Review--Once Bitten by Kalayna Price (Book 7 in Reading Challenge)

SHIFTER KITA NEKAI IS ON THE RUN FROM HER CLAN, SUDDENLY VAMPIRE, AND UP TO HER ASS IN TROUBLE.

Kita Nekai, on the run and the smallest of her shifter clan--a calico cat among lions and tigers--is being hunted. She was expected to accept her role as her father's successor whether or not her cat was up to the task of leading the clan. She disagreed. Now she's less than a step ahead of the hunters, bone-tired, cold, and living hand-to-mouth in the city of Haven. And that's the high point of her day. She's also drugged, "accidentally" turned into a vampire, and sentenced to death for recklessly creating a rogue shifter who tortures its human prey. She's got seventy-two hours to find the rogue, evade a city full of hunters, prove she's not responsible for the rogue, and keep the vampire council from killing her. All while sorting out an apprentice mage, a married ex-boyfriend shifter-hunter, and the vampire who made her.

I received this book from Deb at Bell Bridge Books for review, it is Kalayna Price's first novel, Once Bitten and it was great!

I will admit to some confusion in the beginning though. Kita is already on the run and it's a little disorienting because other than what we know from the BOC we don't really get why she's running. Along the way we get pieces of her thoughts and know it has something to do with her clan and father. We never actually see these people/shifters for they live in Firth, this alternative dimension where the shifters live and her father is one of the "head honchos" training her to take his place. But Kita doesn't want that, hence her running away.

She escapes to Haven and tries to stay under the radar of the Hunters after her, shifters who are set on bringing her back home kicking and screaming if they have to. One of them includes her ex-boyfriend, as mentioned, and he is in fact married. He still cares for Kita and wants to bring her safely back home, but still Kita resists, because it's not what she wants. But things soon get dicey and dangerous. After a series of events outside a club, Kita blacks out and wakes up a vampire.

Her creator Nathanial, tries to ease her into adjust to being a vampire, but Kita doesn't take it too easily. Then things really get complicated when word of a rogue shifter is on the loose and young women are being harmed and some killed. Making a deal with a demon, Kita has only a short time to deliver the rogue shifter to the demon or else she, Nathanial and Bobby will be killed.

Gil, is the apprentice mage who has made Kita her study subject and she tags along in the investigation, but she isn't merely an observer, she has a special set of skills that comes in handy. With time not on her side Kita is doing everything she can to find the rogue, lives are on the line.

This was a really great read once I got into it. When the clock is ticking against the characters, the pacing is really great because every moment is critical. Kita and her friends have to backtrack in their investigations to find the rogue.

The relationship between Bobby and Kita was strange. They obviously still care for one another since they had a long history and we find all this out and what led to Bobby being married to someone else, but it was still just strange that a married man spends so much time hunting down his ex to bring her home. Bobby isn't a bad character or husband despite this. He cares for Kita in a friendly way and protects her.

Nathanial and Kita's relationship was a bit more interesting. The Creator and Created. There was tension between them. A lot of tension that builds up and we don't know where they might lead as Kita has very confusing feelings over him.

Relationship problems and the problems of the rogue aside, Kita and Nathanial also have to deal with the vampire council as well. So many problems for poor Kita and she only has a few days to solve one of them so she can be alive to handle the others.

Kita is a tough as nails kind of girl. You feel you can relate to her easily because of her conflictions. She's attracted to Nathanial in some ways but fights it. She doesn't like her vampires abilities, but does her best to accept them. She adapts well over time and I like that about her. She doesn't sit in despair over her problems, she does everything she can to solve them.

This was a fantastic read and there is just a bit of mystery left over what will come to pass for next time to leave the reader wanting more, yet still feel satisfied with what has already happened. I for one am deeply curious what more might happen between Kita and Nathanial. I really-REALLY took a liking to Nathanial. He was deeply caring, yet secretive. He was fierce in protecting Kita and still allowing her to make her own mistakes and learn from them. He was a great alpha to Kita's strong heroine type.

Twice Bitten, the second book, will definitely be hitting my To Buy List!

Overall I give the book 4/5 stars!

This was my 7th book in the September Spectacular Reading Challenge.

Click here to see my interview with Rachel Vincent as apart of her Alpha blog tour!