Ilona Andrews

Kate Daniels is beset by a vast array of supernatural problems after starting her own business, as she struggles to deal with potential clients who are afraid of her mate while helping the Master of the Dead stop a rogue vampire.

Magic slays

Lover of Romance 

I really liked this one, not my favorite of the series so far, but it was quite enjoyable. We have a scheme of plots that are out to destroy every magical creature alive, and Curran and Kate are put right in the middle of it. What was most admirable was see these two fumble a bit in their relationship and be challenged in the love they have and those they are determined to protect. This book broke my heart at times, and really tests you emotionally...but there is plenty of action, drama, mystery, and passion!! A fabulous addition. Can't wait for more.

In this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series, war-plagued Atlanta has never been so deadly...Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job. Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Knights 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. Plus, 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. But it turns out that 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 may pay the ultimate price...

Magic Slays

This series keeps slaying it. No pun intended

Annabella

Anna

Sarah Escorsa

Excuse me while I take a few minutes to recover. I feel like I’ve just been punched here! Exactly how much more amazing can this series get? I just finished reading this instalment I already feel like picking it up again. Action, mystery, comedy, emotions, complexity… This one really has it all! Okay, the previous books had it all too but each and everyone of them is better than the last and this one is yet another mind-blowing roller coaster ride. It talks of treason, love, pain, friendship, horror, family, heartbreak, trust and fidelity... with a thick coat of humour on top. 

There are so many things to love about Magic Slays. I love life at the Pack. The politics, the protocol, the complex rules & regulations… Ilona Andrews has crafted a very detailed world. It’s all very well thought-out and makes the story come alive. The authors always seem to come up with new, interesting ideas to keep the series going and evolving. Kate’s world keeps getting richer and you can never tell what is going to happen next. With Kate now living at the Pack and trying to make a name for herself with her new business (no small feat), there are some very exciting developments in store!

The character development is fantastic. Kate has changed a lot over the books and she now seems more composed (well, as composed as Kate Daniels can get anyway) and her behaviour is a bit less erratic. Her new responsibilities within the Pack call for unexpected situations and we get to see yet another side of her personality. Strangely enough, I’m still not sure about Curran. It’s not that I dislike him but I can’t decide how I feel about him. It certainly doesn’t help that Kate starts having doubts about his intentions and ulterior motives in this instalment! What does help is finding out how he really feels about the Pack. I’m slowly warming up to him but it’s taking me time. The other characters? Derek (the werewolf boy wonder) is still one of my favourite ones but I also love Barabas (he just cracks me up). Julie is turning into a mini-Kate and there is a lot of potential in Ascanio. Oh and I just love Edvokia and her duck-rabbit-cat!

Favourite scenes: Kate hearing petitions at the Pack, Julie & Ascanio’s face-off at the Cutting Edge offices (and Derek teaching Ascanio a lesson), Kate and Edvokia in the forest, every single fight scene (I used to hate battle/fight scenes before getting desperately addicted to this series)… There are so many!

Favourite lines? Oh yes, lots of them (bear with me for this is where I behave like a 15-year-old fan girl)!Curran chuckled into my ear. I turned and bumped my head against his chest a few times. It was the nearest hard surface.If things kept going this way, I would be forced to run up and down the street screaming, “We kill things for money.” Maybe someone would take pity and throw some change at me. The phone rang. I stared at it. You never know. It could be a trick.Rene looked at Grendel. “What in the world is that?” “That’s our mutant attack poodle.”“You really need to work on your threats. I can’t tell if you’re threatening me or inviting me for tea.” “I know it’s late, but could you find a book for me? It’s called The Slavs: Study of Pagan Tradition by Osvintsev.” Barabas sighed dramatically. “Kate, you make me despair. Let’s try that again from the top, except this time pretend you are an alpha.” “I don’t need a lecture. I just need the book.” “Much better. Little more growl in the voice?” “Barabas!” “And we’re there. Congratulations! There is hope for you yet.”Shapeshifter parenting motto—if your kid slits somebody’s throat, always have a backup plan to make the body disappear.The caption next to it said “Chernobog.” The Black God. Right. Of course, it wouldn’t be Chernobog, God of Morning Dew on the Rose Petals, but a woman could always hope.When unsure of the stranger’s intentions, the best policy is to open a meaningful dialogue. “Hey, dickhead! Who taught you to shoot, Louis Braille? That arrow missed me by a mile.”No shapeshifters assaulted me and tried to take my food. No wolf alphas sprung any surprise attacks. Nobody even offered me a bouquet of headless roses. The lack of drama was downright disheartening.Curran growled. “Later, babycakes.” Babycakes. Asshole. “Good hunting, sugar woogums.”I raised the cookbook and tapped him on the nose. Bad cat.“Whatever, Your Fluffiness.”“Got to keep your strength up.” Curran grinned. “So you can keep up.” I clasped my hand to my throat and made some strangled noises. “Help me, I can’t breathe, your ego is pushing all the air out of the room.” Below me, Curran gathered himself, jumped ten feet in the air, bounced off the concrete into another jump, then another, and landed next to me. “Me Kate. You Tarzan?” “My lord, my lady, may I say that I am delighted that my favorite alpha is feeling better. Why, you’ll be running recklessly into danger against overwhelming odds anytime now.”I rest my case. Next pleeeaaaase!

