Judith’s review of Bad Kitty by Eliza Gayle
If you think you’ve lost everything. Think again.
Kitty lost her father, her home and her clan. Clinging to what’s left of her pride, she’s forced into the neutral zone, the supposed safe haven for half-breeds and outcasts. An attack forces her to the wrong side of the treaty line and into an even more dangerous situation. Determined to greet death with the last of her dignity, she is suddenly rescued by a tall, gorgeous…wolf???
As the next alpha leader of his pack, Rafe Comyn has more than enough to handle with pack politics and precarious treaties. The last thing he needs is a pissed off feline landing in his lap, especially when her scent triggers his overwhelming drive to mate. While the daughter of a former rival is quite a conquest, she’s both forbidden and dangerous.
But as the heat of desire threatens to consume them, their differences escalate and Rafe must keep his own pack from killing the one woman he can’t live without.
This book is the first of a new series that is a spin-off of the authors Black Cougar series and the heroine figures prominently in two books in that series. That being said, it is not necessary to have read either Kane or Malcolm in order to make sense of this book. It begins fast and furious and there’s lots of adversarial action throughout. After all, Kitty is essentially driven out of her clan into the neutral zone where she almost dies from her wounds–hurt that was inflicted by females she always believed were her friends and with whom she has played and grown up. Now she is alone and not only finds herself near death but in a dangerous place geographically. It is only through the consideration of the wolf Alpha’s son that Kitty is saved and her life spared. Yet there’s an unbelievable amount of animosity between these two groups–the wolves and the felines–and Rafe and Kitty are caught in the cross-fire. In fact, for Rafe, any mercy or kindness shown toward Kitty can do him irreparable harm as the future Alpha. It’s a tangled mess at best and the author handles the strings and threads of this literary tapestry with a deft touch.
Those who like shifter romance will appreciate this book and those who may not have read this author’s work will be pleasantly surprised. In today’s world of mass digital publishing there are a kazillion paranormal romances out there and a ton of them are just plain bad. But Ms Gayle has demonstrated repeatedly that she can put a really good story together and in this tale the characters are clearly defined and their individuality is a very important ingredient in the crisis that surrounds them. This is also one of those stories where the wolves and the felines–simply cats and dogs–just plain hate each other. Now my dog happens to like my cat, but he certainly didn’t at first. It took us a long time to convince him that they really could live together in the same house. So I read this story with a certain amount of interest rooted in personal experience.
If you want more history for this book and like the paranormal sufficiently, I would recommend that you go back and read some of the Black Cougar tales in Ms Gayle’s previous series. They are good stories and you’ll certainly understand far more about how Kitty was “playing” the bad guy in so many instances while this book reveals a whole different side to her personality and thinking. This is a terrific read and I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This title is available from Gypsy Ink Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.