Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels)

I really thought that this series was running out of steam, but I was completely wrong and couldn't be happier about it. I couldn't put down this book once I started reading it. There are tons of SPOILERS below, so read at your peril! Magic Breaks is smart and moves very quickly. You would think this probably means characters were randomly dropping in and out of the plot or massive plot holes, but that would be an incorrect assumption. The authors somehow managed to cram a book full of new and existing characters and flesh them all out, resolve numerous hanging plot points while introducing new ones and keep the reader on the edge of their seat. This is an example of a writing team in their prime. Miscellaneous plot point comments: -The alpha of the wolf clan had to be resolved, and it was sewn up believably without going too over the top with the drama. I'm very pleased that Jennifer is no longer a pending issue. As the series went on, she became a progressively weak, spiteful and sad character who refused to do what was right even when given multiple chances to step down. On a related note, I had no idea that Desandra was going to turn out to be such an awesome and cunning character. I can easily say that she was one of my favorite additions to the story and, I suspect, will be an ally in the future to Kate and Curran. -It was great to get to know Clan Rat! Robert was another character that had an expanded role in this book. I dislike his position on a couple of issues, but it's very much to the credit of the authors that I had a difficult time wholeheartedly disagreeing with his take on Kate as a ruler. I appreciate that he was presented as a rational being who is willing to say the hard things and not be presented as an enemy. -I figured that Hugh d'Ambray would be his own worst enemy in the end, but I suspect we're far from done with him. His obsession with Kate seems to be growing with each encounter. Roland clearly picked generals who are strong and smart--with a large side of psychopathy. -Ghastek is still as enigmatic and intriguing as ever, and it was a pleasure to get to know him better in this book. His reaction to finding out that Kate is Roland's daughter followed by Curran lecturing on how to appropriately gather (and then utilize) intel was fabulous. He's never come across as a completely bad guy before, and I appreciate that the authors have kept him around as a strong character and potential ally. I hope that continues because he's become one of my favorite People over the past 7 books. Finally, the main plot point: Kate met Roland. I appreciate that Kate has grown as a character to the point where she's willing to fight Roland only as much as required to keep her loved ones safe. There is a whole lot of character growth required to take the sole motivation for a character and then allow them to grow beyond it. I am really impressed with both the authors (who wrote a character which has grown so much over 7 books that it made sense she backed out of the assassination plan) and the character of Kate (understanding that she doesn't have to blindly follow the edicts of a dead man). Also, it was masterful that Curran was gone for most of the book, and I fully believe he had to be missing to allow our heroine to stand on her own and realize that certain death was not the best option. I look forward to more of Roland (that note at the end was ominous) and Kate interacting in the future as family, tentative allies, territory rivals or some mix of all of those items. I'm also curious to see who is going to show up to challenge Kate for her city now that she's claimed it. I never realized how much the Roland revelation was holding back the series from growing, but the possibilities truly are endless now the authors (wisely) chose to get that out of the way. I didn't think it was possible, but I'm even more interested in future books after this installment!

I'm not sure there are the right words to describe how fantastic this 7th installment to the series is. It's what you expected, what you didn't expect and completely mixed with laugh, love and heartbreak around every corner. Congratulations to team Ilona Andrews on their first Hardcover story, they knocked it out of the park. For anyone still buying the paper format, this is worth the price in any format and leaves you wanting more, more and more. For those of you who have never read the series, you can actually pick this book up and read it. It won't have the full impact us fans have from the building to this moment, but this book comes with a introduction to the series as well as a glossary of characters that is done extremely well. In terms of a book synopsis, all you need to know is Roland has arrived. Enough said there. It actually goes down in a way I had expected, but the action, twists and turns on the journey getting there was an absolute thrill ride. Hugh continues to be one of the most delicious villains I've ever read and his chemistry with Kate is absolutely off the charts. The quality Ghastek time in this book was filled with laughter and poignancy. Derek and Ascanio had some great scene stealing moments together that left me grinning hours later. And most importantly, Kate and Curran remain an insititution where, individually, they are a force to be reckoned with, but together are unstoppable. Kate's magic breaks through in a way we've never seen before and we find many answers to lingering questions throughout the series. There's also the untimely death of something very dear to Kate that I hadn't realized became a character unto it's own. Overall, Magic Breaks raises the depth of the characters to a new level and you can see how much Kate and Curran have matured. Once you get into the second chapter, it's a complete roller coaster ride that has you gripped one moment and then lets you relax another. The ending is what is most surprising and I'm dying with curiosity to see how this series continues with the new dynamics. I know the authors have at least three more books planned, but this series could go on for ages and I, for one, hope it does. Seven books and counting have proven this is the best series in Urban Fantasy.

