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Bear Meets Girl (Pride #7)

4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 · rating details · 3,666 ratings · 350 reviews

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...more

ebook, 300 pages

Published March 27th 2012 by Kensington Publishing Corp

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Aug 01, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Ceridwen

Recommended to Elizabeth by: karen

Shelves: reviewed, hem-steppers-and-bodice-rippers, in-by-of-the-americas, vamps-and-other-mythical-beasts

Yes, that's a shapeshifting polar bear being scratched by a tiger-girl on the cover. Apparently, polar bears aren't furry when they appear on the cover of romance novels. Then they're waxed. Poor bear. That must have hurt.

I had really high hopes for this book when I opened the package from the wonderful karen. I looked at that ridiculous cover. I read the first page. I knew this book was exactly what I needed: something really and truly mindless. I thought that the two protagonists starting off...more

24 likes · like · see review

Mar 23, 2012 Laura the Highland Hussy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...

This is a fun, fast and funny book. This whole series is like that, though; full of fun and great banter.

Lou Crushek is an undercover cop when he gets transferred from NYPD to the shifter division. Crush’s cover has been blown by his former foster mother Peg, who conveniently runs BCP. Crush hates change. It makes him cranky.

Cella is the loud-mouthed KZS operative who also plays professional hockey for the Carnivores. They call her “Bare Knuckles Malone”...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Lady Lioness rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: saw-in-rt-book-reviews-mag, genre-paranormal-romance, read-march-2012, subgenre-werecats, subgenre-other-weres, read-april-2012, read-june-2012

March 25, 2013 I LOVE this book. I will never get tired of Crush geeking out. Never ever.

March 19, 2012

Okay, so my best friend (a former Borders merchandising/inventory supervisor) is now a receiver at Barnes & Noble. And you know what Barnes & Noble does different from Borders? Fewer strict on sale dates. And that is why I got this book in my hot little paws eight days before I thought it was coming out.

I'm still riding on the book high (will probably re-read it before bed), but I rea...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Zeek rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: shifters, pnr, favorites-pnr, favorite-author

Cella “Bare Knuckles” Malone, the heroine in Bear Meets Girl, is the only girl team member of the shifter only pro hockey team The Carnivores. She also is one valued member of KZS the Cat Shifter agency who protects their own what with her mad sniper skillz and all. Recruited to a fringe task force to catch the people hunting down shifters in the previous entry to this series, along with human cop Dez Macdermitt (The Mane Event) and frenemy Dee-Ann Smith (Big Bad Beast)- crazy and sneaky wolf sh...more Cella “Bare Knuckles” Malone, the heroine in Bear Meets Girl, is the only girl team member of the shifter only pro hockey team The Carnivores. She also is one valued member of KZS the Cat Shifter agency who protects their own what with her mad sniper skillz and all. Recruited to a fringe task force to catch the people hunting down shifters in the previous entry to this series, along with human cop Dez Macdermitt (The Mane Event) and frenemy Dee-Ann Smith (Big Bad Beast)- crazy and sneaky wolf shifter extraordinaire- PLUS raising her teenage daughter… her plate is full.

After a jello shot overindulgence at Dez’s house- and waking up in a strange man's arms- she meets the bear shifter who will make sense of it all, although she doesn’t know it till she’s already in deep with him, the very bear she insists is only her pretend boyfriend to appease her match making aunts.

Lou "Crush" Crushek’s world is turned upside down when, against his wishes he’s transferred to the same unit that Dez and Cella work for. (He does. Not. like. Change.) However, his move was very much needed, because it seems the person behind the recent goings ons in the shifter world, is none other than the psycho bitch who raised him.

Someone is hunting down shifters, stuffing and mounting them and it will take the combined efforts of wolf, dog, cat and bear to stop them. (Wait did I say that in another review in this series?? Probably cause we kinda been here before.)

Lacking much of the trademark brutal humor I’ve come to love in Shelly Laurenston’s books, this was definitely my least favorite of the Pride series thus far. If it were not for the other characters from the series making an appearance, I would have thrown in the towel.

Still, I really liked Crush- gotta love those logical bears. I just wish we could have gotten more depth from Cella. I never got a sense of her real emotions and that always bothers me. It also really bothered me that she (the author) relegated my Blaynie to a sobbing nutbag, manipulating Bo into doing exactly what she wanted. Sure she’s so that kind of wolf-dog shifter- but this time it just came off as annoying because there was NO REASON FOR IT. Bo and Crush were fantastic together- having Blayne making appearance in her exaggerated form, just to throw the reader a bone? I feel so used.

