Showing posts with label urban fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urban fantasy. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2022

The King of Fire & Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews

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To start off April, I decided to finally pick up the next books in what was former the Kate Daniels readalong. Now that the Kate Daniels series is officially over, we are moving over to the newest spin-off, Aurelia Ryder! The readalong is hosted by Heather, Stef and Megan and I think the plan is to eventually get through most of Ilona Andrew's backlist! For April the plan was to read the prequel short story The King of Fire and book 1, Blood Heir. The short story is available for free on their website, but it's also included at the end of Blood Heir. Since The King of Fire was pretty short, I didn't use it for either of my reading challenges, but I was able to use Blood Heir for the Love Has Sprung prompt first book in a series and the Taylor Swift Quarterly Challenge prompt Everything Has Changed (story has magic or spells).

Before we get into the meat of the review, let's chat about The King of Fire. It's a short story that is several years after Magic Triumphs, but several years before Blood Heir. We see Julie hanging out with Conlan in Roland's pocket dimension. She's trying to stay anchored as she's intentionally gotten herself captured by Moloch. She's there to try to bring him down since she was notified by Sierra (one of the witch oracles) of a prophecy that Moloch killing Kate would pretty bring a second apocalypse. Julie is going to try to stop it. We then get Julie leaving Moloch's fortress while it burns to the ground and she reveals to Erra that Moloch stole one of her eyes. Julie, badass that she is, stole one back and now has one of Moloch's eyes in her head!

Quick thoughts... this was such a good primer to get me back into the Kate Daniels universe. I was already really excited and hyped to jump in, but this was a good way to bridge what was going on and also give a hint to what was going on with Julie before being told in Blood Heir

In Blood Heir Julie is back in Atlanta, only now she goes by Aurelia Ryder. She looks and smells different and is hoping that she doesn't get recognized. She has been told by Sierra that it's the last chance to keep the prophecy from coming true. She's in town to investigate a murder of a priest and the connections it has to Moloch. As she tries to avoid her friends and family (if they know she's there the prophecy will come to pass), she struggles with her sense of identity. While she knows that the people that actually know her shouldn't recognize her and it would be better if they don't, there's still a part of her that hopes that they do. When she ends up joining forces with Derek, now going by Darren, she's torn on her feelings. As Moloch's minions high priest starts going against Julie as well, things come to a head.

Oh my freaking goodness, this was so freaking good. How is it that every book I read in this universe by Ilona Andrews gets better and better. There is so much we need to learn about the time jump and I need to know it all! So, this is 8 years later and about 4 years after the short story. Julie has fully grown up and is a badass like Kate, but her own version. I love how the few people that realize who she is point out that she has similar tendencies as Kate and all the little nods were just so heartwarming. We also get to know that it didn't take long (two weeks) for Julie to reach out to Kate and Curran after leaving. There was so much going on in this book and I absolutely loved it and can't wait to read what happens next. Usually I would spend a couple paragraphs going over my thoughts and feelings on the book, but since there's already so much, I'll just keep it simple. This was absolutely amazing and if you've read the Kate Daniels series and haven't start this one... YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!

I am just so happy to finally get back to more Ilona Andrews and can't wait to read what comes next. I haven't talked about it too much, but I did start a booktube channel where I mostly stick to doing vlogs and other fun random things. I vlog all of my reads, so you can check out my channel. It'll be included in week 14's vlog which will be out next Wednesday. Tonight is the live show as well and I can't wait to gush about this book with everyone else! I'll link to both videos when they are posted!

Have you read The King of Fire and Blood Heir?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: The King of Fire, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 6 pages, published in 2018, indie published

STATISTICS: Blood Heir, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 1 day, Paperback, 375 pages, published in 2021, indie published

Monday, April 4, 2022

Burn by Suzanne Wright

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With the end of March approaching, it was time for me to pick up the book for the Smart Women Read Romance patreon exclusive review. The theme for March was Urban Fantasy and Burn by Suzanne Wright won the poll. This is the first book in her Dark in You series. For Love Has Sprung I used this to cover the prompt updated or redone cover prompt and the Mean (book with a mean character) prompt for the Taylor Swift Quarterly Challenge.

When Harper stands in for her cousin Khloe during an underground demon fight, she draws the attraction of the local Prime Knox. When they meet, they come to find out their demons are anchors for each other. This means that they have a psychic link that helps strengthen their demon and also keep it grounded and from going rogue. Knox wants more from Harper though and also pushes for a physical relationship. As they come to terms with becoming mates as well as an anchor, a lot starts happening around them. Demon politics is starting to implode, Harper's birth mother is causing issues since she's apart of Knox's lair, black magic practitioners are targeting Knox (and now Harper), and Knox's childhood friend is deluded and thinks that she's his anchor.

While the blurb and set up of this book really intrigued me, there was just too much going on. I really struggled getting into the book and didn't really get past rereading paragraphs or going back to figure out what exactly happened until about 45% in. There was just something about the writing style that didn't click with me. To touch on the more positive before we get into what I didn't enjoy, I really liked Harper. She had some great growth and really came to adapt to the situation and fight past her previous experiences to get what she wanted. I loved how she was so powerful and sassy and really didn't let anyone take advantage of herself. She was just so confident that she could get out of any situation, but she also wasn't over-confident. I also was really intrigued by the demon setup and the mythos that Suzanne created.

Now, there were quite a lot of things that bothered me (like the bitter exes and way to many sub-plots), but the biggest thing that held back the rating for me was Knox. Yes he's an alpha-hole to the nth extreme, but we saw no softness. He was constantly pushing Harper, even when she asked him not too. There were a lot of sex scenes, but honestly, none of them felt steamy to me. I felt that the chemistry and emotional connection was completely missing. It just felt like banging all the time. I get he likes it rough and to be in control, but just once it would've been nice for Knox to give Harper what she wanted instead of "giving her what he knows she can take." Little things like that kept rubbing me wrong and there wasn't enough good moments in between to balance it out and I just kept feeling more and more offended on Harper's behalf. Never-mind he goes completely nuclear at the end even though Harper saved herself.