This is book 7 in Illona Andrews Kate Daniels series. Illona Andrews is a husband and wife writing team, which makes them a bit unique in the genre and perhaps explains why Daniels books stand out. Anyhow, this book was by far the most satisfying read that I've had in the last four months. Been in a bit of a reading slump of late. While it was suspenseful, and resonated for me on multiple levels, plus has a wicked dry wit...that equals my own, (always helps when the writer has the same sense of humor that you do), it was not as good as the previous novels. In part due to the deadline, it felt rushed - the plot felt rushed in places. As if the writers were barreling through it to get from point A-C as fast as possible. It's an end of an arc - and that may well have been part of the problem. That said, I did enjoy it quite a bit. If you are unfamiliar with the series or forgot what happened in the previous novels - the writers provide you with a rather succinct summary of what occurred before in a prologue that is written as blurb from the lead character's friend/lawyer - Barabaras. We also get a short list of key characters and their bios. Just to familiarize everyone. Now, having just completed George RR Martin's latest magnum opus A Dance With Dragons, I failed to see the necessity for it and found it rather amusing that they felt they had to. After all Martin doesn't do it - and he has over 1000 characters to keep track of and a convoluted plot. The plot races along at a fevered pitch. The heroine barely gets to take a breath before she is thrust into the next calamity. Which, from a reader's perspective, does require a wee bit of suspension of disbelief. This is, however, a common enough failing of the urban fantasy genre, I'm looking at you Jim Butcher, that I was able to hand-wave it. The readers of the urban fantasy genre don't have a lot of patience for down-time. Fickle creatives with short attention spans - or so the writers may believe. Hence the furiously paced plots. The fevered pitch of the plot and action sequences don't bode well for the steamy sex scene, described as weirdly steamy by Publishers Weekly. Curran and Kate have just escaped a prison, been racing from bad guys, confronted bad guys, and been without a shower, a comfortable bed, or nourishment for about two weeks. The moment they resolve the major issues, get a touch of downtime, they jump each others bones. It's a brief scene. I'm not sure I'd call it steamy. Did jar me a bit - not because I don't like sex scene - I actually prefer sex scenes to fight scenes - the outcome is less bloody and no one dies. One is about loving someone else and creating/appreciating life, the other is about destroying someone else, hating life, and destroying it. Which would I rather read? Let me think. Unfortunately the writers are better at writing fight scenes. It appears to be absurdly easier to write about killing things than making love or having sex. Maybe because the latter is so intimate and exposes us more? When you write about sex - you write about something you do, possibly a lot, or think about. When you write about killing things - it is just, hopefully, something you imagine but have not done. Sometimes it is easier or less scary to write about what we imagine? There's a rawness in sex scenes that isn't present in a fight scene. Which may explain why so many writers struggle with it, some avoid it altogether. These two at least tried. I think it would have worked better if they timed it differently. Put a bit more space between the sex scene and the last conflict. Maybe had the sex scene in the shower? The last book had a better sex scene - it was in the shower. Other than that? No real quibbles here. There are a few typos, but nothing that drags you out of the story. And they are to be expected in a book that was rushed. If a writer takes 5 years, I expect higher quality, if they churn it out in 9-12 months, I expect a few errors here and there. I adored the writers use of obscure Eastern and Middle Eastern Mythology. Along with her rewriting and subversion of biblical text. The antagonist, not sure villain is the right word, is Nimrod aka Roland, the Great Hunter, and builder of towers including the Tower of Babel - which the heroine states was actually an allegory for the fall of magic, magic overwhelmed the world, so tech fought back, now the world has shifted in the opposite direction and magic is fighting back. Roland was a lot more interesting and complicated than expected. These books have complicated and rather fascinating villains. Also, extremely well written and interesting female characters - the writers aren't afraid of female power, nor feel a need to denigrate it - unlike the vast majority of urban fantasy writers. Nor do they appear to have gender bias. There's also more than one character who is homosexual or bisexual, without much or any fanfare. The ending worked for me, and didn't seem to be much of a twist - I was admittedly somewhat spoiled on it, but the groundwork was well-laid. It also lent itself rather