Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

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The next books I needed to pick up were for the Kate Daniels readalong! I've been having a lot of fun participating and it's been hosted by Heather, Megan and Stef! For the month of February, we had two books to read. The first is Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews. This is book 9.5 in Kate Daniels, but also the first of the The Iron Convenant. I was able to use this for the prompts recently acquired for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss and indie author for FaRoFeb.

After being exiled and cast aside by Roland, Hugh is struggling. Roland had taken Hugh in as a boy and has spent decades, if not centuries, molding him to be his perfect weapon. Now that Hugh is left adrift, he feels like he has lost all purpose in life. When the leaders of the Iron Dogs come to Hugh to help pull him out of his depression, he finds the motivation to move forward in life. The Iron Dogs need a place to protect and give them housing and they end up in agreement with a settlement in the midwest. To help firm up the alliance agreement, Hugh marries the White Warlock, the lady of the manor Elara. When an army and strange creatures start magically appearing and taking settlements of people without a fight, Hugh and Elara step up to protect themselves and the surrounding area.

Oh my gosh. I can't say this enough, but I love Ilona Andrews. I wanted to read most of their books before, but I am firmly on the Ilona Andrews can do no wrong (writing wise) train. If you've been following along with my Kate Daniels reviews, I was really intrigued and liked Hugh, but after the events in Magic Rises I wasn't quite on board. Here I am firmly back on the Hugh train and can't wait for more of this series. I also wasn't expecting the arranged marriage/marriage of convenience trope for Hugh and loved how his and Elara's relationship really started to evolve. There is a not in the beginning of the book that it will be a trilogy, but the other books haven't been published yet.

I loved learning more about Elara and what kind of magic she has. We still are a little in the dark about what exactly it is that gives her her power, but I'm certainly intrigued. It seems like it might a little more on the evil side of the spectrum, but Elara herself is good in her core so I love the dichotomy. I also loved how even though Elara and Hugh were at odds with each other at times, they were both just trying to to the right thing by their people. I really just enjoyed how Hugh came to think of all of the villagers as his people and Elara started to really care for the Iron Dogs.

I could continue, but honestly, if you like Ilona Andrews and/or the Kate Daniels series, this is another great addition to the Universe. I can't wait to read more both in this setting and more of their backlist. Ilona Andrews is quickly becoming a favorite author (duo) of mine and honestly I'll pick up anything by them at this point. I can't wait to see what else they publish!

Have you read Iron and Magic?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Iron and Magic, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 394 pages, published in 2018, indie published