Series: Kitty Norville #10
Format Read: paperback
Source: owned by the reviewer
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble
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Blurb from goodreads:
Kitty has been tapped as the keynote speaker for the First International Conference on Paranatural Studies, taking place in London. The conference brings together scientists, activists, protestors, and supernatural beings from all over the world—and Kitty, Ben, and Cormac are right in the middle of it.
Master vampires from dozens of cities have also gathered in London for a conference of their own. With the help of the Master of London, Kitty gets more of a glimpse into the Long Game—a power struggle among vampires that has been going on for centuries—than she ever has before. In her search for answers, Kitty has the help of some old allies, and meets some new ones, such as Caleb, the alpha werewolf of the British Isles. The conference has also attracted some old enemies, who’ve set their sights on her and her friends.
All the world’s a stage, and Kitty’s just stepped into the spotlight.
Bea's Thoughts:
The last book, "Kitty's Big Trouble" was meh, with odd pacing, not enough story or character or story development and an odd mix of gods, vampires and were wolves. This story was much better and also builds off the events in "Kitty's Big Trouble".
Kitty has been invited to speak at an international conference in London England on the existence of supernatural beings: what they are, what they aren't, laws regarding them, etc. She's accompanied by her husband Ben and his cousin Cormac, a former hunter of supernatural beings. Of course, things don't go according to plan. Do they ever when Kitty is involved? :D
Kitty does her usual schtick of butting in and getting involved in just about everything. She meets the vampire Master of London and reunites with Emma from an earlier book (sorry, I can't remember which one), meets the werewolf alpha of the British Isles, and encounters two different enemies from earlier books. Actually this book brings together quite a few characters from earlier books as well as introducing new ones. There was an earlier book called "Kitty Goes to War" and I think that title would have fir this book perfetly. There's quite a bit of action and Kitty is stirring things up again, encouraging dissension amongst the werewolf ranks of the vamps working with Roman, her nemesis, and encouraging the vampire Master Ned and the werewolf Alpha Caleb to ally and work together. In the midst of this, a friend goes missing thanks to one of those nemeses from an earlier book, and Cormac gets domestic and searches for family, though not his.
Kitty has grown up a lot over the series and though impulsive and a bit of a tail-jerker, has matured and learned to accept responsibility and even, occasionally, to not speak her mind. In this story though she spends a lot of time speaking her mind, even when it's to her detriment. I love her character, her humor, her strength, her compassion, her resilience and her spunk. She shines in this story.
Vaughn gives us a strong story, ties up some loose ends, moves forward the overall story line, and sets up some big changes. She mixes action and development in a near perfect blend. One gripe I have is that Cormac and Ben didn't actually contribute much to the story and could probably have been left out; I'd have liked for both of them to have a stronger presence. Many of the secondary characters were stronger and more interesting. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I'm curious to see what happens next. Happily, I have the next book on my Kindle.
Oh yay! Glad it went a bit better than the previous one for ya :)
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