Skye

https://www.goodreads.com/skye_jenner

Skye’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (1803)
currently-reading‎ (2)
read‎ (1984)
did-not-finish‎ (0)
contemporary-romance‎ (413)
contemporary‎ (392)
paranormal-romance‎ (368)
easy-reading‎ (309)
paranormal-fantasy‎ (268)
urban-fantasy‎ (245)
strong-women‎ (195)
short-story-collections‎ (134)

fantasy‎ (129)
magic‎ (123)
shapeshifters‎ (109)
australian-authors‎ (101)
dark-fantasy‎ (93)
medieval-fantasy‎ (93)
christmas‎ (90)
young-adult‎ (81)
romance‎ (80)
chic-lit‎ (78)
memoir‎ (71)
historical-romance‎ (66)

witches‎ (62)
science-fiction‎ (61)
classics‎ (60)
crime‎ (54)
non-fiction‎ (53)
vampires‎ (53)
biographies‎ (51)
regency-romance‎ (50)
fae‎ (45)
humour‎ (45)
fairy-tales‎ (42)
lgbtq‎ (42)

dystopia‎ (41)
historical-fiction‎ (41)
romantic-suspense‎ (38)
werewolves‎ (38)
small-town-romance‎ (37)
steampunk‎ (34)
history‎ (31)
mythology‎ (31)
retellings‎ (30)
family‎ (29)
graphic-novels‎ (29)
sports-romance‎ (26)

Stats | More…

Skye is Currently Reading

Skye rated a book it was amazing

The Mane Squeeze (Pride, #4)

by Shelly Laurenston

bookshelves: paranormal-romance, shapeshifters, urban-fantasy, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in July 2023

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Skye said: " This is yet another brilliant book by Laurenston, it was funny, engaging and incredibly cute. Not to mention witty and sassy. Everything I've grown to love in a Laurenston romance. Gwen isn't quite what you expect from her appearances in her brothers This is yet another brilliant book by Laurenston, it was funny, engaging and incredibly cute. Not to mention witty and sassy. Everything I've grown to love in a Laurenston romance. Gwen isn't quite what you expect from her appearances in her brothers' stories. She's definitely an absolute spitfire of a cat. One that has absolutely no hesitation fighting for, well, anything. I would constantly too, with moronic brothers like she has.

Lock is a great, and incredibly sweet counterpoint to Gwen's feistiness. I love what a chilled sweetheart he is. I mean, he is constantly just meandering along and going with the flow. Although, my favourite part is that he is CONSTANTLY downplaying all of the information that he passes on. I mean, thers being calm, and then there's being purposefully dense about how impactful information can be.

So far in the Pride series, there's been a bit of working up towards the idea of hunting of hybrids. Although some of this has been touched upon, the prejudice against hybrids and how dangerous that is is truly shown in this story. Although there is absolutely no conclusion to this part of the story, it does set up an overarching battle throughout the series. One that makes me want to dive straight back into this series.

I've read some stories with crazy mothers before. But never anyone of the calibre of Roxy. I mean, she damn well shaves a woman's head (and other crackjack behaviours) in retaliation for daring to threaten her daughter. She also just has a habit of ending up in the most bizarre situations. One's which of course flow over to her poor daughter.

The Roller Derby babes are also absolutely fantastic. Not only do I live the idea of this incredibly bloody shifter version of the sport. But I also live the camaraderie and care the women show for one another. Particularly Bayne. Who I can't read more about, just who and what she ends up with...

ReRead Review
I’m going to call it – Gwen is the best lion / lion hybrid in the whole of the thus far published books in Laurenston’s Shifter World. There is just something about her that I adore (and her best friend is Blayne, which is hilarious). She still has that cat-like desire to mess with absolutely everybody and everything. But, unlike Bo and the Shaw Brothers, she isn’t a needless self-centred jerk. Rather, most of her “messing with others” is in retaliation. It’s not because she feels entitled to anything really in particular.

Add to the fact that Gwen is an awesome lion mix, I also love that Lock is the first bear of the series. Laurenston’s take on shifter bears as a pretty chilled and easy-going bunch is great. I love how simply he just takes on all of Gwen’s nonsense. Until he decides that he’s actually upset over something – and then the bear is absolutely not calm anymore. This is kind of how I imagine bears are like in real life, not that I’ve actually had any exposure to this. But it makes me happy that Laurenston’s version fits into my internal ideals of bears.

I think one of the reasons I struggled so much more with The Mane Attraction was that I was aware how annoying Mitch was going to be in The Mane Squeeze. He is just such a self-centred moron. One that really isn’t being protective in any way, shape or form. Just being an entitled, opinionated jerk. Although, I do love how Blayne chooses to manage him, giving hints into just what she is actually capable of… to be fair though, he does ultimately pull back when he finally realises the outskirts that Gwen is constantly living on.

I have briefly been introduced to Roller Derby in the past, through a movie (I can’t remember the name of it). But Gwen’s reentry into that world was really my first ever true introduction to this sport. And I’m absolutely fascinated. I have no coordination on skates, otherwise, this would 100% be the kind of sport that I would love to do. Just maybe without the “House Catting” aspect that Gwen chooses to introduce when she finally loses her temper… ...more "

Sep 20, 2026 02:55AM · see review