Kathleen Gilles Seidel is my one of my all time favorite authors that no on has ever heard of. She has spent the last twenty some years publishing some of the best books you never read for two publishers, and is now on her third publisher and yet another editor. Luckily none of this has affected her ability to write a great story for an afternoon's read. This is the story of a happy, well adjusted, middle-aged divorced woman who's adult son is getting married. To a wonderful girl whose parents are determined to put on the best wedding money can buy. A lot of money. Our heroine finds this activity to be equally exhausting and boring. Her ex-husband's new wife is thrilled and wants to be involved. This is the kind of story Kathleen Gilles Seidel tells best. Nothing earth shaking, no one dies or is chased from country to country. This is just a story of family and problems, much like Jody Picoult without the melodrama.
This is a series I would have passed up except that Carrie Vaughn came to the store for a signing, and it's always better if we have at least tried to read the book. The whole series just caught me from the first. Kitty does what a good fictional character should do-grow and get stronger as the books proceed. Kitty finds being a werewolf challenging enough, but starts to cope with the situation when she begins a call-in radio show for werewolfs, vampires and other outlandish creatures. On NPR of course. Kitty has taken four books to come out of the closet as a werewolf and develope the strength to stand on her own and even more, begin to reach out to others in need. In the first book she gets herself out of the abusive werewolf pack. In this last book, she saves the rest of the pack from the abusvie alpha's. Kitty also manages to start giving back to her mother and family in their time of need. And she comes to understand her lover and what she can give to him as well as the strength he gives her. This is most certainly not a romance, but a book that shows how strong people (or werewolves) develope.
