Kitty Takes A Holiday

Kitty Takes A Holiday is the third Kitty Norville book and was just as good as the first two. In this one Kitty takes a little time off from her radio show and rents a cabin in the Colorado mountains to catch her breath after her adventures in Washington D.C. Trouble seems to follow Kitty everywhere though as it's anything but a relaxing vacation. Kitty is feeling out of sorts and threatened by a rival radio show called Ariel, Priestess of the Night- in fact Kitty is so irritated she takes to making prank calls into the show. 

That's the least of her worries though when strange things start happening- someone is gutting small animals and leaving them on her doorstep, and she soon finds herself harassed by someone who doesn't want her in the area. As time goes on these occurrences take on a more sinister tone as a connection to Native American folklore is established. Kitty makes the acquaintance of a shaman who helps her out, and at the same time Cormac shows up with a wounded Ben in tow. Turns out Ben was bitten by a werewolf, and Cormac needs her help. 

I feel like the series takes a turn here with Ben being bitten. Previously a supporting player, Ben now takes center stage as Kitty does her best to help him adjust to lycanthropy, including his first full moon experience. There's always been an undercurrent of sexual tension/ attraction between Kitty and Cormac, but now Kitty finds herself pulled towards Ben, both romantically and as a member of her pack. Of course Kitty doesn't really have a pack anymore, having been driven out of the Denver group, but now with Ben- maybe she does? 

Where does this leave her not- quite relationship with Cormac? Well that's the million dollar question. As in previous books they almost go there but pull back at the last minute- and along with the Native American elements (which are downright creepy) this one explores where Kitty's feelings are- with Cormac or Ben? Is she attracted to Ben only because he's been bitten and is now sort of under her care? What does she feel towards Cormac? 

The other thing is Cormac is not necessarily a hero and that gets addressed here as well. When the shit hits the fan with a supernatural menace Cormac takes extreme measures and gets in trouble with the law over it, and Kitty has to try to save him. At the same time Kitty remembers that she first met Cormac when he came to kill her- he'd been hired to take her out- so is it a matter of chickens coming home to roost for him? Will Cormac land in prison? That's the fascinating dilemma the three of them face as this one goes on. The ending is bittersweet and satisfying and I like that as entwined as these are you can still, at least so far, more or less read them as standalones if you want. But I'm enjoying the wider tapestry and will keep reading these as long as they're this good.