kate daniels

Magic Slays – Kate Daniels #5 – Book Review

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Synopsis:

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.

This review will contain spoilers if you have not read the previous books.

Kate has left the Order of Merciful Aid and has opened up her own business, which so far hasn’t gone well for her. When she finally gets a real paying job, she of course jumps at the chance and is ready to get the job done and get paid. Of course, this job isn’t as simple as it seems at first and quickly goes sideways, as many things in Kate’s life do.

At the same time, Kate’s adopted niece, Julie, decided to run away from school again. Deciding to “put her to the test”, Kate doesn’t just go pick up Julie and haul her back to school. Kate isn’t really “mother” material but she is definitely guardian material. She’s teaching that kid to be resilient and how to survive in a world that will very likely want to destroy her.

Kate is now living in the Keep as Curran’s mate. At the end of the previous book she more than earned her place as the alpha female of the Pack, even if that isn’t really what she wants to be.

This book has a lot of twists and turns. In the course of her investigation, Kate comes to learn a great deal of about her past that she never knew before. Including things that a shed a whole new light on her mother and how Voron raised her. Learning these thing also casts Curran under suspicion.

I haven’t been Curran’s biggest supporter from the beginning, so I found this whole “does he love me? Does he love me not?” thing a little annoying. Personally, I would still love it if Kate just took off somewhere and found a way to deal with her biological father on her own, but I know that isn’t going to happen.

Curran needs a good punch to the nose sometimes. Though Kate has hit him on multiple occasions so I don’t think that will actually do any good.

Overall, this book is a great read. It’s fast paced and action packed and hard to put down.

Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for reading!

I apologize if this isn’t the greatest review. I recently had minor surgery and am still on painkillers. I just wanted to get this written before i start the next book.

Magic Bleeds – Kate Daniels #4 – Urban Fantasy Book Review

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Synopsis: Kate Daniels works for the Order of the 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 midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family… 

This book didn’t begin the quite the way I would have expected. It started with a bit of an emotional hit on our poor heroine.

This book was pretty action packed, and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I felt bad for Kate many times. Her life isn’t easy and trouble has a way of finding her.

There was a part of me that really wanted Kate to walk away from everything. I wanted her to pack a bag, grab her new attack poodle and just disappear somewhere beyond all the politics and random messes that surround her. I thought it would be an interesting way to go but of course, Kate isn’t that kind of person. She will never abandon people who need her.

My opinion of Curran fluctuated a great deal in the book. I went from mildly disliking him to outright hating him to actually liking him. Will I continue to like him? Maybe. We’ll see.

A great deal happens in this book. Quite a few things change for Kate. The eventual confrontation with her biological father is looming on the horizon. 7 more books to go. What will happen next?

Get 50% off on an ebook on Book Lovers when you use my promos code JEANA50.

Magic Strikes – Kate Daniels #3 – Review

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Synopsis:

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…

I devoured this book in two days and loved every second of it! From the first word, I was engaged and didn’t want to put it down. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had to work the next morning, I probably would have stayed up the entire night reading.

I continue to love Kate as her character builds and her secrets are slowly revealed. In this book, we get some glimpses into her past and what her childhood was like.

Curran is still an arrogant alpha male, but his behaviour has become a little less “I’m going to get in her pants because she said no” to “I’m going to get in her pants because I like her”. I feel confident Kate and Curran are going to end up together. Poor Kate, she knows logically why she shouldn’t get together with him, but her body has other ideas.

More of an overall plot to the series is developing, and I’m really pumped to see how it all plays out. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t say much more there.

I give Magic Strikes 5/5 stars! I highly recommend it to anyone who love urban fantasy, especially series like Mercy Thompson. The relationship between Kate and Curran reminds me a bit of Mercy and Adam near the beginning.

Have you read this series? What did you think? Do you agree with my love?

Get 50% off ebooks when you use my promo code JEANA50 at Booklovers.

Urban Fantasy Book Review – Magic Burns – Kate Daniels #2 by Ilona Andrews

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Synopsis:

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 is 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…

I think I might be in love with this series. yes, I know this is only book 2, but wow, it is awesome! If it keeps on the way it started, this series is going to be a wild ride.

Kate is definitely a new favourite character of mine. She is a smart ass who can kick ass and also be empathetic. In this book, we get to see a bit of a different side of her when she encounters a 13-year-old girl, Julie, in need of her help. The way Kate refers to Julie as “my kid” is great! They barely know each other but they form a bond quickly, one that I think will continue throughout the series.

Curran is a character I can’t decide if I like or not. He is something of a stereotypical alpha male. He’s strong, arrogant and used to be in charge. He does well by the Pack, but not so much by Kate. Circumstances brought them together again in this book without her actually reaching out to him. Then, he blames her for bringing chaos into his life, while also taking every available opportunity to tease her in a sexual manner. I can’t decide if he truly likes or if he’s just an ass. Beast Lord or not, he really needs to be punched in the nose, preferably by Kate.

I’m sure their paths are going to cross again. His lion form is on the book covers after all.

There a quite a few little hints dropped about Kate, how powerful she could be and who her father really is. We learn a few little tidbits in this book and I can’t wait to find out more about her.

Thank for reading!

Urban Fantasy Book Review – Magic Bites – Kate Daniels # 1 by Ilona Andrews

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Magic Bites

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

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, 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…

Buy Now: Amazon

Reread: August 31, 2020

I just finished rereading this book in anticipation of reading the rest of the series. I’m glad i did.  In the 3 years it’s been since I read it, I seem to have forgotten almost all of it.

On my second time around, I loved it just as much as the first time, and my original review (below) stands. There’s little else I can say about this book that I haven’t said below.

Other than that, I am pumped to keep on with the series.

Original Review: June 14, 2017

Many Urban Fantasy novels begin with a main character who is seemingly ordinary, a college student or waitress or private investigator, etc. Suddenly, this ordinary person is thrown into a situation that changes their whole world, everything they ever believed to be true and they discover they are somehow special and possibly needed to save the world.

This novel isn’t like that.

Kate, our lovely protagonist, has known about magic her entire life. She grew up being taught about magic and the different types of magical creatures that exist. In the world of this novel, magic isn’t a secret. Some might think that the world building in this novel is flawed, that it doesn’t explain how the world works properly. Personally, I liked the way things were presented. The novel is narrated from Kate’s point of view so she already knows how the world works. It would seem out of place if she were suddenly to start explaining things to the reader. Read between the lines (as the saying goes) and the workings of this world aren’t difficult to figure out.

The plot may seem a bit generic at first. Kate’s Guardian and mentor (the last person she considers family) has been murdered and she volunteers to investigate for her own personal sense of justice. Murder and revenge is a common story, but this plot doesn’t unravel the way you might think. During her investigation, she gets tangled up with Necromancers and Shapechangers while also being pursued by a human doctor. Despite the short length of the book, nothing feels rushed and there’s more than enough action to keep a reader satisfied.

Kate is a strong, independent, kick-ass female character. She knows exactly what she’s capable of and, more importantly, what she’s not. Though, that’s not going to stop her from trying. She may not be able to defeat 8 shapechangers at once but that doesn’t she won’t take down as many of them with her as she can. She will kick ass and shoot her mouth off at the same time.

As evidenced by the fact that the series is still ongoing, there is still a lot to learn about Kate and the world she lives in.

Overall, I give Magic Bites 4.5 stars out of 5. I would have given it 5 but some of the overbearing alpha male characters were a little stereotypical.

Have you read Magic Burns? What did you think?