Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: Prickly Business
SERIES: Portland Pack Chronicles, Book 1
NARRATOR: Iggy Toma
AUTHOR: Piper Vaughn, Kenzie Cade
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 11 Hrs & 10 Mins
RELEASE DATE: December 17, 2015
BLURB:
Portland Pack Chronicles: Book One
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.
REVIEW:
I had a pretty rough time with this book and the main reason is Avery. I just couldn’t warm up to his character. I get that he’s a hedgehog shifter and I thought…how adorkable is that? But, as he ya know…started speaking and I got to see his character…I kinda wanted to punch him. I found him just so damn annoying that I couldn’t really connect with him. I found him to just pull stupid antics and that just made me dislike him all the more.
Now, we get to Dylan…I just about loved him. I loved how he acted and how he helped Avery in those stupid situations that he got in. I wanted to just wrap him up and take him to someone who would really appreciate all that he is. I loved his character and just how wonderful he was. He made me smile and I just really liked his character.
I have to say that I really struggled with this audiobook. I think that truly the issue for me was Avery. I just couldn’t get over my dislike of him and that is something to say. I really give the authors props on having hedgehog shifter and making him the prickly character that he is. I appreciate that they worked with how a hedgehog should be and yet…even knowing that…I still couldn’t make myself care for this guy. I just really wanted him to stop being so damn selfish and immature and Grow The Hell Up!! I wanted him to be a man and not just an overgrown child and I didn’t feel that he did that.
Overall, I felt that the story was good…I guess my heart wasn’t really with Avery…but Dylan…that character really made me happy. I have to say that the missing person aspect was good and I see that it’s an arc and kinda cliffhanger-ish to get you to read the next book…I’m just not sure I can put myself thru Avery Again.
Narration:
Iggy Toma…I Love Iggy’s voice. He always does such an Amazing job with narration and he really pulls you into the story.
I find that with every book that Iggy narrates, I just fall more and more in love with his voice and his characters. I just fall into a story and enjoy. I follow along and just be apart of all that is happening and not worry about a thing.
BOOK RATING: 
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BUY LINKS:
I think we’re meant to see Avery as shallow to begin with. One of his tasks as a character is to see beyond himself and his own circumstances. It also gives the relationship a challenge. In the story we see Avery transform from an entitled, self-absorbed person into a man who looks clearly at himself, is open-minded enough to see his own short-comings and do something about it. He makes some bad decisions and gets himself into serious trouble, he’s cut off by his father and has to learn how to support himself. These two factors force him to make changes that turn him around. He develops a sense of empathy so strong that he begins to devote time and caring for those around him. He single-mindedly pursues the solution to the mysterious disappearance of a wolf pack member because he cares about her hurting father.
Even when Avery is meant to be a prick, I could still see the goodness in him. He cared about his friend and had a good relationship with him. I like a story with a character who transforms for the better. It’s very satisfying and so is this.