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Honey and Fur #1
Hedging His Bets
Honey loves running her bar and grill, catering to humans and shifters alike. But there are two things that dim her love of the place: cocky assholes who think they own the world, and cocky assholes who think they can flex their muscles and wreck her bar when throwing a temper tantrum. Unfortunately, the drop-dead gorgeous, hotter than hot, shifter man she secretly loves is both.
Blake wants the curvaceous, gorgeous Honey in his bed. Now. He’s lusted (but not loved, let’s get that straight) after the luscious woman for months. True, he looks like a bad-boy biker mixed with a player and, yeah, he’s broken a few things in her bar… But only because the guys were hitting on his girl. With no hope of winning her over in sight, he does what any red-blooded werehedgehog would do in his position. He lies.
Blake wants the curvaceous, gorgeous Honey in his bed. Now. He’s lusted (but not loved, let’s get that straight) after the luscious woman for months. True, he looks like a bad-boy biker mixed with a player and, yeah, he’s broken a few things in her bar… But only because the guys were hitting on his girl. With no hope of winning her over in sight, he does what any red-blooded werehedgehog would do in his position. He lies.
Unknown Binding
First published April 8, 2013
44 people are currently reading
740 people want to read
About the author
Celia Kyle
280 books2,880 followersCelia Kyle would like to rule the world and become a ninja. As a fall-back, she’s working on her writing career and giving readers stories that touch their hearts and *ahem* other places. Visit her online at http://celiakyle.com | http://facebook.com/celiakyle | http://twitter.com/celiakyle | http://pinterest.com/celiakyle
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November 26, 2014
Consider the Hedgehog.
Now, if you're anything like me, the Hedgehog is a flashpoint, a lightning rod for controversy. You may be a resident of one of the many states that has banned them as pets. You may remember the vicious 2006 kerfuffle, where international outcry finally forced McDonalds to change the cap on their McFlurry line of . . . oh, hell . . . It doesn't contain any actual ice cream, so you can't really call it a milk shake, now can you? . . . to keep Hedgehogs from getting their little hedge-heads stuck in them. Or, you may recall the Internet campaign mounted to keep domesticated Hedgehogs from once again getting their heads stuck, this time in those little cardboard tube thingies that are left over when you use up all the toilet paper.
If all this has you thinking about sex, you're not alone.
So, I suppose it was kind of inevitable that someone . . . no, two someones, in fact, would eventually write the first WereHedgehog Erotica novel. When you consider the fact that Hedging His Bets wasn't published until 2013, you will doubtless be shocked to find that we have gone the entire length of recorded history until LAST YEAR without such a work. I don't know about the rest of you, but 2014 has seen some rough seas for all of us: Ebola, ISIS, Maury Povich *still* having his own talk show. It's nice to know that, at least in the world of sub-sub-sub-sub-sub genre literature, we are forging into bold new territory.
Hedging His Bets centers around anthropomorphization, a word that English majors the world over have been unnecessarily using to make themselves sound smart for decades. The sexual power of the Hedgehog, with its practice of self-anointing its spines with a froth made from a mixture of saliva and a new scent it has found, or its propensity to suffer from Fatty Liver Disease, is undeniable, perhaps too much to be conveyed in its direct form. Hence, therianthropy becomes the only literary device available to reach the average reader without overwhelming them with the grunts, snuffles and squeals that most species of Hedgehog use to communicate.
Enter Blake Carlisle, whose heavily-muscled frame is best suited for brooding moodily in doorways when he isn’t straddling his big-twin motorcycle. Blake is a quintessential “bad-boy.” We know this because the authors tell us. On page one. And as if the bald statement of both Carlisle’s bad-boy status and his heavily-muscled frame (body-frame, not door-frame, which is what he’s brooding moodily in) isn’t enough, we are given some other subtle cues:
“ . . . he was stronger, faster, and meaner than any human alive. He could bench press cars without breaking a sweat or run a marathon before breakfast. If his sexual aura could be bottled and sold, it would make someone a fortune. Men wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him.”
So, I’m going out on a limb here: Blake Carlisle is manly. And attractive. And strong. And . . . well. Let’s stop there lest some of the text’s crucial subtlety be lost.
