Title: The Mane Attraction
Author: Shelly Laurenston
Series: Pride #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2008

Sissy Mae is one of those show stealing secondary characters since you meet her in Christmas Pride. She is sassy, witty and full of attitude. Just the kind of woman that I love. But, she’s also obviously got a heart of gold underneath all of that violence that she happily totes around. Which means that I very quickly dived right into The Mane Attraction… I had to know how she got her happily ever after! And what kind of supportive male she ends up with.

I love that Sissy is an incredibly tough (and very violent) woman. She might have the best heart ever, but it’s how happy she is to stir other people up that I truly fell in love with. Although I don’t have the gumption to constantly cause a ruckus wherever I go, it was fun to read about someone who enjoys doing so. Her good heart also makes it a little bit more difficult to read about the treatment that she endures from some of her brothers and her mother. The mother is definitely misplaced affection… but her brothers?

As a nice counterpoint to Sissy Mae’s less-than-kind brother, Mitch’s relationship with his own sibling is really sweet. I love how the two lion brothers fall for wolf-shifter women. And literally just go along for the ride. Mostly in horror and confusion at the antics of Sissy Mae and Ronnie Lee. I mean, the driving? The weird derby race? I can completely understand the fear of the two males, but also how freaking fun would that all be!?!?!?

There are so many good (well-written I should say) sibling relationships throughout this story. But, honestly, I particularly like that when Sissy Mae is pushed to show her strength (and alpha-ness), she manages to break her brothers knee. I mean, that is a wonderful way to show that she is able to take care of herself. There are some other wonderful consequences to that action, but I just like that Sissy has no hesitations to get her revenge on someone who has been treating her seriously poorly.

Alongside the sibling relationships and issues are the older generation of women in both families. They are so happy meddling in the relationship of Sissy and Mitch. Although, most of this manipulation is quite obvious, there are a lot of subtle moments throughout that the couple are completely oblivious to. I particularly like how the matriarchs on both sides of the family unwittingly band together to stop threats to the couple. And give us all a happily ever after.

<- The Beast in Him

The Mane Squeeze ->

Image source: Amazon