I will try other Suzanne Wright books, especially since I've had her Phoenix Pack series on my tbr for a while and have had good things about it. A lot of the people were around the same rating as me during the live show but enjoyed the first few books in her werewolf series. I will go into it though with tempered expectations, especially since I know that her writing style isn't as easy to read for me. I won't give up yet though!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Burn, Suzanne Wright, 3 stars, 2 days, eBook, 344 pages, published in 2015, indie published

Saturday, February 26, 2022

Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews


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We have reached the final book in the Kate Daniels series, Magic Triumphs. I've been reading the series in part of a readalong hosted by Stef, Heather, and Megan. The readalong will be continuing with the spin-off and I think they are talking about doing their other series as well, but I'm sure they announce it at one of the next couple live shows. I was able to use Magic Triumphs for the FaRoFeb prompt favorite trope and Winter's Kiss 2nd board prompt want to read before the New Year.

Kate and Curran are anxiously awaiting the next call to war from her father Roland. It's been a couple years since the end of Magic Binds. Since then, Curran and Kate have given birth to their boy, Conlan. He is 18 months old and they are constantly aware of Roland wanting to take him from them. When small villages of people start going mysteriously missing, Kate starts investigating. When it turns out to be at the hands of her father's oldest enemy, Kate and Curran struggle to keep Atlanta safe from two old powers.

Guys.... oh my gosh. I was so torn on starting this book. I was ready to dive in and read how it would end, but at the same time I didn't want it to end. It did help knowing that there would be more entries in the Kate Daniels Universe, but it was bittersweet for me. Now, this took some turns I wasn't expecting and I tried really hard not to do too much speculating. I don't really want to talk too much about this as usual, because anything would be a spoiler. I will say that there were moments I was crying, moments I was cheering and moments I was on edge. I do have to say, I'm a little disappointed that we lost two of the characters that we had grown close too. One I was more okay with the passing, but the other I wish it was just left open-ended. I also wanted more of an HEA for Kate and Curran. The last chapter was a couple weeks after the big battle and I just wanted more than a few pages with them finally being able to take a breath and enjoy being a family.

The epilogue was also great and very much led into Aurelia Ryder. I really wanted to pick up the next book right away, but I also wanted to pace myself. I also didn't want to read it too early. I usually try to read a required book closer to when the meeting/live show is so I still have my thoughts and feelings fresh. Otherwise, this was such a fantastic ending and I loved the way that things were wrapped up, but you can also just see the world continuing. It wasn't the closing of a book, but more of a zoom out into darkness. I don't know if that makes sense, but really that's the best way to put into words how I felt when I finished Magic Triumphs. If you are interested in Kate Daniels, please pick it up. It really was such a great series and I can't wait to get through the rest of Ilona Andrews's backlist!

Have you read Magic Triumphs?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Triumphs, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 3 days, paperback, 439 pages, published in 2019, traditionally published

Friday, February 25, 2022

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

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

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The last book assigned for January for the Kate Daniels readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan is Magic Binds. This is book nine in the long running series by Ilona Andrews. I was able to use this for the prompt white on the cover for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss and for the prompt a light kidnap for the Heaving Bosoms 2022 Reading Embrace!

We pick up shortly after Magic Shifts. Kate and Curran are on the brink of war with her father Roland. When he starts doing more to antagonize Kate and Curran as well as the other groups in Atlanta, Kate realizes she needs help. While Curran and crew plan to rescue the kidnapped Saiman, Kate returns to her father's prison Mishmar to ask for help from her own blood. As the first major battle approaches, will Kate and company be able to not only withstand Roland, but possibly defeat him?

Oh my gosh. This book has so much. The first 20% just has so much going on and you jump right in. There's so much I could talk about, but I don't want to get too spoilery. I just was blown away by so many pieces that were put into place (some that we didn't even realize were pieces to play). One thing that I really enjoyed (as well as with Magic Shifts) was that we get Curran and Kate together for most of the book. Now that Curran has resigned as Beast Lord of the Pack I love getting to really see Kate and Curran be equal partners and really be able to put themselves and their family first without politics getting in the way. A big plot line throughout this story is the planning of Kate and Curran's wedding. Kate is very much not a wedding person so Roman ends up basically planning everything and officiating. I loved seeing Roman again. He's become one of my favorite characters of the world.

I also loved the Kate didn't really get or need a "power up." I've been wanting one for her, but I love that there was more emphasis in that she actually does have the power, just doesn't know how to effectively use it. So while she is technically getting stronger, it's not the gaining of more power. I character that I really enjoyed earlier on in the series is back to help train her and I loved learning more about the history of Kate's family. So many characters come back in this book and I loved getting to see a lot of them again. We also get to learn more about some that have been around for a few books that have been more mysterious.

I'm so excited to see how things wrap up in the series, but am also sad it's almost over. The books we read this month really amped up the overall storyline. Next month books 9.50 and 10. I believe the readalong group will then be moving on to the Aurelia Ryder spin-off and I'm so excited to see Julie as our new hero. I've really enjoyed my time reading Kate Daniels and if you are looking for an expansive universe in an Urban Fantasy, definitely check it out!

Have you read Magic Binds?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STASTICS: Magic Binds, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 352 pages, published in 2016, traditionally published

Monday, January 24, 2022

Magic Stars by Ilona Andrews

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The next book in the Kate Daniels readalong is Magic Stars. This is listed as book 8.5 in the series by Ilona Andrews. I'm reading the Kate Daniels series as a part of a readalong hosted by Stef, Megan and Heather! I used this to cover the prompt gray on the cover for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss. I also applied this to the prompt Murder Robe for the Heaving Bosoms' 2022 Reading Embrace.