In the end, I cant get passed the feeling that this one was totally phoned in.

::shrug::

Here’s hopin SL takes a bit more time on the next entry.
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Apr 14, 2012 Anna (Bobs Her Hair) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: PNR fans/Pride series readers

Shelves: paranormal-romance

Grade: B- (between 3.5 and 4 stars)...The first half was missing sexual tension, Laurenston's brand of humor, and the characters weren't as interesting as previous h/H's. The second half was much better...funny, hot hand-cuff cop role-playing scene (HOT!!!), interesting new characters (Will the car thief get a book?), and a very nice ending.

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Mar 16, 2012 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for_review, paranormal

Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads

The one thing you’re guaranteed to get with any Shelly Laurenston book is a ton of humor centered around many different character interactions. I look forward to revisiting all the series characters with any new book as well as getting to know how our new leads will fit into this crazy world. BEAR MEETS GIRL gives us Cella Malone, a psycho, aggressive, playful at times, feline whose great loves in life are her daughter, her position as enforcer on the hoc...more Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads

The one thing you’re guaranteed to get with any Shelly Laurenston book is a ton of humor centered around many different character interactions. I look forward to revisiting all the series characters with any new book as well as getting to know how our new leads will fit into this crazy world. BEAR MEETS GIRL gives us Cella Malone, a psycho, aggressive, playful at times, feline whose great loves in life are her daughter, her position as enforcer on the hockey team and her job. In that order. And her man is a polar bear shifter, Lou Crushek (Crush), who is just the sweetest bear you’d ever want to know. He hates change and the book opens with Crush hung over after drowning his sorrows in a tray of jello shots, as he frets about his new job transfer that will now partner him up with Dez and her police force. He’s a guy who likes his nice, quiet, simple life. He comes home to a quiet house, with his foster dog and just is. Until Cella sets her claws on him and turns this bear’s life upside down.

The suspense storyline takes a backseat to all the character interactions, but I love it that way. Although, this particular suspense plot involves Crush’s foster mom, and her need to stop Crush from finding out a truth that could and will ruin her. In order to get him off her back, she orders a distraction that impacts Cella and her future. In that sense, the suspense portion plays a big role in the direction Cella’s life is going to take at book’s end.

What I always look forward to most about this series are the characters and their insane personalities. Every single person is different, and I love the mix that Laurenston always gives us. Not only are personalities vastly different but the entire world is filled with many different shifters, and full humans all with jobs and hobbies that intersect in the best ways. This book centers a lot around the hockey team, as Cella is an enforcer for Bo Novikov (who I adore). There’s plenty of Novikov and his anal list making, Blayne popping up all over, and Dee-Ann, who is sort of considered Cella’s friend – although you’d never know it with how many times these woman go at each other.

“At least we have our own cheerleaders,” Crush offered.

“Yeah, Blayne and the Wild Dog-ettes.”

“I must say, your woman has a lot of energy.”

“She’s had eight Shirley Temples. At this point, she’s just out of control.” Novikov sighed.

As much as I enjoyed Cella and her smart-ass, take no crap ways, I had a big soft spot for Crush. He’s just so adorable, but can and would rip the arms off someone if they needed their arms ripped off. He ‘fan-girl crushes’ on all the hockey players, and has moments of losing speech when he meets Cella’s dad who is Crush’s hockey idol. Crush has so many scenes that were just endearing to me and made all the sweeter considering the amount of insanity he’s surrounded by, namely Cella.

[Crush to Cella]: “How do you get rational, well-respected people involved in your insanity? I mean is it something you taught yourself to do or is it part of your sociopathic nature?”

“First off, I’m not a sociopath. I looked closely at that checklist and I’m in the clear.”

“Checklist? You mean the Robert D. Hare Psychopathy Checklist?”

“I don’t know. It was online.”

“But being a sociopath was such a concern for you that you felt the need to check it out online?”

“Once, but I’m in the clear…”

If I had one little issue with the story, it was the romance itself between Cella and Crush. They’re fun together and have nice chemistry, and a couple crazy hot scenes that showed nice guy Crush doing a little naughty role playing, but I just wanted more between them. Much of the story brings the two together as “pretend” dating; Cella needs the big bear to be her pretend boyfriend to get her Aunts off her case and to stop them from setting her up with her cousin. Pretending turns into reality, and I enjoyed their scenes together, but felt like a little more was needed as far as their relationship went.