Blake has one small problem, however. Hedging His Bets takes place in a world similar to the one occupied by Sookie Stackhouse in Harris’ True Blood series – namely, a world where shapeshifters are de rigeur. And here is where the anthropomorphization comes into stark relief – yes, Blake is a therianthrope. Only, Blake “ . . . preferred to remain in his human form because the fates were bitches with a twisted sense of humor. There were werewolves and werecats, even bad-ass werebears. Blake was none of those. No, he’d lucked out in the small, spiny, and cute arena. Blake was a werehedgehog.”
This revelation might make it difficult for some readers to appreciate Blake’s masculinity despite the aforementioned exhaustive list of qualities. Fortunately, Blake grounds us back in the reality of his manhood moments later by dismembering a chair with his bare hands. Blake performs this feat of brute strength in a show of virility intended to both woo and protect the object of his affections, the book’s protagonist – Honey.
Honey owns the local watering hole, where she fends off the advances of the entirely male clientele whom she unintentionally lures with her crackerjack wit and bountiful curves. The authors are at some pains to relate the proportions of said bounty. “Fluffy-like-a-cloud” is used to great effect. In case you missed it, the point is this: Honey is a big girl.
Let me break character here and say that this is perhaps the most refreshing part of this book. You know, apart from being the very first WereHedgehog Erotica novel, the book also goes against the standard urban fantasy trope. Honey is no Anna Panquin, the pixie dreamgirl of True Blood. She is unashamed of her figure, and her sexual identity is freely linked to it. Honey doesn’t worry about losing weight. She isn’t self-conscious about her appearance. She is turned on by who she is and by extension, able to turn Blake on as well. “Forget the stick-like bimbos who seemed to assume he’d find them irresistible,” Blake muses in one of the novel’s characteristically light-handed bouts of exposition, “He wanted a woman he could hold onto. A woman who wouldn’t break if he was a little rough . . . And sex with a were, even one like him [author’s note: he means, a hedgehog] could get a lot rough. And dirty. And oh so delicious.”
The famed sex advice columnist Dan Savage admonishes his audience to be “GGG” which stands for “Good, Giving and Game.” The boiled down definition of GGG is that, sexual proclivity is as diverse and multifaceted as people who have sex. The rule of GGG is this: if it isn’t hurting anyone, then it’s all right. Savage famously takes all sexual desire seriously, never putting down those seeking his counsel unless they’re actually engaging in an act that’s physically or emotionally harmful. Hedging His Bets epitomizes the rule of GGG, with both Blake and Honey taking their respective sexuality seriously, regardless of weight, or the fact that one of them periodically transforms into a spiny, one-pound animal that subsists almost exclusively by eating insects.
If I don’t go much into the plot, it’s because there isn’t much to go into. It’s your standard story: Boy-Meets-Girl. Boy-Beats-Up-A-Bunch-Of-People-For-No-Reason-To-Impress-Girl. Boy-Watches-Girl-Touch-Herself. Boy-Changes-Into-Hedgehog-To-Get-Into-Girl’s-House-To-Trick-Her-Into-Falling-In-Love-With-Him. Boy-Loses-Girl. Boy-Gets-Into-Horrible-Motorcycle-Accident. Boy-Gets-Girl. It all follows the standard erotica tropes, to include the mating dance of misunderstanding, clashing egos and unrequited (and eventually requited, but that’s the least interesting part) sexual desire. I’ll go light on the details, but suffice to say it includes a great deal of descriptive moaning and so much blood flowing to so many extremities for such extended periods that you start to worry shapeshifters all meet early ends due to complications from edema. The sex in Hedging His Bets did run uncomfortably wild for me, ranging past edgy and into the realm of . . . uh . . . look, let me just say it appears to be working for the book’s characters, and everybody winds up happy in the end.
