Very good addition to the series :D

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked Cella and Crush and their story was a good addition to the series.

Cella is a tiger shifter. She works for an agency that protects cat shifters and also is an enforcer on the all shifter pro hockey team. She's the daughter of a shifter hockey league legend and she's also a bare-knuckles champ for 5 years running. She got pregnant at 16 and had a daughter but with the help of her family (which unlike most cat clans is very close) she was able to join the marines for a number of years before coming back to New York to take up her current work. She hasn't had much time or inclination to date though and this ends up causing problems for her later.

Crush is a polar bear shifter and has been a cop for years, mostly working undercover jobs and living on the seedy side of things. He likes what he does though and has no interest in changing. He was an orphan and was raised with a foster mother that he doesn't get along with. He's one of triplets but he also doesn't get along with his brothers. Crush isn't happy when the story begins because his cover was blown through no fault of his own. Because of this he's getting transferred to the shifter unit of the police and he's unthrilled with the change. Crush has no interest in a relationship when he meets Cella and it takes him a while to change that opinion.

Cella and Crush wake up the morning after a party that Dez (from The Mane Event) threw. Apparently jello shots didn't agree with either of them and Crush wakes up with a naked Cella asleep on top of him. He can't remember if he slept with her or who she is and freaks a bit. Then he gets a bit testy when he can't get her to wake up and get off of him so he can go to work (and Crush is too polite just to dump her off of him and just leave). Cella wakes up to find a handsome bear that has a bit of a stick up his butt so she decides to tease him and give him a hard time. Crush makes his escape and Cella goes on with things. We get to meet Cella's daughter, who is 18 and just getting ready to graduate high school and head to college. We also get introduced to her family which is loving and protective for the most part, but there are some problems. Soon after, Crush is at a hockey game and Cella sees him there. Crush didn't realize that she's "bare-knuckles Malone", the enforcer on his favorite team and he's both horrified and thrilled as he gets to spend time with her father in the owners box. Because of Cella's trickster type antics, her father thinks that Crush is Cella's boyfriend. After the game, Crush hears some other stuff out of context and runs for the hills and away from Cella. Cella's a bit disgruntled but she lets it go. In the mean time, Cella works on things for her agency and her hockey team.

Things come to a head for Cella when her daughter gets her to promise not to fight (for the space of a month) with her aunt Dedra (who tries to cause problems for her and makes her life hell). Right after promising this, Cella finds out her aunt has convinced her family to try to marry her off to a distant cousin. When her father tells the family that she has a man, in the form of Crush, Cella decides he's her key around breaking her word to her daughter. She manages (with some help from a friend) to convince Crush to help her out by acting like her pretend boyfriend. He does so reluctantly but as he spends more time with Cella (both personally and at work) he starts realizing that there's a lot more to her than he originally thought. Cella starts seeing more in Crush too and realizes he fun to have around for more than to just give a hard time. Things in their work situation escalate when it becomes apparent that a a bear of some power with ties to Crush is doing some bad stuff but they have trouble figuring out exactly what and the threat against Cella and Crush ends up pushing them together more. They finally end up sleeping together and slowly allow their relationship to become more. They don't really talk about things but they also don't really fight it once they both realize they have deeper feelings. Their friends realize they work well together and Crush gets accepted by her hockey teammates, even making friends with Bo Novikov (from Beast Behaving Badly). There's a lot going on as Crush and Cella work their case and go after the bad guys while handling hockey stuff and working out their relationship. There's drama and some issues but things get worked out and I liked how the story was resolved. Of course the best part of the ending...Crush and Cella deciding they should be together and starting their HEA.

This was very enjoyable. I liked both Crush and cella. Their interaction was priceless as there was a lot of poking fun and spicy interaction between the 2. Cella was just what poor grumpy Crush needed to pull himself out of his dull life, taking him from black and white to technicolor. And once Crush realized he liked Cella and started being a part of the relationship he proved that he was good for her in return. This was a very good addition to the series and I'm looking forward to the next book. I'd recommend this book. Thumbs up. :D

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2 people found this helpful

Love this series!!

I love this series and the humour. I’ve got to pick up more of Shelly Laurenston’s books. These are laugh out loud funny!!!!

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A Hot Romance Done Right!

Crush and Marcella is a hot romance done right. The charaters and sub charaters are interesting and strong. The world is easy to imagine. The romance is funny and witty. While there is a layer of mystery and intrigue. #romance #witty #romance #UrbanFantasy #Shifters #hot

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Lou and Cella - so funny!

The story was great. I enjoyed the narration and will definitely be listening to this story again in the future.

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LOVED IT!

Wow... I really loved this one!

Now... of all these Pride books I absolutely love BO and his schedule!!! This one is about another polar bear, who is a bit like Bo, but not as schedule... no one is like Bo! This was really great though... One thing I have learned is that Bears have a bit of OCD and they fixate on stuff... Now Crush totally was a huge hockey fan and by the way he had his house decked out with Carnivore stuff!

Now Stella, loved her! Loved her family, loved her totally bad-ass attitude... and loved her with Crush...

This is one of my favorites! So worth the credit or sale... Really pricey...so maybe not a buy!

Narration is some of the best narration out there... especially for these crazy shifter males! I do wish there was a bit more MINE in these books, like in book 1, but... I still feel satisfied at the end of the story...so, I am one happy customer. :)

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5 people found this helpful

Fab as Usual

Shelley Laurenston/G.A. Aiken is a fantastic author. Her books are measured in degrees of goodness. I have not read a bad book. The audible readings are just as good. The readers do a great job of acting out each character including their accents. I definitely recommend this all her other books.

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in my opinion best book

I love the relationship dynamic and the primal way they act. love the story

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Love these books

I really love them. There is comedy and a good plot together. You really have to follow the series to get the most out of the background and subplots. I love it. Can’t wait to get the next.

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Very enjoyable light hearted series

I love each and every book. I've listed to each one at least twice. They are great to de-stress to. Very entertaining characters!

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Perfection

Awesome story! Awesome actress! I love this series and the woman who performs them. Highly recommend.

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