Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Kitty Takes A Holiday

Kitty Takes a Holiday (Kitty Norville, #3)

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.  

10 comments:

  1. I'm really pleased that you are enjoying the series and it only gets better from now on!

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  2. This series wasn't really on my radar, but your review makes me want to check it out. I love the sort of love triangle idea where she's having trouble deciding between two guys.

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  3. I only tried the first one but I need to read more

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  4. I was sent a book in this series many moons ago but I had a tough time getting through it. :/

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  5. Everyone seems to be reading this series lately. Must be good. :)

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  6. I have seen this series several places lately and all the reviews have been so positive I'm thinking I should give it a try. Great review!

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  7. I knew it! I kept on reading on thinking this was an urban fantasy or a fantasy of some sort and then Ben gets bitten by a werewolf. Also... just saw the cover lol 🤦‍♀️. Would you consider this to be an urban fantasy? I might try it out. It reminds me of the Dresden Files for some reason.

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  8. Ack I read it way back, and then I never read more cos I forgot and now, eh, let it be :/ It happens

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  9. I seriously need to check out these books. I've gone and added the first of the series to my TBR. It sounds interesting.

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