But if you can look past the Peeping Tom fantasies, the stale-beer tang of Honey’s dive bar, or the fact that the novel’s main love-interest routinely shapeshifts from a hunky biker into a miniscule member of the order Erinaceomorpha with a propensity to build dens and a lifespan of just five years, you are left with a story of two unlikely lovers, and the obstacles they must overcome to build love together. Hedging His Bets reminds us that love is, at its root, a choice we must each make every day, willingly choosing to look past the limitations of our partners. Whether they have a propensity to pummel innocent tavern-goers in an effort to impress us, or to lapse into moody silence astride their 2500 cc Boss-Hoss, or even engage in frantic digging to escape the attention of a Badger or European Eagle Owl, we must love them, quills and all.
Hedging His Bets may not be a good book, but it’s speaking to an important theme in a bold and innovative way, and for that, it deserves to be commended.
Now, if you're anything like me, the Hedgehog is a flashpoint, a lightning rod for controversy. You may be a resident of one of the many states that has banned them as pets. You may remember the vicious 2006 kerfuffle, where international outcry finally forced McDonalds to change the cap on their McFlurry line of . . . oh, hell . . . It doesn't contain any actual ice cream, so you can't really call it a milk shake, now can you? . . . to keep Hedgehogs from getting their little hedge-heads stuck in them. Or, you may recall the Internet campaign mounted to keep domesticated Hedgehogs from once again getting their heads stuck, this time in those little cardboard tube thingies that are left over when you use up all the toilet paper.
If all this has you thinking about sex, you're not alone.
So, I suppose it was kind of inevitable that someone . . . no, two someones, in fact, would eventually write the first WereHedgehog Erotica novel. When you consider the fact that Hedging His Bets wasn't published until 2013, you will doubtless be shocked to find that we have gone the entire length of recorded history until LAST YEAR without such a work. I don't know about the rest of you, but 2014 has seen some rough seas for all of us: Ebola, ISIS, Maury Povich *still* having his own talk show. It's nice to know that, at least in the world of sub-sub-sub-sub-sub genre literature, we are forging into bold new territory.
Hedging His Bets centers around anthropomorphization, a word that English majors the world over have been unnecessarily using to make themselves sound smart for decades. The sexual power of the Hedgehog, with its practice of self-anointing its spines with a froth made from a mixture of saliva and a new scent it has found, or its propensity to suffer from Fatty Liver Disease, is undeniable, perhaps too much to be conveyed in its direct form. Hence, therianthropy becomes the only literary device available to reach the average reader without overwhelming them with the grunts, snuffles and squeals that most species of Hedgehog use to communicate.
Enter Blake Carlisle, whose heavily-muscled frame is best suited for brooding moodily in doorways when he isn’t straddling his big-twin motorcycle. Blake is a quintessential “bad-boy.” We know this because the authors tell us. On page one. And as if the bald statement of both Carlisle’s bad-boy status and his heavily-muscled frame (body-frame, not door-frame, which is what he’s brooding moodily in) isn’t enough, we are given some other subtle cues:
“ . . . he was stronger, faster, and meaner than any human alive. He could bench press cars without breaking a sweat or run a marathon before breakfast. If his sexual aura could be bottled and sold, it would make someone a fortune. Men wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him.”
So, I’m going out on a limb here: Blake Carlisle is manly. And attractive. And strong. And . . . well. Let’s stop there lest some of the text’s crucial subtlety be lost.
Blake has one small problem, however. Hedging His Bets takes place in a world similar to the one occupied by Sookie Stackhouse in Harris’ True Blood series – namely, a world where shapeshifters are de rigeur. And here is where the anthropomorphization comes into stark relief – yes, Blake is a therianthrope. Only, Blake “ . . . preferred to remain in his human form because the fates were bitches with a twisted sense of humor. There were werewolves and werecats, even bad-ass werebears. Blake was none of those. No, he’d lucked out in the small, spiny, and cute arena. Blake was a werehedgehog.”
This revelation might make it difficult for some readers to appreciate Blake’s masculinity despite the aforementioned exhaustive list of qualities. Fortunately, Blake grounds us back in the reality of his manhood moments later by dismembering a chair with his bare hands. Blake performs this feat of brute strength in a show of virility intended to both woo and protect the object of his affections, the book’s protagonist – Honey.
Honey owns the local watering hole, where she fends off the advances of the entirely male clientele whom she unintentionally lures with her crackerjack wit and bountiful curves. The authors are at some pains to relate the proportions of said bounty. “Fluffy-like-a-cloud” is used to great effect. In case you missed it, the point is this: Honey is a big girl.
