Novel Review: Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, #7) by Carrie Vaughn

Genre: Adult Paranormal/Fantasy (Light Romance)

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Hachette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing

Spoilers?: No/Very Minor

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the seventh entry in Carrie Vaughn's bestselling Kitty Norville series, a publicity stunt turns into a fight for the popular radio talk show host's life.
Talk radio host and werewolf Kitty Norville has agreed to appear on TV's first all-supernatural reality show. She's expecting cheesy competitions and manufactured drama starring shapeshifters, vampires, and psychics. But what begins as a publicity stunt will turn into a fight for her life.

The cast members, including Kitty, arrive at the remote mountain lodge where the show is set. As soon as filming starts, violence erupts and Kitty suspects that the show is a cover for a nefarious plot. Then the cameras stop rolling, cast members start dying, and Kitty realizes she and her monster housemates are ironically the ultimate prize in a very different game. Stranded with no power, no phones, and no way to know who can be trusted, she must find a way to defeat the evil closing in . . . before it kills them all.

Available on Amazon.

Review:

This book was fantastic; exactly what I wanted, very exciting. I read it in one day, almost one sitting, because it was so good and I did not want to put it down.

It’s the same Kitty, wanting to do some publicity stunt, only ending up in a much different scene than she expected, with a lot more murder going on.

There was really only one main plot going on here, with perhaps the mention of something happening with Ben and Cormac, but in this book Kitty is out of town with a bunch of other supernaturals and away from Ben, so we really only get to see the action happening around Kitty, which is very exciting.

Her and several other supernaturals are pulled into this reality TV type show, told that it’s kind of an experiment, and that the producers want the viewers to see that supernaturals aren’t that bad. Only, the producers aren’t telling the truth, and something much more nefarious is happening, and Kitty even tries to get her mind in the same place as Cormac, taking charge and trying to figure out what the killers would do, in order to survive.

I knew something was going to happen, but I will say I expected it to be a much bigger ploy, something a bit more wide-ranged than it was. Still, it was very exciting. I was practically glued to the pages, it was so good. And there was barely any Ben, even. Next to no romance, and I still loved every bit of it.

While there wasn’t much of a sub plot, there was something big happening with Cormac (that I won’t spoil, but makes me very excited for the next book), and we got a tiny bit more information about Roman, the big bad vampire from the last book. Plus, we got to meet several new characters and revisit some old ones, and that was nice. Although, as I mentioned above, there were some murders that I didn't enjoy so much.

So, to sum up, this book was fantastic, and I am very excited to read the next one, and I plan on reading it very soon.

Novel Review: Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, #6) by Carrie Vaughn

              Genre: Adult Paranormal/Fantasy (Light Romance)

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4
Publisher: Hachette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing
Spoilers?: No/Very Minor

               Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

Available on Amazon.

               Review:

So, I’m a pretty big fan of Carrie Vaughn. The first book of hers I read was her first YA book, when it first came out, and then quickly moved to this series, and was instantly caught. I was surprised with how much I liked it, and how quickly I got through the first couple books, and now it’s been a while since I read the last one, but I finally picked this one up. And, again, really enjoyed it.

In this book, Kitty is going up against the Band of Tiamat, the group that she fought in the previous book, only by fighting with a creature they sent after her. She’s still dealing with her pack, who seem to be a bit unhappy with how she’s handling things. Plus, there’s a paranormal TV show coming to town, and she wants to interact with the paranormal investigators all she can, see if they’re real, have them on her show, and is a bit surprised by what she finds out.

So, this was a good book. I love Kitty. She’s nice and entertaining and curious, and I quite like what she’ll do for publicity, and how much she works to get publicity while still not going too far. I like the writing, it’s easy to get through, not overly pretty but not in any way boring either. I’m growing to like Kitty and Ben together. At first, I was all for Kitty and Cormac, and it has taken me a while to get used to Kitty and Ben. They just… It was so sudden, it happened so fast, and I didn’t really believe that Kitty felt real love toward Ben. Now, while I’m looking forward to more convincing in the next books, I am feeling it a bit more. I always liked Ben, I’m just getting used to the KittyandBen romance. There was also, actually, a very tiny, one page, not too explicit, sex scene, which was unexpected (since Vaughn doesn’t tend to do those, at least that I’ve read so far) and very nice.

This book, when it came to action, was good. The TV show crew was cool, their enemy was definitely neat, it wasn’t over-the-top, can’t-look-away exciting, but the action was still very good. I don’t think that, what happened with the Band of Tiamat really ended it, but maybe it did and is going to move onto the bigger bad guy we met, who’s story intersects with that one, and is definitely not over. Either way, that is sure to be interesting, even if it does take a few more books to get to it.
This series is usually not totally filled with action, it takes its time getting there, but it's always worth it, and it's never boring along the way. There's usually quite a bit going on in each book, too; a main plot, a main bad guy, but then a couple other sub plots happening as well. The time spent on each item is evened out rather well, though, and keeps me interested.

Oh, we got to meet a new character: Peter, T.J.’s little brother. I hope we get to see more of him, because I liked T.J., and it’s obvious how much Kitty misses him. We got to see a tiny bit of Cormac, and that was nice. There weren’t too many, but there were a couple of radio, on-air scenes, which are always really fun to read, one of my favorite parts of these books.

This book was very good, and I’m hoping to read the next one very soon.