Cella’s daughter was a breath of normal fresh air. She’s a smart, sane, practical, sane, responsible...did I say sane (?) 18 year old shifter, who loves her mom and likes the influence of Crush in her life. I hope we get a book for her in future. There are a few new characters introduced that will make for great stories later on. Cella’s best friend and doctor, Jai, Jai’s daughter and Hannah, who we’ve met before, gets a bit more page time and I love the story that’s slowly coming out about her.

Fans of the Pride series will enjoy this latest installment. If you love the humor and storytelling from past books, you’ll get more of the same here and personally, I love it. The humor in all of Shelly’s books has me laughing out loud and the fast pace storytelling that switches quickly from different points of view has me feeling like I’m flying through the book. This is another fun edition to the series, and as usual, I’m left with a big smile on my face and anxious to see who’s up next.(less)

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Jul 09, 2012 Patricia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: _adult, genre-paranormal-romance, paranormal_shifters, 2012, review-planned, setting-present, x-pov-3rd-person, x-pov-shared

A few months, no.. now years, back a few friends of mine and I had an ICQ or skype conference, and we were talking about how there were few to no books with were-bulls, -bears, or -mosquitos to be found. We then decided to write an erotic novel about homosexual werebears. We planned to include all of our pet-peeves, ungay them (because that's possible, ya know.) and so on.

In any case, then suddenly I found dozens of bear-shifter novels. What the heck. Those authors CLEARLY hacked into our conve...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Katie(babs) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading a Shelly Laurenston novel is always a hoot. I’m beyond addicted to her Pride series. She has every type of shift changing animal in these books from lions, tigers and bears (oh my). I never thought I would enjoy a romance featuring a bear shifting hockey loving, anal retentive cop and a over the top spunky, hockey playing tiger chick who loves to drive said cop wild. Shelly’s latest release, Bear Meets Girl is beyond wacky, so much so you may get whiplash from the overabundance of charac...more Reading a Shelly Laurenston novel is always a hoot. I’m beyond addicted to her Pride series. She has every type of shift changing animal in these books from lions, tigers and bears (oh my). I never thought I would enjoy a romance featuring a bear shifting hockey loving, anal retentive cop and a over the top spunky, hockey playing tiger chick who loves to drive said cop wild. Shelly’s latest release, Bear Meets Girl is beyond wacky, so much so you may get whiplash from the overabundance of characters and their loony antics. you’ll have a big smile on your face while you read.

Lou “Crush” Crushek is usually a very laid back guy. But he makes the mistake of having one too many Jell-O shots at a co-worker’s party and wakes up next to a naked She-Tiger. The She-Tiger freaks him out because she continues to snuggle with him and makes him believe she left her toddler daughter alone to fend to herself. Marcella “Bare Knuckles” Malone works as a protective agent for the KZS and plays professional hockey. Her father is mega big icon in that sport. Crush is a huge hockey fan but has no idea at first that the She-Tiger who rubbed him the wrong way is the daughter of the greatest hockey player ever. Since Cella and Crush come into contact with one another again, or rather she flirts with him purposely to embarrass him and asks him to be her pretend boyfriend to get her crazy family off her back, he gets to know her and they begin a very interesting relationship. Cella’s daughter is a high school senior and the exact opposite of her mother. She likes Crush and thinks he’s a good influence on Cella who has residual guilt for leaving her daughter Meghan alone for extended periods of time growing up. But for the most part, Meghan is well adjusted and wants Cella to be happy.

Soon enough Crush has been accepted into the Malone clan, including Cella’s fellow hockey player buddies. He still feels out of his element because these various animal shifters will fight and beat up one another just for fun. Crush feels more comfortable working undercover and dealing with thugs and drug dealers. Even though he’s been taken off undercover duty, he’s involved in stopping a powerful criminal woman, who coincidentally was his foster mother when he was growing up, and one he still can’t stand. Not only does he have to watch his back, but also Cella’s who now has a big bulls eye on her and has been targeted as revenge against Crush.