Let me break character here and say that this is perhaps the most refreshing part of this book. You know, apart from being the very first WereHedgehog Erotica novel, the book also goes against the standard urban fantasy trope. Honey is no Anna Panquin, the pixie dreamgirl of True Blood. She is unashamed of her figure, and her sexual identity is freely linked to it. Honey doesn’t worry about losing weight. She isn’t self-conscious about her appearance. She is turned on by who she is and by extension, able to turn Blake on as well. “Forget the stick-like bimbos who seemed to assume he’d find them irresistible,” Blake muses in one of the novel’s characteristically light-handed bouts of exposition, “He wanted a woman he could hold onto. A woman who wouldn’t break if he was a little rough . . . And sex with a were, even one like him [author’s note: he means, a hedgehog] could get a lot rough. And dirty. And oh so delicious.”
The famed sex advice columnist Dan Savage admonishes his audience to be “GGG” which stands for “Good, Giving and Game.” The boiled down definition of GGG is that, sexual proclivity is as diverse and multifaceted as people who have sex. The rule of GGG is this: if it isn’t hurting anyone, then it’s all right. Savage famously takes all sexual desire seriously, never putting down those seeking his counsel unless they’re actually engaging in an act that’s physically or emotionally harmful. Hedging His Bets epitomizes the rule of GGG, with both Blake and Honey taking their respective sexuality seriously, regardless of weight, or the fact that one of them periodically transforms into a spiny, one-pound animal that subsists almost exclusively by eating insects.
If I don’t go much into the plot, it’s because there isn’t much to go into. It’s your standard story: Boy-Meets-Girl. Boy-Beats-Up-A-Bunch-Of-People-For-No-Reason-To-Impress-Girl. Boy-Watches-Girl-Touch-Herself. Boy-Changes-Into-Hedgehog-To-Get-Into-Girl’s-House-To-Trick-Her-Into-Falling-In-Love-With-Him. Boy-Loses-Girl. Boy-Gets-Into-Horrible-Motorcycle-Accident. Boy-Gets-Girl. It all follows the standard erotica tropes, to include the mating dance of misunderstanding, clashing egos and unrequited (and eventually requited, but that’s the least interesting part) sexual desire. I’ll go light on the details, but suffice to say it includes a great deal of descriptive moaning and so much blood flowing to so many extremities for such extended periods that you start to worry shapeshifters all meet early ends due to complications from edema. The sex in Hedging His Bets did run uncomfortably wild for me, ranging past edgy and into the realm of . . . uh . . . look, let me just say it appears to be working for the book’s characters, and everybody winds up happy in the end.
But if you can look past the Peeping Tom fantasies, the stale-beer tang of Honey’s dive bar, or the fact that the novel’s main love-interest routinely shapeshifts from a hunky biker into a miniscule member of the order Erinaceomorpha with a propensity to build dens and a lifespan of just five years, you are left with a story of two unlikely lovers, and the obstacles they must overcome to build love together. Hedging His Bets reminds us that love is, at its root, a choice we must each make every day, willingly choosing to look past the limitations of our partners. Whether they have a propensity to pummel innocent tavern-goers in an effort to impress us, or to lapse into moody silence astride their 2500 cc Boss-Hoss, or even engage in frantic digging to escape the attention of a Badger or European Eagle Owl, we must love them, quills and all.
Hedging His Bets may not be a good book, but it’s speaking to an important theme in a bold and innovative way, and for that, it deserves to be commended.
November 23, 2013
Public service announcement:
If a man tries to have sex with you, while you are asleep, without your express consent, do not under any circumstances let him back in your house. I don't care if he's magic or a biker or hot. You're going to have a bad time.
This book read like bad fanfiction. Weird lead ups to overly graphic and not so sexy sex, poorly researched hedgehog behaviors, and buttplay on a first date. No thank you.
If a man tries to have sex with you, while you are asleep, without your express consent, do not under any circumstances let him back in your house. I don't care if he's magic or a biker or hot. You're going to have a bad time.
