Howl At The Moon with Kitty!

If you spend much time in the book-blogosphere, you may have noticed that Carrie Vaughn and Kitty Norville have been making a lot of appearances around town. That’s because two brand new Kitty books hit the shelves recently. Ohhh you don’t know who Kitty is? Well, she’s this awesome character from a series of books – now genre-wise I would call this series Urban Fantasy, I’ve heard some refer to it as paranormal romance and others consider it strictly fantasy. But these books are really hard to classify since they contain so many different elements. Okay, back to Kitty – first of all, she’s got this cool job that allows her to stay up all night listening to rock’n’roll (dreamy job eh?) but for Kitty her job allows her to hide out who she really is. She’s a werewolf! A very feisty werewolf, who wants to build a better, safer community for all the supernaturals out there. Really, why should they all have to hide themselves away from the world? They live ordinary lives just like all the humans, well with a couple differences but those can be worked out. Oh and the supernatural community – it’s not just werewolves – there are all kinds of shapeshifters, skinwalkers, vampires, fey, jinn, psychics, magicians – well, you get the picture!

Okay back to Kitty, even though her job sounds like fun she gets sick and tired of cueing up crappy old songs night after night. One night she starts talking, about weird things that might go bump in the night, and apparently the things that may be doing the bumping are listening, because her show suddenly gains a huge following. Kitty starts to think that this is the perfect way for people like her to search out help and The Midnight Hour is born. Humans and paranormals go nuts over Kitty and pretty soon she’s a superstar for her kind.

However, Kitty soon learns that bringing herself into the spotlight exposes her whole community to the world and pretty soon the entire world is a mix of humans and non-humans. This brings up a lot of issues for both sides and Kitty finds herself in the position of non-official supernatural spokesperson, whether she likes it or not. 

So, now that the big secrets out, there’s the politics to deal with. This part of the series is simply amazing. Author Carrie Vaughn has gone above and beyond showing that her world-creation skills are top-notch. Everywhere you look there is some sort of political manoeuvring, along with the human system, Kitty will also discover the dangers of the various were pack’s hierarchy, the problems dealing with power-hungry vampires and somehow all these separate entities are going to have to work out their problems and come to an understanding that allows everyone to co-exist. Gonna be lots of shuffling and toe-stepping to solve this one.

Now, we’ve got Kitty, characters, politics… ahhh right, of course – action! Lots and lots of action! Talking about a series of books without spoilers is just a tad difficult, especially when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it. But let me assure you, each chapter of Kitty’s story is chock-full of crazy battles, skirmishes and yeah ok sometimes a girl’s gotta turn tail and run – but Kitty only comes back at her enemies twice as vicious. And when you’ve always got bounty hunters on your butt and dark nasties plotting your destruction, you’re bound to get a bit cranky.

Don’t worry though, because even with all these bad guys and gals giving Kitty crap, she’s got all she can handle of sexy hotties looking her way. This is normally a good thing, but Kitty attracts trouble like there’s no tomorrow, so of course there’s a fair share of relationship problems in her life. But Kitty’s a smart, take charge type of woman and she’ll figure it all out.

So that’s what’s got everyone buzzing lately. This is by far one of the most fun, most well thought out series’ I’ve read lately. I love that it crosses so many divides genre-wise, my reading taste is all over the place, but I’ve always loved paranormal stories that feature a strong, funny female lead without falling into that romantic suspense stereo-type. That’s my take on the Kitty Norville series, and this is a series of books best read in order so I’ve listed below the books in their correct order.

Vampires. Werewolves. Talk Radio. Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station – and a werewolf in the closet. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts “The Midnight Hour,” a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. After desperate vampires, werewolves, and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success. But it’s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew.

Werewolves Do It Better. The country’s only celebrity werewolf, late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard, not seen. But when she’s invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of supernaturals, her face gets plastered on national TV. Kitty’s been in hot water before, but jumping into the D.C. underworld brings a new set of problems. And  a new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city; an uber-hot Brazilian were-jaguar; and a paranoid, bible-thumping senator who wants to expose Kitty as a monster. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone’s itching for a fight.

All Work And No Play Makes Kitty A Dull Girl. After getting caught turning wolf on national television, Kitty retreats to a mountain cabin to recover and write her memoirs. But this is Kitty, so trouble is never far behind, and instead of Walden Pond, she gets Evil Dead. First someone leaves grotesque animal sacrifices on her front porch to curse her, then werewolf-hunter Cormac shows up with an injured Ben O’Farrell, Kitty’s lawyer, slung over his shoulder. Two hotties and one Kitty in a single-room cabin – can the situation get more tense? When a wolf-like creature with glowing red eyes starts sniffing around the cabin, Kitty wonders if any of them will get out of these woods alive…

Who Says You Can’t Go Home Again? Kitty’s radio show is as popular as ever and she has a boyfriends who actually seems to understand her. Can she finally settle down to a normal life? Not if this is just the calm before the storm. When her mother falls ill, Kitty rushes back to Denver – and right back to the abusive werewolf pack she escaped a year ago. To make matters worse, a war is brewing between the city’s two oldest vampires, threatening the whole supernatural community. Though she wants to stay neutral, Kitty is again drawn into a world of politics and violence. To protect her family, her lover, and herself, she’ll have to choose sides. And maybe become what she hates – a killer.

Honeymoon In Vegas? Already the alpha pair of Denver’s werewolf pack, Kitty and Ben now plan to tie the knot human-style by eloping to Vegas. Kitty is looking forward to sipping fru-fru drinks by the pool and doing her popular radio show on live TV, but her hotel is stocked with werewolf-hating bounty hunters. Elsewhere on the Strip an old-school magician might be wielding the real thing; the vampire community is harbouring a dark secret; and the irresistible star of a suspicious animal act is determined to seduce Kitty. Sin City has never been so wild, and this werewolf has never had to fight harder to save not only her wedding, but her very life.

* Go Blog-Hopping With Kitty * A Circle Of Books Amateur De irresistible Weblog Amber Stults Book Series Reviews The Book Zombie Booking Mama Books Ahoy! Books By TJ Baff Cafe Of Dreams Cheryl's Book Nook Cindy's Love Of Books Confessions Of A Romance Book Addict Darby's Closet Drey's Library Fiction To Fruition Foreign Circus Library Gramma's Reads In Bed With Books Jenn's Bookshelf Medieval Bookworm Ms. Bookish Musings Of A Bookish Kitty My Friend Amy The Novel Bookworm Sam's Book Blog Stephanie's Confessions Of A Book-A-Holic This Book For Free The Tome Traveller's Weblog Un-Mainstream Mom Reads Wendi's Book Corner What Have I Read Lately Wrighty's Reads Write For A Reader

So check out the other stops on the Kitty Blog Tour to read more reviews, see some guest posts and maybe you’ll come across author Carrie Vaughn out there too!

And check back here later, when I will be talking about Book 6 Kitty Raises Hell, sharing some Midnight Hour fun and announcing a pretty sweet giveaway  (^_^) \m/

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