Julie receives a case at Cutting Edge to track down a rock that's emitting magic. Derek has been tasked by Curran to look into the murder of a smithy and their family. When their cases intersect, Derek and Julie team up to take down the Warlock Adam. As they fight through various magic traps and try to figure out what the stone is, they become even closer.

Oh my gosh, if this is what we can look forward to in Aurelia Ryder, I'm all in. I loved the banter between Derek and Julie. I don't know if Derek is in the spin-off series, but I absolutely loved it. It's not said outright, but it's mentioned that Derek "belongs to someone else." I'm thinking it's Julie and I really hope so. I love them paired together. There is a slight age gap between them with Derek being 4-years older, but it's not that much and they both are definitely more mature beyond their years.

I loved seeing Derek do his thing and how he deals with the almost loupism he experienced as a child. It was really neat seeing how much Julie has learned and grown since Magic Tests. Although I'm not too sure what to think about her training with Roland behind Kate and Curran's backs. Although I'm happy that at least someone knows. I loved seeing Julie use her power and how her magic has changed since Kate saved her life and transferred her blood to her. We also learn that Julie knows more about the situation than Kate thinks, but isn't going to pressure Kate about it.

I loved this novella and it was so fun to get Derek's POV. I can't wait to see how Julie and Derek grow and evolve over the remaining books. It'll be fun to see the kind of person that Julie grows into when she becomes our main POV. I love every entry into this universe and just get more and more sucked into these characters and their lives with every word. I can't wait to read more from Ilona Andrews!

Have you read Magic Stars?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Stars, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 77 pages, published in 2015, Indie published

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

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Before the Romance Takeover Readathon started, I needed to get through my Kate Daniels books for January! This month's assigned reads starts with book 8, Magic Shifts. We are almost at the end of this popular series by Ilona Andrews. The readalong is hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan! I was able to use this for the prompt borrowed from a friend or the library for the first board of Winter's Kiss. I also applied it to the Heaving Bosoms' 2022 Reading Embrace prompt Keep Being a Badass.

Kate and Curran are officially on their own and working on making more business for Cutting Edge. Now that Curran doesn't have the Pack to run, he's missing the challenge of making it all work. When Jim, the new Beast Lord, offers Curran the Pack's shares in the Mercenary Guild in exchange for flat out money in buying out some of his investments, Curran and Kate are not excited. The Guild isn't doing well and starting to fall apart. When one of the council members is rude to Curran, he changes his mind and the Guild will be his new project. When fellow shifter and guild member Eduardo goes missing, Kate and Curran start investigating. A lot of little cases start popping up and eventually they all connect to one big threat.

Oh my gosh, we got Kate and Curran working together for pretty much the whole book. I was so excited to see them grow and adapt to their new life and loved just seeing them work together on cases. Also, this book absolutely wrecked me in the middle. This is a little bit of a spoiler, but Kate has a worse battle then usual and ends up having a bunch of mini strokes. She almost dies. I repeat, she almost dies. I was so scared. I know that there are two more books, and the series name is Kate Daniels, but this isn't a romance. There's not guaranteed HEA, although I do think the series does have one. I was so wrecked and upset and couldn't put it down because I just had to get to the next magic wave so Doolittle could try to heal Kate. I don't quite know if this will come into play in the next couple books, but I do think that we've been slowly seeing Kate get injured more and more lately. I know that's partly due to her gaining more power and taking on stronger creatures/villains, but at the same time the power she's gaining isn't making her less human.

When Kate was in the hospital we got to see a lot of emotion from Curran and this was a more romantic scene between them. Seeing the connection between them was so beautiful and heart-wrenching. I also loved seeing Curran step up and be firm with Julie that no matter what happened to Kate, she's his daughter too. To get away from the more depressing part of the story, we got new mythos! This time was middle-east mythos and dealing with djinns. I love seeing more of the world and how Ilona Andrews seems to incorporate so many different religions and mythologies so seamlessly. I just can't believe how good they are at world building and making everything fit so naturally. I don't really have any nitpicks with this one except for the sudden emotional turmoil, but that just goes to show how emotionally invested I can get with books, especially when I'm with them for more than 8 books.

I'm super intrigued to see what happens as we wrap up the series. I'm trying to stay away from blurbs, but I do know that outside of books 9 and 10, we do have two .5 books. The 8.5 is a Julie and Derek book and I believe at the last live show they said that the 9.5 is Hugh's POV. I'm certainly intrigued there, especially since I really enjoyed his character until he went psycho crazy and tried to kill everyone. We'll see what happens. I'm excited to get to the end and see how this all ends up, but at the same time I'm also sad it's almost ending. At least we have the Aurelia Ryder spin-off that's set around Julie!

Have you read Magic Shifts?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Shifts, Ilona Andrews, 5-star, 1 day, eBook, 375 pages, published in 2016, traditionally published

Friday, December 31, 2021

Kate Daniels 7.5 & 7.6 by Gordon and Ilona Andrews

🍎🍎🍎🍎

After reading the first couple books for the Historical Romance Readathon, I was checking my tbr list and noticed I missed reading two novellas for the Kate Daniels readalong. Thankfully they are both shorter and I'm going to combine the two reviews. I didn't use either of these for any of my readathons or challenges since they were so short. The series is written by Ilona Andrews with the Curran POVs being writing by Gordon. The readalong is hosted by Stef, Megan and Heather. Also, I'm using the Curran POV Collection cover since one is a Curran POV, but it's actually not included in that collection.

