Review: Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Rises (Kate Daniels #6)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace
Release date: July 30th 2013
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Mercenary Kate Daniels narrates a surprising trip with her bite-me humor. The pack of her mate Curran, werelion Beast Lord, need rare medicine from Europe to save children who die from stuck shapeshifting. Europe offers them barrels of the drug if they guard a spoiled princess. Knowing the invite is a trap, of course they sail right in.

Magic Rises is the sixth book in the series, so if you have not read the series this review may contain some spoilers.

Kate Daniels is the consort of Curran, the Beast Lord, a title that bothers her but she has come to accept it as part of the package it means to be with the man she loves and she accepts everything that includes with being his consort, such as follow all the rules involved being the female alpha of Curran´s pack, but for now she is happy and would not want to be anywhere else.

But being Curran´s consort  is not rosy, as there are always problems both inside and outside of the pack, but now Kate sees firsthand someone close to her, a teenage friend of Julie (her pupil), that is in danger of going loup, something that is a death sentence, and this is a problem that shifters had faced since forever, but there is a cure, a drug that only packs of Europe have and they zealously guard, so when they offer Curran with barrels of this medicine in exchange for his services as a bodyguard for the daughter of a European alpha, everything seems perfect and of course it sounds like a trap, but Curran can not deny the possibility to get this medicine, so he, Kate, and some other shifters, undertake a difficult journey by ship across the ocean, where they may encounter mythical creatures and face other type of dangers.

But that's not all, in addition to all the dangers and external obstacles, Curran and Kate must also face problems as a couple, so besides trying to survive these tests, they will have to consider at the end if it's worth staying together.

I must say...that more than once Curran was my least favorite person, just because of  what was happening between them, because he started acting very different from the Curran I know and love.

Magic Rises was a difficult book (for me), not because of the dangers, fights and all enemies they faced, but because of the relationship problems between Kate and Curran. Part of the book kill me!! It has too many unexpected twists. I love this series!!

If you still haven´t read the series, I recommend you to read Magic Bites!! It is the first book in this amazing urban fantasy series for adults.

Review: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Slays (Kate Daniels #5)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace Penguin Berkley
Release date: June 2011
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Magic Bites - here, Magic Burns - here, Magic Strikes - here & Magic Bleeds - here

Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job.

Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she's still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate's mate.

So when Atlanta's premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price.

The Kate Daniels series has become one of my favorites because it has a great heroine, lots of action, is fast-paced with no dull moments, I also love Kate´s mate Curran (finally! they´re a couple, after so much sexual tension between them), and it has great secondary characters that are easy to like, such as Derek, Julie, Jim and Andrea.

The main plot is very interesting, there is a new threat that could endanger the entire magical world and Kate is in the middle of it, but there are also other subplots such as Kate´s and Curran´s relationship as mates because there are still some details to work out between them. And there is also Julie, Kate´s ward that continues to cause problems like any other teenager.

But in the midst of dealing with all this, Kate discovers new information about Voron, her adoptive father and his relationship with her mother, something that affects her balance and cast doubt on everything she though she knew until then.

Magic Slays was a really great read, it has lots of action and the plot does not stop at any time, the story flows well and it has its funny moments that make me laugh out loud and I also enjoyed Kate´s sarcasm.

The Kate Daniels series is a MUST READ (it´s an amazing series) .... I highly recommend it.

Review: Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace
Release date: May 25th 2010
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Magic Bites - here, Magic Burns - here & Magic Strikes - here

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren't for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose.

Kate Daniels works for the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle - especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community. When she's called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar on the border between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers that there's a new player in town. One who's been around for thousands of years - and who rode to war at the side of Kate's father. This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Beast Lord, to handle. Because this time Kate will be taking on family. 

I know that I sound like a broken record with my comments about this series, but I liked this book more than the previous book. The plot is engaging and so far it is getting better and better.

In the last three books we have slowly learned the origins of Kate Daniels, about whom is her biological father, and how her adoptive father trained her whole life to be the best fighter in addition to not draw attention to herself, to not get attachments of any kind, because this will weaken her, so she must not have empathy for others, because one day she will face her biological father and for this she needs to be alone without any friends or love interest that could drag her down. But the teachings of her foster father failed because Kate she feels empathy for others, actually for the first time in her life she´s having close friends, has an adopted niece and is open to the possibility of having a romantic partner.

In the last two books Kate and Curran have flirted in a very peculiar manner and on this book we see progress in the romance department. I liked them as a couple, because both are stubborn, obstinate, not very good to compromise on anything, but they gradually begin to make concessions for each other.

The threat this time is someone biologically close to Kate, someone very powerful whom will cause chaos to Atlanta, which is their specialty because it comes from someone who has been around for thousands of years and ended with several ancient civilizations, and Kate must try that her heritage is not discovered.

I loved this book because there is finally romance! It was time that Curran and Kate stop skirting around and accept their attraction, but nothing is easy between this two in battle or romance, they just don´t have peace with all the threats, especially because this threat affects them both. Magic Bleeds is an easy read, fast-paced and action-packed. I highly recommend this series, it´s amazing!.

