Prickly Business

By: Piper Vaughn, Kenzie Cade

Narrated by: Iggy Toma

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Some people might call Avery Babineaux a prick. He's a hedgehog shifter from an old-money Louisiana family, with a penchant for expensive shoes and a reputation for being a judgmental snob. His attitude is why he and his fated mate are estranged. Not that Avery cares. He doesn't want to be mated to some blue-collar werewolf anyway. Or so he keeps telling himself.

No werewolf likes to be looked down upon, least of all Dylan Green. He doesn't need a mate, especially not some snotty hedgehog who sneers at his custom motorcycle shop and calls him a grease monkey. But when Avery gets into trouble with a shady loan shark, Dylan can't stand by and let him be hurt - whether he wants the brat or not.

Yet once Dylan steps into Avery's world, he realizes there's more to Avery than his prickly exterior, and that unexpected vulnerability calls to Dylan's protective instincts. The sassy little hedgehog needs a keeper, and despite their horrible first impressions, Dylan starts to believe he might be the wolf for the job.

©2015 Piper Vaughn, Kenzie Cade (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Enjoyable but not much romance in it

Enjoyable, with likeable characters but a bit longer than it needed. I would have liked more romance and less time spent with the suspense part of the story.

I love this series so much

you will love this story it is a story that is so hot so like nerve-wracking like you want to just grind your teeth but it is so worth listening to because it's like love but yet it's dirty love I can't wait for the second book and I know for a fact if you give this book a try you will want the second book 2

Prickly Business

What did you love best about Prickly Business?

I loved how Avery and Dylan grew and learned to appreciate each other, sometimes in spite of their differences, and sometimes because of those differences.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Prickly Business?

I loved when Dylan saved Avery from the jerks who were hunting him in the woods. Even though they weren't together yet, Dylan, in wolf form, wrapped himself around the hedgehog and waited for Avery to feel comfortable enough to shift. Their bond was lovely.

What does Iggy Toma bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Iggy Toma is amazing! He gave each character a distinctive voice that showed both their background and attitude. I especially loved the way he brought Avery to life for me.

If you could rename Prickly Business, what would you call it?

Reluctant Mates

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful story performed by a fantastic narrator. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good reluctant mates story.

Gotta Love a Hedgehog

This story has lots of different elements like a shifter who is a hedgehog, a mystery to be solved, dirty cops, and people who don't want to listen. We see Avery grow from a whiny snob to a person who cares about others. Dylan who goes from being judgmental while trying to show he's not his dad, grow to accept his own wants. This story ends with a cliffhanger with more mystery that still needs to be solved.

5 stars = I freaking LOVED this book!!!

I received a free copy of this audiobook to listen to and review for Wicked Reads.

It’s an awful thing to say, but I’m not sure that I would have read Prickly Business because I really couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of a hedgehog shifter. It just doesn’t scream sexy. However, when the audiobook review opportunity came up for the second book in this series, I had to have it and was lucky enough to get a copy of Prickly Business as well. Why did I have to have it? Because I adore Iggy Toma’s narration. Toma does such a wonderful job of creating voices for each of the characters and bringing them to life, that I had to give this series a try. And now that I’ve finished listening to book one, I am so glad I did because Vaughn and Cade have penned a fascinating character in Avery Babineaux and I’m already on pins and needles to start Prickly by Nature.

Avery is exactly what you would expect a genteel southern gentleman to be like, if he were an obviously gay man and a twink (at least that was my impression of him). He seems to possess delicate sensibilities that are easily affronted and he’s quick to spear the offender with a haughty look – and it’s largely an act to hide his insecurities. Don’t get me wrong, Avery comes from old southern money and can be quite condescending and judgmental, but over the course of the book he grows up, a lot, becoming someone I started rooting for without reservation. When he finds himself in a position where he’s forced to work for a living, Avery adjusts to it quicker than I expected. It’s not immediate and not without a good bit of grumbling on his part, but with his best friend, Jaden, providing guidance and emotional support, Avery begins to find his place in the local wolf pack. Oh yeah, Avery is a hedgehog shifter whose fated mate, Dylan, is a wolf shifter (who wants nothing to do with Avery), and his best friend Jaden is the alpha’s son. Circumstances bring Dylan and Avery into one another’s company, and as they take the time to actually get to know one another, they each find that their mate is nothing like the first impressions made a few years ago suggested. So as Avery begins to find his place in the pack and his way in the world, he also finds that there’s more to his mate than he expected and hope for a future together is hard to quash. But Avery’s job with the pack soon has him on a crash course with danger and Dylan may be the only thing that stands between him and a fate worse than death.

