The Beast in Him

Back in high school Jessica was awkward, lonely, bullied, helpless and desperate

Many years have passed since then - she’s now successful, powerful, rich, has an awesome network of friends and an amazing pack. Of course she has some old scores to settle and is perfectly willing to give old crush Bobby Ray Smith the run around.

I love Jessica. And I would love this entire book to be the story of her awesome life. Jessica was an orphan and grew up almost friendless, ostracised and severely bullied. Her family lost through a plague that hit so many were-wild dogs (and I like that the world building includes elements like that - that a disease can his one population and what that does to their culture and survival). We then have the gap to show more adulthood

Jessica is wealthy, successful, snarky and she has a pack. And while I am a complete and utter cat person and would never ever ever have a dog, I absolutely love the wild dog pack. I love how they have fun. I love how they rely on each other. I love how they constantly support each other. I love their bonds, I love their karaoke, I love their family and how important it is to them. I love how they support other lost orphans and work closely with them to help them feel belonging and connected.

I just want the story of Jessica. I want the story of her and her four closest friends. I want their fun, I want their complete lack of embarrassment over everything (they’re not wolves - they’re dogs. And since when do dogs care about being silly?)

And I want the story of her claiming her power; not just wealth and success but how she built her pack and staked out territory and her pack together. There’s some excellent, awesome scenes where this wild dog pack showed just how much they are contenders and excellently take down the packs who look down on them.

Jessica is also a Black woman. She is completely lacking in stereotypes or tropes or other elements that so often make us cringe when we see a Blackety-Black portrayals. On the downside I reached page 163 and read “get my Black, Wild-dog ass out of there” and said “wait, she’s Black”? Which is almost a little odd because one of her pack is Asian and that’s very clear; we also have another Japanese wild dog who visits and is a major business partner which is very overt.

It’s going to sound odd but I kind of like that Sassy was one of the girls who bullied Jessica. Because it’s easy to have a cruel bully be a complete monster we’re meant to hate. It’s harder to see that bullies can be people we like and appreciate - but that doesn’t change the terrible, cruel things they do to other people. I like that it challenges the narrative that because someone is nice/friendly/fun with you doesn’t mean they are to everyone. And I like that Jessica is still extremely not happy with her.

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This review was updated on A Weebish Book Blog as part of my TBT Review feature.

When I pick up a Pride novel, I know I’ll enjoy every minute I spend with Laurenston’s furry characters. THE BEAST IN HIM tells the story of Bobbie Ray and “the one that got away”, Jessica Ward. While I wouldn’t consider their story my favorite of the series, it features some of my favorite characters—the wild dogs! The wild dogs are some of the smallest of the shifters, but what they lack in size they make up in quirkiness and cunning.

Jessica Ward grew up as the only wild dog in a small, Tennessee town ran by the infamous Smith wolves that Bobbie Ray’s father controls. Bullied and bruised, Jessica survived at the bottom of the food chain all show more of her life—but grew up to be an extremely successful CEO and Alpha female to the biggest wild dog pack in America. When she realizes the boy who broke her heart has moved to New York to stay, she hires his new security company on to show Bobbie Ray how much she’s grown up since the days she used to follow him around with stars in her eyes.

Jessica is as sweet (and klutzy) as they come, until someone comes between her and the Kuznetsov Pack’s young. She’s a fierce predator wrapped in a geeky package and Bobby Ray just can’t seem to resist her. She has an elegant shield she wears for the outside world, but when it’s just her and her friends, she’s nerdy, adorable, and loves to chase her tail. Plus, she’s nerdy. What bookworm wouldn’t identify with a nerdy character?

Bobbie Ray Smith is one of many sons of the Alpha of Smithtown. He moved his small pack up to New York to start his own little pack. When he “bumps” into Jessie Ann all grown up and living large, he thinks she’ll fall right into his arms just like old times. Boy is he wrong. Instead, she barely wants anything to do with the man who rejected her all those years ago, and ignores his advances.

While there were some seriously cute moments for Bobby Ray, Jessica stole my heart. He goes from slut to a one woman man as soon as he sees Jessie Ann again. Not that I didn’t find his character entertaining, and I’m certainly not bashing his slutty ways (the sluttier, the better!), but it’s just not all that believable that the guy changes his whole personality all in one day. It felt very instalove and honestly, I kinda liked him the way he was.. Thankfully, the man’s charismatic personality saved him for me. If you love Mace, you will love Bobbie Ray. He may even turn you into a dog person! Woof, woof.

All-in-all THE BEAST IN HIM is a goofy yet sexy sequel that I’ve read many times. It’s full of laughter, my favorite furry characters, and lots of heat! If you haven’t given the Pride series a shot, you are missing out! show less

Still just as good as I remembered. Still love Jessie Ann, still find Smitty that shade of arrogant I can't resist and still love all the various versions of Pack and Family dynamics.

I've always found it fascinating how in each individual Pride book (or Honey Badger or hell the Dragonkin books even) the couple looks 100% the sanest (relative to the others) while every other couple looks THE MOST BONKERS, even though one book ago they were the SANEST.

Meanwhile since the books are only vaguely told in some sort of chronological order its fun seeing some characters before they get hit with the mating urge.

At any rate this lives up to everything I enjoy in these books - great chemistry, great sex and wonderful relationships.

Check out my other listens at Eargasms Audiobook Reviews

I do not know if I mentioned it in the last book's review, but I freakin love this series!!! It has all my favorite elements snarky sassy gals, yummy alpha men, a fantastic story and oodles of smexy action!!!! Oh Hell yes, give me, give, me give me!!

