Book: Waking the Witch

Kelley Armstrong

Paranormal
Dutton / 2010
Hard Back / 309 Pages
Series Women of the Otherworld 11

The orphaned daughter of a sorcerer and a half-demon, Savannah is a terrifyingly powerful young witch who has never been able to resist the chance to throw her magical weight around. But at 21 she knows she needs to grow up and prove to her guardians, Paige and Lucas, that she can be a responsible member of their supernatural detective agency. So she jumps at the chance to fly solo, investigating the mysterious deaths of three young women in a nearby factory town as a favor to one of the agency's associates. At first glance, the murders look garden-variety human, but on closer inspection signs point to otherworldly stakes.

Soon Savannah is in over her head. She's run off the road and nearly killed, haunted by a mystery stalker, and freaked out when the brother of one of the dead women is murdered when he tries to investigate the crime. To complicate things, something weird is happening to her powers. Pitted against shamans, demons, a voodoo-inflected cult and garden-variety goons, Savannah has to fight to ensure her first case isn't her last. And she also has to ask for help, perhaps the hardest lesson she's ever had to learn.

I picked this book up because Series (bestest one EVER)



What I liked the Most? Savannah’s development



What I liked the Least? Too short



Review: The narrator for this installment is Savannah – sassy, arrogant, young, powerful, headstrong, tenderhearted – Savannah and this was possibly my favorite installment! Savannah young, her age coupled with her headstrong attitude make her “human”. What I liked about her was her strength and her soft spots. Sometimes she underestimates her strength, and other times she is over confident. She is vulnerable to kids with crappy or neglectful parents because of her past. She thinks she is more mature than she is and makes some rash decisions that backfire on her.



Recommended to: Fans of the series



Best Quote: “Blame male sorcerers. Or maybe just males in general. Inquisitors, judges, hangmen ... they were all male.”

Book: Frostbitten

Kelley Armstrong
Paranormal
Orbit / 2009
Hardback / 339 Pages
Series Women of the Otherworld 10

After years of struggle, Elena Michaels (journalist, investigator, werewolf) has finally come to terms with her strange fate, and learned how to control her wild side.

At least, that’s what she believes when she sets off to Alaska with her partner Clay. A series of gruesome maulings and murders outside Anchorage seem to implicate a rogue band of werewolves. But the truth is far more complicated. Trapped in a frozen, unforgiving terrain, they are forced to confront a deadly secret, and their own, untamed nature…

I picked this book up because part of the series



What I liked the Most? I love Elena’s development as a character



What I liked the Least? Not anything particular for this book



Review: I was able to get into Frostbitten easily as I love the easy going style of writing - this is a very well written story and fairly past-paced, with quite a bit of action – but I am warning you this book deals heavily with the issue of rape and abuse – there is an attempted rape and an extremely brutal discussion of the abuse Elena suffered at the hands of her adopted/foster parents. If that is not something you wish to read about you have been warned.

Fans of the series know that Elena is an extremely complex protagonist with beau comp history. And for the first time in this series I enjoyed reading about Clay – in earlier books I was much less than taken with Elena's mate because he made Elena a werewolf by biting her without her consent years before. I didn't want Elena to forgive him. Yet through the course of the different books, I have warmed to him, and I do like this development in their relationship – can Clay follow Elena's lead?

The plot line I was most intrigued with is the werewolf heritage and the ancient creatures coming out of the Alaskan wilderness, but must say I enjoyed reading about the twins. They seem to be perfectly balanced and mostly happy kids (except when mommy & daddy are away).

Recommended to: This is an enjoyable read – if you are a fan of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series



Best Quote: "Total control? A submissive wife means you don't get to win control anymore. No more chases. No more fights. Not much fun in dominance games if you're the winner by default."