Touched by an Alien

Squee! What a fun book! I was nearly did not pick up this book due to the main character's name (Kitty Katt?) but I'm oh so glad I did. She sees a guy go from blowing his top over a little fender bender to actually, well, blowing his top - or, at least, blowing his back, by turning into a mutant and murdering the other party, then starting in an many others. What does she do? Run, hide, scream like a baby? Call 911? Trip in her high heels and cower until a he-man saves her?Oh, hell, no!She also doesn't take the super sexy, Armani-clad guys in the know who show up later at face value, a trait I liked almost as much. I may not share Kitty's taste in music, but I do like her. A lot. I like her family too! In fact, I want her family. I want to be adopted into her family. I could happily live without the whole nasty aliens invading our world thing, but her parents are cool. It's refreshing to have a heroine from a good family with cool, living parents for a change.I picked up book two, [bc:Alien Tango 7948544 Alien Tango (Katherine “Kitty” Katt, #2) Gini Koch http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Oc9ib%2BrrL.SL75.jpg 11556310], right away. After reading it, [a:Gini Koch 3219496 Gini Koch http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1275081028p2/3219496.jpg] is officially my favorite new author. There is one little problem. I want to read [bc:Alien in the Family 8714075 Alien in the Family (Katherine “Kitty” Katt, #3) Gini Koch http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285844542s/8714075.jpg 13586954] right NOW. Right. This. Minute. Just how firm is that April release date, anyway?

3.5/5

Like many other readers, I really liked the whole MiB-like, not-taking-itself-too-seriously shtick. For me, there were some really funny, even laugh-out-loud, moments.

That said, I liked the first part of the book a lot better than the second, when the Mary-Sueism became too much even for me. Plus, I liked some of the supporting cast a lot better than the protagonists.

Until about halfway through, I thought I really wanted to read more books from the series. Now, I am not sure. If the books are about other characters, yes. About Kitty and Jeff? Not so much.

Very enjoyable read. Liked the MC a lot because she shares a trait that a lot of my favorite protagonists have: being a know-it-all and not ashamed to let the whole world know. But she's not cocky about it which makes her all the more likable. I went into this book not knowing what it was about expect for the obvious of course: aliens. For some reason, I had the preconceived notion that it was going to take place in space. Color me surprised when I discover Kitty kicking (superbeing/parasite) ass after just getting out of jury duty in the first few pages.

I kind of want to give a heads up to those who want to know what the book is about before they pick it up. For those who don't, look away–however, what I'm about to write is NOT a spoiler but may spoil some of the read-it-for-yourself fun. This book does a lot of telling and not much showing in terms of learning who the aliens are and explaining the background of how they got to earth and why they are there. Personally, I didn't mind all the exposition and dialogue. While the writing was a lot of dialogue it definitely let the personality of the characters shine through. All of the main gang of characters were allowed enough “air-time” for me to get a solid feel for who they were as individuals.

Only main issue I had was the romance. In the beginning I was a little shocked by how fast it developed but eventually got used to the matchup. I don't think the love triangle was necessary because the other guy's interest was oddly portrayed. (Just seemed like a failed plot device for the main couple to grow closer. However, I wouldn't mind seeing the other guy become more prominent in the plot of future books.) What bugged me was that the main couple was developing their relationship at hyperspeed. I could understand the main guy's motives because they were explained to a certain extent but Kitty went from lust to love at a convenient time. While it was entertaining to read it really wasn't that believable. I will explain more with the spoiler below.

The sex scene in the elevator made me a little uncomfortable because while it was consensual, I didn't like how Martini just assumed it would be. Yes, we are in Kitty's head and know that she wants it but the way it was written didn't make that fact immediately apparent. And after what happened with Chris in the elevator I didn't think it was necessary for Martini to instigate that just to make Kitty less uncomfortable with him in the elevator. I wish they could have communicated better without having to default to sex every time they are near each other.