I've heard nothing but great things about the Pride series by Shelly Laurenston. I read book one late last year but for some reason, I couldn't finish it. After reading Bear Meets Girl and thoroughly enjoying it, I'm now going to go back and finish book one and get caught up with the rest of the series. Even though Bear Meets Girl is book 7 in the series, I didn't have too hard of a time following the overall plot and characters.Polar bear Lou "Crush" Crushek wakes up in a strange bed with a naked strange woman and a killer hangover. Hoping to find out if anything happened between Crush and the naked female feline proves to be an exercise in futility. Cella Malone doesn't make it easy for Crush. He's never been around a female who is so bold and brash and just all around crazy. He doesn't know what to make of her but one thing is for sure, he doesn't want to be around her. But Cella has other ideas.Bear Meets Girl is a hilarious read. There were so many laugh out loud moments and some were shockingly funny. Crush is so straight-laced and by the book that his reaction to Cella's outrageousness was awesomely funny. Cella isn't your typical heroine. She's the Bare Knuckle Champ 5 years in a row, is the Enforcer for the Carnivores hockey team and works as a "contractor" for KZS. Cella isn't a walking sex-bomb. She lives in sweats, jeans and t-shirts.Crush and Cella are total opposites and this is what makes their relationship works. She annoys him; he tries to stay as far away from her as possible. He's by the book; she isn't. I found their budding relationship and attraction believable. The more they were around each other (as if Crush had a choice) both Crush and Cella start to see that there was more than meets the eye.At 400 pages, there were some parts of Bear Meets Girl that dragged but overall, the plot pacing was pretty good. There are characters from previous books that play a significant role in the storyline. If you haven't read the previous books, it can get a little confusing keeping straight who is what shifter and who is with whom especially if they are all together and taking up space on the same page. There is an org chart at the beginning of the book to show how everyone fits together but I didn't bother consulting it once I started reading. Crush and Cella didn't have any sexy times until a little more than halfway through the book. While reading it, I kept wondering when they were going to get it on. Looking back, it made sense for them to wait as long as they did. Crush didn't like Cella and Cella wasn't finding herself instantly attracted to him. If they'd had sex sooner than they did, it wouldn't have stayed true to the characters and their relationship. But once they finally did get their freak on, it was smoking hot! And it kept getting hotter! Let's just say that I may need to invest in a pair of handcuffs.Overall I enjoyed Bear Meets Girl and I look forward to reading the previous books in this series. I love the humor and the banter between the characters. It's smart, funny and at times outrageous. If you're looking for a light paranormal romance with laugh out loud humor, Bear Meets Girl is the book for you.B
