Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

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I have read Ilona Andrews before and really love their writing. Their biggest series is Kate Daniels. I have heard great things about it by both my sister and Jessen from Smart Women Read Romance. I hadn't picked it up yet thought since it's a larger series and I've mostly moved one from long series focused on one couple. Also, this is Urban Fantasy with romantic elements. I have heard that the romance doesn't really kick in until the third book. I just wanted to mention that. The first book in the series is Magic Bites. So, why have I picked it up now? Heather, Stef and Megan are holding a readalong for the series with a couple of the books a month. I like that it's spread out and we are still quickly getting through it, but it's not too quick. The first live show is this Friday! [I'll like once it's up] I also applied this to the book I'm excited for prompt for Fall in Love.

Kate Daniels is a mercenary, not working for the Guild or the Order. We are in a kind of dystopian future. There are fluctuations between tech and magic that come at random points of time. Kate's only remaining family member, her father's friend has passed and she takes it upon herself to solve his death. She runs into the head of the local shifter and vampire sects while also trying to balance the various official departments interested in the case.

Oh my gosh. I absolutely adored this. I used to read a lot of paranormal and paranormal urban fantasy and this felt so nostalgic. I've heard that the series doesn't really start getting good until book 3, but I have also heard that's when the romance picks up. I think maybe knowing that romance comes eventually, it didn't bother me as much that there was really much here. I didn't mind that there wasn't and was so drawn into the story. Ilona Andrews writes in such an engaging way that just sucks me in. I liked the way that she set up the world and while there's still some mysteries and things that can be more explored, I didn't feel like it detracted from the story.

They didn't really info dump too much and I was able to pick up the different kinds of magic pretty easily. The only confusion on my end was differentiating between the different government(?) agencies, but since she didn't really deal with them too much it didn't bother me too much.

I'm so intrigued to continue the series and can't wait to see where this goes. I am getting such nostalgic vibes reading this and am kicking myself a little bit for not starting the series earlier. If you haven't read Ilona Andrews, I couldn't recommend them more. If you weren't aware, Ilona Andrews is a wife and husband writing duo that publishes under her name. I love their Hidden Legacy and Innkeeper series as well. They've also just started a spin-off series Aurelia Ryder that centers around Kate's daughter!

Have you read Magic Bites?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 261 pages, published in 2007