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lynguy1's review against another edition
4.0
BEARS BEHAVING BADLY by MaryJanice Davidson is a paranormal romantic suspense story that has a unique story line and it is the first book in the BeWere My Heart series. Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is social worker for at-risk shifter children and teens and works for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA) which manages the shifter foster care system. She teams up with bear shifter and IPA contract investigator David Auberon when multiple murder attempts occur after she has a selectively mute teen werewolf in her custody.
The characters are compelling with their own flaws and virtues and the secondary characters were well-rounded and did not overwhelm the story. The relationships between the characters were believable and not contrived. The stakes were definitely high and the tension made this a page turner. The story line was fresh and the plot twists were believable, but not totally unexpected. Serious themes of kidnappings, beatings, murder, attempted murder, a mole, cover-ups, romance and much more are included along with the suspense and action.
The plot was engrossing, moving, fascinating, heartfelt, and interspersed with humor. The one detraction was the excessive amount of cursing which did not add anything to the story. Overall, this was an enjoyable book and a good start to a new series. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and MaryJanice Davidson for an ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
The characters are compelling with their own flaws and virtues and the secondary characters were well-rounded and did not overwhelm the story. The relationships between the characters were believable and not contrived. The stakes were definitely high and the tension made this a page turner. The story line was fresh and the plot twists were believable, but not totally unexpected. Serious themes of kidnappings, beatings, murder, attempted murder, a mole, cover-ups, romance and much more are included along with the suspense and action.
The plot was engrossing, moving, fascinating, heartfelt, and interspersed with humor. The one detraction was the excessive amount of cursing which did not add anything to the story. Overall, this was an enjoyable book and a good start to a new series. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and MaryJanice Davidson for an ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
abderiandumpling's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
sandyfleener's review
5.0
MaryLebone did it again
Another great series. She makes you care about the characters and want to know more. I'll be looking for the rest of this series.
Another great series. She makes you care about the characters and want to know more. I'll be looking for the rest of this series.
amym84's review against another edition
4.0
Werebear shifter Annette Garsea is a social worker for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA). She stands up for the young shifters who seemingly have nowhere else to go or have no one else looking out for them. When a young werewolf is put into Annette's custody following a violent altercation, Annette begins to understand there's more to the girl's story than meets the eye.
Enter independent investigator David Auberon. He and Annette have crossed paths on occasion (and no they're not dating!). While he admires her work with the children, he likes to remain at arm's length from anything having to do with work. But Annette's investigation opens up a huge can of worms and it soon becomes apparent, as they suss out corruption within the system, that the only people they can trust are each other. Buckle up, it's about to be a bumpy ride.
This is the first book in a new series, but I felt like there definite moments where I should have already had a clue about things such as world building or shifter politics. While Mary Janice Davidson does give us world building I felt a lot of times like it would be small off-the-cuff remarks that would eventually piece together to form a bigger picture by the end.
I really enjoyed the investigative aspect of the story. I liked that Annette is not a like a typical detective. It's certainly not her job description, but she does what she does because she truly cares about the young ones that she is tasked with helping. It's more than a job to her. So I wouldn't say she charges headfirst into confrontation, but she certainly doesn't restrain herself either, and I think her inexperience causes more than a few hiccups along the way. But overall, I liked the mystery surrounding this young werewolf and why she got violent. How one seemingly straightforward and simple explanation continues to blossom into something bigger and bigger than expected.
Of course there's the Mary Janice Davidson wit thrown in throughout which makes it a lighter read, but also kept me on my toes because of the characters's (especially Annette's) penchant for changing the subject at a moment's notice. For me, this was definitely not a book that I could read well with a lot of distractions in the background.
I really enjoyed David and Annette's rapport. The continuous back and forth between them was almost like a dance. But I really liked that neither one of them was in the lead. They both took turns being the alpha and the beta. It didn't fit into the normal shifter stereotypes that often feature the alpha-possessive male. I'm not sure if it's the fact that they are werebears and a little more laid back by nature or not, but whatever it is I'm here for it.
I felt like the fun and serious, mystery and romance aspects were balanced pretty well. Everytime I found myself wrapped up in the pacing and the quick dialogue it was hard to put down. With such a fun variety of side characters in this one, I'll definitely be picking up the next book to see where the story goes next.
*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Enter independent investigator David Auberon. He and Annette have crossed paths on occasion (and no they're not dating!). While he admires her work with the children, he likes to remain at arm's length from anything having to do with work. But Annette's investigation opens up a huge can of worms and it soon becomes apparent, as they suss out corruption within the system, that the only people they can trust are each other. Buckle up, it's about to be a bumpy ride.
