Each month beginning March 1st, 2012, challenge members will read or re-read the title for that month. In addition, challenge members will either post a review, their reading experience, character castings or anything else related to that title. You have freedom to have fun with your monthly post so be creative! Seeing as this series is 13 novels long, this challenge will last 13 months.

As this challenge started in March 2012 and it is already February 2013, you can tell that I am a little behind…

Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong (UK cover)

Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld #9)
by Kelley Armstrong

Published: 6th November 2008

Robyn Peltier has never done anything out of the ordinary and she never makes snap decisions. But when her new boss is murdered and she is named prime suspect, she finds herself way out of her depth. As the bodies pile up, only her best friend Hope Adams, and Hope’s somewhat spooky boyfriend Karl, are on her side.

What Robyn doesn’t realise is that Hope has a few secrets of her own. Namely that she is a half-demon, and her ‘spooky’ boyfriend is actually a werewolf. Robyn has accidentally stumbled into a bloody supernatural turf war, and the only way Hope can keep her friend alive is by letting her enter a world she’s safer knowing nothing about. A world where homicide cops talk to ghosts, defence lawyers are sorcerers and nothing is quite what it seems . . .

As with previous Women of the Otherworld Challenge posts this is not going to be a “normal” review.

Living with the Dead is actually a really interesting addition to the Women of the Otherworld collection because Robyn is the first and only (I think) human who is a major character in one of the books. She is linked to the supernatural through her friendship with Hope, but as she has no direct connection I think she’s an interesting choice by Armstrong. Because of this, Living Dead has multiple narrators – one is, in fact Robyn herself. I really enjoyed the way the supernatural and the mundane crossed in this book.

The plot of Living with the Dead is an interesting and complex one. It is the first one where we start to see Armstrong build up towards the endgame of the series, though at this point there are only little hints: Hope’s thoughts at the end of the book are especially interesting. I really enjoyed the way that Armstrong wove the different narrators and the threads that involved them together to make a cohesive whole.

Each month beginning March 1st, 2012, challenge members will read or re-read the title for that month. In addition, challenge members will either post a review, their reading experience, character castings or anything else related to that title. You have freedom to have fun with your monthly post so be creative! Seeing as this series is 13 novels long, this challenge will last 13 months.

As this challenge started in March 2012 and it is already February 2013, you can tell that I am a little behind…

Personal Demon by Kelley Armstong (UK cover)

Personal Demon (Women of the Otherworld #8)
by Kelley Armstrong

Published: 25th March 2008

Hope Adams, tabloid journalist and half-demon, inherited her Bollywood-princess looks from her mother. From her demon father, she inherited a hunger for chaos, and a talent for finding it. Like full demons,she gets an almost sexual rush from danger – in fact, she thrives on it. But she is determined to use her gifts for good.

When the head of the powerful Cortez Cabal asks her to infiltrate a gang of bored, rich, troublemaking supernaturals in Miami, Hope can’t resist the excitement. But trouble for Hope is intoxicating, and soon she’s in way too deep.

With a killer stalking the mysterious hot spots of Miami, Hope finds herself dangerously entangled, and has no choice but to turn to her crooked werewolf ex-boyfriend for help. What started as a simple investigation has spiralled into chaos. And Hope finds chaos irresistible . . .

For a woman who didn’t know what she was getting into, there’s only one way out: it’s time for Hope to unleash her most potent primal instincts and open herself, mind and body, to everything she most fears – and desires.

As with previous Women of the Otherworld Challenge posts this is not going to be a “normal” review.

The concept of the half-demons that inhabit the Otherworld has intrigued me for a while, which is partly why I enjoy reading Personal Demon so much – it is the first time we really get a glimpse into that world, though there have been hints at it through Eve, Savannah, and Adam. Hope is a really interesting character. She is not what I thought a chaos loving half-demon would be like at all.

One of the things that I most enjoyed about Personal Demon was the fact that the narrative is split between Hope Adams and Lucas Cortez. This is the first time this has happened in the series so far, and I think it adds an extra dimension to the story. I liked the fact that I knew things that neither Hope or Lucas did at the time. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was the interaction between Hope and Karl. In fact, I think I just love the fact that Karl gets some serious stage time in this book.

Armstrong does a good job of using the two different narratives to wind two different plot threads through the book, and still keep them linked together. Hope’s plot thread was an intense ride, fraught with chaos – which I guess you would expect from a chaos lover. Lucas’s thread was very taut and full of intrigue. Both plots have interesting implications for future books, I think.