Bear Meets Girl brings forth the loony to the max. Cella at first drives Crush crazy. You really think they’ll never get together because for the most part Crush can’t seem to stand Cella. But then as they interact more, and she introduces him to her world and her family, he gains insight on why she acts the way that she does. From that he falls in love with her.

Shelly pretty much sticks to a formula that for the most part works. I really don’t know how she keeps track of all her characters because they arrive on the page and take over. Also, the conversations can be hard to follow because you don’t know who’s speaking unless you read carefully. But what I do know, and get a big kick out of, are the insults thrown around and the jaw dropping dialogue, especially the lines that come out of Cella’s mouth. There's one scene where Cella and Crush kiss, and she finds out how much heat Crush is packing in his pants. And no, I don’t mean his gun. Before she can jump his bone, she sees her friend Jai to complain about Crush and his big cock:

“That man is hung like a donkey. I will need all night to work that shit. And I will work it.”

This line had me in hysterics because this is exactly what you come to expect from a Laurenston novel.

If you’re looking for some fun time reading that will have you stitches, do pick up Bear Meets Girl. There’s more than a barrel of laughs in between the cover.(less)

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Feb 17, 2013 Ridley marked it as to-buy-small-publisher · review of another edition

I've been told this book has a shifter hockey team. If anything could entice me to read PNR, it's hockey.

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Apr 10, 2012 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cant-wait-for-this-book, to-buy, comedy, contemporary, were-shifter, read-2012, series, crazy-family, assassin-killer-bounty-hunter, crime-police-mystery-private-invest, romance

Every time I pick up a Shelly Laurenston, I know I’m going to laugh. I am so in love with her world of arrogant, over the top shifters. They delight in violent behavior and irritating others. They have no shame and are completely at home in their lust. Really, what’s not to love? Especially when you throw in a large dose of immature humor. ;)

Going into this book, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it quite as much as I have some of the other ones in the series since Cella is friends with Dee-Ann, th...more

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Feb 01, 2013 A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: review-requested, home-library, kensington, romance, paranormal, humor

Lou ‘Crush’ Crushek is a not your typical cop. He goes undercover to catch the most vile criminals around and he loves his job. However, he’s not just an undercover cop. He’s a polar bear shapeshifter and he’s just been transferred to a special shifter organization. Crush hates change and now he’s depressed. Enter into the picture a tiger shifter named Marcella ‘Bare Knuckles’ Malone and little does Crush know that the transfer isn’t going to be the only change he’ll need to handle.

Well-written,...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Khristine Stain rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is so difficult to rate... It was hilarious, as to be expected with any Shelly Laurenston novel, always interesting and never dragged itself out... But the ending kind of fizzled out. The rest of the series has had explosive endings, especially Big Bad Beast. Maybe I feel this way because we waited two books for Dee Ann and Ric's novel, so it was very anticipated. I love this author's writing style and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book,but the ending flattened out, dragging down a b...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Musing Bookworm rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published on Musing of a Bookworm.

Take one "by-the-book" cop, add one shit-stirring hockey player and combine with shifter politics for a rip-roaring time.

Lou "Crush" Crushek is a polar who hates change and loves peace and quiet. Marcella "Bare Knuckles" Malone is a tiger who loves to mess with people, is passionately loud and can take down a target from a thousand yards. You wouldn't expect them to make much of a team but for some reason, it just works.

Crush is a huge Carnivores fan...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Ami rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr, did-not-finish

So. Shelly Laurenston/G. A. Aiken has always been a kind of hit or miss for me and this one...is unfortunately a miss. Why so? The main problem I have with her books is always, always, always the characters. I know that this is a romance and I shouldn't really be expecting much (character-fleshing wise) from the hero/heroine but with Shelly Laurenston, I always feel that her characters are one-dimensional and are caricatures. For her, I think that these characters aren't really "characters" in t...more So. Shelly Laurenston/G. A. Aiken has always been a kind of hit or miss for me and this one...is unfortunately a miss. Why so? The main problem I have with her books is always, always, always the characters. I know that this is a romance and I shouldn't really be expecting much (character-fleshing wise) from the hero/heroine but with Shelly Laurenston, I always feel that her characters are one-dimensional and are caricatures. For her, I think that these characters aren't really "characters" in the traditional sense at all, but instead are devices to serve up an example of her trademark crazy humor - which for me, straddles this border of being slapstick funny...and then just being stupid.