• Book 1: Magic Bites ★★★★★
• Book 2: Magic Burns ★★★★★
• Book 3: Magic Strikes ★★★★★
• Book 4: Magic Bleeds ★★★★★
• Book 6: Magic Rises ★★★★★
• Book 7: Magic Breaks ★★★★★
• Book 8: Magic Shifts ★★★★★
• Book 9: Magic Binds ★★★★★
• Book 10: Magic Triumphs ★★★★

🐈 The Adventures Of A Brave Little Kitty Buddy Rerererereread (TAOABLKBR™) with the IA Addicts 🐈

➽ 
  And the moral of this particular rererererereread is:
 I want a multi-purpose pet for Christmas. And if Edvokia's duck-bunny-cat can't be cloned, I'll settle for a barnacle-shrimp-kraken. Or for a mutant hippo-frog.



Err...Then again maybe not. A barnacle-shrimp-kraken it is, then! Pretty sure they look much sexier than mutant hippo-frogs, anyway. Also, it is a truth universally acknowledged that kraken make everything and anything Instantly Very Cool (IVC™) and stuff. Even the lamest subaquatic jokes.



See what I mean?

👋 Until next time and stuff.



⚔ 
  The Grand IAA™ KD Buddy Rerererereread Extravaganza
 (GIAAKDBRE™), aka the yellow brick road to Magic Triumphs ⚔
 
Presenting Episode 5, or How Kate Daniels Learned that Morgue Steps Can Have Very Entertaining Uses Indeed.
 
» 
  And the moral of this particular rererereread is:


Mutant attack poodles who chew on plastic guns + 15-year-old sex fiend/pure chick magnet + Roman the hidalgo pirate lookalike (aka Roman the Riveting Russian Rake, aka R⁴) + duck-bunny kitties (or is it bunny-kitty ducks? Or kitty-duck bunnies? I forget) + Chernobog, God of Morning Dew on the Rose Petals (aka The Black Serpent. Koshei. Lord of Darkness and Death. Ruler of Freezing Cold. Master of Destruction. God of Insanity. Embodiment of everything bad. Evil) + Edvokia and her house on chicken legs *waves at Baba Yaga* + His Fussiness' cuddly Tasmanian devil + Osanda, you bitch + playing with other boys' toy cars + making ribbons with intestines + the hand that slapped Aunt B. + having the enemy for lunch + mostest coolest spiky red-haired weremongoose nanny ever = let's dance the night away and stuff.





[July 2016]

❣ KD is the Cure to All of Life's Problems Buddy Read (KDitCtAoLPBR™) with my dear wife Ange, and the poor IAA souls who have fallen into our deathly KD Surprise Reread Trap (KSRT™).

✎ Previous rating: 8 stars
✎ New rating: I don't know anymore. Millions of them, probably. Or maybe trillions. Who knows?

» And the moral of this particular rererereread is:



Oh, and also:



Bye now. Things to do, tourists to strangle and all that crap.



[July 2015]

✎ Previous rating: 5 stars
✎ New rating: 8 stars ← What? Were you seriously expecting anything less? Don't you know me at all people?! How many times do I have to tell you?! I want to be Kate Daniels when I grow up.

►► Why do I want to be Kate Daniels when I grow up, you ask? Because being Kate Daniels means:

① You kick ass.

② You get to sleep in the Beast Lord's four feet high bed (playground slide optional, His Furriness mandatory).

③ You get to sleep in the Beast Lord's four feet high bed (playground slide optional, His Furriness mandatory).

④ You get to sleep in the Beast Lord's four feet high bed (playground slide optional, His Furriness mandatory).

►► Oops, I think my brain short circuited right there. Sorry about that. Moving on.

⑤ You cut cut cut and slice slice slice. Yum.



⑥ You have very cool sidekicks:
✔ An ex Boy Wonder who vomits better than a shaved, mutant attack poodle.
✔ An oversexed 15-year-old bodyguard/intern/chick magnet.
✔ A seventy pound weremongoose nanny with a head on fire.

⑦ You can do very cool tricks with your blood. Thanks so much Daddy Dearest!

⑧ You get to play in His Overbearance's enormous bathtub (soap optional, His Furriness mandatory).

⑨ You get to play in His Overbearance's enormous bathtub (soap optional, His Furriness mandatory).

