In Honour of...

I am currently reading Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series, just about to wrap up with the last book in the trilogy The Reckoning. I'm really enjoying it and have come to really adore Kelley's succinct and clean prose, her superb ability to weave a wonderfully exciting, fast-paced, addictive and creative paranormal read. So, in honour of my new found love I am posting a review of the first book I read of Kelley Armstrong's. Bitten, the first in her adult Women of the Underworld series, is a book I read back in February and quickly fell in love with.  I seriously could not put it down! And Kelley is Canadian!...Woot Woot Eh?

Love the cover art!

 5 Stars.

This book was such a treat. I'd seen it in bookstores for months, saw it last year in an airport and it always looked intriguing but I never picked it up. I finally did after reading the great reviews it got and I was sooo happy I did.

This is an amazing roller coaster ride in a tightly wound and believable world where the people have paranormal essences (they are werewolves) but are so believable as human beings in a human world. Every character bounced from the page and I was sucked into the story from the first page. I can't praise this book enough.

The romance is thrilling and heart-breaking. I loved Clay and it was heartbreaking to see how much he loved Elena and how much they hurt one another over an eleven year stretch. Elena had some annoying tendencies, mainly her attempts to stay blinded by her rage over Clay's mistake and the ways she wanted to punish him for it. But I loved that Armstrong didn't draw it out - Clay called Elena on all her annoying behaviour and forced her to acknowledge the truth and her own feelings - whether good or bad. Although this relationship could have come across as unhealthy, their actions towards one another unforgivable, Armstrong dealt with the realities in a tasteful and utterly riveting way.

I can't say enough about this book! Fast paced, action packed, great cast of characters, tightly-wound plot, great love story and heart wrenching moments!
Pick it up if you love paranormal, werewolf stories, or just a plain old creative story with twists and turns and a great love story.

5 stars, hands down!