Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
I’ve had this Kelley Armstrong anthology on my Kindle for months. Decided to read it this weekend, and I’m sorry it took me so long. I loved this book! It’s an anthology of sorts, but for me, it was mostly the backstory of one of the main male characters in Armstrong’s Otherworld series, Clayton. And, unlike some backstories which serve mainly to let you know a character’s history, Clay’s is riveting as a tale all on its own. A entire novel about his life would have worked for me, he’s that interesting.
The little boy werewolf–bitten, not born, and thus a rarity nearly unheard of–is completely endearing in all his fear, anger, and most of all, confusion as to the why’s of just about everything. His growing love and fierce devotion to the man who rescues him from near-certain death is heartwarming, risky, and even amusing at times, and his path to adulthood is filled with danger and frustration.
As always, Armstrong’s world building is solid and completely believable, and all of her characters are multi-dimensional, even the bad guys. Now I remember why I enjoyed the Women of the Otherworld so much, and am thinking I have to go back and re-read the entire series, including some more recent additions I haven’t gotten to yet. I highly recommend this anthology, though I do think it would make a lot more sense if you’ve already read the first few Otherworld novels. At least, the first one, Bitten.