A review by redhairedashreads
Born to Be Badger by Shelly Laurenston

4.0

 
4 stars - It was really good

Emily “Tock” Meyerson-Jackson and her honey badger friends are on a mission to stop shifters from trafficking humans for hunting and cash. They have realized that a brutal lion coalition is behind this enterprise and that it is also responsible for the death of Malone's father. Now the Malones and honey badgers are working together to stop them, but that also means they can’t ignore their attraction anymore either. 

First, like the previous books, the main couple’s relationship is not really the main focus of the book. There is still relationship building and sex but the main focus of this series has been more on what is happening in this world and to the characters. I enjoy this series because of the crazy scenarios happening and how Laurenston weaves the relationship in between all the action and general honey badger craziness. 

Shay and Tock’s relationship was a hilarious and action packed one. These two fall for each other while trying to uncover information on who killed Shay’s father. Shay is the sweet and introverted Malone brother who is also a great father. While I don’t usually enjoy children in my stories, Dani was a hilarious little tiger who really loved math. I actually really enjoyed seeing Shay and Dani’s relationship and watching Tock build a relationship with Dani. It was a surprisingly great addition to the book that brought a lot of humor. 

Tock is a honey badger who keeps everyone on schedule. She is extremely conscious of time and hates messing up her schedule. I liked that while we see her manage time and get pushy with it, she was never shamed for her behavior and was frequently consulted to keep people on time. Tock’s family was very interesting, especially her grandmother, who I really hope we get to learn more about in the next book. 

“I feel like I should tell you . . . I think I definitely like like you now.”“Oh, my God! Are we still doing this?”“I thought I should warn you.”“Why?”“I’m a cat. We don’t like anyone. So when we do like someone, it’s not something we just get over.”

Tock and Shay’s relationship was sweet and fun. I liked how Shay admitted his feelings first and knew he would never leave her. One thing about this series is that the relationships are very primal and influenced by their animal side which I like because they are shifters, so seeing him admit he had fallen hard for her made me happy. 

“Better to bake,” she told herself. “Always better to bake. Mass murder bad,” she reminded herself. “Baking good.”  (Charlie)

The search for information about the Malone father’s death and the battle with the de Medici lion’s was action packed and kept me hooked. My favorite part of this book was seeing everyone come together to fight back. I especially love seeing more of Charlie and how she is now handling being in control of her own missions. She is still my favorite character from this series and I loved seeing how she is handling things. Also, we get to meet new crazy honey badgers and their husbands in this and I really want to see more of them now. 

Overall, this was another fun and action packed honey badger book. I can’t wait to see what will happen next now that war seems to have been declared. 

CW: human trafficking, gun violence and death, blood, violence, and gore

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

 
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