7.5 Prequel to Magic Shifts

This is another short Curran POV and listed as the 10th short in the collection. I mentioned above that it's not included in the POV Collection for free on their website, but it is included in the full POV collection that's in the Small Magics anthology! I did give this 4-stars and enjoyed it. We get to see Kate, Curran and Julie moving into their new house after stepping down from the Pack. Julie and Curran are talking and he decides to share his history with Julie. He does this not only because she's family, but also to show that he trusts her and she is apart of his inner circle. I love seeing Curran get all paternal with Julie and it was a fun dynamic we haven't seen too much of. They talk while unpacking the kitchen and Kate ends up interrupting to so they can eat. Curran continues telling Julie his story and really I loved it to see them connecting and almost really becoming a family. Now that there isn't the pack underfoot anymore, I'm looking forward to how they all move forward together. 

7.6 Kate and Curran Texts, Dabwaha

Another fun text/twitter thread but in a different way. This one specifically is Kate and Curran debating if their series is better with the hero Rogan and heroine Nevada from the first three books of Ilona Andrew's newer series Hidden Legacy. Thankfully I've already read the first book and knew who they were. This was cute and fun, but didn't really lend much to the Kate Daniels universe. While I was there however, I looked over the other text threads to see if they would fit into where I'm at. The first on the page is I'll Be Right Back and is between Kate, Curran and Jim. They are waiting on Kate and end up seeing her fighting an octopus monster on tv. It was super cute and one of my favorites. The other one I read was The Dress. This would fit probably about this time in the books since we have Kate, Curran and Julie texting about Curran accidentally ruining Kate's white silk dress when doing laundry. Another super cute and fun text chain. There's one more left on the page and it's about someone named Conlan. Since I don't know who that is yet, I'll wait to read that one. If you haven't seen these before, they are free on their webiste!

I had a lot of fun reading more, but I have to say my favorites were the other text chains I added on my own. I love the little snippets that Ilona Andrews (and her husband) add to their series and am so sad that we're reaching the end of the series. I will definitely be trying to get through their backlist as soon as I can and maybe I'll keep up with the one or two books a month for fun!

Have you read Prequel to Magic Shifts or Kate and Curran Texts?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Prequel to Magic Shifts, Gordon Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 15 pages, published in 2015

STATISTICS: Kate and Curran Texts, Dabwaha, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 4 pages, published in 2015

Monday, December 20, 2021

Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews

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The last full length novel for the Kate Daniels readalong December books is number 7, Magic Breaks. The readalong of Ilona Andrew's long running series is being hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I was also able to apply this to the Winter's Kiss prompt wintery cover on board one.

We pick up a few months after Magic Rises. The pack has been working on getting more pancacea and there are more shifters moving into the pack's territory or right nearby. When Curran needs to leave town for a couple days to meet with a nearby pack, Kate is left alone to attend the conclave meeting. When Hugh crashes the party with dead higher up from the casino killed by a shifter, all hell breaks loose. A war is being started between the Pack and the People while Curran's out of reach and it's finally time for Kate to confront Roland.

Whoa Nelly! This book had so much going on and there was a lot of movement. I have felt that Kate's power growth and the overall plot was kind of slowing down the last couple books, but things quickly escalated here and even more than expected. I'm still just blown away at how much was fit into this book. While I was a little frustrated for a good portion of the book that Kate and Curran were separated, once again, we do get a rescue mission of Curran saving Kate and them they stick together the rest of the book. I really enjoyed how they work together and didn't like that Curran was kept away at first. Although, it was needed for Kate and Curran to be in Roland's prison. I also enjoyed getting to see and learn more about Gastek. I find him so interesting and loved learning his backstory and seeing him and Kate strive to survive.

I also wasn't quite sure what to think about Roland. There's the first confrontation between Kate and him, although it was more of a information gathering endeavor on both sides. I'm not sure what to expect moving forward since we met him so early and I almost kind of think that he's not a complete bad guy. He's been pitched before this as this horrible evil person that Kate's goal is to kill, but at the same time he's her father. And while he still wants to rule the world and be the ultimate power, he also wants to take care of Kate in his own way and get to know here.

I'm so interested and intrigued on what's going to happen in the future. I mean we have 3 more full length novels on top of any novellas. I'm glad that Kate also finally got some level up in her power, but since the previous couple books were mostly non-growth, it did feel a little bit sudden. I'm happy to see Kate accepting and using her power more and am trying really hard not to speculate too much on what's going to happen. I just don't want to weave some fun storyline in my head and then have it be completely different and then ruin my expectations/enjoyment. We'll see what happens next!

Have you read Magic Breaks?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Breaks, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 392 pages, published in 2014

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews

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The next book for December's books for the Kate Daniels readalong is Magic Steals. This is book 6.5 in the series by Ilona Andrews. The readalong is being hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan on YouTube. This novella was also included in the Night Shift anthology, which is how I read it. I was able to use this read to cover the prompt author you love for the first board of Winter's Kiss.

We are back with Jim and Dali for this novella. Jim shows up once again and immediate falls asleep on Dali's couch instead of having the dinner she made for him. When her mother suddenly shows up the following morning before Jim has left, Dali tries to hide that he's there. Her mother has brought a fellow Indonesian that has come to Dali for help when her grandmother went missing. Dali helps, as his her way as the white tiger. She finds a curse has been placed on the residents of the office building the grandmother has a salon. Jim helps her deal with the situation while Dali struggles with feeling confident to be with the Cat Alpha and head security for the Pack.

