I discovered an author and her wonderful series a couple of weeks ago. I'm an ebook download junkie. I have 1000+ ebooks and haven't come close to reading all of them. So, when I was looking for a new read earlier this month, I didn't have to look far. I prowled through my author catalogs and discovered Shelly Laurenston and her shifter series: Magnus Pack, Pride Stories, and the Long Island Coven.
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These three series were published through a mix of Samhain Publishing and Kensington Brava with most available in paperback as well as ebook format.
Laurenston's shifter world includes the "predator" breeds -- big cats, canines, bears, etc. Her "origination" story is simple and casually mentioned in a couple of the stories. I would call this series Light Paranormal -- there's a bit of violence and external, life-or-death sort of conflict, but the focus is on the hero and heroine and their relationship and these books are Laugh-Out-Loud, Snort-Snort funny. As one of the "humor-impaired" West Virginia Barton clan, I don't often laugh while I read. While I was plowing through this series, I often chuckled out loud, which had my husband demanding to know, "What's so funny?" again and again.
The heat level is somewhere between Hot and Blazing. These stories are not erotica but come close to Romantica -- they are love stories with smoking hot sex and regular use of some more "risque" language. So, if you're easily offended by some of the more graphic language, sadly, you might want to give these series a pass. Which would be a darn shame.
Laurenston's characters are quirky, to put it mildly. These are no run of the mill heroes and heroines. The heroes are Alpha Males but the females are spunky and strong, which I love. I hate the heroine Doormat Syndrome.
Though not absolutely necessary, I recommend reading these tales in series order. Although the external conflict is really more a minor element compared to the romance, there is an overall story that carries through many of the books, especially the later ones. And, many of the characters from earlier books show up again and again in later tales, which is really nice to see.
Another thing I love about this series is that the most recent installment is as strong, if not stronger than the first. Too many series start off strong and start to get tired and lame (yeah, J.R. Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon, I'm looking at you here) but Laurenston's most recent tales are as fresh and entertaining as the first.
These stories are not long reads - I think they average about 250 pages but they have the right amount of heart and story. Laurenston also has a Dragon shifter series that I haven't read yet under the pen name G.A. Aiken which I look forward to devouring soon.
So, in summary, if you haven't read Shelly Laurenston's series yet and you're a fan of paranormal and shifters in general and you're looking for funny, sweet, hot romance stories, get the heck out there and check them out.
Series Rating:
= 5 hearts out of 5 -- LOVED IT!
Cheers and Happy Reading!
Lila B.
3 comments:
I have read her Magnus Pack series and really liked them. I will have to check out the other two series. I am a series junkie. I love to read books that give you glimpses of past characters even if it is brief.
I'm a series junkie too, but too many times, I read four books into a series and then stop, because like you said, they.....well begin to take a downward spiral.
STARS! YOUR BOOKS SOUND AWESOME LILA!!
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