Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) by Kelly Armstrong

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf.

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel.


Type: Urban Fantasy, Shifters (Werewolves)
Heat: 2 out of 5
Rating: 3 out of 5

A couple weeks ago I saw a blog reading challenge for the Women of the Otherworld series and decided to give it a go. This was my second attempt reading Bitten and this time the book flew by and I really got into the story. Not only is a Rogue werewolf putting the Pack in danger by leaving a trail of dead bodies but the Pack itself is being attacked and has to come together to eliminate the threat. There are some truly sad and tragic moments in the story that had my heart breaking for Elena and men. I honestly did not see them coming and had little "oh no"s slipping past my lips. Knowing who was behind the threat didn't lessen the excitement of the chase. I liked the hunt and how the Pack had to fight to protect themselves. They've been safe for so long and suddenly everything is in chaos. Kelley did a great job of making you feel both the frustration and frantic-ness of the situation. The villains were pretty awful individuals and I was so ready for them to get what was coming to them!

Unlike so many others I had a very hard time liking Elena. It's been 10 years since she was Changed and she's still resentful and angry. Trying to hide from being a werewolf and the man who Changed her. The bitterness got old after a while and I wanted her to just get over it already. The men all adore her and care about her but she won't stop running from them. My big problem, though, was that Elena is a cheater and that's a huge no-no for me when it comes to my hero or heroine. She's created a new life for herself in Canada with a man named Phillip but almost as soon as she's back with the Pack she starts sleeping with Clayton and ignoring the fact she's in a committed relationship. That was bad enough but she pretty much has no guilt or regret over her actions. I nearly put the book down when she started rationalizing her actions and that since Phillip wasn't a part of this side of her life remembering to call him or even thinking about him when she was with the Pack tainted their relationship. I just about had it with that and was yelling at my book that "screwing around with another man didn't?!?" Or maybe I yelled something a little less ladylike. It's obvious Clayton is the one for her and I like the two of them together but I just do not like the way Elena handled herself and found it overshadowed most of her strengths. Alright rant over. It's just one of those things that really gets to me. 

Now Clayton on the other hand. I loved Clayton from the very start. He was hands down my favorite thing of the book. Yes, he's a bit of a psychopath and a little crazy but the man knows who and what he is, fully accepts himself and is unapologetic about it. He's basically the Pack's hitman and the one to eliminate those that become a "problem". He's fierce and will do anything it takes to protect those he considers his. Plus a yummy southern accent, commitment, determination, and sweet under all the scary. Yeah, I'm loving him. I do love a man who is determined and knows what he wants. He's so in love with Elena it was hard to see how much and how easily she hurt him. I just wish he didn't have to go through so much to get his kinda happily ever after. Yeah, I had a lot of "oh come on Elena!" moments. 

“Uh-uh. We've played this game before. I hide. You never seek. I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but I'm beginning to sense a pattern."   -Clay to Elena

Overall I really enjoyed Bitten. It's well written, face paced, the characters for the most part are likable, there's drama and a bit of humor thrown in too. Another really small thing that I found I liked was that instead of being numbered the chapters are labeled with a word. Random thing to like but there ya go. Little things make me happy :) This was a good read and an interesting world that I'm looking forward to exploring a bit more.