Each month beginning March 1st, 2012, challenge members will read or re-read the title for that month. In addition, challenge members will either post a review, their reading experience, character castings or anything else related to that title. You have freedom to have fun with your monthly post so be creative! Seeing as this series is 13 novels long, this challenge will last 13 months.

As this challenge started in March 2012 and it is already February 2013, you can tell that I am a little behind…

No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong (UK cover)

No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld #7)
by Kelley Armstrong

Published: 3rd May 2007

Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong creates a world in which humans unwittingly co-exist with werewolves, witches and other supernatural beings. Now, in this spellbinding new novel, an alluring necromancer must come to terms with her true powers of attraction – and with an evil no one would have thought possible . . .

It’s the most anticipated reality television event of the season: three spiritualists gathered in one house to raise the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. For renowned medium Jamie Vegas there’s just one problem. Unlike her colleagues, Jamie is the real deal: and she knows the house is truly haunted. Not by dead film stars, but by something even stranger and much more disturbing . . .

A tragic mystery lurks in the maze of gardens behind the house: trapped spirits that only Jamie can hear, spirits that refuse to let her rest. Distraught, she looks to her fellow supernaturals for help. As the whispers within the garden grow more frantic, Jamie – and the attractive and unobtainable werewolf Jeremy Danvers – are forced to embark on an investigation into a shocking underworld of black magic and ritual sacrifice.

As events culminate in a psychic showdown, Jamie must use the darkest power she has to defeat a terrifying and previously unforseen enemy . . .

As with previous Women of the Otherworld Challenge posts this is not going to be a “normal” review.

This is another book that features Jamie, though thankfully she’s the main character so we get to know her a bit more than we have in previous books. Jamie really surprised me as a lead character, because to be honest I wasn’t sure if I was going to like her – particularly after both Elena and Paige’s reactions in previous books. I really enjoyed Jamie’s interactions with Jeremy in this book. They were really quite sweet. I also liked the fact that almost all the main cast from the previous books appeared in this one, or were at least mentioned.

The plot of this book is surprisingly complex, and thankfully had nothing to do with Marilyn Monroe. It was quite a scary read, both in terms of the atmosphere and in terms of what the bad guys were doing in this book. I was really pleased that both Eve and Kristof appeared in this book – it was nice to see them working together, I wish Armstrong had written more about their relationship but oh well.

Each month beginning March 1st, 2012, challenge members will read or re-read the title for that month. In addition, challenge members will either post a review, their reading experience, character castings or anything else related to that title. You have freedom to have fun with your monthly post so be creative! Seeing as this series is 13 novels long, this challenge will last 13 months.

As this challenge started in March 2012 and it is already February 2013, you can tell that I am a little behind…

Broken by Kelley Armstrong, UK cover

Broken (Women of the Otherworld #6)
by Kelley Armstrong

Published: 4th May 2006

Broken, Kelley Armstrong’s sixth novel, marks the welcome return of kick-ass werewolf Elena Michaels. When the not entirely trustworthy half-demon Xavier calls in a favour, it seems easy enough – steal Jack the Ripper’s ‘From Hell’ letter away from a Toronto collector who had himself stolen it from the British police files. But nothing in the supernatural world is ever as simple as it seems. When Elena accidentally triggers a spell placed on the letter, she opens a portal into the nether regions of Victorian London. Toronto may be looking for a tourism boost, but ‘Gateway to Hell’ isn’t quite the slogan the city had in mind.

With thieving vampires, killer rates and unstoppable zombies on the loose, Elena and the rest of her Pack have a lot on their hands. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of Elena’s pregnancy . . .

As with previous Women of the Otherworld Challenge posts this is not going to be a “normal” review.

Broken is actually one of my least liked books in the Women of the Otherworld series. Although it features Clay, Elena, and Jeremy who are without a doubt my favourite characters, this book doesn’t really do anything for me. To be fair, Armstrong does her usual brilliant job of making the action fast paced and the mystery interesting. I just don’t personally feel that the link to Jack the Ripper adds anything to the story – really, the letter that causes all the problems in the book could be from any bad guy and it would work just as well.

One of the things I do really like about the book, in terms of character development, is that it shows that Elena has really settled into her life in the Pack. She’s not fighting it anymore. The fact that Elena’s pregnant and still determined to carry on as normal helped cement my like of her as a character; I was also very amused by the way Armstrong wrote both Jeremy and Clay’s reactions to this, and her reaction to them. I also enjoyed the appearance of Jamie in this book. She tries really hard to be helpful, and I think she’s actually quite brave. Jamie seems to have been a popular character for Armstrong at this point in the series, as she also appeared in the previous two books.