Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn

As you've probably realized, I have today off.

So here's my review of Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Goes to Washington. And yes, I liked it. Maybe even more than Kitty and the Midnight Hour. And I really liked KATMH.

WEREWOLVES DO IT BETTER

The country's only celebrity werewolf, late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard, not seen. But when she's invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of supernaturals, her face gets plastered on national TV. Kitty's been in hot water beore, but jumping into the D.C. underworld brings a new set of problems. And a new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city; an uber-hot Brazilian were-jaguar; and a paranoid, Bible-thumping senator who wants to expose Kitty as a monster. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone's itching for a fight.

Again, I really liked this one. It starts up fairly soon after the previous book, with Kitty on the road doing The Midnight Hour in different cities. She gets an "invite" to the Senate hearing and heads to D.C. Kitty is definitely more sure of herself here, but she's still fairly normal. She's no alpha-chick. More like everyday girl gets shoved into events she'd rather stay out of. We get more glimpses that the paranormal world here is bigger, as minor characters from the first book show up again. There's also some interesting new characters, but they're all distinct enough that I didn't get the mixed up.

Remember the cult leader? He's here. And the psychic (er, can't remember his name)? Check. Ben the lawyer? Yuppers. Senator Duke? Yeah. And, yes indeedy, he's here, Cormac. Not as much Cormac as I'd like, but more wouldn't really have fit the story. He'll be back, though. Or I'll personally strap Ms. Vaughn to a chair and make her write him into a good story.

I kinda like that there isn't a whole lot of save-the-world huge happenings in this book. Not to say there isn't action, because there is, but that everything seems more...real.

And Kitty has definitely grown a backbone here. I loved how she handled the situation towards the end. Don't want to be spoilerish, but it took guts to handle it the way she did.

Writing this, I'm surprised at how much I remember of the book, especially since I believe I read it over a week ago. It's definitely going on the keeper shelf. It's nice to read an urban fantasy that isn't cute and funny, yet also isn't so incredibly dark. I look forward to reading more of Kitty's adventures. so if you even midly liked the first book, I highly recommend trying this one.