Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Kate Daniels #1



Magic Bites

By Ilona Andrews

Book Blurb: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 admit it. I was an Ilona Andrews, Kate Daniels virgin. But no more! I made a New Year's Resolution to read this series. I have wanted to for so long and I decided to use my Christmas gift card presents to good use.  I'm quite happy I did. 

It seems like there are so many times where I visit other blogs and when the question is asked, "Who's your favourite couple, heroine, book boyfriend etc" and when I view the comments, I am guaranteed to find Kate Daniels and Curran listed there numerous times. That always perked my interest.  Also fellow book blogger, Julie from (one of my favourite blogs) Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks is always singing accolades about the series. 

So enter in the new year and Magic Bites finds itself loaded on to my Kobo app via my iPad. I finished it in one night. It was magical. 

I think Magic Bites is a great starter book to what I think will be a great series. However, there is a lot of information to absorb in this first book. I hope when I finish book 2, Magic Burns, I will have a better understanding of this technological deficient world. I found I had to wrap my head around the setting of the current state of Kate's world and let go of all my how's & why's. I needed to just go with it. I do love to have things explained to me and that seemed to be missing. Was the world always like that? It had to be if they were talking about 300 yr old vampires. Oh wait, did they know about vampires 300 yrs ago? Was there a major war? Where did the magic come from? Was there always shapeshifters? Poor Atlanta. Is is just Atlanta? What are ley lines (yes I Googled) See my issue and why I usually stick to historical romances? 

Regardless, I loved Magic Bites. I immediately loved the less-than-wealthy mercenary, Kate. There is no doubt, she is awesome. Who else would be shaking in their boots meeting the Beast Lord of Atlanta and starts off with a sarcastic, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." I totally laughed out loud. She seems, grounded. She is unapologetic with her behavior and seems to be naturally cool. She is strong and in more ways than just muscles. All I know is I just really liked her and I need to know her better. I got a wonderful first impression of the series and I'm eager to continue. 

As for the story itself Magic Bites was fascinating and intriguing. There were times I winced with the gruesomeness of the descriptions and I was really glad smell can not transit through pages. 

I liked the character Dr. Crest. It was early on in the story where the readers are lead to believe that he could be Kate's love interest. The good doctor had no chance with Kate though. Another character Derek put it perfectly when he said that Kate was "harder" than Crest. Also I loved that he added that Crest and Kate would never fit because "he will never tell you no."  Crest may not be Kate's love interest but I do wonder if he was put into the story for another reason. Time will tell. 

Curran was intriguing  I love that he is a king and a lion shapeshifter as well. His description is majestic and although Curran and Kate only experienced one rushed kiss in Magic Bites, it lends itself to be a great beginning. Not too much is actually revealed about Curran. Which is good because the story already had a ton of information and numerous characters to absorb. I liked that he was a bit of a mystery in this first book. 

There is a huge cast of characters and they each seem to have their own story brewing. Once again, I can't wait to learn more about them. 

Teasers: Magic words (and its not please), protection wards, creepy breeding, knights, crusaders, Order, mercenary, vampires, were-all kinds of animals, war zone Atlanta