The Librain……retired

Here’s this week’s post about my reading. During the last seven days I have finished two books in a very long series, decided to take a break to read something else, then returned to the series!

These are the books that I have completed…

The series I am currently enjoying is Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels. This week I read numbers 4 and 5 in the series, Magic Bleeds and Magic Slays. These are the blurbs…

First, for Magic Bleeds…

In an Atlanta caught between magic and technology, every dark corner hides a danger. And when a fight breaks out at the Steel Horse bar, a local hangout right between shapeshifter and necromancer territory, Kate Daniels, working for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, is sent to investigate the aftermath.

What she finds is an opponent more powerful, ancient, and deadly than she’s ever seen; and way beyond her power to fight, known as The City Eater. She could ask for backup from Curran, the Beast Lord – but he just stood her up for their date. No way does he get out of that trouble by a nice, easy death. Not only that, but this fight is personal: because Kate soon discovers that the City Eater is family….

Then for Magic Slays…

She may have left the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid; she may (finally) be officially mated to the Beast Lord—but she still has her attack poodle, Grendel, and ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ Andrea in her corner…and in Kate Daniel’s magic-blasted Atlanta, the mayhem always remains the same. 

Work has been slow at Kate’s new business, but things get messy quickly when a rogue vampire shows up on Kate’s doorstep and Ghastek, Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead, presents a little problem: his handlers have mysteriously been losing control, and this is not an isolated incident. Almost immediately another tricky case lands in her lap, courtesy of a furtive visit from an elite member of the Red Guard, who needs her help finding a kidnapped scientist and the mysterious device he’s been working on. Oh, and something is eating magic wards. 

As Kate dives into action, she discovers that she may be at the beginning of The End; and that Atlanta is sure to be destroyed if she can’t connect the right dots, and stop a powerful—and vengeful—group determined to wipe out the entire magic community.

So, I got to the end of book five. I have found the series, so far, to be just the ticket! With my current state of physical and mental health, the series has taken me right out of my struggling brain to over the top, magical, violent, wise-cracking and insane characters leading over the top, magical, violent and romantic lives in a well-realised fantasy world. After five books (there are ten in the series plus numerous novellas), I then thought I might try something else for a while before returning to the series. So I tried this…

The book I tried to read was Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill. I actually managed to read a quarter of it before putting it aside. I found the plot so boring and predictable with so much “borrowed” from other, better books. I might return to it in the future, but really doubt it!

So, back to the world of mad, magical fantasy with the Kate Daniels series 😅😂😅.

Happy Reading to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Well, it’s Wednesday again so time to write about my reading journey. After last week’s debacle I decided to return to Ilona Andrew’s books, this time to her Kate Daniels series. I have now finished the first three…

These are the blurbs. First for Magic Bites…

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…

Then Magic Burns…

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 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…

Then finally Magic Strikes…

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…

By the way, I know that “Ilona Andrews” is a pen name for a husband and wife duo, but I can’t stop using “she” and “her”!!

I am not going to write separate reviews for each book on Goodreads as I powered through these stories and enjoyed them immensely. To be honest, the plots have now blurred together in my brain! I loved the heroine, Kate Daniels, a young woman with terrific fighting skills, a strong sense of purpose and a wry humour. The world building and the range of fantastic monsters were imaginative and well drawn. The plots and sense of place were also very well written. I knocked off a star for some small annoying things such as the repetitive descriptions of buildings, but otherwise I enjoyed the writing.

Apparently, there are at least ten books and several novellas in the series, so I will probably move on to something else soon and return at a later time. I have started the fourth book, so I will let you know how that one goes next week.

So, back to the world of monsters and mayhem! Happy Reading everyone!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Welcome to this week’s post! This is going to be a rather unusual post for me. I have been really enjoying my reading so far this year and have already exceeded my target of 50 books in Goodreads. However, things changed a bit over the last week because I chose two books that I just couldn’t finish.

Here they are…

The books were The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett and Winter’s Fury by A E Rayne. I found the beginning of the first one so relentlessly grim that I put it aside. I may try again with it in a while. With the second, I actually read more than half of it, but became so bored with the endless descriptions of trudging through snow and the miserable, drunken “hero” that I decided that life is too short and there are loads of better and more engaging books out there!