Since I'm pretty sure that all her characters are one-dimensional in one way or another, the thing that makes the books in this series and in her other Pack series "make it or break it" is the relative sane-ness of the character (or rather, how tolerable the personality of the heroine is) or how they mesh with their hero counterpart. In this book, I feel that Cella's penchant for acting like she's still 18 when in fact, her own daughter is 18, is ridiculous and childish. It's annoying to read the dialogue when she's continually teasing and dragging around Crush and then dressing up in inappropriate outfits. Who in their late late 30s talks like that? Secondly, even though I dnf this book, the reason why I didn't was that there was, imo, zero chemistry between her and Crush. No, I did not find her teasing funny and no, I don't understand why Crush just woke up one day, decided that he could tolerate her annoying behavior, and was like: This. This is the girl I wanna fuck.

No. Fuck off, ye cursed bad writing. I want to see development in character. I want to see characters that aren't just some rehash of previous characters - a character that is mean-spirited, overtly-sexual, and/or a chatterbox. I don't understand why she chose to completely define a character by the animal they shift into and then just broadly and carelessly paint that personality over all the characters of that species. I want to see Laurenston tackle someone who has none of the personality traits that I listed above. I mean, there is confident, and then there is arrogance and plain mean-spiritedness and like it or not, Laurenston's heroines often cross that barrier. For example, Cella Malone's response to nearly anyone who disagrees with her = punch their lights out. Like a spoiled child.

Since I was reading this on my ipad, kindle app says I got 88% of the way through before DNF-ing. I'm pretty sure I started skimming at maybe 70%, because I was really really hoping that this book would be alright (and also my work commute is 3 hours roundtrip by train so I was terrifically bored with nothing else to do). But I quit because I just couldn't stand the sheer amount of stupidity, stubbornness, and arrogance that is Cella Mallone. (As a minor minor side note, Crush was okay. I liked him for the most part, but he also felt one-dimensional in that he was defined very shallowly by being a bear shifter and therefore all bear logical, having bear traits, etc., etc.)

tl;dr Annoying TSTL Heroine, Stupid Humor, Shallow Caricature Characters.(less)

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Jun 10, 2012 Guilty Pleasures rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: guiltypleasures-gennieg

Gennie's review posted on Guilty Pleasures

Bear Meets Girl is the seventh book in Shelley Laurenston’s Pride series and should not be missed. The world of shifters that Ms. Laurenston has created is fabulous and I enjoy how each species of shifter encompasses it natural counterpart! The part in this book about Dez (a full human in this world) watching Animal Planet and National Geographic in order to figure out how to interact with her co-workers was priceless!

If you’ve read the other books in th...more Gennie's review posted on Guilty Pleasures

Bear Meets Girl is the seventh book in Shelley Laurenston’s Pride series and should not be missed. The world of shifters that Ms. Laurenston has created is fabulous and I enjoy how each species of shifter encompasses it natural counterpart! The part in this book about Dez (a full human in this world) watching Animal Planet and National Geographic in order to figure out how to interact with her co-workers was priceless!

If you’ve read the other books in this series than you might remember Detective Lou “Crush” Crushek who was mention as being a fellow of NYPD detective with Dez. And then there is Marcella (Cella) “Bare Knuckles” Malone who is a she-Tiger and is friendly with DeeAnn Smith. If you haven’t read the previous books, you might want to in order to get the most outta this book, but that’s your decision. There are a lot of characters from previous books in this story and we meet some new ones that I look forward to learning more about.

Crush is Polar Bear who was orphaned at five years old, and like many bears his curious nature makes him a great detective. However, his world is turned upside down when his cover is blown and Crush must change departments. Bears don’t like change, so Crush finds himself a little lost. One other thing to know about Crush is that he is very grounded and a straight shooter. Cella is a fly by the seat of her pants girl, but she got a whole lot of training, so she can handle herself. Cella also is a pro-hockey player in the shifter league on Crush’s favorite team. Crush and Cella are perfect for one another and their story is more about making room for another person and learning to share a life together.

