I've never read any of Kelly Armstrong's Otherworld series so I came to her upcoming novella Hidden with pretty much no reference. I knew it was about werewolves and it took place over Christmas but otherwise I didn't have a clue. But it was so easy to fall into this story and follow the plot and enjoy the characters that I really can't do anything other than recommend it. If you're a fan of Armstrong's books then it's a no-brainer but if you like werewolf books at all then you'll enjoy this one, promise.

The plot is straightforward: Elena is the Alpha of her pack and her husband Clay is the Beta and enforcer. They have a set of twins and have set off for a family Christmas up in the mountains and away from the politics of their close knit wolf family. The twins are all kinds of cute and also very smart and an early issue is whether or not mom and dad should reveal just what they truly are. (The kids are only four so the question of them being too young is a reasonable one.) But before they can dwell too much on family issues they have a run-in with a local werewolf who seems very nervous and pushy and just weird.

It would not be out of line to say the guy is hiding something.

So Elena and Clay call for back-up to keep a watch on the kiddies and go about learning about the strange guy and the recent unexplained murder of a young guy in the local town - who was apparently mauled by a pack of wild dogs. (Yes, your spider sense should be tingling about now.) There are some twists and turns in this mystery that keep you turning from one suspect to another and strange guy just keeps getting skeevier and while you know Elena and Clay are going to work it out they are certainly fun to watch. So the mystery is most satisfying.

The icing on the cake though is this couple. At first I thought I'd recommend Hidden as a crossover but honestly while a teen could certainly read it just fine, I think you need to be older to really grasp the significance of this relationship. Elena and Clay are in their forties and they have a long complicated backstory (you get enough in Hidden to fully understand it or you can read earlier titles to have the blow by blow). This is a couple with years behind them who have found a way into a partnership, had a couple of kids and worked out how to manage their very complicated lives. And yeah, there's some hot sex although this is not at all of the very sexy paranormal standard. It's there, it's good, it will put a smile on your face. (Plus if you've got kids you'll enjoy the two of them trying to sneak twenty minutes in the shower together to "conserve water".)

I love Christmas stories - always have, always will. Most of them are pretty treacly though or they are underwritten romances with a holiday setting that are prepackaged to take advantage of reader affection for the holiday. This annoys me to no end. Hidden is a good tale on its own that is wrapped around Christmas because this is a family trying to have a family holiday for the first time. There is a reason they are in those woods and the tree and the presents and the cookies are just part of scenery the mystery fits into. I liked Elena and Clay a lot, the kids were not useless (yea!) and the bad guy turns out to be really really bad. In fact my only complaint is the cover which is just a bit twee for my taste. But open it up and start reading and you'll have a good (if slightly bloody) holiday time. Promise!