3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I must confess that I have not read this series in order. I’ve been picking up the books at used book sales and using them in challenges whenever possible. Having read Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (book 5) first, I was really surprised by the reviews of this book. Surely it could not be about the same series? I kept hearing about Kitty being very submissive, almost nauseatingly so. Certainly this was not the Kitty in the later books. When I finally got to read this book, I could not believe the transformation. For those of you that are put off by Kitty’s character in this book, rest assured that she really does develop a spine in the later books.Kitty Norville (how ironic is a werewolf named Kitty?) has been a werewolf for about three years. She is a very low ranking wolf and extremely submissive. Kitty’s wolf is eager to please the pack Alpha, a thug named Carl. Kitty’s submissiveness is a terrible thing to watch, especially when Carl takes advantage of Kitty sexually even when he is mated. I found it hard to read about Kitty’s transformation into a werewolf. Her story is just awful: a bad date, a date rape, and left alone in an isolated park during a full moon. Kitty got the attention of a pack of wolves. Kitty’s evening from hell becomes even more hellish as she is bitten.Kitty’s saving grace is her career as a radio personality. Kitty’s Midnight Hour radio show becomes very popular, despite the objections of her Alpha and the local vampire leader. When the show goes into syndication, Kitty was able to bring in a lot of money into her pack. Kitty’s show allows her to develop as a character, to get stronger and more assertive. It also allows her some financial independence as well. At one point, the Alpha suggests that Kitty may want to challenge his mate for an Alpha position. I liked how the author gives us the wolf’s perspective. Submissive females are a little repugnant to me, but when the scene is explained from the eyes of a wolf, I was able to understand the character better. The pack politics are not very well developed in this book as they are in other werewolf/shifters series. Perhaps it is because this Alpha was more of a thug than a leader to his pack. The idea of a church group having a cure for vampirism and lycanthropy was intriguing. I had hoped that the story line would have been expanded. I would have liked to have seen more on that.The supporting cast of characters in this book is interesting. While most of Kitty’s pack was a bunch of thugs, TJ stood out and protected Kitty from Carl and the other weres. Cormac deserves special consideration. Hunky, effective, and lethal, Cormac’s primary function was an assassin. I loved how he worked with Kitty. I can’t say enough about Ben the lawyer, who provided excellent advice to both Kitty and Cormac. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
