Broken by Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld Series, Book 6) by Kelley Armstrong

In this thrilling new novel from the author of Industrial Magic, a pregnant werewolf may have unwittingly unleashed Jack the Ripper on the twenty-first century — and become his next target…

Ever since she discovered she’s pregnant, Elena Michaels has been on edge. After all, she’s never heard of another living female werewolf, let alone one who’s given birth. But thankfully, her expertise is needed to retrieve a stolen letter allegedly written by Jack the Ripper. As a distraction, the job seems simple enough — only the letter contains a portal to Victorian London’s underworld, which Elena inadvertently triggers — unleashing a vicious killer and a pair of zombie thugs.

Now Elena must find a way to seal the portal before the unwelcome visitors get what they’re looking for — which, for some unknown reason, is Elena…

After reading the latest Patricia Briggs book, I decided it was time to finish up The Women of the Otherworld series. I had some issues with one of the main characters a few books ago, and even though that was nothing against the writing it made me skip around in the series a bit. As it stands right now, I still have to read Industrial Magic, which is the book that followed the book I wasn't a big fan of, and the latest installment Frostbitten, that came out last year. That's a temporary sense of accomplishment, though, because there are two more books coming out in the series this year. I am excited about them and actually hope to get all caught up in the series this year.

The sad thing about finally reading this book is that it was the first book in the series I actually bought. I bought it new back in 2006, so it has taken me four years to clear it off my TBR pile. That is partly because I wanted to go back and read the books that came before it and partly because I am slow in clearing books off my TBR pile in general. Kelley Armstrong was known to me at the time, but I wasn't entirely aware of how the series worked, so I was a bit disappointed to discover there were five books before this one. This is why you should research things!

I was really happy that this book goes back and visits Elena. She was the main character in the first book of the series and remains my favourite. I also really like her co-characters. Clay, her husband sort of annoys me at times, but I love Jeremy. I am always happy to have him as a character in a novel. He plays more of a role in No Humans Involved, the next book in the series, than this one, but I am not complaining. There is just something about him that I really like. Actually, I had stalled in the series entirely after reading Dime Store Magic, but then I learned that Jeremy was going to be a main character in No Humans Involved and it renewed my interest in the series. That's a really great thing, though, because it is a really well-written series. I even don't mind Paige so much in later books.

This book was another great addition to the series. I still really like Elena. The problem with book six in the series is it is so hard to not spoil things for others. I might have read the books out of order, but you know others won't. Even the book blurb I posted above is a bit of a spoiler if you haven't even read the first book. The easiest thing is to say I really want to read another book in this series! I think I will read Industrial Magic so I can read the rest of the series as it comes out and not have to worry about stragglers.