Wolf with Benefits (Pride, #8) by Shelly Laurenston

Wolf with Benefits by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: * Wolf with Benefits
Author: Shelly Laurenston
Series: Pride, #8
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Brava
Format: ebook
Date/Year: March 26, 2013
Reviewed by: ElaineReads

*This book was provided to me by NetGalley for an honest review.

Summary from the publisher:

Ricky Lee has no plans of getting serious about anyone, but he will protect Toni Jean-Louis Parker. Not just because he’s been hired to do so, but because it’s the right thing to do. And if that means traveling around the country with one complicated She-jackal, dealing with chocolate-eating wild dogs, instigating trouble between his brothers, and having the most amazing sex he’s ever had…well, who said his job didn’t have perks?

Toni doesn’t know how she keeps getting herself into these situations. But even she has to admit there’s something about Ricky Lee Reed that she finds kind of interesting…and downright sexy. Now they just have to survive long enough to figure out if what they have is worth fighting for…

My Musings:

I am a long time fan of Shelly Laurenston’s books, especially this series. I consider them some of my comfort reads. I know if I ever need a book that will cheer me up, all I have to do is choose one of these.

Wolf with Benefits is no exception.

Toni Jean-Louis Parker is surrounded by geniuses. Her entire family is extremely gifted either in the fine arts or in academics. What they cannot do is manage their lives. That has always been Toni’s job. She spends all of her time arranging things for her siblings and parents and has never had the opportunity to have a life of her own. She is driven and stressed simply because it is necessary in order to deal with the arrogant personalities in her family.

Oh, did I mention they are all jackal shapeshifters?

Enter Ricky Lee Reed. Ricky Lee is a member of the Tennessee Reed wolves and a more laid back wolf you have never met. He lives to be entertained. And he finds most everything entertaining, especially Toni and her family.

Toni’s experiences with her over achieving, arrogant, self-centered family makes her perfect for managing the shifter’s star hockey player Bo Novikoff. Nobody gets along with Bo and the team cannot win without him. Toni finds herself responsible for arranging a match with Siberian bears in SIBERIA! Bears who just happen to hate canines.

Well, obviously she needs protection and Ricky Lee is more than happy to look after her. Might he have an ulterior motive for following a sexy she-jackal around? Well, of course he does.

I had my doubts about this book at the beginning because so many new characters were introduced, it was difficult to keep track of who was who. After a couple of chapters though, things settled down and the plot and characters became as endearing as those in the other books in the series.

Speaking of the other books, this is not a book or a series that can be picked up at random. These books need to be read in order. Characters from previous books show up on a regular basis and you really need to know their stories. This book in particular felt like old home week in the shifter world.

Fortunately, reading all of these books is not a hardship. Most of the characters are shapeshifters and the way their animal traits influence their human personalities is hysterical. I particularly like the lion males with their “it’s all about me” attitude, not to mention their obsession with their manes.

Read this book, but more importantly, read all these books. If you want a funny, enjoyable read with plenty of hot sex, you want these books.

By the way, can you tell I really, really love these books. I think you will too.

Ratings:

Overall: 4
Sensuality level: 3

View all my reviews