This book read like bad fanfiction. Weird lead ups to overly graphic and not so sexy sex, poorly researched hedgehog behaviors, and buttplay on a first date. No thank you.
January 20, 2016
uhhhhh I can now say I've read a book about werehedgehogs. But that's about the best I can say for this book! lol.
December 22, 2022
He’s a HEDGEHOG shifter, how could I not read it? 🤣
February 3, 2016
The Bottom Line
Meh. Always looking for something different in shifter romances, and were-hedgehogs certainly qualify. Unfortunately, the idea is better than the execution. The humor's ok, but the story doesn't flow, for such a short story it has plotholes galore, and it doesn't even make much sense. It seems like more random moments thrown together. The second book’s better and you don't need to read this, so I'd skip it.
Meh. Always looking for something different in shifter romances, and were-hedgehogs certainly qualify. Unfortunately, the idea is better than the execution. The humor's ok, but the story doesn't flow, for such a short story it has plotholes galore, and it doesn't even make much sense. It seems like more random moments thrown together. The second book’s better and you don't need to read this, so I'd skip it.
August 28, 2016
1.5* rounded up for the unusual shifter. Otherwise this was entirely pedestrian with boring sex so frumpy and a plot so childish, that it was hard to finish.
April 4, 2023
Was it good? No. Would I recommend it? Only to very specific people. But I was near tears from laughing so hard & I have so much respect for the first ever WereHedgehog erotica, talk about groundbreaking 🫡
CW: sexual content, fatphobia, animal cruelty, gender essentialism, sexual assault, violence
CW: sexual content, fatphobia, animal cruelty, gender essentialism, sexual assault, violence
October 26, 2021
"The only alpha male werehedgehog in town" - basically the story
"Honey had turned into a werehedgehog whore" - Lmao
"Despite being only pounds in his hedgie form, he was all male baby" - He is baby apparently
He's all yip and no bite. Because he's a dumbass bitch macho man trying so hard to be a big hunky dude, but not realizing that he should communicate like a good hedgehog, and then maybe Honey might want him even more than she apparently already does.
The fact that he could also hear here through the walls of the outside of her house is impressive. Is that a werehedgehog ability? Or are her walls just really fucking thin that he can hear her call his name while doing the nasty?
One thing that definitely demotes this book for me is that although it is fat positive I guess. I found it slightly off putting that he put down his cousin as "too skinny" basically, putting down another girl, to uplift his preference, his favorite. It's okay to have preferences imo, but putting down other people in the process is kind of cringe mate.
Overall I'd say 3*'s. I feel this deserves it because it was entertaining and dumb which is what I came for. But it was also really really stupid in other ways that I was like *facepalm*. It was also creepy so it's not like I really enjoyed it in like a good way. It was sheer fascination at this point.
"Honey had turned into a werehedgehog whore" - Lmao
"Despite being only pounds in his hedgie form, he was all male baby" - He is baby apparently
He's all yip and no bite. Because he's a dumbass bitch macho man trying so hard to be a big hunky dude, but not realizing that he should communicate like a good hedgehog, and then maybe Honey might want him even more than she apparently already does.
The fact that he could also hear here through the walls of the outside of her house is impressive. Is that a werehedgehog ability? Or are her walls just really fucking thin that he can hear her call his name while doing the nasty?
One thing that definitely demotes this book for me is that although it is fat positive I guess. I found it slightly off putting that he put down his cousin as "too skinny" basically, putting down another girl, to uplift his preference, his favorite. It's okay to have preferences imo, but putting down other people in the process is kind of cringe mate.
Overall I'd say 3*'s. I feel this deserves it because it was entertaining and dumb which is what I came for. But it was also really really stupid in other ways that I was like *facepalm*. It was also creepy so it's not like I really enjoyed it in like a good way. It was sheer fascination at this point.
July 18, 2015
It's tough being a big, tough, scary shifter - when you change into a hedgehog weighing about a pound. Oy. How embarrassing! Especially when you are totally addicted to Honey, an Amazonian honey-blond with attitude to spare. But when Blake finds out that Honey adores Hedgies, he decides he will play the 'poor little hedgehog' and get himself into Honeys arms that way. What could go wrong?