well to the overall theme regarding power and how corrupting it can be. There's a rather apt quote which forshadows Curran and Kate's decision at the end. "To have power, you have to be willing to sacrifice your friends and be ruthless enough to put the needs of the many over the needs of the few." In short, you have to be willing to throw someone to the dogs or leave them behind. Kate can't do it. In her discussion with fittingly enough a were-rat, Robert, he tells her that her unwillingness to put her own safety over the 16 year old boy she cares about makes her a good person but not a good leader for the Pack. As leader, her life is more important. But she can't put her life before another's. Which makes her a good hero, but not necessarily a good leaders. Leaders, Robert points out, have to be ruthless bastards. Curran has a similar dilemma, when it comes time to save Kate from a prison stronghold, he has to fight his own council to do it. They insist that he is too valuable to risk - and to let her go or send someone else. Curran had built his organization - in order to protect his wife and children and family. Only to discover that leading the organization would put them in jeopardy and that what he built would not protect them. That the villain, he was attempting to protect Kate from - could walk through his fortress as if it were made of sticks, with no one noticing. Power - didn't provide him with the safety and stability he valued, instead it was crunch on his time and took him away from what he desired. It's an interesting and well-done examination of how hollow a thing power is. Their choice is between safety and power. The safety of themselves and all they hold dear, along with their city, the Pack, etc - or the power to rule over it. A nice theme for our times - for I think this is a choice most leaders make around the world, but few appear to understand it. Overall, an fun and well-written ride. I wish they'd been given a bit more time to fine-tune it. Or better editorial support. But then I'd have had to wait longer to read it. And considering I just read a book that took over 6 years to write and get published and was twice the size of this one, I'd have to say length and time doesn't necessarily make it better.

The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews is one of my favorites. The action, characters, humor, worldbuilding and overall sense of hope keep me coming back. It's a series I've re-read when life decided to sucker punch me. I'm happy to say that MAGIC BREAKS was a thrilling ride. Kate makes the leap to hardcover in her 7th outing. Longtime fans of the series know that the original plan was to have Kate's story complete in 7 books. Given the popularity of the series, that number has been extended to 9 with a second Jim and Dali novella (at least that's the plan as of this writing). I can say, though that the character arc begun in book 1 does come to a conclusion in book 7. Note: I'm going to try to remain as non-spoilery as possible, but this is a book 7, if you are new to the series, stop reading now and catch up! When we last left Kate, she and the Pack narrowly evaded a trap set by Hugh D'Ambray, Roland's warlord, but not without a high cost. Kate's still haunted by Aunt B's death and she dreads the inevitable confrontation with her father. She's been practicing, but she knows she is not ready to face Roland and win. MAGIC BREAKS opens with Curran called away to a hunt on a bordering pack's lands, leaving Kate to face the monthly meeting with the People in the interest of continuing their uneasy truce. Of course, nothing can be easy, so when Hugh shows up in the meeting with a dead body and the ultimatum for the Pack to hand over the guilty party, the book is literally off and running through a magic-ravaged Atlanta. Tons of action, some really great moments with Curran, we get to spend time with Robert, the alpha of Clan Rat, and Ghastek, and finally, after 7 books, we get to meet Roland. Folks angry with Curran in the last book should be happy here. With Robert we get an insiders look at Pack leadership and the "preserve the greater good by sometimes sacrificing a few" viewpoint. He also kicks ass, so smart and strong. Ghastek has been a feature since book 1, but this time we get to know more of his backstory. I've always had a soft spot for Ghastek, he is not perfect or even a total "good guy", but he's the right mix of evil that can be reasoned with. We also find out what happened to Ted and Nick. I admit, I wasn't fully thrilled with that resolution, but you can't have everything you want. I am hoping we see more of Nick later. Now to Roland, who deserves more that a paragraph, but I promised not to be too spoilery. We've had hints for awhile now that the information Kate had been fed to her by Voron, Roland's former warlord, was not 100% accurate. He managed to snag all of the negatives, but how many people, especially beings thousands of years old with godlike powers, are only going to be pure evil with no redeeming qualities? As we saw with