Women of the Otherworld: Stolen

Stolen is the second book in the Women of the Otherworld series and man, this book was good! I could not put it down! Which is weird because, like I said yesterday, Bitten didn't sit well with me. This book was fast paced and action-packed, which I imagine will probably be the case with most of Armstrong's books. 

The book is written from Elena's perspective again and I really think she redeemed herself. Yes, she could be a wee bit callous but she did seem a little more human-y in this book.

The book starts with Elena investigating what looks like someone selling information on an authentic case of werewolf attacks in Pittsburgh. But she doesn't find what she's expecting. Instead, she finds two witches who tell her that someone is kidnapping supernaturals and holding them captive to "study" them. The witches hope to hold a meeting to decide the best way to deal with the situation. And Elena, oddly enough, has a hard time dealing with the fact that creatures like witches, vampires and half demons exist. But after a run-in with some of the scary crazies trying to grab her, Elena decides to tell Jeremy (the Pack leader) that they may have a problem.

The story progresses from there and Elena gets kidnapped by these "scientists". These people range from the crazy to the stupid to the misguided. 

We met a whole bunch of new characters who I adored. We didn't see much of the Pack beyond Jeremy and Clay but that's okay. These new people totally made up for it. There's Paige, a feisty young witch and her aunt Ruth. Then we have Savannah, a twelve year old with crazy powers. Xavier, the half demon who worked for the crazy scientists, was brilliant. Despite being a self-absorbed ass, he was funny as hell.

Just a little warning: this book was kinda graphic in terms of the blood, guts and gore. And, being the wuss that I am, it freaked me out a little bit. Just in case there are any other scaredy-cats planning on reading this book, I just thought I'd give you a heads up. 

I'm not going to read the next book (Dime Store Magic) in this series just yet but it is definitely on my "to be read" list.

Women of the Otherworld: Bitten

I finished the first book from the Women of the Otherworld a few days ago. Bitten is written from the perspective of Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf in the world. The werewolf gene is passed on along through males, but a person can become a werewolf if they're bitten. This is what happened to Elena ten years ago.

Her boyfriend, Clay, bit her. She's never quite forgiven him for it and, as a result, their relationship is what you would call stormy. So after several years of breaking up and making up, Elena decides that she's had enough. No more. She leaves Stonehaven, where she lives with The Pack, and moves to Ontario where she tries to carve out a normal life for herself. And she does. For a year, she manages to be "normal" (midnight strolls not included). She has a job and she's living with a really nice, understanding (human) guy. Then she gets a phone call from the Pack leader, Jeremy, telling her that she needs to come back to Stonehaven immediately.  Some "mutts" (non-Pack werewolves) have been causing trouble and the Pack needs Elena's help getting them in line.

This book was really action-packed. But I struggled with it a little bit. 

I really liked that Elena was one of those no-nonsense heroines and that she could totally take care of herself. I liked that Clay respected that fact and didn't get all uber-macho protective over her. He respected her abilities and let her do her thing. I liked how the Pack was one big family and that they all had each other's backs. I was also really looking forward to the mutts getting their butts kicked for all the trouble they were causing.

Now for me to get picky. I thought that Elena sometimes came off as... kinda heartless. I don't know why. I found it really hard to root for her. She totally forgot about her human boyfriend while at Stonehaven and didn't feel any more than a pang of guilt for engaging in hanky-panky with Clay. 

I think my biggest issue with Bitten was that I didn't really like Elena all that much.

But have no fear. I've just finished the next book in the series, Stolen, and I have to say that it was MUCH better. I think I will keep track of this series.