Um.... well, let's see. You come into her home playing a role . . .
What happens next is funny, sad, and a lighthearted look at just how dumb men can be when they are determined to get what they want! This is a light-hearted story, just what we expect from the team of Celia Kyle and Mina Carter. Lots of humour, quirky characters, and of course, an HEA. Not brain surgery, but lots of fun.
Um.... well, let's see. You come into her home playing a role . . .
What happens next is funny, sad, and a lighthearted look at just how dumb men can be when they are determined to get what they want! This is a light-hearted story, just what we expect from the team of Celia Kyle and Mina Carter. Lots of humour, quirky characters, and of course, an HEA. Not brain surgery, but lots of fun.
June 1, 2016
Very disappointing. The hero is a stereotypical alpha shifter who is embarrassed to be a werehedgehog. The hedgehog thing was basically played for laughs while the hero engaged in typical awful shifter behavior like stalking and lying and generally being a shit to the heroine, who fell in lovelust with him anyway depsite him only briefly and not permanently showing any amount of remorse for his bad behavior. This might be satisfying for some readers, but it wasn't what I was hoping for at all. Too over-the-top and not in the fun way.
January 27, 2020
1 measly 🌟 - A travesty of toxic masculinity packaged as ‘alpha’ traits and god awful sexual descriptions. Avoid at all costs
I’ve read a number of cringeworthy sex scenes in my time, but when these authors described the protagonist’s vagina as a hole/sex hole, her anus as hole/illicit hole and labia as sex lips I found it incredibly difficult to keep reading. Only the fact this happened about 80% of the way through and the fact it was a novella convinced me to finish reading, if only to be able to write this review.
As to how the male protagonist - a massive alpha douche werehedgehog who transformed into a cute pygmy hedgehog (and isn’t that an oxymoron) treated his so called mate - cue migraine inducing eye rolling. First he beats any man that shows any attention to her in her own establishment, breaking furniture and causing her lots of headaches. He apparently dates skinny girls while she denies him access to her because that way he won’t fantasise about her while he’s with them, oblivious to how this undermines her sense of self-worth, which of course is wrapped up in her looks and his regard 🙄. God forbid he, I don’t know, show his worth by courting her, getting to know her properly and keeping his junk in his trunk until he has his mate! Instead he constantly lies, stalks her, watches her in compromising positions without her knowledge and deceives her throughout the entire novella, never taking the time to truly understand his mate or doing anything other than get in her pants and of course by the end of the novella he gets his way and doesn’t pay in any appreciable way for his toxic masculinity.
Really, I’m getting fed up with a lot of authors wrapping toxic masculinity up as ‘alpha’ tendencies and then having their supposedly strong female protagonists capitulate to them without them accepting any consequences for their behaviours. Is it so hard to write strong male characters without falling on negative cliches? In principal I don’t have a problem with authors writing character who show toxic masculine behaviours when they are shown to learn and grow as a result of interaction with a female who challenges them to be better.
I’ve read a number of cringeworthy sex scenes in my time, but when these authors described the protagonist’s vagina as a hole/sex hole, her anus as hole/illicit hole and labia as sex lips I found it incredibly difficult to keep reading. Only the fact this happened about 80% of the way through and the fact it was a novella convinced me to finish reading, if only to be able to write this review.
As to how the male protagonist - a massive alpha douche werehedgehog who transformed into a cute pygmy hedgehog (and isn’t that an oxymoron) treated his so called mate - cue migraine inducing eye rolling. First he beats any man that shows any attention to her in her own establishment, breaking furniture and causing her lots of headaches. He apparently dates skinny girls while she denies him access to her because that way he won’t fantasise about her while he’s with them, oblivious to how this undermines her sense of self-worth, which of course is wrapped up in her looks and his regard 🙄. God forbid he, I don’t know, show his worth by courting her, getting to know her properly and keeping his junk in his trunk until he has his mate! Instead he constantly lies, stalks her, watches her in compromising positions without her knowledge and deceives her throughout the entire novella, never taking the time to truly understand his mate or doing anything other than get in her pants and of course by the end of the novella he gets his way and doesn’t pay in any appreciable way for his toxic masculinity.