So, I am now reading something else and I hope that I can enjoy it enough to get to the end! I will let you know what I feel about it next week.

Happy Reading!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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It’s Wednesday so time for a Reading Roundup post! This week I am writing about an entire six book series that I finished last night…

This was the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews:

1. Burn for me
2. White hot
3. Wildfire
4. Sapphire flames
5. Emerald blaze
6. Ruby fever

These are the blurb…

Burn for me…

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

White hot…

Nevada Baylor has a unique and secret skill—she knows when people are lying—and she’s used that magic (along with plain, hard work) to keep her colorful and close-knit family’s detective agency afloat. But her new case pits her against the shadowy forces that almost destroyed the city of Houston once before, bringing Nevada back into contact with Connor “Mad” Rogan.

Rogan is a billionaire Prime—the highest rank of magic user—and as unreadable as ever, despite Nevada’s “talent.” But there’s no hiding the sparks between them. Now that the stakes are even higher, both professionally and personally, and their foes are unimaginably powerful, Rogan and Nevada will find that nothing burns like ice . . .

Wildfire…

Nevada Baylor can’t decide which is more frustrating—harnessing her truthseeker abilities or dealing with Connor “Mad” Rogan and their evolving relationship. Yes, the billionaire Prime is helping her navigate the complex magical world in which she’s become a crucial player—and sometimes a pawn—but she also has to deal with his ex-fiancée, whose husband has disappeared, and whose damsel-in-distress act is wearing very, very thin.

Rogan faces his own challenges, too, as Nevada’s magical rank has made her a desirable match for other Primes. Controlling his immense powers is child’s play next to controlling his conflicting emotions. And now he and Nevada are confronted by a new threat within her own family. Can they face this together? Or is their world about to go up in smoke?

Sapphire flames…

In a world where magic is the key to power and wealth, Catalina Baylor is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, and the Head of her House. Catalina has always been afraid to use her unique powers, but when her friend’s mother and sister are murdered, Catalina risks her reputation and safety to unravel the mystery.

But behind the scenes powerful forces are at work, and one of them is Alessandro Sagredo, the Italian Prime who was once Catalina’s teenage crush. Dangerous and unpredictable, Alessandro’s true motives are unclear, but he’s drawn to Catalina like a moth to a flame.

To help her friend, Catalina must test the limits of her extraordinary powers, but doing so may cost her both her House–and her heart.

Emerald blaze…

As Prime magic users, Catalina Baylor and her sisters have extraordinary powers—powers their ruthless grandmother would love to control. Catalina can earn her family some protection working as deputy to the Warden of Texas, overseeing breaches of magic law in the state, but that has risks as well. When House Baylor is under attack and monsters haunt her every step, Catalina is forced to rely on handsome, dangerous Alessandro Sagredo, the Prime who crushed her heart.

The nightmare that Alessandro has fought since childhood has come roaring back to life, but now Catalina is under threat. Not even his lifelong quest for revenge will stop him from keeping her safe, even if every battle could be his last. Because Catalina won’t rest until she stops the use of the illicit, power-granting serum that’s tearing their world apart.

Ruby fever…

An escaped spider, the unexpected arrival of an Imperial Russian Prince, the senseless assassination of a powerful figure, a shocking attack on the supposedly invincible Warden of Texas, Catalina’s boss… And it’s only Monday. 

Within hours, the fate of Houston—not to mention the House of Baylor—now rests on Catalina, who will have to harness her powers as never before. But even with her fellow Prime and fiancé Alessandro Sagredo by her side, she may not be able to expose who’s responsible before all hell really breaks loose.

I am not going to write separate reviews/responses on Goodreads for each book in this series as it would take too long and I am not well at the moment. I found these books at exactly the right time for my current mental state. The characters and stories were the perfect escapism! The whole series is, of course, completely over the top and quite preposterous, which is great, in my opinion. And, of course, some of the books have flaws, but they were just what I needed during my mental and physical struggles. As soon as I finished, I searched online to find out about other books written by these authors. Now that I have found their work, I will happily read through their entire catalogue as ebooks!

Happy Reading!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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