A review by booksabrewin
Bad Kitty by Eliza Gayle

4.0

I received an e-copy of this book from the publishers at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another day, another paranormal romance novella waiting to be read. Of course, again, who could resist? I am a slave to the paranormal smut, what can I say? I am also a big fan of shapeshifters so the synopsis really interested me. Werewolves are normally the only shifters known to be discussed in fiction, it was nice to see a feline type of shifter for once. With the mention of pack politics I had to wonder how they would compare to the shifter politics in the Anita Blake series. Could the two series be similar at all?

Kitty is not well liked in her cougar shifter clan. Her father, a radical, and often crazed, believer in purity within the bloodlines has made Kitty's life miserable and it didn't stop until the man who raised her went too far and tried to steal the clan's leader's daughter for some nefarious reason. Kitty stopped him but the fact that she had had knowledge of it beforehand and told no one warranted her a banishment to the neutral territory. Her arrival to this new land was met with a vicious attack and her inadvertent escape into wolf territory.

Rafe meets Kitty after stopping a few pack members from defiling her already beaten and bloodied form. The impending Alpha of the pack manages to secure Kitty's safety by taking her to his place and helping to mend her wounds. From the moment he touches her the only word coursing through his mind is 'mate'. For some reason, this little cougar speaks to him and his wolf alike. But mating between species is not allowed. Products of that mating are usually cast out to the neutral territory and forgotten... or worse.

Kitty and Rafe are sworn enemies. How can they be destined to be together? Better question, how can the find a way to be together despite all the things telling them not to?

Another short and fun read. I liked the world Eliza created. It was interesting that there were sections of the world which belonged to various shifter groups and then neutral territory for those who didn't fit perfectly into any one clan or pack. What I wondered though was where were all the humans? With all this land sectioned off for shifters, what room is left for us lowly supernaturally challenged humans? Were we just planted on an island and left to rot? Either way...

I liked the fact that while Rafe was pretty easy going about all the oddities throughout the story, Kitty was a bit more weary. She didn't just accept everything at face value. She needed to know everything was alright before she proceeded in any endeavor. The two characters balanced each other out well and their love scenes were hot enough to scorch.

Bad Kitty may have been more adequately named Bad Wolf because Rafe was a very naughty canine who was absolutely scrumptious. This book was a new take on shifters and how they coalesce in a normally human dominated society. It was a breath of fresh air where shapeshifter fiction is concerned.