I realize that I have babbled effusively about Avery, and that’s not meant to be an indication that I didn’t enjoy Dylan’s character at all – because I did. It’s more that Prickly Business is Avery’s story and it removed the hesitations I had about a romance featuring a hedgehog shifter. That said, Dylan played a big role in Avery learning to stand on his own two feet and expect more out of himself. Now I’m not one who believes that a person’s worth depends upon their partner. However, when it comes to shifter romances, I cannot imagine anything more devastating and to be a bigger hit to one’s self-esteem than being rejected by your fated mate. Even though gaining Dylan’s love is not a measure of the man Avery is, it went a long way in healing a wound that affected his self-worth. And vice versa because Avery rejected Dylan as well. Thankfully Dylan has some great friends who yanked his Avery-blinders off and forced him to see what was right in front of him, because the prickly hedgehog and the grumpy werewolf make for a perfect pairing. I thoroughly enjoyed Prickly Business, both the story and the narration, and know that it will be on my replay list.

A Fun Story

A pretty cool story actually. There were a few things I didn't love... primarily, if they're fated mates, what the heck took them so long to get together?

Avery's character is great, and I liked how the mystery part of the story changed so much about him.

Nicely performed by Iggy Toma.

Great narrator love this series!

Avery is a hedgehog shifter who left his home territory of Louisiana and move to Oregon. Shifter law dictates that he must join the local wolf pack since Portland falls in that jurisdiction. Though his family has always looked down upon wolf shifters, Avery doesn’t care a bit, and happily joins the pack.

Avery finds his mate, a wolf, and in a drunken mistake, throws him over for not being “good enough”. Dylan is of course hurt, and somewhat glad, because he doesn’t ever want a mate anyway.

Two years go by, and the mates avoid each other at all costs. It isn’t until Avery ends up in trouble because of some gambling debts that they spend any significant time together.

Finally, the two realize how wrong they’ve been about the other and they begin a relationship. In the meantime, Avery gets involved in a missing person’s project that might just end up costing him his life!

**

This a little different than the average “shifter” romance. For one, though the instant attraction is there, it isn’t acted upon until much later in the story. In addition, the side stories – Avery’s gambling problems first and later a missing female wolf shifter – take up a lot of the book.

The world building is excellent and the character development is also well done. I enjoyed the romance between Dylan and Avery but I was disappointed by how little time they spent together. (This is remedied in book two – so consider this a slow burn for the series.)

When they do get together the smexy times are HOT and the feels are wonderful.

The writing was really good and I am definitely interested in seeing more from this series.

4 of 5 stars

Audio

Iggy Toma does a fantastic job with this! He gives Avery a delightful Southern drawl and helps us to differentiate all the other voices as well. I love his reading voice and found this really enjoyable as an audiobook. Definitely the best way to enjoy this story!

5 of 5 stars

Overall 4.5 of 5 stars

a fluffy shifters story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Sure why not. It was a day spent at home. It was entertaining.

Would you recommend Prickly Business to your friends? Why or why not?

Sure. to anyone who is interested in reading about shifters and their mates. There is some humor in the book too.

Which scene was your favorite?

Avery kicking the guy and hissing "and stay down"

What would have made this romance irresistible?

maybe more romance. It was lost in the mystery and secondary characters

Any additional comments?

I might read/listen the second book. I just hope its tighter and more believable

In spite of myself...

In spite of myself...I thoroughly enjoyed this shifter story. My first thoughts...a 'hedgehog shifter' and fated mates to a wolf shifter...really. I suppose this is based on my ignorance of shifter lore. As I began the journey of Avery and Dylan...I became engrossed in the story. I listened to the story in one sitting...a good way to spend a few hours (11+). Angst, murder, mayhem, preconceived ideas, and learning about one's self. This book has it all. Piper Vaughn did an excellent job and the narration of Iggy Toma made the journey that much better. Definitely would recommend this story.

great story

l love this story. It has suspense, drama, comedy and overall a great book. I will definatly be reading the next chapter of this story.