Reviews: Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand and Kitty Raises Hell

Summary: 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 harboring 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. -- Grand Central

Summary: Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas.

Kitty and Ben flee The City That Never Sleeps, thinking they were finished with the dangers there, but the sadistic cult of lycanthropes and their vampire priestess have laid a curse on Kitty in revenge for her disrupting their rituals. Starting at the next full moon, danger and destruction the form of fire strikes Kitty and the pack of werewolves she's sworn to protect.

She enlists the help of a group of TV paranormal investigators - one of whom has real psychic abilities - to help her get to the bottom of the curse that's been laid on her. Rick, the Master vampire of Denver, believes a deeper plot lies behind the curse, and he and Kitty argue about whether or not to accept the help of a professional demon hunter - and vampire - named Roman, who arrives a little too conveniently in the nick of time.

Unable to rely on Rick, and unwilling to accept Roman's offer of help for a price, Kitty and her band of allies, including Vegas magician Odysseus Grant and Kitty's own radio audience, mount a trap for the supernatural being behind the curse, a destructive force summoned by the vengeful cult, a supernatural being that none of them ever thought to face. -- Grand Central

KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND and KITTY RAISES HELL by Carrie Vaughn and books five and six in the Carrie Vaughn werewolf series. If you've been following my blog for the past few days, you already know that I have thoroughly enjoyed this series (and I have to admit that I wasn't sure werewolf books would appeal to me.) I found these two books to be very entertaining and consistent with the other books in the series.

I thought it made so much sense to send Kitty to Las Vegas in KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND. Kitty and Ben decide to get married and head to Vegas so they don't have to deal with all the hassles of planning a wedding. I can't think of a place more perfect for weirdness and quirky characters than Las Vegas. I liked how the author brought the vampire community and other freaky lycanthropes into this novel through the various shows and magical acts -- it was such a creative way to develop the characters. Although, I will admit that some parts of this story did get pretty far out for me, I still love Kitty and enjoyed her Vegas experience; however, I was happy to see that she was returning home for the next book. I like that the author left the reader with a big cliffhanger at the end of KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND, and I was personally glad that I already had my copy of the next book in the series and didn't have to wait to read it!

In KITTY RAISES HELL, Kitty picks up right where she left off with a mysterious message from her encounters in Las Vegas. It's clear that she is dealing with a power unlike anything she's ever experienced before. I thought the premise of this novel was interesting because it included a lot more of the supernatural and paranormal. I enjoyed learning about these types of creatures and some of the remedies for fighting them. I also like that the author introduced some characters from a reality based television show. I thought a few of them were terrific supporting characters, and I liked how they worked with Kitty to solve this mystery.

I haven't read a lot of books that quality as the fantasy genre, so I really don't have anything to compare the Kitty books too; however, I was very impressed with this series -- I had so much fun reading these six books. Miss Vaughn has created very memorable characters and definitely has the ability to tell a great story. I am guessing that there will be more Kitty books in the future because I'm pretty sure that Kitty will manage to get herself into some more trouble. I consider myself a fan of Kitty and I'm looking forward to reading about more of her antics.

Last month, I was fortunate enough to participate in the BlogTalk Radio show with Ms. Vaughn. It was a very interesting interview and it definitely made me want to read this entire series. You can listen to a recording of the show here. Ms. Vaughn has also written a some essays that you might enjoy -- Books are Friends and An Ode to Kafa. You can take a look at the author's website and her blog if you still want to learn a little more about her.

Check out this video for KITTY RAISES HELL:



Participating sites:
http://booksamyreads.blogspot.com/
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If you haven't been following my little blog tour, here are the links to the first three books in the Kitty Norville werewolf series:

KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR - review
KITTY GOES TO WASHINGTON - review
KITTY TAKES A HOLIDAY - review
KITTY AND THE SILVER BULLET - review

A big thanks goes out to Hachette Book Group for allowing me to participate in this very fun book blog tour!