Scan barcode
sashalei's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There are romance novels, and then there is smut. This book is proudly smut, and if that is what you’re looking for you are going to love it. It is very good smut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Ableism
kathydavie's review
5.0
First in the Magnus Pack paranormal romance series with this story set in a small town in Texas.
My Take
Oh yeah, there is a lot of action in Pack Challenge. It's exuberant and fun with a lot of chasin' goin' on. A fun read you won't want to stop until you're done.
On the negative side, in some ways, this was a little hard to take what with Miki, Sara, and Angie's slangin' off, but I did love their style and the support they gave each other. Talk about knowin' each other…!
The Story
Sarah, Miki, and Angie are unique individuals and best friends knowing all the negatives and positives about each other. The story starts with the three of them hangin' out at Marrec's Choppers when a girl biker stumbles in, her bike busted up bad. Which is how Zach meets Sara for the second time. Seems Sara is the Pack's target and, they intend to take her before the lions get her.
In the meantime, it's Zach up for babysittin' duty, and he takes to it like a wolf to a lamb.
The Characters
Sara Morrighan recently lost her grandmother. Well, okay, maybe lost isn't the right word since her and practically the entire town is celebrating granny's death. Lynette was a mean, old bitch and there isn't a soul who misses her.
Miki Kendrick works in a bookstore. A good thing as she constantly has her head in a book and is paranoid out the wazoo about any kind of possible criminal activity. With a mouth that just doesn't understand diplomacy, she very kindly passes the info out to everyone.
Angelina Santiago is a hot number the guys all crowd around.
Marrec owns Marrec's Choppers where he employs and watches out for Sara. There's somethin' special about Sara, and Marrec intends to see to her continued good health.
Zach Sheridan plans on moving up in the Pack but he is soooo not interested in settling down with a mate. Um, in spite of his intense attraction for Sara. Meanwhile, his friend Conall Viga-Feilan has no qualms at all about taking it up with Miki. Just seems that Miki is too tongue-tied to take him up.
The Cover and Title
Ooh, yeah, hard body with a huge eye looking out at you with a question in it.
The title seems fairly appropriate as the wolves and the lions are facing off against each other over Sara.
My Take
Oh yeah, there is a lot of action in Pack Challenge. It's exuberant and fun with a lot of chasin' goin' on. A fun read you won't want to stop until you're done.
On the negative side, in some ways, this was a little hard to take what with Miki, Sara, and Angie's slangin' off, but I did love their style and the support they gave each other. Talk about knowin' each other…!
The Story
Sarah, Miki, and Angie are unique individuals and best friends knowing all the negatives and positives about each other. The story starts with the three of them hangin' out at Marrec's Choppers when a girl biker stumbles in, her bike busted up bad. Which is how Zach meets Sara for the second time. Seems Sara is the Pack's target and, they intend to take her before the lions get her.
In the meantime, it's Zach up for babysittin' duty, and he takes to it like a wolf to a lamb.
The Characters
Sara Morrighan recently lost her grandmother. Well, okay, maybe lost isn't the right word since her and practically the entire town is celebrating granny's death. Lynette was a mean, old bitch and there isn't a soul who misses her.
Miki Kendrick works in a bookstore. A good thing as she constantly has her head in a book and is paranoid out the wazoo about any kind of possible criminal activity. With a mouth that just doesn't understand diplomacy, she very kindly passes the info out to everyone.
Angelina Santiago is a hot number the guys all crowd around.
Marrec owns Marrec's Choppers where he employs and watches out for Sara. There's somethin' special about Sara, and Marrec intends to see to her continued good health.
Zach Sheridan plans on moving up in the Pack but he is soooo not interested in settling down with a mate. Um, in spite of his intense attraction for Sara. Meanwhile, his friend Conall Viga-Feilan has no qualms at all about taking it up with Miki. Just seems that Miki is too tongue-tied to take him up.
The Cover and Title
Ooh, yeah, hard body with a huge eye looking out at you with a question in it.
The title seems fairly appropriate as the wolves and the lions are facing off against each other over Sara.
katyanaish's review
4.0
***3.5***
Re-read Sept 2018
I'm trying to work my way through my mountain of TBR, and I found the second book of this series. I'd never read it, even though I remember liking the first enough to roll forward. Not sure why. So I picked book 1 back up for a refresher.
There's not a lot of depth to this book. It's just a fated-mate thing, with a lot of steamy smuttery and two people fighting the pull of mating because they don't think they like each other much. There's some hand-waving backstory - - but not anything to world-build or sketch in details. How do packs work? Like, how many are there? We've got this pack from California. And Marrec's pack seems to be entirely his. And where is the cat territory?
So really, this book is just a hot shapeshifter sex book, with a lot of hilarious banter. That makes it fun for what it is, but is probably why I didn't feel compelled to OMG READ MORE NOW! That said, I have the next book, so I'll read it.
Re-read Sept 2018
I'm trying to work my way through my mountain of TBR, and I found the second book of this series. I'd never read it, even though I remember liking the first enough to roll forward. Not sure why. So I picked book 1 back up for a refresher.
