In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles 2)
Shelly Laurenston
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: March 26, 2019 (Kensington)
Rating: 
Petite, kind, brilliant, and young, Stevie is nothing like the usual women bodyguard Shen Li is interested in. Even more surprising, the youngest of the lethal, ball-busting, and beautiful MacKilligan sisters is terrified of bears. But she’s not terrified of pandas. She loves pandas.
Which means that whether Shen wants her to or not, she simply won’t stop cuddling him. He isn’t some stuffed Giant Panda, ya know! He is a Giant Panda shifter. He deserves respect and personal space. Something that little hybrid is completely ignoring.
But Stevie has a way of finding trouble. Like going undercover to take down a scientist experimenting on other shifters. For what, Shen doesn’t want to know, but they’d better find out. And fast. Stevie might be the least violent of the honey badger sisters, but she’s the most dangerous to Shen’s peace of mind. Because she has absolutely no idea how much trouble they’re in . . . or just how damn adorable she is.
Filled with laugh-out-loud moments, tension, action, and steamy moments, In a Badger Way is a solid addition to the Honey Badger Chronicles. I have waited long for this book and I was not disappointed! Shen is adorable and Stevie grew on me as she made efforts to meet her new therapist’s recommendations. Their romance was reminiscent of the “stray-dog it” comment Stevie made to Berg in Hot and Badgered with a delightful little twist to fit Stevie’s character. The running jokes and cameos make this world a treasure. I do recommend new readers to go back and read the Pride series before diving into the Honey Badger Chronicles for maximum enjoyment.
As a veteran reader and fan of Shelly Laurenston’s work, I know to expect a fast paced book with several perspective jumps within a chapter. I enjoy seeing everyone’s thoughts and the behind the scenes actions but in this book, I think this style worked against the story this time. I was disappointed that Shelly didn’t spend more time with Stevie’s attempts to go undercover as it was listed as a main plot point. When we finally reached that portion, it was warp speed and I didn’t get to enjoy Stevie’s badassery the same as with her sisters.
Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed Shen and Stevie’s romance and I can hardly wait to read Max’s book and more spin offs after that! I will be crowing about this book until we start receiving news about the next installment! I truly hope Laurenston continues writing in this world as I would love to read more about Toni’s siblings and Dutch’s family.
