THE KITTY NORVILLE SERIES - BOOKS 1 AND 3.

KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR AND KITTY TAKES A HOLIDAY by CARRIE VAUGHN.


Having read  KITTY GOES TO WASHINGTON (book 2 in the series) last year, I felt ready to read books 1 and 3.


Yes I know, not exactly the conventional way to read a series but after having read and enjoyed book 2 (which by the way read well as a standalone novel) when the opportunity arose to buy a box-set of the 3 books I had to take it.




Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station - and a werewolf in secret. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts 'The Midnight Hour', a late-night talk 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 trail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew.
........ Outer back cover.


FIRST SENTENCE (Chapter 1): I tossed my backpack in a corner of the studio and high-fived Rodney on his way out.


MEMORABLE MOMENT (PAGE 8): I think in some ways every single person, human, vampire, whatever has a choice to make: to be full of rage about what happens to you or reconcile with it, strive for the most honourable existence you can despite the odds.


After being caught turning wolf on national television, Kitty retreats to a mountain cabin to recover, and to write her memoirs. But this is Kitty, so trouble is never far behind. Instead of Waldon Pond, she gets Evil Dead.


It starts when someone leaves grotesque animal sacrifices on her front porch, intended to curse her, then werewolf hunter Cormac shows up with an injured Ben O'Farrell, Kitty's lawyer, slung over his shoulder. Two hot men and one Kitty in a single-room cabin - can the situation get more tense? They'll soon find out. When a wolf-like creature with glowing red eyes starts sniffing about the cabin, Kitty wonders if any of them will get out of the woods alive.
...... Outer back cover.


FIRST SENTENCE (Chapter 1): She runs for the joy of it, because she can, her strides stretching to cover a dozen feet every time she leaps.


MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 216): "Magic. Witchcraft," he said curtly. "So how do you convince the legal system that this is real? That when Tony and Alice talk about casting their spells, they're serious, and it's real. That they're not crackpots......."


MY THOUGHTS: Well, it has to be said I thought Kitty And The Midnight Hour was the better read, and Kitty Takes A Holiday probably my least favourite of the three books.


Not just your average 'werewolf' story, The Midnight Hour, though not without its thrills and spills, is so much more than that if you care to take a deeper look. All about a life changing event, fitting in, family, and what it is that makes us human, I think this is a great read on so many levels.


But what perhaps makes this novel really special for me is how the author manages to get into the heads of the wolf pack, of Kitty's struggles to not only be accepted as one of them but to survive as the least dominant in the pack.


Though it was great to see Kitty out of her usual environment, to learn a little more about Cormac and to see a whole other side to Ben, Book 3 in the series, Kitty Takes A Holiday, was perhaps the least strong read for me.


Still very readable and far from stale, it was fascinating to learn of Ben's experiences and compare them to Kittys. Then of course there was a fresh element that took a look at the nature of curses that, strange to say I know, somehow added more of a fantasy element to the books.


Not too sure about the shift in the romantic side of things though, understandable in one way I suppose, I'm just not convinced that this was the way to go.


Looking forward to book 4, Kitty And The Silver Bullet, I long to see just how the characters will develop.


KEEP THEM OR NOT?: Yes, definitely keepers.