(2014 Update: Ditto)
This Kate Daniels book took it to a whole new level. Kate's character development, personal and business life seemed to me to advance more in this book than in all the previous installments. And the central theme of dealing with her father also took a major step forward.
All in all, this book seems like a huge turn of a corner for the series-I enjoyed it immensely and will be rereading again as soon as I catch my breath. GREAT JOB! ( )

By necessity its required to keep the synopsis pretty short. Actually I cut out a line from the synopsis because it gives away a detail that is more of a punch if you don't know beforehand. Basically Kate gets into trouble again, though its fair to say that it may have been wrapped up quicker if people didn't keep getting in the way of her fighting.

A routine barfight turns out to be something much, much worse. A mysterious cloaked stranger, overly aggressive behaviors, three weres in hiding and one very dead and very infected were makes Kate's day implode. And it only gets worse for her.

Truthfully, as much as this book was focused on the action and Kate fighting the new threat, a whole lot of the subplots and background machinations were focused on the romance between Kate and Curran. For any urban fantasy fan out there who has encountered any serious length series where the romance seems to go back to Zero with each subsequent book, this will be a novel change. Andrews resolves the issues of Kate and Curran, all the dancing around customs, mixed signals and misread intentions are focused and brought to bear.

This could be either a godsend or a complete injustice depending on your viewpoint. I certainly enjoyed watching the two of them run around trying to get the other's goat, trying to see how far they can push the other before something snaps. Kate pulls a wonderful trick on Curran, but he pulls an equally hilarious one himself. Saiman, the ever so helpful, stirs up the pot quite a bit with his own brand of 'humor'. Not all of Curran's followers are...receptive to Kate as a potential candidate for Alpha Queendom, but that maniac Aunt B sees the benefits real quick and starts a campaign to win over Kate's goodwill.

Our villain for this piece is...or was...considered a God at one point. Considering the immense power she wields, her tremendous age and strength, Erra is...horrifying. In the same way that Kate's father, in the abstract since Roland hasn't shown up yet, is. She plays on a different playing field--to her it means nothing to kill dozens just to ensure she hits the right target. She's ruthless, merciless and shrewd. Erra was exciting to read about. Her banter with Kate is priceless and despite all appearances to the contrary she hunted Kate because she got in the way and had to be dealt with. Her original mission in Atlanta had nothing to do with Kate.

I want to say that Kate could have easily taken her, but she couldn't. Where Kate could make up for in speed and new tricks Erra didn't know, Erra had brute force and a furious power that Kate knew quite well. Several times Kate gets her to a standstill, but every time she is stopped. An enemy from book 3, Magic Strikes makes his presence known in the most frustrating manner (though he apparently isn't as clever as he would wish).

The ending is...heart breaking a little bit. The world is changed, secrets are out and neither Kate nor Curran will ever have the same life they led. This won't let down fans of the Kate Daniels series. There is no simple rescue, no wham bam thank you ma'am explanation. If Erra is any indication, Kate's life is going to be hell from now on. ( )

audiobook :: 7/5/13 ( )

The first time I read Magic Bites I didn't get why there were so many rave reviews. I mean it seemed pretty average. The world building was cool and Kate seemed alright but a bit standoffish. The romance between Kate and Crest was mediocre - it seemed like she didn't like him at all and it felt forced and awkward. The romance between her and Curran wasn't any better. It didn't make sense why he followed her home while he was on his date. I liked Derek and Ghastek was creepy. There was lots of snappy, witty dialogue and I had a few laughs - but I was just confused. It was good but it wasn't great.

Yeah - read the rest of the series. It gets SO MUCH BETTER. Kate stops being standoffish and starts letting people in. Derek becomes a total badass. Ghastek - well he's still pretty creepy. But also funny and kind and sweet when he wants to be. And Curran - I love him now. He is an absolute ass in this first book. But I forgot. He becomes everything you want in a love interest. There's a ton of new loveable characters; Julie, Andrea, Aunt Bea, Raphael, Barbaras. Some new evil ones; Hugh, Roland. So much action and adventure and intensity and laughs.

So do yourself a favour. Keep reading.

OMG I could kill Curran. He can be so DUMB. Three weeks? No call, no text? No sending one of a million people you know (and live with) to tell her you're sorry for missing your date? Fkn hell. These two.

But I could also kill the pack. Because wtf? Curran is supposed to be their leader and they just run roughshod over his mate the second he's not around to keep them in line? Poor Curran, it's a hell of a betrayal. On the other hand, Kate is badass fighting off all the challenges.

And I love Aunt Bea - she always knows how to pick a winner. ( )

awesome, as always. ( )