crazy ride but this book for me was just a messy and at times confusing mixture of scenes, events and characters.
There was so much constantly happening in this one, and the fact that the POVs of other characters outside the main characters were included (even where they were quite short) didn't help add depth to the plot/story, I've read books where more than two POVs works, here it didn't.
Added to that Laurenston just threw in cameos from a multitude of characters, the inclusion of characters from previous books is something I usually adore, but here it felt like it was done to fill pages and occurred way too much.
There's no real development when it comes to the relationship between Max and Ze - questioning whether I can even call it that (felt like zero romance). There were one or two smiles but these were small and fleeting.
Overall, massively underwhelmed and disappointed - now contemplating whether I should just stick to re-reads of the author's older books (at least when it comes to books under this name).
Rating: really liked it
Giveaway win!
Spring Into Reading A Thon: A book with romance or friendship
If I'm honest this book is probably more of a 2 star read but it was fun. And given what we are all going through I think we could all use a little fun.
The writing wasn't great. The plot was pointless but while I read this book I was able to turn my brain off. So for that reason alone I bumped it up a star.
Badger to the Bone is book 3 in this series but I was able to pick up the plot(what little plot there was).
Will I go back and read the first 2 books?
No. Not unless I can get it for FREE!
No rec!
Rating: really liked it
Shelly Laurenston returns with book three in the Honey Badgers Chronicles! I was really excited about this book because I think of her books as refreshers for me. There are no other books like this series and really, no one else writes quite like Shelly Laurenston.
If you like over-the-top humor that’s a little bit violent and dark, then I think you’ll enjoy this series. The antics that these characters get themselves involved in are really crazy and it’s really fun to watch. However, I don’t know if this book grabbed my attention like the previous books have.
I enjoyed it, but it probably not my favorite of the series. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. This series is just too unique to give up on just yet.
Rating: really liked it
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request for an ARC of this book. The review below is entirely my own opinion.I love the MacKilligan sisters! I knew from book 1 that Max’s story was going to be one heck of a roller coaster ride. And it sure was!
This book was light on the romance versus other PNR‘s (and even books 1 and 2 of this series), but very much full of fun and non stop action! I couldn’t stop reading or laughing!
I will say though that you
need to read the first 2 books of this series before diving in. Because there are so many characters who have been introduced from the previous books and there are also many plot references to those stories in this one, that going in blind will likely give you a headache.
And for fans of the honey badger sisters, I can guarantee that you will have a damn good time reading Max’s story!
