Showing posts with label Curran Lennart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curran Lennart. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 August 2016

MAGIC BINDS


Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews
Book 9 of the Kate Daniels series
Genre: urban fantasy


About Magic Binds:
Mercenary Kate Daniels knows all too well that magic in post-Shift Atlanta is a dangerous business. But nothing she’s faced could have prepared her for this…

Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar…

Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in his never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead.

The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules…
Source: Info in the About Magic Binds was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333174-magic-binds on 27/06/2016.

My Thoughts:
I like it when things nicely fall in together like pieces of a puzzle to reveal the picture. I was wondering what happened to Ana, Greg Feldman's ex-wife, who was first mentioned in Magic Bites. Then Kate mentioned in their dinner convention with Roland at Applebee's [I. Andrews, Magic Shifts, (Ace, 2015), p. 290] that Ana, the clairvoyant ex-wife of Kate's dead guardian, no longer return her calls. Telling me that Ana is still there but just not in the picture anymore and explains why she wasn't mentioned in so many books since Magic Bites.

However, I do not like it when the story lines contradict each other! In Magic Slays, Evdokia of the Witch Oracle told Kate that her mother, Kalina, came to attend Kalina's mother's funeral. [I. Andrews, Magic Slays, (The Berkley Publishing Group, 2011), p. 120]. Then all of a sudden, Kalina's mother was alive again and living in Seattle in Magic Shifts. Roland tried to lure Kate out of Atlanta with the idea of visiting her grandmother (Kalina's mother) who was supposedly old and not long to live anymore in Seattle [I. Andrews, Magic Shifts, (Ace, 2015), p. 285]. Kate's other grandmother, Semiramis, is in Mishmar trapped between life and death limbo. So Kate has three grandmothers?!... *Sigh*

Speaking of unsolved issues, I am still wondering if Gene Monroe (wolf alpha who owned a silver-producing land in North Carolina) was really Roland's lackey or not. Or was there some other explanation? It was not very clear in Magic Breaks and I was hoping that we'd get a little clarification in this book... but no such luck...

This book... beautifully continued the complicated relationship between Kate and her father, Roland. Told in this authors' trademark compelling story telling quality with a solid plot. What can I say? I am an old die hard fan... Can't wait for the next book and read more about Kate and Roland's saga! Would the author end it with a bang??? What kind of HEA (happily ever after) would they get? Or is it an HEA?... Love, love, love, this series!!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 5
Plot = 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Kate Daniels Series:
                                     

Thank you!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy received.



FTC Disclosure:
This book was received for free from the publisher.
No money received for this review.

Sunday, 27 September 2015

Review: MAGIC SHIFTS


Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
Narrated by Renee Raudman
Book 8 of the Kate Daniels series
Genre: urban fantasy


About Magic Shifts:
In the latest Kate Daniels novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews, magic is coming and going in waves in post-Shift Atlanta—and each crest leaves danger in its wake…

After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters.

So when the Pack offers him its stake in the Mercenary Guild, Curran seizes the opportunity—too bad the Guild wants nothing to do with him and Kate. Luckily, as a veteran merc, Kate can take over any of the Guild’s unfinished jobs in order to bring in money and build their reputation. But what Kate and Curran don’t realize is that the odd jobs they’ve been working are all connected.

An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece…
Source: Info in the About Magic Shifts was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12119529-untitled on 31/10/2013.

My Thoughts:
Admittedly I am an old die-hard fan of Ilona Andrews, so please forgive my fan-girling here. Because there simply is nothing I could see that is negative about this book! Compelling story telling quality, substantial plot build-up, masterful character development and wonderful world building... What else can I say? ...Having said that I wish that, Renee Raudman's voice is as pleasing to the ears as Therese Plummer's, but that is all forgivable given the goodness of this book! Couldn't wait to get my hands on the next book!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 5
Plot = 5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Kate Daniels Series: