Book Review: The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston

Title: The Unleashing
Series: Call of Crows, Book 1
Author: Shelly Laurenston
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: March 31, 2015 by Kensington

WINGING IT

Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even see her die.

In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life—but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the Marines.

But Vig can’t give up on someone as special as Kera. With a storm of oh-crap magic speeding straight for L.A., survival will depend on combining their strengths: Kera’s discipline, Vig’s loyalty… and the Crows’ sheer love of battle. Boy, are they in trouble.

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Reviewed by: Babs

Why I Read This Book: I’m a big Shelly Laurenston fan. I enjoyed Hunting Season and this book also features the Crows and Ravens. I was excited to read this book and meet these new characters.

In a Nutshell: Another enjoyable Shelly Laurenston read. The story did not disappoint.

What I Liked: I liked getting Kera’s story about how she became a Crow. And going through the complexities of her transition to the Crow way of life. The chemistry between Vig and Kera was awesome. I love Vig’s awkwardness with Kera. He was adorable.

I liked that this seemed a little toned down from the craziness of the Magnus Pack and Pride books. But I still laughed out loud at moments—the humor from the other books was definitely still there. I seek out Shelly Laurenston when I need some comic relief and this is another to add to that list.

The secondary characters were great too. I liked the conflict between Kera and Erin—two strong women with very different ideas on how things should go with the team. And Brodie—fabulous! I won’t give away anything about her but another high point of the story!

What I Didn’t Like: The conflict/fight with the “big bad” didn’t really draw me in. That did seem a little over the top or maybe just made too complicated? I still enjoyed the building relationship between Vig and Kera as well as Kera’s relationship with her team and finding what she wanted to do with her new life.

Overall Impression: I love Shelly Laurenston’s Magnus Pack and Pride series. I also liked Hunting Season. Hunting Season introduces the Crows and Ravens but isn’t connected to this story (although I wish/hope she goes back to that world since there are some characters I’d like to get their HEA). I’m excited for the next book in the series, The Undoing. It comes out March 29, 2016.

Bab’s Rating: