Breaking Badger: A Hilarious Shifter Romance

Shelly Laurenston

Aug 2021 · The Honey Badger Chronicles Book 4 · Kensington Books

About this ebook

Fans of Thea Harrison and Nalini Singh won’t want to miss this exciting, funny, and sexy novel in the mega-popular series.

“Shelly Laurenston’s shifter books are full of oddball characters, strong females with attitude and dialogue that can have you laughing out loud.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

It’s instinct that drives Finn Malone to rescue a bunch of hard battling honey badgers. The Siberian tiger shifter just can’t bear to see his fellow shifters harmed. But no way can Finn have a houseful of honey badgers when he also has two brothers with no patience. Things just go from bad to worse when the badgers rudely ejected from his home turn out to be the only ones who can help him solve a family tragedy. He’s just not sure he can even get back into the badgers’ good graces. Since badgers lack graces of any kind . . .
 
Mads knows her teammates aren’t about to forgive the cats that were so rude to them, but moody Finn isn’t so bad. And he’s cute! The badger part of her understands Finn’s burning need to avenge his father’s death—after all, vengeance is her favorite pastime. So Mads sets about helping Finn settle his family’s score, which has its perks, since she gets to avoid her own family drama. Besides, fighting side by side with Finn is her kind of fun—especially when she can get in a hot and heavy snuggle with her very own growling, eye-rolling, and utterly irresistible kitty-cat . . .

“Filled with high-octane action, some serious snark, and a plethora of humor.. the resulting madcap adventures are sure to please series fans.”
—Publishers Weekly

 

Ratings and reviews

The Honey Badgers are back and no one is safe. Breaking Badger is Mad’s story. Mad is one of Max’s basketball teammates. Their team is in the playoffs, someone is trying to kill them, and Mad’s grandmother has died. We find out that Mad’s family was not very nice to her so she lived with her grandmother. Max’s sister Nat Malone is coming into her honey badger powers. Nat’s brother Finn wants to find out who killed his father. Finn and Mad hook up. Mad buys a house in the same neighborhood as the MacKilligan sisters. There are the various cast of hybrid shifters constantly providing action in Breaking Badger. Something is always happening and we are treated to globe trotting shifters. I love this world that Shelly Laurenston has created and when I grow up, I want to be a honey badger. PS: I think Dee-Ann Smith (Big Bad Beast, Pride Series #6) has met her match in Charlie MacKilligan. I need to go back and read the Pride Series. 4 stars. Yes you need to read this series. Start with Hot and Badgered.

Two and a half stars. Finn and his two brothers are known as the Black Malones, Siberian tiger shifters, they are bigger and badder even than their ne'er do well relatives the Malones who are into everything slightly dodgy. Finn can't help but rescue a group of honey badgers led into a trap on an island off New York, but a total misunderstanding makes them mortal enemies, which is a shame because the honey badgers might be the only people who can help him solve the mystery of his father's murder. Mads is half hyena and half honey badger and 100% viking. Obsessed with basketball she is estranged from her hyena family. Mads and Finn might be the only sane ones in their respective families, but can they hold the warring factions apart long enough to find out the truth about Finn's father? I've been honest that I haven't enjoyed the Honey Badger Chronicles very much but I liked this the least of the four. Honestly for about a quarter of the book I had no idea who the 'happy couple' were going to be because this was such an ensemble piece it could have been any of the honey badgers and any of the Malone brothers. This just felt like Shelly Laurenston has got to a point where she has such a long list of 'features' that she needs to put in each book (eg Max being crazy, Stevie being a genius, Charlie baking for the bears etc, etc, etc) and well-loved characters like Dee-Ann Smith, that the plot got totally overwhelmed. In fact, I finished the book two minutes ago and I would struggle to give you a coherent summary of the plot, not even sure there was one TBH. Overall, I've said it before but I think I really mean it this time, no more honey badgers for me. I don't like them and it just makes me irritable reading them. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I received an early copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and this review is completely voluntary When you just want to submerge yourself into mayhem, action-adventure, and complete and utter hilarity - you can do no better than this. Chaotic, witty, downright bloodthirsty, and with a little smattering of romance! We've only just met Max's teammates fully in book #3 so there was ever so much we didn't know about them. This book introduces the team, how they met, what they do now, and all the weird personalities they have. Strategists, drama queens, rich-girls, demolitions experts, and expert thieves and tunnelers - this is a team you do NOT want to make enemies of! There are plenty of action scenes and battle royale to enjoy, but there are also the beautifully simple but witty and catty scenes between siblings. I'm still griping that the girl's dad had to be Scottish - such maligning of my countrymen - but let's face it, no matter what nationality good ol' dad was he's an absolute gobsh*&^! The McKilligan sisters just keep on taking in waifs, strays, and abandoned or neglected friends and family. As a consequence, if you take on one of them, you have a whole army of folk who are willing to back them up. Mads may think she is a loner with no friends but her teammates are about to put her straight on that. If her horribly neglectful and downright murderous mother and grandmother make a run at her, Mads is about to find out how many friends she actually has. Finn may be her complete opposite but now that his baby sister is now part of the McKilligan clan, the rest of his family are also part of the clan - whether they like it or not! I loved the way that Mads and Finn are completely oblivious to what is going on between them, they've got a relationship before they even know they really like each other that much. Stevie, once again, almost causes a complete Charlie meltdown but also provides a beautifully formulated and well-represented mental health scene. I did have a bit of a tear in my eye by the end of that scene. Please read the series in order, it really well help you see the characters and world development and all the mad side plots make sense. Super happy with the newest addition to the series.

About the author

Shelly Laurenston is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pride, Call of Crows, and The Honey Badger Chronicles, as well as winner of the RT Book Reviews Readers' Choice Award for her 2016 novel, The Undoing. When she’s not writing about sexy wolf, honey badger, lion, and other fang-filled predators, she's writing about sexy dragons as G.A. Aiken, the acclaimed and bestselling author of the Dragon Kin series. Originally from Long Island, she now lives on the West Coast and spends most of her time writing and making sure her rescued pit bull doesn’t love everyone into a coma. Please visit her online at www.ShellyLaurenston.com.