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The Kate Daniels readalong continues! If you missed my previous reviews, Stef, Heather and Megan are hosting a readalong of the series with a few books/novellas discussed each month. This month's reads starts off with book 3, Magic Strikes. This is an urban fantasy series with romantic elements and the romance really starts to pick up in this book. Ilona Andrews is a husband and wife writing duo and I love their books. I used this read to cover the prompt romance with suspense for Fall In Love. This can cover the Bang in the Night Bingo prompts howlin' for you, #squadgoals, I put a spell on you, a shocking twist! and CSI: crime scene investigation. I also read this during the Love in the Night Readathon and used it to cover the scavenger hunt clues fated mate, alpha male , what big teeth you have and shift, baby shift. Also, fun note, this is my 200th read of the year!
We pick up several months after Magic Burns. Saiman has contacted Kate after Derek has broken into his apartment to steal tickets to the underground gladiatorial event called Midnight Games. She ends up joining an investigation led by Jim, Pack head of security and fellow mercenary. They try to hide the case from Curran and come across a new group of creatures aiming to eliminate the Pack and shifters as a whole.
Oh my gosh, did I love this book. The action really ramped up and the world expanded so much despite most of it being set at the location of the Midnight Games. Because this is a huge event, we got to see, sometimes just in passing, so may different creatures and myths from other cultures. I love that Ilona Andrews pull from so many different cultures and mythologies and that's cranked up to a thousand here. I just love how diverse they are for their inspirations. This is a little bit of spoiler, but the creatures they end up fighting are rakshasas, which pulls from Hindu mythos. I know a little bit about rakshasas and Hindu mythology (thank you D&D) but it was so intriguing to learn more. I love mythos and learning about pantheons.
As I mentioned earlier, we also get more romance from Kate and Curran. She really starts learning, mostly from others, that Curran considers her his mate. I just wish he himself would talk to her about it or push more. I know Kate is a tough cookie, but I just want them to get to that phase already. This is an urban fantasy not a romance, but I want it so bad. I'm so into Curran and how he's constantly there for Kate whether she wants him to be or not. And Kate is such a badass. I love how much she gives for those around her. All her life she was raised to not make friends and work alone, but she's slowly finding herself surrounded by more and more people. I love how naturally her group of confidants in increasing. We also get to learn more about Kate's history which is always fun. Plus I feel like so far Kate keeps getting leveled up at the end of each book. She does end up gaining some new powers at the end here, but I'm intrigued to see if it was just a one time thing from absorbing something into her blood or if it's a permanent change.
I can't wait to see what happens next and am so excited for the romance between Curran and Kate start going. We get a little bit here, but between them it's still mostly kind of friend (on Kate's part) and very steamy. The tension between them is so good. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Kate gets into next and how powerful she ends up getting. I'm assuming the endgame is her taking on Roland. I'm really enjoying the series so far and know that a lot of people love the later books. If it just keeps getting better from here, my mind is going to be blown.
Have you read Magic Strikes?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Magic Strikes, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 310 pages, published in 2009
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