originally published October 23, 2020
So, romances & connected series?
Romance as a genre has always had, well, a funny relationship with connected series. The major reason is because by definition (most of the time anyway) there is a different couple in each book. So, what usually happens in a romance series is that the reader is dumped into a “community” that provides fertile ground for the author to find fresh couples to work on in each new book. Community can be defined as whatever works for the author, though.
When I was actively reading non-paranormal contemporaries I loved series set in small towns. So many quirky character to choose from. All from within the same setting that the reader can get to know very quickly.
Groups connected through their work are fun too. Jayne Castle’s (AKA Jayne Ann Krentz) Ghost Hunters Guild in her Harmony books comes to mind.
Or what about extended family groups? That’s one that is beloved by historical romance authors in particular. Several years ago, it about blew my mind when I realized that one of my favorite historical romance authors was currently working on books about the grand-kids of her original family.
Seriously, I’ve been reading romances way too long.
Anyway, the thing that always makes me smile when I reread Shelly Laurenston’s Pride Stories is that she created a group that isn’t a group. Not exactly. Or rather not by any of the definitions above alone. It’s more a combination of all of them. And she also spins the tales in a two-step story pattern that I adore. I call it the two-step because she introduces the characters in pairs of books with a slight shift of story arc focus with each pair.
The Pride Stories
The entire series takes place in New York City except for a couple of short trips to Tennessee and Pennsylvania in particular. Oh, and the west coast because it’s actually directly connected to her previous Magnus Pack trilogy. That doesn’t become completely clear right away although there are passing mentions of a rather wild biker gang wolf pack out west. It’s also immediately followed by the Honey Badger Chronicles series and Pride Stories characters pop up regularly in those stories.
To keep from repeating myself endlessly I’m going to refrain from constantly saying shifter, just what animal breed they shift into. I’m also only including cover images for the first and last book, at least for now. With that in mind, we start with…
The Lions
These first two stories are packaged together as a holiday (Christmas/New Years) novella duet called The Mane Event.
- Christmas Pride is about Mace Lewellyn, a lion male, who returns home to New York City at Christmas from a career in the Navy intent on finding his childhood love, full human police Detective Desiree “Dez” MacDermot. Returning with him is his best friend from the Navy, Bobby Ray Smith, Smitty to his friends, of the notorious Tennessee Smith wolf pack. Smitty decides to stay in New York and start his own pack with his sister as female alpha while starting a security business with Mace.
- Shaw’s Tail is about another lion male called Brendon Shaw. Brendon and his family own an upscale shifter friendly hotel that becomes a meeting place for all and sundry in the series. Over the course of the New Year, Brendon falls for Ronnie Lee Reed, one of Smitty’s wolf pack. Of course loving her and keeping her are two very different things.
The New York Smith Pack alphas
- The Beast In Him is about pack alpha Smitty and his childhood love, Jessica Ward. Jessica is the alpha of a whacky but “deadly serious when they want to be” wild dog pack. Smitty thinks Jessica is too delicate to handle a male Smith wolf. He learns differently.
- The Mane Attraction is about Smitty’s sister, Sissy Mae Smith, wolf, and Brendon’s half brother Mitch Shaw, lion. Sissy Mae is also best friends with Ronnie Lee Reed. In this story we get to see the Tennessee Smith pack in action… in Tennessee. Also, notably, while in Tennessee, it introduces a pivotal new character called Dee-Ann Smith, wolf and the daughter of the most feared character in this entire series, her daddy, Eggie Ray Smith. She takes after her daddy. ‘Nuff said.
Up to this point, everything is not much different from most romance series. Well, except for the shifter stuff. But then things begin to spin off in new directions with the introduction of the hybrids and an ongoing, if loose, mystery story arc.
The Sports Center
- The Mane Squeeze is about Mitch’s baby sister, Gwen O’Neill, lion-tiger hybrid, and Lachlan “Lock” MacRyrie, grizzly bear. Lock also happens to be a former Marine team member of Dee-Ann’s. The couple meets at Smitty’s wedding to Jessica. The Sports Center, another central “meeting place” for everyone, is also introduced in this one. Lock is on the shifter hockey team, The Carnivores, at the Sports Center. Blayne Thorpe, another pivotal series character as well as Gwen’s best friend and business partner, is along for the ride. And instigating chaos all around in the process. It’s a Blayne thing.
- Beast Behaving Badly is about Blayne, wolf-dog, and Bo Novikov, polar bear-lion. Blayne is so perky and scatter-brained that Dee-Ann calls her a poodle. It isn’t remotely, okay, completely true but everyone (except Dee-Ann) loves Blayne anyway. When they aren’t rolling their eyes at her antics. Bo, on the other hand, is a classic single-minded, time obsessed over-achiever who happens to be The Carnivore’s newest big name hire. Emphasis on big, because his hybrid shifted form is the first, but not the last, truly impressive one in the series. Oh, and along the way unknown people try to kidnap Blayne, which isn’t as easy as everyone thinks.
The Investigation
- Big Bad Beast is about Dee-Ann Smith, wolf, and Ulrich “Ric” Van Holtz, also wolf. They are working together investigating who is kidnapping or outright killing hybrids. To do this they put together a team of former Marines that includes Dee-Ann, Dez from the very first story and Marcella “Cella” Malone, a longtime Marine rival of Dee-Ann. Their investigation takes a decidedly weird turn when they have to call in the Dee-Ann’s father, Eggie, to take care of an unexpected problem.
- Bear Meets Girl is about Marcella, tiger, and Lou “Crush” Cruschek, polar bear. Cella is a bare knuckles brawler and hockey player when she isn’t hanging out with Dee-Ann and Dez. Lou is a straight arrow undercover cop and gets dragged into the ongoing investigation because he has connections they need. He is not happy about his life getting turned upside down but Marcella manages to distract him. Oh, and he’s a super-fan of The Carnivores hockey team and Bo Novikov in particular. Which entertains everyone.
The Finale
- Wolf with Benefits is about Toni Jean-Louis Parker, jackal, and Ricky Lee Reed, wolf, from Smitty’s new pack. Toni is the oldest child of a large family of academic and artistic proteges. She thinks she is normal by comparison. She isn’t. Ricky Lee sees that the moment he meets her and manages to attach himself to her “entourage” for the entertainment value alone. Oh, and other reasons, of course. Her best friend is Livy Kowalski who gets dragged into helping at Toni’s new job at the Sports Center.
- Bite Me is about Livy Kowalski, honey badger, and Vic Barinov, grizzly bear-tiger. They met in Toni & Ricky Lee’s story and became instant friends. But just friends. Seriously, just friends. Livy is an award-winning artistic photographer and very bummed by the direction her life has gone lately. For one thing, she’s been asked to photograph both sports “stuff” and a wedding. The annoyingly perky wolf-dog Blayne’s wedding, at that. It’s a lot of money but it’s not art. So she’s very depressed. So much so that she keeps hiding out in Vic’s cabinets. He doesn’t know what to do with her because, well, they’d just friends. But before he can figure it out, Dee-Ann’s investigation raises it’s ugly head and becomes a major honey badger problem to deal with. The honey badgers promptly deal with it in their own unique way. Problem solved. It’s also my current favorite romance of all time, too.
All that is just the tip of the iceberg, too
To say that this series is a wild ride (pun very much intended) is an understatement. I have yet to figure out why she calls it Pride Stories, though. I mean it starts with the lions but then they get overrun by… everyone. And it’s glorious.