The Reading Jackalope

This was a fast, enjoyable read. My monster is the werewolf and this was absolutely an enjoyable werewolf tale. It's also the story of how a woman gets herself out of an abusive relationship. Because the pack dynamics in Denver, where Kitty starts, are abusive. She's essentially bullied and raped by the male alpha and the female alpha hates her for it (and can I just say how much I love that there is both a male and female alpha in Vaughn's werewolves). There's this uber disturbing line said by Carl, the male alpha, shortly after he uses his dominant position to force kitty into having sex, "I'll take care of you, and you don't ever need to grow up." Ew and ick. So the book is about getting past that.

The book also covers my favorite werewolf theme, and really what werewolf book doesn't, and that is how much of the beast do we allow to dominate our lives? Is there a point to humanity and civilization? This book firmly comes down in favor of humanity. Civilization is a good thing, it's what helps Kitty get out of her situation by giving her confidance and outside support.

There was nothing particularly groundbreaking here, but it was enjoyable and I'll be looking for the others in this series.