Book Review: (ARC) Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (book tour + giveaway)

Magic Rises (Kate Daniels #6)
by Ilona Andrews
Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trapTour Schedule

Magic Rises grabbed me by the heart from the beginning, shook it senseless and left me picking up the pieces till the last sentence. Oh, the feels!

Can’t talk much about the details in this book. So many good things and so many bad happened to our group of misfits. There is an underlying theme about family dynamics along with the pain and length a parent will go to save a child or future ones. There are new creatures and mythologies the gang runs up against and many twists and turns that had me cursing up till the very end! Don’t worry, the Karma bus does its job; some get on and some get run over. There is also a short story at the end of the book to expand on an event Kate talks about in the beginning of Magic Rises. It was deleted from the original draft, but added as a bonus.

What makes this series so damn entertaining is the ease at which the story flows. Ilona Andrews weaves background information from previous books into the new story line better than anyone. You could pick this series up at Book #6 and be caught up on the information needed to understand what is going on. I don’t recommend it, because you are missing out on one hell of world building experience and character growth. One thing that sets this urban fantasy series apart from the rest is an equal heroine and hero duo. They are both strong willed, snarky and bad ass. One doesn't balance out the other. It is fire and gasoline and when they get together things go boom! And it is fabulous fun.

I did feel the need to go all Bunny Foo Foo* on Kate and Curran at one point in the story. It has been 6 books and they still keep information to their selves to “protect” the other. When has that EVER worked out?! <G>

*when characters act in a way that makes me want to scoop them up and bop them on the head.

Quo-ti-licious:

"In the middle of it the Keep rose like a gray man-made mountain, an example of what happened if several hundred deeply paranoid and superhumanly strong people got together and decided they needed a safe place to crash."

“Curran leaned over me. My handsome psycho.”

“Saying things like We think this is a trap and We would rather cut off our left foot than go would endanger our ship acquisition and our badass image.”

“Go to the Black Sea, meet new people, see beautiful places, get killed by a mutant carnivourous kangaroo goat.”

“Are you hungry, baby?” Curran asked.
“Starving”
“I think we should go to dinner.”
“Great idea.” 
“What are you going to wear?”
“My badass face.”
“Good choice.” He said.

5 “When I grow up I want to be Kate Daniels, live in the Keep and marry Curran” Sheep
1 Bunny Foo Foo

Sharon Stogner

About the authors:

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Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. author2sm“Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Oregon with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.