Really, I’m getting fed up with a lot of authors wrapping toxic masculinity up as ‘alpha’ tendencies and then having their supposedly strong female protagonists capitulate to them without them accepting any consequences for their behaviours. Is it so hard to write strong male characters without falling on negative cliches? In principal I don’t have a problem with authors writing character who show toxic masculine behaviours when they are shown to learn and grow as a result of interaction with a female who challenges them to be better.
November 28, 2022
I mean let's be honest. When I read this blurb, I knew this was likely not going to be one of my favorite books. And that's okay. I've read plenty of books I knew were going to be... bad just to read them. haha.
This one was..... rough. in not a good way. The concept of a werehedgehog shifter isn't what made it bad. I've read weirder concepts than that, haah. The writing was just a little rough. The storyline as well. Things just didn't... vibe well. Some of the sentences felt thrown together. Some sentences just didn't need to be there too.
The male MC was ... unlikeable.. It felt like he had little man syndrome.
i just did NOT enjoy this book at all. but that's life.
This one was..... rough. in not a good way. The concept of a werehedgehog shifter isn't what made it bad. I've read weirder concepts than that, haah. The writing was just a little rough. The storyline as well. Things just didn't... vibe well. Some of the sentences felt thrown together. Some sentences just didn't need to be there too.
The male MC was ... unlikeable.. It felt like he had little man syndrome.
i just did NOT enjoy this book at all. but that's life.
February 16, 2022
Daaaamn... I bought this book thinking that the premise was fun and I would at least get a laugh out of it, but wow. This was possibly the worst book I've ever read.
The characters talk like they are twelve, there's no plot to speak of, and the sex scene was really, really bad. Sorry ladies, but I only wish I'd got the physical copy so I can burn it.
If you like were/shifter romance, go for Sherrilyn Kenyon's early stuff. The character's are a lot more developed and there's genuine humour there.
Do not read this trash pile.
The characters talk like they are twelve, there's no plot to speak of, and the sex scene was really, really bad. Sorry ladies, but I only wish I'd got the physical copy so I can burn it.
If you like were/shifter romance, go for Sherrilyn Kenyon's early stuff. The character's are a lot more developed and there's genuine humour there.
Do not read this trash pile.
Read
October 10, 2025It was certainly something.
May 14, 2024
I’m starting a change.org petition for goodreads to let me rate this book less than one star.
June 9, 2014
The first four chapters are at least entertaining with their so-bad-it's-almost-good writing. The characters are flat, the writing is just horrible on so many levels, but at least I was entertained by how bad it is. There's a borderline parody level of redundancy. And it's really obvious there were two writers. There are a few moments were the writing attempts to break the fourth wall. It really doesn't work.
I'm rambling, and I know this isn't a very coherent review.
Neither is this book.
Blake tries to rape Honey in her sleep. Yet, the writers conveniently handwaves this as 'seduction' to further the budding romance. Frankly, it's disconcerting.
Then, lo and behold, the two star-crossed lovers forgive each other, and we get almost a whole chapter dedicated to detailed descriptions of their lust-fuelled lovemaking. I've seen better writing on Literotica.
I wanted to give a one-star review, but at least I was entertained by laughing at the poor writing. And, although it's technically horrible writing, at least they proof-read it.
I'm rambling, and I know this isn't a very coherent review.
Neither is this book.
Blake tries to rape Honey in her sleep. Yet, the writers conveniently handwaves this as 'seduction' to further the budding romance. Frankly, it's disconcerting.
Then, lo and behold, the two star-crossed lovers forgive each other, and we get almost a whole chapter dedicated to detailed descriptions of their lust-fuelled lovemaking. I've seen better writing on Literotica.
I wanted to give a one-star review, but at least I was entertained by laughing at the poor writing. And, although it's technically horrible writing, at least they proof-read it.