Hugh, a character who does horrible things but is also enigmatic and alluring, there is a reason people flocked to Roland's side, just as there is a reason Kate's mother fell in love with him. However, for all that we get to finally meet "the biggest bad of all," this series, at least for me, has not been about Kate finally meeting her father. Sure, in book 1, on the surface, it was about a solitary mercenary hiding in plain sight as she grew strong enough to take down her father. Yet, as we progressed from book to book, as Kate gained friends and a family it became more of her overcoming her frankly horrible childhood. Kate didn't grow into adulthood, she survived. Voron wanted to create a weapon and constantly drilled into her that loved ones were a weakness, that her whole purpose was to fight her father. With each book, Kate eroded that influence. She made friends, adopted a child, found love, became a leader, and yes, she would lay her life down for any of her people. For some that is a weakness. For someone packing the power she has, a need to preserve life keeps her away from madness and gives her a reason to win. In book 1, winning meant spilling the blood of your enemies. Since then, Kate's learned that there are different ways of succeeding, and watching her come full circle was a big payoff. I know this is one I'll re-read, and I'll be there for the next Kate adventure. [received a review copy]

I woke up this morning to delicious anticipation, I had pre ordered Magic breaks to download on my kindle and today was the release date. First, I want to thank the author for her introduction and explaining that Magic Breaks wasn't the last Kate Daniels book, or it would be my heart breaking along with the magic. I have followed Kate from her days in the order, falling in love with Curran, her victories and defeats and I was not ready to be done, so I'm thrilled to find out there is a contract for more books.The explanation was necessary because Magic Breaks reads like the end of the series, but it's sort of an end of an arc, only not. The books starts with a prologue narration from Barrabas, a lawyer and weremongoose. It's a nice summation, but if you haven't read the preceding 6 books, please do, everyone is worth it, I promise. Magic breaks weaves all of the last six books into several huge confrontations, revelations, with all the excitement, magic, death defying odds that a Kate Daniel book delivers. If I had one complaint it would be that Curran vanishes in the beginning and doesn't really come back until halfway through the book. I would have enjoyed a sideline story of his time with Gene and hope for a small novella perhaps. In the meantime we follow Kate as she has to confront Hugh, and this time also the leader of the People, the navigators of vampires. As in every book, Kate manages to stay true to her inner self, a self we have seen evolve, grow, live through hard lessons, and now has to make life and death decisions not just for herself but the pack she is the consort of. There is betrayal, death, pain, and then there are those who would bleed and die for her. And while all the magic and sword play and close calls with death are exciting and thrilling, it's also the little interactions, the interplay with Her and Curran, the discussion with Robert about her abilities as consort, her interactions with friends and foes that make the stories more than just fantasy, they seem like real people we care about, intimate little conversations so deftly handled it's like listening in one someone the next table over at a diner. One of the experiences I really appreciate when I read these books is the "secondary" characters have stories. They aren't just thrown in to die or do a last minute save, they have personalities and backgrounds and I care about them too. Even the villains, t aren't one dimensional, they have motivations and desires and have been bent and warped, but it makes sense to them, what they are doing, from petty human motivations and jealousy to claiming worlds. If you haven't read Andrews writing yet I almost envy you, every time I enter one of her books, the Daniels or the innkeeper series, it's magical, it's riveting, it's over all to soon. I have read each of her books at least three times, and while I spend the entire day immersed in Magic Breaks, I know when I read it again I'll find something new, each book is jammed with stories but it's never muddles and the threads come together beautifully. An additional bonus is a short story told from the perspective of Julia, Kate and Currans' adopted daughter. While I love Kate, it would be great to get a few short stories from the perspective of maybe Derrik, Robert, and who doesn't want to know what's going on in Chris's broken mind.. I still believe maybe he can fly. While Magic Breaks reaches a thrilling climax in the entire 7 book arc, there is plenty left .. I can't go into it without spoilers, but there will be new people gunning for kate because of a few actions in the book, there are new stories to be told and I can't wait.