Review: Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace
Release date: March 31st 2009
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Magic Bites - here & & Magic Burns - here

When magic strikes and Atlanta goes to pieces, it’s a job for Kate Daniels…

Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.

But when Kate's werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games—an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament—she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta's shapeshifting community… 

The Kate Daniels series gets better with each book and Magic Strikes is the best of the series so far. This is an excellent urban fantasy saga for adults.

In Magic Strikes, Kate´s friend and sidekick Derek - a young werewolf - gets into trouble and she feels responsible for it when he ends up beaten almost to death and when she learns that the perpetrators are participants of the Midnight Games, a secret tournament, without rules, where fights are to the death. So for Derek and other reasons she decides that the only way to help him and the other shapeshifter, is by participating in the tournament along with her friends, which is against her father´s training, but for her friends she´s ready for anything.

Kate is a tremendous hero, loyal, honorable and willing to do anything to keep alive her small group of friends and Curran. Kate was trained from very young to survive, to see for herself and to not make waves, to try to go unnoticed, which she has done most of her life, but now for her friends, she will fight with all she has to protect them.

In this installment we get to know a little more about Kate, her origins and for what she has been training all her life. Also there is finally more development in what refers to the "romance" between Kate and Curran, as they continue to antagonize each other, but there are some progress in their relationship and some sexual tension.

Magic Strikes was really a great read, funny, action-packed, with many revelations and sexual tension between the main characters.

I also read Midnight Games and Hot Tub short stories that take place during Magic Strikes and are told from Curran´s POV. And Kate's Origin and Naked Dinner events occurring between Magic Strikes and Magic Bleed (Book 3 and 4), all from Curran POV Collection.

Review: Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace
Release date: April 1st 2008
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Magic Bites - here

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

This is the second book in the Kate Daniels series, its an urban fantasy for adults, and in my opinion is better than Magic Bites, perhaps because the world where it develops has already been established and now it focuses more on the character development and relationships between them.

This series takes place in a world affected by magic, and while the magic "is working" all the technology goes down and vice versa. And from the recent changes in the magic fluctuation that have occurred recently it appears that a "flare" of energy or magic is going to hit the city which makes all kinds of technology stop working and makes everything magical or paranormal more powerful and / or unstable, so strange things start to happen.

Kate is a great heroine, strong, smart, independent, and is good kicking-butt to defend herself and with regard to Curran, the Beast Lord, she doesn´t know when to shut up, because she´s constantly irritating him and sort of bickering with him, even though she knows that he´s a powerful shape shifter and yet she can not resist antagonize him.

This time Kate is a representative of the Order of Merciful Aid - a group whose mission is to help others of any type of threat (within the law), for the right cost - so when the shifters request her help in recovering something that was stolen, she ends up involved in something bigger than she thought.

I'm glad that it had a little hint of a possible romance between Kate and Curran, I really like both characters. Of the secondary characters my favorite is Derek, the young werewolf, he´s a friend of Kate and Curran´s protegee, I can not wait to see more of him in the other books. And one the more interesting new characters was Bran, I really liked him.

Magic Burns is an excellent urban fantasy book, it's funny, action-packed and a very fast read (I read it in approx. 1 day), and in this installment it was mixed with Celtic mythology.

I also read the short story of this book from Curran´s POV. You can find it here - Curran POV Collection.

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1)
Author: Ilona Andrews 
Publisher: Ace Books
Release date: April 1st 2007

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league—but she wouldn't have it any other way…

I had this book on my shelf for almost a year and I had been wanting to read it for a while but there was always another book that I had to read  for a review first, but I finally read this book and  let me tell you that it was really good! Magic Bites did meet my expectations.

The book is seen from Kate Daniels´s POV, she lives in Atlanta in a post-apocalyptic world where magic and technology exist but when magic is working the technology doesn´t and vice-versa, there are shapeshifters (werewolves, werehyena, wererats, etc.), vampires, necromancers, magic users and monsters that roam the city.

Kate is a twenty-five-year-old mercenary, but at the beginning of the story her guardian is murder and she decides to investigate his death. The world where she lives it is a bit hard to explain, so I will not go into much detail about the world-building.

Kate Daniels is an excellent female protagonist, she is strong, brave, sarcastic, able to defend herself, she isn´t intimidated easily and with a very peculiar sense of humor, she always walks with her sword strapped to her back and is not afraid to use it. Other main characters is Curran, The Beast Lord, he is the King of the shifters, he is used to everyone to obey him and do whatever he says, until he meets Kate, they don´t get along at first ..... we'll see where these two end up, he´s a potential love interest.

Among the secondary characters, my favorite is Derek, he´s a werewolf, who gets into trouble when he meets Kate, but it seems that his future looks good. He is a good guy, loyal, protective and a good sense of humor, I hope to see more of him in the following books in the series.

Magic Bites is a urban fantasy novel, so there is no romance, but it hint to a future romance between Kate and one of the protagonists, but there are lots of action, mystery and suspense .... The story has a very interesting twist that I NEVER saw coming, this is a very good book and start of a series. The only thing I feel that was missing was a prologue, to understand a little more (and a bit faster) about the world, since at the beginning it´s quite odd the world where Kate Daniels lives. Now I'm hooked on this series.