 ⑩ You get to play in His Overbearance's enormous bathtub (soap optional, His Furriness mandatory).

►► Oops, I think my brain short circuited right there. Sorry about that. Moving on.

⑪ You have a very cool family. Well, maybe except from Daddy Dearest. And Auntie Erra. And dear step-daddy. And Mommy Dearest, too? Ugh. Not such a cool family after all. Sonovabitch.

⑫ Your best friend is a hyena with a gun fetish. She steals other people's pets, too. But hey, nobody's perfect.

⑬ You know how to have fun:
✔ Play with trolls
✔ Attend ant parties
✔ Pet mutant cat-rabbit-ducks
✔ Visit houses on chicken legs
✔ Meet lovely people with supersonic whistles

⑭ Roman the Riveting Russian Rake is part of your extended family. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

⑮ You get to beat the crap out of the Beast Lord just for kicks. Fun times.

⑯ You have the coolest vocabulary: Osanda, Amehe, Ahissa, Dair, Hesaad. The bastards have no idea what they're in for.

⑰ You have a very big, possessive, overbearing, hot as hell kitty cat.

⑱ You have a very big, possessive, overbearing, hot as hell kitty cat.

⑲ You have a very big, possessive, overbearing, hot as hell kitty cat.

⑳ You have a very big, possessive, overbearing, hot as hell kitty cat.



►► Need I say more? Didn't think so.



• Book 1: Magic Bites ★★★★★
• Book 2: Magic Burns ★★★★★
• Book 3: Magic Strikes ★★★★★
• Book 4: Magic Bleeds ★★★★★
• Book 6: Magic Rises ★★★★★
• Book 7: Magic Breaks ★★★★★
• Book 8: Magic Shifts ★★★★★
• Book 9: Magic Binds ★★★★★
• Book 10: Magic Triumphs ★★★★

Kelsi Proulx

This is probably my favorite book in the series so far. I really enjoyed the addition of the witches to the story and finding out more about Kate's background. Her becoming Curran's mate has certainly changed things, but I think it's good changes. Kate is still just as funny and sharp and Curran still grates on her just as much! This series just keeps getting better!

Becky

I don't know if I can come up with more good things to say about this series. I still love it and I'm still enjoying slowly learning more of Kate and her past. It's so interesting seeing her past and her family slowly develop and I can't wait to see more.

Nickie Mohler

Kate is trying to get her business up and running. It's not going very well. No cases at all. Until, Ghastek calls. The People lost control of a vamp and they need Kate to stop it. 

I loved this book! This is one of my favorite series, but I really loved this one. So much going on, and so many different supernaturals coming together. On to the next one!

Michelle Boyea

this series gets better with each installment. absolutely incredible

Jessica Nottingham

Here I am at the fifth book in the Kate Daniels series. I've ravenously read this series until they are no more (published) books to read, and I'm so hooked I can't even explain it to you anymore. Magic Slays is amazing. It seems with every book I just grow closer and closer to the characters who inhabit Kate Daniels' little corner of the world. For me to still be hooked after this many books? You know it's a good series.

Magic Slays is the book where we finally get to see Kate and Curran as a couple. A COUPLE. Up until now they've fought, loved, and bantered, but at the beginning of this installment these two are officially hitched. I was a little worried. Would the Kate Daniels I know and love go soft on me? Would she stop being as kick-ass and amazing as before? I don't even know why I worried. She's still the same Kate Daniels! With the addition of being a little more grounded, and allowing Ilona Andrews the chance to give us a peek into the adoration between these two. *swoon* I ate it up.

In fact, this book heavily plays on Kate's new relationship and how it is going to affect her life from here on. There are new pieces of her past uncovered, and little tidbits of learning how to now be part of a twosome, rather than a lone wolf. As Consort, Kate has to learn how to balance her responsibilities to the Pack with the ones she has to herself. Trust me, this is a novel where she grows! So many crazy emotions flitted through me as I read. I laughed, I cried, I wanted more.

So many things happen in Magic Slays that drive the story forward, and I'd be a total liar if I said I didn't almost sob when I got to the ending. Kate Daniels is my favorite character. Hands down. Her kindness, her loyalty, her ability to be so selfless, I just can't express to you how much I adore the whole package that Andrews puts forth in her main character. Trust me, you need to start this series if you haven't already. In the meantime I'll be barely containing my impatience as I salivate over the next installment.

Jo H

What a ride! I was on the seat of my pants for almost the entire thing and the rest of the time rolling on the floor at some of the shenanigans, those Russians are a scream. And at this point in the game, I'm feeling for Jennifer despite not liking her very much.

Lacey

I still cannot get over how fantastic this series is. Kate and Curran's relationship is set in stone now, and I just love how they are absolutely perfect for each other. Though I didn't love love love this as much as the previous two books, this is still another amazing addition for the series. Can't wait for the next Kate Daniels book!

Magic slays

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