AHHH-MAZING! So much happens in this book, loose ends are tied up, new beginnings, big scares, big cries, big laughs, Mutant donkeys? That section was so hilarious I caught myself smiling so much my cheeks hurt as I was reading. Derek and Ascanio are awesome together, throw in Desandra and you have a full comic tour. I can totally see why some thought it felt like a series ender, though. So much happens and so much is settled but so much is not settled. This opens so many new avenues and so much change that feasibly, this could go on for many more books, though I think they have only signed for 3 more. I don’t want to give spoilers and it is so hard to say how amazing this book is without spoilers so I will just sum up by character preview. No plot description because you’ve already read those. Just the plain facts. Barabas....scribe loyale. Love him. Desandra...best character addition to date Ascanio...poor baby, poor stupid, beautiful baby Derek...finally getting to see some humor again Doolittle.....you're forgiven. Ted Moynahan... did NOT see that coming. What an idiot. Hugh’s right on that one. Mauro.. good stand brotha! Jennifer...HA! comeuppance defined. Naeeemah...WHAT THE???? Christopher....PHEW!! Robert....torn between respect for his honesty and smacking him in the face Hugh...bastard...just....NO. Slayer...I actually cried. Sarrat... I actually cheered. Zemi Ammit. Did not see that one coming either. WOW! Hibla....revenge is a dish best served cold Voron...sayonara and good riddance Ghastek...I have been hoping and waiting and biting my nails to the quick to see how he would react. Priceless. Ut-ter-ly priceless. His story is so sad. I’ve always liked him and this hooked me a little more. ROLAND...total game changer. O.M.G. If Kate grows into only half his power, with Curran by her side, they will be unstoppable. Curran... Always, As you wish with Curran. Through thick and thin, ultimatum or not he will always be there for her. He replaces her mother and her father, sisters brothers, friends, all the people that should have been there for her that were not, her most trusted confidant. “He will come for me.” He’s just the best. THE best. I am so happy for Kate I can hardly see straight. And though I can NOT wait for the next book, waiting for this one nearly killed me, I can wait patiently because this book was so fulfilling and so action packed and so thorough in the loose end tying that it’s OK. Well, maybe it will be OK. I will tell you in 6 months. I’m still reeling, going back in for a second and maybe even a third reading! WOW, just WOW!! Love, love, love this book. Someone mentioned that you had to read to book 3 to get into this series. Not me. I was hooked from the first knife throw that pinned Ghastek’s the vamp to the ceiling. This series is the best there is, there is no other as good, not even close. There are characters I love as much, Mercy, Sookie until book 9, Katniss, Rachel Morgan, but no other books that I wait so impatiently for. No other author writes like this, this action packed with so much emotion and so little filler. The thought that goes into every little detail, every minute little thing, that comes to pass and how they come together at the most appropriate times, so intricately weaved, it’s just amazing. I have read these books countless times and I never got bored, I never skim, I get new tidbits every read. This series is just the best there is and it keeps on getting better, which is so rare! Thank you so much Illona Andrews for Kate Daniels! Thank you!

