Teddy Bears and the Christmas Pirates

Teddy Defender, Book 3

By: Justin Sloan

Narrated by: Michael Gilliland

Length: 1 hr and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

In the third book in the Teddy Defender series, Ari, Mia, and Brutas discover that teddy bear pirates are trying to ruin Christmas and take over the human world. They're taking all the new teddy bears from stockings and beneath trees, raising an army of these bears, and searching for a treasure that will give them immense power.

It's up to Ari and his friends to find this treasure before the pirates do, rescue Christmas, and save the world.

©2015 Justin Sloan (P)2016 Justin Sloan

Teddy bears, honey, and pirates!

Note: Even though this is Book 3 in the series, it works fine as a stand alone.

Teddy bears Ari and Mia are in for quite the adventure in this story! It’s Christmas time and these bears are a little worried about being replaced. Their fears aren’t to be taken lightly. However, no one expected Grizzly pirates! They came and stole the new bears and now Ari and Mia feel compelled to mount a rescue mission. They must be back before Christmas morning for their kids Rick and Tiffany. So right there we have the makings of a great little adventure – danger, the unknown, and a time limit for true success.

The Teddy Defenders (which is primarily Ari, Mia, and Brutas) come up with a plan to track down the pirates and find out what they’re up to with captured bears. Turns out Captain Crab wants to conquer the world! Muuuhhhhahahahaa! Captain Crab might be reaching a little too high, but that doesn’t mean we should let him give it a good try. The Teddy Defenders have to figure out who they can trust and who might be swayed to side with them.

Captain Crab is after a treasure that will give the Grizzly pirates great power – the Treasure of Cardoz! There’s plenty of swashbuckling and humorous Grizzly pirate swearing (all G rated). The Teddy Defenders feel they must find this treasure first and keep it from the Grizzly pirates. As things unfold, a plot is hatched. There’s honey involved.

Over all, it was a very amusing story. I do believe it is my favorite so far in the series. I loved all the pirate outfits on the Grizzlies and the standoffs and the pirate swearing and the race to find and capture the treasure. As with the previous books, the ending was quite cute and totally fit the story.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Michael Gilliland continues to be a great pick for this series. I really, really enjoyed his Grizzly pirate voices in this book. He also does a great job with the few female voices, especially Mia. There’s a few sound effects tossed in here and there and I really liked that too – they added to the story and didn’t distract from it.

Cup of Honey or Davy Jones' Locker?

It's christmas time and the teddy bears are worried about being replaced (think Toy Story). When they hear a voice from the stockings, their fears come to fruition and find a little blue bear. Before they know it, there's a crash and pirate Grizzlies take the newcomer away. Do the teddy bears count their blessing? Of course not! Onward ho! and their journey begins.

I read book #2 as an ebook and book #3 as an audiobook. I do have a preference for female narrators, but Michael Gilliland did a fine job. It's not a dramatized audiobook, but he does include some sound effects (dogs barking and pirates singing comes to mind). I liked the story, but I think the climax could have used some work. These bears can get really sneaky. Dousing the honey with cough syrup to put the crew to sleep reminds everyone not to mess with the cook!

I received a free copy from the author for a review.