The second book does not disappoint and is even better than the first!! Here we have yummy playboy wolf Bobby Ray who meets his match in sassy Jess!! They are so very combustible!! Hot, heavy and rough is what they like, funny me too! I can just see them fighting to make up!! This is a couple with passion!

The story is great, if not a touch predictable, and you meet some more supporting cast. I love all the characters in these books, you show more see old favorites and get a few new friends! The dynamic between them all is fabulous, you feel like you are visiting with friends when you read. I laughed out loud more than once and have tons of favorite moments.

I adore the mixed narrative, switching POV between the main characters is key to knowing them better. You also get a few supporting cast POV mixed in to keep things really interesting.

Charlotte Kane is the narrator for the series and she is fabulous! She's perfect for these books, she brings in the sense of fun and energy to the reads. Great characterizations, everybody has a distinct voice. She is a rather quick reader, something I enjoy but others might be put off by.

I can not wait to jump straight into the next book. Please let it be Sissy Mae! Yep, I have a new addiction, happily there are several books out already so it will be at least a week before I am jonesing for the newest release in the series. I am not even going to look until I finish devouring everything that is already out! show less

I woke up early this morning to finish this book. Now, I love to sleep, so that should be a hint as to how much I enjoyed this book.
Jessica has waited twelve years to get back at Bobby Ray Smith for rejecting her kiss before he left town to join the Navy...and boy was it worth it!! As one of Bobby Ray's friends said "...she shot your ass down like a jet over enemy territory." I snorted my way through this book. Between the shifter jokes (there are dogs, wolves, and lions...oh my) and the redneck attitudes (there's Bobby Ray, his daddy Bubba Rae, his sister Sissy Mae, his momma Janie Mae, Sissy's friend Ronnie Lee, etc) my sides were sore from laughing so much.

How Bobby Ray 'courts' Jessica is hilarious. I don't want to spoil it for show more the rest of you, but I can say that if you enjoy rednecks, shifters, and hot sex...grab this one quick show less

I jumped into number two of this series because the plot caught my eye. I really love the spurned heroine thing. He rejected her when she was a shy, awkward, insecure young thing and it broke her heart. Now they're both grown and he's into her. The earlier rejection was A Misunderstanding. Self-doubt and angst ensue. I like this line, but the book did seem to drag on. And, don't get me wrong, I love sex in my books (most of the reason I read romance) but this book could have used a bit more internal dialog around the angst and less leaps into bed. Wow, I can't believe I just said that. Big change from my first foray into romance, where I just wanted to read sex scenes and the buildup would bore me. Anyhow, I'll continue to make my way show more through this author's work but I think a lot of the novelty has worn off. show less

Dear Readers,

Laurenston’s Pride series is a series I come back to over and over, especially when I’m dealing with book slumps. Book slumps are periods of time after having finished or put down a terrible book (or even a book that baffled me) and have the urge to avoid all books like the plague, because the last one left me anxious and depressed.

When I pick up a Pride book, I know I’m going to enjoy the bumpy, laugh-out-loud ride. The Beast in Him tells the story of Bobbie Ray and his “one that got away”, Jessica Ward. While this book is not my favorite story in the series, it features some of my favorite characters, the wild dogs. Even though they are the smallest of the shifter predators, they are badass and very tricky – show more two characteristics that I always find humorous and extremely entertaining.

Jessica grew up as the only wild dog in a small, all-wolf town ran by the Smith pack that Bobbie Ray was born into. She was bullied and bruised and lived at the bottom of the food chain all of her life, until she grew up to be an extremely successful CEO and Alpha female to the biggest wild dog pack in America. When she hears of Mace and Bobbie Ray’s new security team, she hires them on to show Bobbie Ray how much she’s grown since she was the runt that used to follow him around with stars in her eyes.

Jessica is as sweet (and klutzy) as they come, until someone thinks they can come between her and her pack’s young. She’s badass when she needs to be, but not overly obnoxious. She has a shield she wears for the outside world, but when it’s just her, the pack, and her friends, she’s not afraid to accept comfort or empathy. Plus, she’s nerdy. What bookworm couldn’t identify with a nerdy character?

Bobbie Ray Smith is one of many sons of the Alpha of Smithtown. He moved his small pack up to New York and start his own little pack. When he “runs” into Jessie Ann all grown up and living large, he thinks she’ll fall right into his arms, professing her undying lust just like old times. Boy, is he wrong. Instead, she barely wants anything to do with the man who rejected her all those years ago, and ignores his advances to take things to the next level.

I had more of a crush on Jessie Ann than Bobbie Ray. He goes from manslut who will stop for a quickie in a bathroom with any stranger available, to a one woman man as soon as he sees Jessie Ann again. Not that I didn’t find his character entertaining, and I’m certainly not bashing his slutty ways (the sluttier, the better!), but it’s just not all that believable that the guy changes his whole personality all in one day. It just felt very insta-love for him, and honestly, I liked him the way he was before. Thankfully, the man’s charismatic personality saved him for me. If you love Mace, you will love Bobbie Ray. He may even turn you into a dog person! Woof, woof.

While I had a couple of complaints, the rest are glowing recommendations. Please read The Beast in Him if you loved The Mane Event. They can be read out-of-order if you want to start with book two, but what crazy person would do such a thing on purpose?

- One Curvy Blogger
http://onecurvyblogger.com show less