This was another great novella and I loved seeing Jim and Dali's relationship progress. We got some great steam. One thing that I've mentioned in their previous novellas is that I like the dichotomy of Dali being paired with Jim the alpha. I get and understand why a lot of alphas get paired with the stereotypical "strong female" that's more along the lines of Kate. I also believe that there are different ways to be strong and a more submissive or maternal person could be the alpha's mate. Seeing Dali work through her insecurities about being with Jim was really refreshing in the world of fated mates. I just feel like I can relate to those heroines more and I also love seeing the couple work in their relationship to make sure that neither one is forced into being a submissive in every aspect. I also like that this type of relationship tends to not have as much of the power struggles, butting heads and challenges between them.

Another great novella by Ilona Andrews and I loved seeing and learning more about the type of magic that Dali has and practices. I know that we're getting closer to the end of the series, but hope there's at least one more novella between them. I'd really like to see them as an established couple, especially since Jim refers to Dali as his mate at the end. I'm really enjoying the readathon and can't wait to see what happens next!

Have you read Magic Steals?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Steals, Ilona Andrews, 0 days, 5-stars, Paperback, 83 pages, published in 2014

Saturday, December 18, 2021

An Ill-Advised Rescue & Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

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The December books for the Kate Daniels readalong starts with Magic Rises. It's book 6 in the series by Ilona Andrews. However, there is the short story An Ill-Advised Rescue that counts as 5.8. It is included in the back of Magic Rises, so I'll be combining the reviews! I am reading these as part of a readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I was also able to use Magic Rises for the prompt buddy read for the first board of Winter's Kiss.

I'll start with An Ill-Advised Rescue. We see Kate get an emergency call from the Guild that Saiman's been kidnapped. In the last full length novel, Magic Slays, we saw Kate help Rene from the Red Guard with a case and she ends up getting a promotion. When she does, she pretty much cleans house and several former guards ended up petitioning the guild to join. One of them has decided instead to kidnap Saiman for $1 million. Kate gets the call after having his name flagged in the system and grabs Derek. Instead of paying the ransom, they rescue him. I really enjoyed the short story and rated it 4-stars. It was mostly a battle scene, but I loved getting to see just Kate and Derek team up again. Derek's one of my favorite characters so it's always fun to see him go wolf. I'm intrigued on how this will fit into Magic Rises and the plot overall. We see Saiman stuck in his ice giant form and I'm wondering if that paired with The Retribution Clause will factor in.

Okay, mini-review is over. Time for Magic Rises!

Kate and Curran are dealing with another young shifter fighting loupism, this time twins and one of Julie's best friends. When Curran receives an offer to mediate a situation in Europe and the payment is panacea, they agree despite it feeling like a trap. Panacea will help cure and stop loupism and is something that American shifter packs have been clamoring for. When they arrive, it turns out the lord of manor is none other than Hugh D'Ambray. When lamassu's start attacking and Kate and Curran get pulled into political relations between three packs, things start to turn. Top if all off with a young wolf shifter going after Curran to steal him from Kate and it's a perfect situation to start a war.

This book was good, but I would have to say one of my least favorite so far. I wanted more growth from Kate's powers, especially since she's been a little stagnant lately. I also didn't like that Curran kept Kate in the dark again and lied to her. I also wasn't into the pack politics, especially with them being packs that we don't really care about. While there were a lot of fun and interesting moments, I also was not prepared for the battle at the end. I was saddened by one particular death and not happy. I get it's the precursor to war and there'll be casualties, but I didn't like how it went down at all.

I also really got angry with Curran and really felt for Kate. Even though they knew they were entering a trap and hostile territory, I was still excited to see Kate and Curran practically trapped together for a full length novel. After reading Magic Gifts and seeing that small scale, I really wanted more. Also, we do see An Ill-Advised Rescue come into play, but not The Retribution Clause. I'm still wondering how exactly they will relate the rest of the series.

I am still enjoying my time and feel like things are really starting to ramp up and we still have 4 full length books left. I'm intrigued to see how this will all play out and outside of Kate at least confronting Roland, who knows what will happen? I'm trying not to speculate too much so I end up being disappointed with what actually happens compared to what my brain imagines should happen.

Have you read An Ill-Advised Rescue or Magic Rises?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: An Ill-Advised Rescue, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 30 pages, published in 2013

STATISTICS: Magic Rises, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 257 pages, published in 2013

Friday, December 17, 2021

Kate Daniels 5.6 & 5.7 by Ilona Andrews

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If you're new here, I've been reading the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews as a readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. Now, on their list of "assigned" reads 5.6 and 5.7 of the series weren't listed. I had asked about them at the previous live and they aren't really including them in the discussions. Since I'm a completionist, I knew I had to read them. Since we move forward next month, I decided to add them to November's tbr. Since they are both rather short and not officially apart of the readalong, I decided to combine the reviews! I also read these during the Black FaRoFriday Readathon and used Hex Appeal to cover the prompts, Gods, Buddy Read, Post a Cover Pic & Tag FaRoFeb, Witches/Shifters and Portal Fantasy.

5.6 is titled Retribution Clause and is included in the Hex Appeal anthology. We move from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Adam is an ice giant, Siaman's cousin and an insurance adjuster. He and his magical partner Siroun get assigned a new case. A wife was killed by her husband and her insurance provision is to kill the guilty party. They must break into his heavily guarded and warded estate to complete the claim.

This was super fun and it was interesting to see a different city in the Kate Daniels world. I'm hoping that either of these characters or what we learned will come to play in the future. I'm also really intrigued about what Siroun is. She seems almost like a shifter, but she also knows a lot about witches and old magic. I want to know more for sure. I also loved the pining on both ends and wish there was a little more development between them. I wish it was longer so we could more development overall, but it was a fun novella. I just hope we get to see them in the future, especially knowing he's Saiman's cousin. I also want to know about the chocolate cupcake. Why?


