The World of Ilona Andrews

Do you want to know why I was interested in reading Ilona Andrews? She has a heroine named Kate. In my mind, that was the perfect reason to pick up Magic Bites and Magic Burns. There aren’t many heroines I can think of with such a wonderful name *G*.

But the name of a character alone cannot sell a book, so when other reviews came out and some of my fellow bloggers, such as Ciaralira, raved about Ilona Andrews and her character, Kate Daniels, I had to give her books a read. And how right Ciaralira was! Kate Daniels is in good company with such great heroines as Ann Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax, JD Robb’s Eve Dallas and Jeaniene Frost’s Cat Crawfield, among many others. These three women stick out in my mind because they all have the same personalities as strong woman who live on the edges of society but are needed by those who are weak or cannot protect themselves. These are the new super heroines of the 21^st century book world!

Magic Bites takes place in Atlanta, Georgia where magic cripples the city. There are things called flares that can take out modern conveniences such as cars and electricity. During theses times, creatures that enjoy using their magic for their own devious means come out and cause problems. That is where Kate comes into the picture. She is a sort of freelancer mercenary who keeps control and cleans up these problems. Kate has her own special magic at her disposal. She has a pretty nifty sword she can use along with another secret weapon up her sleeve. Kate has two magic words from her deceased father she can use as a last resort if need be. When Kate says one of these words out loud to whomever, the unlucky fool must do what she orders. In Magic Bites, Kate acquires four new words from her mentor who has been murdered. She now has six words and her sword to use. Just because Kate may have these powerful words to use whenever she wants to, there are consequences. Every time she says one of these words, the pain she experiences is unbearable, only to be used if there is no other option.

Greg, Kate’s mentor, was a powerful knight who belonged to a group called the Order of Knights and Magical Aid. Kate has the option of joining but she doesn’t deal well with authority. Now that Greg has been eliminated, she must enter the world he was involved with to find his killer. This is where she is introduced to a whole new group of characters. Not only are there magicians and witches, but vampires, werewolves and all different types of shift changers.

Once such shifty creature is Curran, who is the Beast Lord. He is also the Pack King a.k.a. the lord of the shift changers. Curran can change into this monster lion and does not like to be told “no” and feels he must be obeyed in all things. You can just imagine his reaction to Kate when they meet. Sorry, folks, this is no love at first sight or even a twinge of lust between the two. Curran can’t stand Kate and she feels the same way about him. These two not only come to blows but try their best to kill one another. Remember how Kate has a problem with authority? Well, Curran is the top dog, er… cat and he wants Kate out of the way mainly because of her nose in the air attitude. As the story progresses, Kate and Curran come to an understanding and help one another. Kate eventually finds out who killed Greg, gets her revenge and helps Curran and his pack keep control of Atlanta.

Magic Burns (book #2) has Kate looking for a young girl’s missing mother who happens to be a witch and this time Kate ends up with a great deal more bumps and bruises than in Magic Bites. Both Magic Bites and Magic Burns are very heavy on blood and gore with some excellent fighting scenes. Again Curran shows up, but this time he is a bit more reserved around Kate. He no longer wants to kill her and only throws her against a wall a few times. Ilona is a wonderfully, tricky storyteller. She is planting those seeds between Kate and Curran so they have a more permanent relationship between them. Whereas I am a fan of two characters getting together as soon as possible, I feel that Ilona is better at building up whatever attraction Curran and Kate may have for one another. I really wouldn’t be surprised if this series went on for a very long time before we even see Curran giving Kate a peck on a cheek or some friendly touch that can lead to more, shall we say intimacies?

Ilona (and don’t forget her wonderful husband Gordon who lends a hand) has come up with a gritty, dark world that has some great potential. I look forward to Kate and her future adventures with her six magical words that can cause so much damage. And, if Kate and Curran end up sharing a kiss or two, I wouldn’t mind that either.

3 ½ stars out of 5 stars for the Kate Daniels Series

Do you want your chance to win a copy of Magic Burns and read a great interview with Ilona? Stop by All About Romance's After Hour Blog where there is a interview and contest with Ilona all this week. And can you guess who helped with the interview? :D

Katiebabs(KB)