Ms. Laurenston’s writing style is hilarious and I am sure you’ll enjoy her wit and humor, along with the development of a story in which you become invested in all of the characters. This book doesn’t have as many sex scenes as the author’s other books, but the ones that are present are steamy and fun. This is a light-hearted read and will definitely leave you feeling better than you did before you read it. The only drawback is waiting for the next installment of the Pride series!!!(less)

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Jun 08, 2012 ~JenRen~ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bear Meets Girl – Shelly Laurenston

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 a...more

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May 31, 2012 Virginia Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, paranormal, romance

It was the "bear logic" that got me. It pulled me right in and kept me there until the end of the story. Author Shelly Laurenston has created her own fictional world and she rules! "Bear Meets Girl" is one of Laurenston's "Pride Series", which features sensational, sexy shapeshifters from all corners of the animal kingdom. In this story, "The Bear" is a Polar Bear, Detective Lou Crushek. Six-foot nine, with an imposing muscular physique, a flowing white mane, and piercing black eyes, Lou makes q...more It was the "bear logic" that got me. It pulled me right in and kept me there until the end of the story. Author Shelly Laurenston has created her own fictional world and she rules! "Bear Meets Girl" is one of Laurenston's "Pride Series", which features sensational, sexy shapeshifters from all corners of the animal kingdom. In this story, "The Bear" is a Polar Bear, Detective Lou Crushek. Six-foot nine, with an imposing muscular physique, a flowing white mane, and piercing black eyes, Lou makes quite an impression. Neither the bad guys or the good guys could ever forget Lou! A dedicated law enforcement officer, who prefers undercover work, Lou's nickname with the police force is "By the Book Crushek". To his friends, he is affectionately known as "Crush". He's actually a very calm, reasonable, and amiable fellow. When he explains things or answers questions with "bear logic", you can't help but smile--he's so unfailingly earnest! When he meets fiery She-Tiger Cella Malone, he finds himself with an unexpected attraction to someone who is his "Polar Opposite", and that really adds to the fun of the story! Cella is rude, crude and has attitude to spare. A pro hockey player, daughter of one of the greatest players ever, and teammate of the current greatest hockey player in the world, Cella is also an undercover operative for the good guys. A skilled and ruthless contract assassin, she is also a loving mother to her teenaged daughter, and a member of a large, very protective family. After Crush's cover is blown, he is transferred to a new police division, and he begins working with Cella's group. He is more than impressed to learn that Cella is "Bare Knuckles Malone", daughter of the legendary "Nice Guy Malone". She introduces him to her father, and also to Bo Novikov, "The Marauder", and the reigning star of the hockey world. Cella is one of the few people who can manage Novikov, but Crush also quickly wins his favor. When Cella's family decides to find her a husband, she pleads with Crush to be her "pretend boyfriend". He reluctantly agrees, fighting his attraction to the She-Tiger, and not really sure how to handle her tumultuous personality. However, it is the extreme differences in their personas, along with a hot, hot, hot attraction which brings them together. Sometimes, you don't know what you have been missing until you find it, and that makes it even more worthwhile. Furry fun!

Review Copy Gratis Kensington Books
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May 21, 2012 Kathy Davie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, paranormal

Seventh in the Pride paranormal romance series about several groups of shifters living in and around New York City. The couple focus in this story is on Lou Crushek and Marcella Malone.

There are so many reasons why you really want to start at the beginning of this series. Sure, you can jump in anywhere, but the reading is so much richer if you've been following from the start with Mane Event: Christmas Pride and Shaw's Tail .

My Take
I always love reading a Laurenston because she's so danged funny...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Jenn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance

This was such a fun book and it makes me really wish that Goodreads let us use 1/2 stars because this book wasn't a 3 for me nor was it a 4. A smack-dab in the middle 3.5 for me.

What I loved about it - it was fun. The verbal play between Cella & Crush was fun to read.

What keeps it from being a 4 for me is that the writing felt a little....schizophrenic. It hopped about through so many points of view that certain key things got lost in the shuffle. We're briefly in Mike Callahan's point of vi...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Ann aka Iftcan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, humour, mystery, novel, paranormal-mystery, pnr, romance, series-book, shelly-laurenston, shifters-all-but-wolves, were-wolf

Ok, I'm going to say right up front that I view my reading of Shelly Laurenston as a necessity. I use her humour to help me cope with on-going health issues. Being able to KNOW that I can pick up one of her books--even one that I haven't read before--and be promised a laughfest is very important on days when I am having a lot of pain. And Shelly's books really ARE funny. I mean, come on, a wolf-wild dog hybrid (of the human persuasion) who uses the fact that she is slightly insane (in a good way...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Carla Soares rated it 4 of 5 stars

I always try to review and rate a book within its type - it is not possible for me to compare books such as this with, for example, a huge classic like Crime and Punishment. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong - it's still my right to do it, I will rate my guilty pleasures any way I want. :D

This is a fun, spicy, well paced book that made me laugh, as Shelly Laurenston always does. The characters are great, unique and absolutely insane, especially the women. The world building (realistic and at the...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Sally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: shifter, read-2012

Bear Meets Girl is the seventh book in the Pride series and has everything you would expect from Ms. Laurenston. It is great to catch up with some of the colourful characters that are in this series and as usual there is a wacky time to be had by all with lots of humour along the way.