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5.7 is a short called Kate and Curran Texts, The Wilson Building. It's available for free to read on their website. We get to see a text/twitter chain of Curran texting Raphael, Jim and Kate. Raphael is at a building auction and sees Saiman there. They are bidding on the Wilson Building. Curran wants Raphael to bid against him and is trying to figure out why he wants it from Jim. At the same time Kate is waiting to spar with Curran and done waiting.

This was such a fun and quick read. I love getting to see some of the more "everyday" moments between them all. And as much as I enjoy Saiman as a character, it was fun to see how Curran is still trying to mess with him indirectly. They ended up making him spend $1.8 million on a $600k building. Poor Saiman.


I enjoyed these quick reads and am always happing to pick up something from Ilona Andrews. I couldn't remember if the Wilson Building was mention before or it'll come into play in the future. If it doesn't that's fine, but I would love to see it as a little easter egg. The same with Adam and Siroun. I really hope we get to see more of them in the future and I'm really intrigued to learn more about Siroun. I'm always happy to pick up these novellas from Ilona Andrews and love how they add more to the world they've created.

Have you read Retribution Clause and/or Kate and Curran Texts?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Retribution Clause, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 40 pages, published in 2012

STATISTICS: Kate and Curran Texts, The Wilson Building, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 4 pages, published in 2013

Monday, November 29, 2021

Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

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The next novella for the Kate Daniels readalong is Magic Gifts. It's listed as book 5.4 in the series by Ilona Andrews. I do want to mention though that even though Magic Gifts is numbered before Gunmetal Magic, it's included at the end of the ebook. They take place at the same time, but glancing at a couple reviews it seemed like people got more out of it reading it after. I decided to read them flipped out of order since I had it on my kindle as the bonus. I am reading the Kate Daniels series as part of the readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I was also able to apply this to the prompt part of a series for the Fall in Love board 2.

Kate and Curran are going out on a rare date in the city. When a necklace kills a vampire navigator there, Kate and Curran have to step in to take care of the two rampaging vampires. When the necklace gets removed by the deceased's mother and placed on her son, Kate and Curran step in to protect the boy.

This was such a fun novella! First off, we get Kate and Curran teaming up together the entire time. I hope that one of the future books also has them together for the most part. I love the banter between them and anytime Kate calls him "your furriness" or similar I always crack up. We also get to meet the Neo-Vikings and see more of Ghastek. He really intrigues me and I'd love to see more of him. His dry sense of humor always gets me as well.

We also get to see the first meeting of Kate with the dead Viking giant Hakon. They meet again in Gunmetal Magic, and it was fun to see what happened the first time around. We also get to see more of the Med-Mage Doolittle and he even joins in on the case. I really enjoyed getting to see more of the world and I guess there are some hints of what's to come. The girls didn't go too much into it because of spoilers, but I'm certainly interested to see how the deals made in here will come to pass in future books.

I had a lot of fun getting back to Kate Daniels and can't wait to jump into the next few reads next month. This was another great novella in the series and I love how every one has added more to the world and overall story. Ilona Andrews is just masterful. If you haven't picked up Kate Daniels or any of their books, I highly recommend them.

Have you read Magic Gifts?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Gifts, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 160 pages, published in 2012

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

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The next full sized novella in the Kate Daniels readalong is Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews. This is listed as 5.5 in the series and included in November's readalong selections. Even though it is an in between novel, it's full length. In case you've missed my previous Kate Daniels reviews, it's hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I was also able to use this for the 2nd chance romance prompt for Fall in Love board 2.

We come back to Andrea's POV. She's struggling to find her place after getting kicked out of the Order and now working with Kate at Cutting Edge. When she is assigned the case of murders at her ex-mate Raphael's site by the Pack, she's forced to reconcile her life in Atlanta.

Tiny summary, but I don't want to spoil too much. Now, I loved getting a full length novel from Andrea's POV. I loved the previous novella and it was really fun to see a different perspective for a longer amount of time. I also loved that Andrea did not just roll over, not that I expected her to, with Raphael and how he treated her relationship with the Order. I loved how she explained it to him and that he finally understood what it was that he was asking her to do. It's not an easy decision, and at this point it wasn't even her decision anymore. I still loved that she was so firm with him that if they had any chance of reconciliation that he needed to understand why and how hurt she was.

We get more fun expansion into the world and dealt a lot with Egyptian mythology here. I really enjoyed it, except for the snake parts. I just can't really handle that and found my self speed reading some of the fights since I did not want to get nightmares. They are one of my biggest fears and I can get nightmares pretty easily if snakes are even mentioned around me. It's just one of those things. A part of me wants to rate it 4.5 stars because of it, but that's more of a me thing. While I tend to rate emotionally, I don't think that should be something that's a ding against the book. Just be warned, if you don't like snakes either.

I did want a little more of the tension between Raphael and Andrea before they got back together, but I can forgive it since this is technically an Urban Fantasy and they are also fated mates. They also had a couple of the discussions between them that I was wanting. I also would've liked the steamy scenes to be a little more developed. But that's just my romance happy brain wanting more. I really loved this and hope that we get to see Raphael and Andrea get the main character in the future. Even if just in novella form. I can't wait to get to Magic Gifts and see what was going on with Kate and Curran during this time. Another great read from Ilona Andrews and I can't wait to continue the series!

Have you read Gunmetal Magic?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Gunmetal Magic, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 434 pages, published in 2012

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews

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First off, this cover is absolutely amazing, but it is also very Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired. In case you didn't know, BtVS was my favorite show growing up and is still one of my top faves. Anyways, this gorgeous cover is for Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews. This is considered 5.3 in the Kate Daniels series. I read this as apart of the readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. It was originally published in the anthology An Apple for the Creature, which is how I read it.