June 22, 2015
This was a short quick read that I liked. Honey loves running her bar and grill, catering to humans and shifters alike. But there are two things that dim her love of the place: cocky assholes who think they own the world, and cocky assholes who think they can flex their muscles and wreck her bar when throwing a temper tantrum. Unfortunately the drop-dead gorgeous, hotter than hot, shifter man she secretly loves is both. Blake is a cocky asshole who wants Honey. This story was hot and funny. Blake preferred to be in his human form as when he did shift of all the powerful shifter lines he could have come from Blake was a were hedgehog. This book was well written like all of Celia's books with no errors in grammar or spelling. This was my first time reading about a hedgehog shifter the and who knew they can be so hot.
September 30, 2014
Overall, I'd say this book is creepy. The very weak plot basically condones stalking, manipulating and molestation under the guise of being someone's mate (which might mean soulmate but that is never made clear). The sex scenes were quite "meh" in my opinion. The punny title and concept of a "werehedgehog" are fantastic, but not worth the read.
On a technical note, it is very clear that this book had two authors and that nobody did a second pass at editing. There are moments where it seems that the wrong character's name has been placed in a sentence. Overall, I say save your money and time. Read a different book that won't creep you out.
On a technical note, it is very clear that this book had two authors and that nobody did a second pass at editing. There are moments where it seems that the wrong character's name has been placed in a sentence. Overall, I say save your money and time. Read a different book that won't creep you out.
May 14, 2013
Seriously, how could I not read this? It has a hedgehog shifter! A hedgehog! This story has heat and was infused with the humor. I love that about Celia's books. True, fated love - Check. Humor - Check. Heat - Double Check. Adventure - Check. Characters I can relate to - Check. I simply enjoyed this story and hope that Celia and Mina co-write some more shifter crack. I know I will be first in line to get it when they do.
September 19, 2013
I ought to give it more stars for complete ridiculousness and being unintentionally hilarious. The sex scenes weren't the worst I've ever read, but holy crap. A werehedgehog, y'all. Seriously? I had to read a romance novel for a library science class, and the best I can say is that the concept will amuse my classmates.
July 30, 2013
This. Book. This book was everything I've wanted in a book and then some. I saw this book recommended on reddit for the lol's and I could NOT help myself. I first watched a video of a guy reading the first chapter on youtube so I get a bit of a preview before spending the money on a book about a werehedgehog. Long story short, bought it, read it, cannot get enough.
April 12, 2014
1.5 stars. I am so glad this was borrowed and super short, otherwise I would not have finished it...
I didn't like the hero of this story and I didn't see that his personality had ANY redeeming qualities...
I didn't like the hero of this story and I didn't see that his personality had ANY redeeming qualities...
to-never-read
September 1, 2015Hm. Wanted to read this 'cause the summary made it seem fun and lighthearted. Then I read this in one of the reviews "Blake tries to rape Honey in her sleep" and decided it really wasn't my cup of tea. What can I say? I have trouble with authors minimizing crap like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2019
On my god. I just read this purely for the fact that it's a romance novel involving a hedgehog. Like, how does that not make a person curious.
It's so bad and that's neglecting the fact that he is a shape -shifting hedgehog. If I had to hear about her curves one more time, I was going to scream.
It's so bad and that's neglecting the fact that he is a shape -shifting hedgehog. If I had to hear about her curves one more time, I was going to scream.
January 8, 2024
Was it good? Absolutely not.
Was it so absurdly bad that I fell off my couch laughing? You bet.
Enjoyment 4/10
Concept 4/10
Execution 0/10
Writing 2/10
Plot & Logic 0/10
Characters 0/10
Intrigue 5/10
Rating: 1.07/5
Was it so absurdly bad that I fell off my couch laughing? You bet.
Enjoyment 4/10
Concept 4/10
Execution 0/10
Writing 2/10
Plot & Logic 0/10
Characters 0/10
Intrigue 5/10
Rating: 1.07/5
July 28, 2013
It's a novella with a hedgehog as the main romantic character. You already know what you're getting into here.
October 7, 2013
Were-hedgehog.
Awful. But. Were-hedgehog.
Awful. But. Were-hedgehog.
March 30, 2014
Everyone in this book was stupid. If a woman is asleep, she can't give consent, that's rape. Duh!!!
July 21, 2016
OMG! A big alpha biker that is a were-hedgehog! Too funny, but very enjoyable. 3.5 stars...
August 5, 2015
This book doesn't even deserve one star
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