This book is about Cella “Bare Knuckles” Malone and Lou Crushek. Cella is a KGS contractor and plays pro hockey and Lou is a straight nailed cop who is obsessed with everything hockey. They first meet after a drunke...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Lea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal

I wasn't sure I would like this one as much as some of the others in the series, mainly because I found Cella a little too tough in the previous book and a tad annoying... but I should have known better than to doubt Shelly Laurenston! Of course this was a good book!

Cella is a hard as nails constantly scrapping she-Tiger and Crush is a by the book polar bear cop... the two seem at total odds to each other but the more you learn about them the better off they seem together! I really enjoyed the...more I wasn't sure I would like this one as much as some of the others in the series, mainly because I found Cella a little too tough in the previous book and a tad annoying... but I should have known better than to doubt Shelly Laurenston! Of course this was a good book!

Cella is a hard as nails constantly scrapping she-Tiger and Crush is a by the book polar bear cop... the two seem at total odds to each other but the more you learn about them the better off they seem together! I really enjoyed the conversations between Crush and Bo (the OCD bear-hybrid mated to Blayne) and even enjoyed all the hockey talk.

The plot that has the cats, wolves, bears and humans all working together - sorta - is interesting and once again I enjoyed the way Laurenston mixes everything together.

I've been trying to put my finger on why I like these books so much - beyond the humour and smexy times, etc etc... and I think it might be that there is not a lot of rescuing. Everyone is super capable and able to take care of themselves, yes they sometimes need help and I love it when they all work together, but when in other books the hero or heroine is suddenly in dire trouble instead of the next chapter all about them being rescued etc it's instead them fixing it themselves.

Case in point with this story - Crush is visited by 8 other bears ready to hurt him and bring him in to the Bear Protection Agency (BPA) and it seems like a dire situation... but nope, instead he puts 6 of those bears into a dumpster and takes the other two (his siblings) in all battered and bruised and faces the BPA on his own terms. There are also a lot surprises in these books with the plot not always going in the direction you think and/or it all getting wrapped up in the perfect way yet it's not necessarily the way you thought it was going.

I'm bummed there is only one more book in the series (at the moment)! I'm looking forward to the next one but I'm also hoping there are more coming... I'd love to read more about the Callahan lions and the full human car thief... and there is still so much more fun to be had with the Carnivores hockey team mates and the Smith pack and the Van Holtz and... well... all of them! (less)

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Apr 14, 2012 Kathy Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was another fun episode in Laurenston's shifter series. This time the romance focuses on Cella Malone and Lou Crushek. She's a tiger and part of the Malones, a formidable Traveller family, a professional hockey player, and a contractor for KZS, an organization that protects feline shifters. Lou is a polar bear and a cop. He is honest, blunt, and an avid hockey fan. She is blunt, constantly teasing him, and a devoted mother.

The story starts when they wake up together - naked - after being at...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Dianne Socci-Tetro rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel a bit like I have a bi-polar personality. I hate this book, but at the same time like a bloody car wreck, I can't seem to look away (stop reading). I read some Laurenston, but apparently not enough to understand that this was part of a larger series. (Amazon can't seem to confirm that but it IS the impression I get) and I am truly sorry I spent 8.99 on a Kindle version of a book that I will never read again.