For this novella we are in Julie's POV! Julie has been tasked by Kate to choose a new school to go to. When she picks one out, Kate accompanies her to the chosen school. When they arrive, Julie is treated as an agent of Kate's business and tasked to find a missing student.

Small summary, but there was quite a big packed in this short story. I loved getting Julie's POV and seeing how she thought of Kate. I know that the spin-off focuses on Julie so it's cool that we'll not only get to see her grow up, but also see her POV change over time. We also got another dragon! I hope we get to see more of them in the series. I also loved how even though Julie felt it was trick to get her to feel okay with going to this school, she still couldn't stop herself from wanting to go there. Not only because she's making friends, but to protect them.

I don't want to go too much into it since this is so short, but I loved seeing the Kate Daniels universe from Julie's eyes. She's been through a lot and it was interesting to see how children are adapting to the world. I thought it was really interesting that this school is also focused on those with magical abilities. Which was another cool thing to see was how Julie's magic sight works. I hope she gets more POV novellas in this series so we can see more of her magic and how it'll evolve. If you are reading the series as well and haven't tried any of the novellas, I really recommend them. They broaden the world so much more than I expected.

Have you read Magic Tests?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Tests, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 40 pages, published in 2012

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

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It's that time again! The November books for the Kate Daniels readalong mainly focuses on Magic Slays. The readalong is hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. Magic Slays is the 5th book in the series by Ilona Andrews. I was able to use this for the prompt grey on the cover for the Fall in Love board 2.

We pick back up with Kate and her new freelance business Cutting Edge. One of leaders in the Red Guard shows up and hires Kate to figure out how and where the scientist they were protecting was kidnapped too. Also, there's a special project that he's working on that also needs to be recovered. As Kate gets her first real case, not all is as it seems.

Now, that Kate and Curran are officially mated, there's not quite the tension between them that we've seen in the previous books. I did enjoy the scenes we got of them together, but I did want more of Curran. I also loved that they kept checking in with each other and making sure things were okay no matter what issues they were currently having. We also get to learn more about Kate's mother and that she was magical as well. It wasn't dealt with too much here and I did wish it was addressed a little more. I'm sure we'll see Kate training and working with the witches in the future books, but I did want more here.

Where this book felt short for me was that it was a little too much on the nose dealing with social issues. It just was a little too obvious for my tastes. I still really enjoyed the world and everything. I also wanted a good fight scene as well. While there was a big battle and it was nice that we didn't end with Kate and/or Curran almost dying, I did want to see more of Kate as a badass. The books up until here have really focused on Kate getting more powerful and learning more about her powers and how to wield them. It kind of fits in with what I was saying before, but I just wanted more advancement. We do see Kate do that crazy magic saving Julie's life and there was a secret voice. That's really intriguing to find out who it is. I kind of think it might be Roland, but I can see it being someone else as well.

I really enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to see what happens next. While it wasn't my favorite so far, I still really enjoyed getting back into the world. At first I was worried about stopping myself from bingeing the series too quickly, I'm finding that spacing them out with other reads in between is really benefiting my enjoyment. Plus it helps that there so many novellas and extras that add to the world that are from other POVs as well. If you enjoy Urban Fantasy, certainly check out this series!

Have you read Magic Slays?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Slays, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 308 pages, published in 2011

Monday, October 18, 2021

Magic Dreams by Kate Daniels

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The next novella for the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews is Magic Dreams. This is listed as 4.5 and was also included in the Hexed anthology. I read this as part of the Kate Daniels readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I also was able to use this for the prompt orange on the cover for Fall In Love. It also covered the Bang in the Night Bingo prompts howlin' for you, who you gonna call?, I put a spell on you and CSI: crime scene investigation. I also read this during the Paranormal Romance Readathon and used it to cover the prompts part of a series, fated mates, ghost, novella and shifters.

For this novella we get a shift in perspective again. This time we get the POV of Dali. She's a blind, clumsy, vegetarian white tiger shifter. She's been crushing on Jim, the alpha of clan Cat. She arrives home after racing and finds Jim asleep on the floor of her bedroom. He's investigating some shifters that went missing and ended up getting dragged into it as well. It's up to Dali to use her magic to save Jim.

This was so fun! I loved seeing Jim loosen up a bit and not his stone-face that he uses with Kate. I also really enjoy Dali and how unique she is. We once again get to see more mythos incorporated into the world. Dali is Indonesian and the ghost then end up fighting is a Yokai, from Japanese culture. I loved getting to see more of the Asian mythos and had such a fun time. At the end we also see Dali end up rescuing someone that has something to do with Dragons. I'm sure he's not just a throwaway character, but I want him to show up again. Plus, is he a dragon shifter or does he just have dragon magic? I need to know. I can't wait!

This was such a fun and sweet novella. We get to see Dali and Jim finally admit their feelings for each other and start building a romantic relationship. I am 100% a cat person and love seeing cat shifters. Yes Curran is a great hero and is a primordial cat shifter, but there's something very alluring about Jim to me. I can't wait to see if future novellas are from Dali and Jim's POV and hope to see their relationship progress in the background. These novellas are so great for giving me the craving for more in this world, but also not getting into the heaviness that Kate deals with. So good!

Have you read Magic Dreams?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Dreams, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 86 pages, published in 2011

Friday, October 15, 2021

Curran POV Collection by Gordon Andrews - Part 2

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The final bit of reading for the Kate Daniels readalong for October is the associated Curran POVs. There are ten total and the first nine are available in a collection that's free on their website. The POVs are written by Gordon Andrews, one-half of the husband and wife writing duo Ilona Andrews. I previously read the first three, but the six remaining in this collection all correspond to this month's reads. The readalong is hosted by the lovely Stef, Heather and Megan. I was able to apply this collection to the prompt cover without people for Fall In Love. This also covered the howlin' for you, #squadgoals, black cover and CSI: crime scene investigation prompts for Bang in the Night Bingo. This also covered the prompts part of a series, fated mates, novella, indie published, shifters and black cover for the Paranormal Romance Readathon.