There's not a lot of depth to this book. It's just a fated-mate thing, with a lot of steamy smuttery and two people fighting the pull of mating because they don't think they like each other much. There's some hand-waving backstory -
Spoiler
her mom started a pack war with the cats? they killed her dad and left her for dead? but we never get to hear how / why her mom did that ... or why her grandma was a psycho bitch, why Marrec took her in ... why her family wasn't with this Pack anyway, and so was open for attackSo really, this book is just a hot shapeshifter sex book, with a lot of hilarious banter. That makes it fun for what it is, but is probably why I didn't feel compelled to OMG READ MORE NOW! That said, I have the next book, so I'll read it.
silreadsalot's review
5.0
I love Shelly Laurenston's style of writing. She makes up a world were shifters are not only powerful but also sexy and fierce. I'm loving this story can't wait for the next only.
mamabears_fabulous_book_finds's review
4.0
Motorcycle riding wolf shifters...whats not to love?! Add in one grown up shifter female who doesnt know she is a shifter, with all the hormones and aggressiveness that goes with it, and this eas one very funny, wild book, with some Oh Shit moments, and some Damn, she went there... lots of fun.
jackiehorne's review
3.0
A gritty shapeshifter novel, which doesn't shy away from the implications of pack/wolf behavior (clear hierarchies; animalistic sex). The storyline focuses more on sex, some on fighting, not so much on suspense or intrigue. The bad guys are pretty easily defeated, and heroine Sara fairly easily integrated into her new life in the Magnus Pack.
Quite a few reviewers have written about how unlikeable the characters in this paranormal shape-shifter series are, and how they behave more like teenagers than adults. I haven't seen anyone bring up the issue of social class, which seems to be very relevant to such a discussion. Sara, the book's heroine, was raised by her extremely unpleasant (and clearly not very well-off) grandmother. Her surrogate father owns a motorcycle repair shop. When said surrogate father urges her to expect more from her than her grandmother had, she replies "Come on, Marrec. What exactly are you expecting for me? That my two years of community college will lead to a high life of big business? Or maybe now I can go for that medical degree?" Sara comes from a working class background, and the norms of that upbringing are probably quite dissimilar from the norms of most middle class readers. I personally find her and her friends' constant use of "bitch," "whore," and other derogatory language unappealing. But when I think about it in the context of the world in which Laurenston shows her being raised, it seems that such language and behavior is a sign of Sara's strength, her mastery of the codes necessary to survive and thrive in her social setting. (Not quite sure how the physical fighting of Sara's friends Miki and Angelina fits into the social codes, though; is it included more for laughs?)
I was also intrigued by the racial make-up of Laurenston's cast of characters. Sara is part Native American, although she seems to have little knowledge of that aspect of her heritage, her grandmother having rejected both it and her shapeshifter heritage. Sara's friend Miki is black, with a large white Viking-like shifter hinted to be her romantic partner. I'm interested to see whether Miki's racial identity plays any sort of role in her romance in book #2 of this series.
Quite a few reviewers have written about how unlikeable the characters in this paranormal shape-shifter series are, and how they behave more like teenagers than adults. I haven't seen anyone bring up the issue of social class, which seems to be very relevant to such a discussion. Sara, the book's heroine, was raised by her extremely unpleasant (and clearly not very well-off) grandmother. Her surrogate father owns a motorcycle repair shop. When said surrogate father urges her to expect more from her than her grandmother had, she replies "Come on, Marrec. What exactly are you expecting for me? That my two years of community college will lead to a high life of big business? Or maybe now I can go for that medical degree?" Sara comes from a working class background, and the norms of that upbringing are probably quite dissimilar from the norms of most middle class readers. I personally find her and her friends' constant use of "bitch," "whore," and other derogatory language unappealing. But when I think about it in the context of the world in which Laurenston shows her being raised, it seems that such language and behavior is a sign of Sara's strength, her mastery of the codes necessary to survive and thrive in her social setting. (Not quite sure how the physical fighting of Sara's friends Miki and Angelina fits into the social codes, though; is it included more for laughs?)
I was also intrigued by the racial make-up of Laurenston's cast of characters. Sara is part Native American, although she seems to have little knowledge of that aspect of her heritage, her grandmother having rejected both it and her shapeshifter heritage. Sara's friend Miki is black, with a large white Viking-like shifter hinted to be her romantic partner. I'm interested to see whether Miki's racial identity plays any sort of role in her romance in book #2 of this series.
snance's review
2.0
I hate it when I don't really like a first book in a series, but the author introduces characters that I want to find out more about, so I must keep reading. At least the writing is decent, with no glaring grammatical errors, though I could do with out so much bitch slapping. "Less sex! More Character development!"
laura_devouring_books_crumpets's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this, Smut, mates and hot guys with bikes!!!!
It did flick POV around a bit jarringly which sometimes confused me but it didn't deter from the enjoyment of the book itself...
Loved the humor in it both the main characters where hilarious and quick witted.
"His friend sure did have it bad for a woman who went screaming beyond the realm of blunt. Well, whatever floats your boat."
A quick easy fun read.
It did flick POV around a bit jarringly which sometimes confused me but it didn't deter from the enjoyment of the book itself...
Loved the humor in it both the main characters where hilarious and quick witted.
"His friend sure did have it bad for a woman who went screaming beyond the realm of blunt. Well, whatever floats your boat."
A quick easy fun read.