This was one of the sloppiest written books I have read in a long time. The story...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Brenda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelly Laurenston once again nails it with her kick ass heroine meets kick ass reluctant hero. Seriously, I read nonstop from about 7 a.m. until I was finished that night-if it hadn't been for silly things like feeding the kids and attempting to be a responsible parent I wouldn't have put the story down until it was finished. I always feel like you "could" read the books in the series out of order, but to really appreciate the characters' personalities it's better to read them in order. One thin...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just let me start out by saying that it was great to be back in New York City and surrounding suburbs with Lions, Tigers, and Bears – and yeah and any other kind of Shifter you can think of – in the new Sifter series by Shelly Laurenston, Bear Meets Girl. I loved every word of this well crafted story.
Lou ‘Crush’ Crushek is a Polar Bear that does undercover work for the NYCPD, and he loves his orderly life. He is not found of change, no bear is, but he is about to be thrown into the mixer and it...more
Just let me start out by saying that it was great to be back in New York City and surrounding suburbs with Lions, Tigers, and Bears – and yeah and any other kind of Shifter you can think of – in the new Sifter series by Shelly Laurenston, Bear Meets Girl. I loved every word of this well crafted story.
Lou ‘Crush’ Crushek is a Polar Bear that does undercover work for the NYCPD, and he loves his orderly life. He is not found of change, no bear is, but he is about to be thrown into the mixer and it all the fault of the Jell-O Shots that Mace Llewellyn, that lion, brought out at the party. He wakes up the next morning with a woman draped over him, but he knows she is feline.
Marcella Malone loves to play with people, especially uptight bears. She has a seventeen almost eighteen year old daughter, a wonderfully large family that drives her crazy, so she takes the ice as Bare-Knuckle Malone, in the professional hockey team The Carnivores. She is one of the most feared Enforcers in the Shifter League.
Lou’s undercover persona has been blown; by none other than his foster mother Peg Baissier, so he is moved over to the all shifter division and partnered with Desiree MacDermont, the first of the changes he felt coming. But that one is small compared to the changes that Marcella is about to twist into his life. When Lou goes for the hair cut that his new boss says he must get since he is no longer undercover as a drug dealing murderer for hire he bumps into Blayne Thorpe, the wolfdog, and is pulled into the intimate world of his favorite team, the Carnivores. And as any one that has read Ms. Laurenston’s books know, once Blayne decides she likes you… well, there is no getting around whatever she decides you need in your life.
This book is one laugh after another, even in the tense moments Ms. Laurenston finds a way to lighten the mood just a little. A mater at her Shifter stories, this book is another 5 star must read from her. Thank you again, Ms. Laurenston for making bears as sexy and desirable as can be. I love your work and eagerly await the next in the series.(less)

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Apr 15, 2012 Regina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lou Crushek - straight-laced polar bear shifter cop super hockey fan
Cella Malone - no-rules tiger assassin hockey enforcer

Wait, what?

Only in Shelly Laurenston's crazy Pride series would these two even inhabit the same universe, much less become romantically involved. They wind up naked in bed together the morning after a party at a mutual friend's house - think Jello shots (again, only in Laurenston's world....). They wind up investigating a taxidermist and human hunters who knowingly target sha...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pride, shelly-laurenston-g-a-aiken, shifters, bears, tigers

I am a huge Shelly Laurenston fan. I always have fun reading her books. With that being said, I have never laughed out loud so much from reading a book than I did from this one. When I was out in public I literally had people looking at me strange including my family.

This installment of the Pride Series is about Marcella, "Cella" aka Bare Knuckles, Malone and Lou "Crush" Crushek. These two are definitely polar opposites. Funny since Crush IS a polar bear. I was surprised that I enjoyed this stor...more

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May 07, 2012 Booklover, Indianapolis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr-shapeshifters, read-in-2012

(May) A very generous 3*, mostly for the humor which was watered down from other books into more like just obnoxious people and dialogue. For the first time ever, I was really disappointed in a SL book. I didn't love Smitty's book years ago, but this one was just...kinda dull. The romance was weak and took a back seat to much of the action. I love having favorite characters appear in books, but this reminded me of a J.R. Ward book - so many characters, a continuation of Blayne and Novikov's stor...more

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About Shelly Laurenston

Originally from Long Island, New York, Shelly Laurenston has resigned herself to West Coast living which involves healthy food, mostly sunny days, and lots of guys not wearing shirts when they really should be. Shelly Laurenston is also The New York Times Bestselling author G.A. Aiken, creator of the Dragon Kin series. For more info on G.A.'s dangerously and arrogantly sexy dragons, check out her...more

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Quotes from Bear Meets Girl

“How do you get rational, well-respected people involved in your insanity? I mean is it something you taught yourself to do or is it part of your sociopathic nature?” — 30 people liked it

“I'm always happy- it annoys people.” — 23 people liked it

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Bear Meets Girl (Pride #7)

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