Once again, we are going to do quickfire reviews for the different shorts. This is going to be part two of the POV collection. Now we are going to go over the ones that fit in with Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds. Let's get to it!

The fourth story in the collection is Midnight Games. This is a little bit of a mash up of scenes from Curran's POV throughout the Midnight Games portion of Magic Strikes. We start with him trapped in the loup cage and when he forces his way into the team that's going to fight. This was super cute to see, especially with his interactions with Julie.

The fifth part is Hot Tub. This POV, oh boy was it good. This is one of my favorites and we get to see Curran's thoughts and reactions to Kate when they are in the hot tub at the Midnight Games. They do end up kissing and seeing Curran really fight against pushing Kate for more and to open up was such a great perspective.

The sixth part is called Kate's Origin. This is set between Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds I don't really know how to feel about this. We see a meeting with Jim and Curran. He's compiled a file on Kate and we see them both discuss Kate and her parentage and how she was raised. It was fun seeing parts that Kate hasn't talked about before too much, like the gladiator fights throughout South America. I did wish that this happened after Kate and Curran opened up to each other. It also made me a little frustrated with Curran and Jim and how they treated her later.

The seventh story, Naked Dinner, also takes place between Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds. In Magic Strikes Kate's big mouth gets away from her and she challenges Curran. If he finds her within three days, she owes him a naked dinner. This is the longest of the stories in this collection. We see Curran dealing with the murder of a shifter and dealing with the Pack. He ends up getting injured and misses the dinner. I can't remember 100%, but we either see Kate's POV here or in the epilogue of Magic Strikes. I mentioned this in my review of Magic Bleeds, but this is one short story that I think should be read before. Timeline wise it's set before, but I feel like knowing this story helped me not get as angry with Curran during that book.

The eighth story was Conclave. This takes place during Magic Bleeds when Saiman and Kate go on the agreed "date." This is a super quick and short story that shows his thoughts when he gets to the restaurant for the meeting with the People. I do wish it was a little bit longer so we could see parts of the meeting with the People and his thoughts before he chases Kate and Saiman.

The last story in this collection is Awake. This takes place at the end of Magic Bleeds when Curran wakes up from his coma. We get to see him reprimand the alpha shifters for constantly challenging Kate. This was a sweet story and good way to wrap up the collection.

The Curran POV "series" has one more story, but that is the Prequel to Magic Shifts, the 8th book in the Kate Daniels series. I really enjoyed reading these stories and getting more insight to both Curran and Pack. I'm really excited to see more of our shifter characters. This was such a great option to do for a bind-up of the stories they've released on their website. I love little additional things like this that authors do, especially when it's a fantasy or there's a lot of world building.

Have you read the Curran POV Collection?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Curran POV Collection, Gordon Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 157 pages, published in 2013

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

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The fourth book in Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels series is Magic Bleeds. I am reading this series, finally, thanks to the lovely Stef, Heather and Megan. They are hosting a readalong with a couple books and/or novellas discussed a month. I was also able to use this for the Bang in the Night Bingo covering the prompts howlin' for you, I put a spell on you, #squadgoals, a shocking twist! and CSI: crime scene investigation. Magic Bleeds also covers the prompt published before 2021 for Fall In Love. I also read this during the Paranormal Romance Readathon and it covered the prompts part of a series, fated mates and shifters.

Kate gets called to a new case at a bar. When she arrives she finds someone being eaten alive by a disease and immediately works to block the magical contaminant. There's someone new in town that has power over diseases and Kate needs to step up. They also seem to have the power to cause shifters to go wild. Kate goes about trying to solve the case while avoiding the Pack. Not only does she not want to see those she's gotten close to go wild, but she's been avoiding Beast Lord Curran.

First off, I highly recommend reading the parts of Curran POV before reading this book. It gets laid out pretty well, but I really recommend it. There are several stories that cover both scenes in Magic Strikes as well as a couple short stories that are between Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds. I ended up reading it this way because I wanted to read more Kate Daniels, but it was already late. I decided to see which stories from Curran POV I was able to get to so far.

I really enjoyed this book. We finally get to see Kate and Curran break the tension and get steamy! We get a little bit of Saiman, but I did want more. The way that the series is evolving is really well done. I love that we get more Derek and Jim, although I wanted more. We also see Andrea, but she kind of disappears at the end. I did get a little frustrated with both Curran and Kate. They both were so wrapped up in their feels and weren't thinking of the other so much. It helped before going into this that I had read about the misunderstanding, otherwise I think I would've been more frustrated with Curran. While they kind of work things out, I wanted there to be more realization from Curran of how deeply he hurt Kate. However, as I keep saying, this is an Urban Fantasy with romance. If the romance isn't quite perfect, okay. Just with the fact that he's alpha and wanting to care for Kate didn't quite fit with him not realizing she was hurting emotionally.

I'm super excited to continue the series and can't wait for more. I mentioned this in my Paranormal Romance Readathon wrap up, but I'm not sure if I can wait until next month to pick up the next assigned reads. I though about picking up one of their other series but I don't want to be jumping around too much. I know that they should differ enough I wouldn't get the worlds mixed up, but I think I'll just hold on. I'm certainly going to continue to read their books though. I really need to get caught up on the Hidden Legacy series as well. Maybe that'll be my next plan for Ilona Andrews before the next book comes out, hopefully next year!

Have you read Magic Bleeds?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎


STATISTICS: Magic Bleeds, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 349 pages, published in 2010

How I Rate Books

Before I get into posting my reviews, I wanted to do a guideline for how I rate things. There are a lot of people that critically review and...