This is the first book in a new series, but I felt like there definite moments where I should have already had a clue about things such as world building or shifter politics. While Mary Janice Davidson does give us world building I felt a lot of times like it would be small off-the-cuff remarks that would eventually piece together to form a bigger picture by the end.
I really enjoyed the investigative aspect of the story. I liked that Annette is not a like a typical detective. It's certainly not her job description, but she does what she does because she truly cares about the young ones that she is tasked with helping. It's more than a job to her. So I wouldn't say she charges headfirst into confrontation, but she certainly doesn't restrain herself either, and I think her inexperience causes more than a few hiccups along the way. But overall, I liked the mystery surrounding this young werewolf and why she got violent. How one seemingly straightforward and simple explanation continues to blossom into something bigger and bigger than expected.
Of course there's the Mary Janice Davidson wit thrown in throughout which makes it a lighter read, but also kept me on my toes because of the characters's (especially Annette's) penchant for changing the subject at a moment's notice. For me, this was definitely not a book that I could read well with a lot of distractions in the background.
I really enjoyed David and Annette's rapport. The continuous back and forth between them was almost like a dance. But I really liked that neither one of them was in the lead. They both took turns being the alpha and the beta. It didn't fit into the normal shifter stereotypes that often feature the alpha-possessive male. I'm not sure if it's the fact that they are werebears and a little more laid back by nature or not, but whatever it is I'm here for it.
I felt like the fun and serious, mystery and romance aspects were balanced pretty well. Everytime I found myself wrapped up in the pacing and the quick dialogue it was hard to put down. With such a fun variety of side characters in this one, I'll definitely be picking up the next book to see where the story goes next.
*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
gossamerchild's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
malreynolds111's review against another edition
3.0
This book is pure MaryJanice Davidson. The quick witty writing was spot on. I haven't read a book from the point of view of a werebear before and found it quite interesting. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
curls's review against another edition
1.0
This book was a pass for me because of the punctuation.
I usually can overlook it but wow I actually bought this book and had to check to see if it wasn’t a complete copy because of how bad the run on sentences
(and the sentence structure)
(all the parenthesis)
( and italics in parentheses! )
were just outright distracting.
Here’s an actual example
She let it cook for a minute, then grabbed a rubber spatula and ran it around the edge, lifting the bubbling, thickening omelet up here and there so the raw eggs could run beneath. A minute later she plopped the thing on a paper plate
(note: dishwasher soap)
and sat across from Pat, who took one look at Annette’s repast
“Want some?”
and shuddered. “You’ve gotta know the answer is a vehement ‘Oh dear God, not even on a bet.’”
Ok. Imagine that but for the whole book. I couldn’t tell you much about what was going on because I just couldn’t follow it.
Maybe try it on audiobook?
I usually can overlook it but wow I actually bought this book and had to check to see if it wasn’t a complete copy because of how bad the run on sentences
(and the sentence structure)
(all the parenthesis)
( and italics in parentheses! )
were just outright distracting.
Here’s an actual example
She let it cook for a minute, then grabbed a rubber spatula and ran it around the edge, lifting the bubbling, thickening omelet up here and there so the raw eggs could run beneath. A minute later she plopped the thing on a paper plate
(note: dishwasher soap)
and sat across from Pat, who took one look at Annette’s repast
“Want some?”
and shuddered. “You’ve gotta know the answer is a vehement ‘Oh dear God, not even on a bet.’”
Ok. Imagine that but for the whole book. I couldn’t tell you much about what was going on because I just couldn’t follow it.
Maybe try it on audiobook?
maddy_jay's review against another edition
funny
2.0
Oh lord. I was supposed to read this with a friend (we picked out the craziest cover at Barnes and Noble to read together) but I don't think she ever made it to the end. It was actually fun for 60%, then it got repetitive and I could tell the author was a millennial with her humor. No need for 400 pages either. And there's a shirtless guy on the front but they don't have sex till the last what? 10 pages? And when they do they can't even be serious about it. It read like a bad middle-grade book till the last ten pages
tessisreading2's review against another edition
3.0
I would classify this more as urban fantasy with a romance subplot than paranormal romance; the hero and heroine have crushes on each other as the book opens but haven't acted on them, and don't actually hook up until the very, very end of the book. Otherwise, a pleasant book but in some respects not for me - the disjointed style of writing (with thoughts or dialogue coming mid-sentence, and the sentence breaking the paragraph to accommodate it) felt really weird to read and, more fundamentally, the glib, dialogue-heavy tone didn't quite match the subject matter. We learn fairly early that our heroes are investigating a child trafficking ring in which shifter children are horrifically abused, so all the wackiness feels... I don't know, a little uncomfortable. Davidson takes some of the weight off by not giving us any information on any children victimized by the traffickers other than the two currently in the heroes' care (no names, descriptions, "little Tommy went missing!") but at the same time we know those children exist and , so...