I love a great many things about Ilona Andrews writing. One of my favorite things is I'm always being surprised by the stories which is lovely. The Kate Daniels world is very rich in details and characters. This latest installment does a great job of wrapping up a lot of ongoing story lines while leaving Kate and Curran infinite ways to go forward. It was a fun and wild ride that grips you from the first page. It was a great installment in the series that made me happy. Kate continues to show how much she can kick butt and so do quite a few other people. I like that it isn't always about one person saving the day but how people working together are always better than someone standing alone. Even when you think the story is winding down, you get a good zinger on the last few pages. Brilliant. The bonus feature was a short story from Kate's adopted offspring Julie. I adore Julie. She's snarky and funny and clever. Kate found her on the street and gave her a home. Watching Julie try and mimic Kate in a lot of ways and try to be mini-Kate is just belly laughing fun. She's clever and has a lot of street smarts so she can handle herself and those around her very well. The short story is cute and fun and you will enjoy it. Julie gets her own mission to save a young girl and you get to walk in Julie's shoes for a while and see life from her perspective. I enjoyed it. I like when a book has such great side characters that you want them all to have their own books because those characters are just as interesting as the primary leads. This is true for the Kate Daniels books. Andrea, Julie, Derek, Raphael and Jim are all such interesting and clearly defined characters that you want more from them because they are intersting people and you want to know about their lives. Great series. I can't recommend this entire series enough. I hope Ilona Andrews continues writing for decades to come because they come up with some awesome stories.

Having been gifted copies of the first six books, I bought the seventh book, which was released in July 2014, and read it in one afternoon! If you’ve read my earlier Series Spotlight on the Kate Daniels novels (and I recommend you do, because I’m not going to talk much about what has happened in the series before this point), you’ll know I was converted to instant fandom, which happens less and less frequently than I’d like. So when I had a free afternoon to settle in with Book 7, I knew I was in for a treat. Except that I was immediately put off by the fact that the book started with a character index that, in my opinion, had no business being in the beginning of a book. If I were a new reader, I would have been happy to be linked to said index at the end of the book, but as someone who has been following this series keenly, I was not pleased to have the first few minutes reading character descriptions of people I’d met in the previous books. This was followed by a kind of prologue from the journal of Barabas, which summed up all the pertinent events in the series thus far, something I would have appreciated had I not been compelled to go through the first several pages of info dumping, even if I did appreciate the addition of a map of post-Shift Atlanta. Of course, I could have skipped the character list, but I worried that I would miss something (and indeed a few bits of information had me raising my eyebrows because they weren’t in the previous six books that I could recall). I’m not sure if this list is present in the print version of this book. I hope not. So, anyway, with both the obligatory exposition as well as the unnecessary one out of the way, I finally got down to the business of actually reading the book. By the end of chapter 1, my face relaxed (and it was at this point that I realized I had been scowling at my poor iPad’s Kindle app for some time), and by the middle of chapter 2, I was happily tearing through the pages, absolutely hooked. This novel was as action-packed as the rest of the series, and I had several moments while reading it in which I had to bite down on the urge to say “Finally!” out loud. I had the greatest sense of relief when I figured out that this was the novel in which kickass Kate (that’s what I call her in my head) and her Beast Lord, Curran, finally have to deal with Big Baddie Daddy Roland. To be honest, while I enjoyed book 6, enough is enough when it comes to Minion Hugh, as we’ve already gotten to see him defeated by Kate as well as by Curran. Other moments that almost had me exclaiming aloud were the resolution of the Jennifer situation as well as the opportunity to learn about the Rat shifter alphas and about Master of the Dead Ghastek (thank god!), whom I hope we’ll see more of in the next book, Magic Shifts, which is out in August and available for pre-order. While the exorbitant amount of exposition at the beginning of the book means that a reader new to this series might be able to follow along in terms of this story, I think that starting with this book and then backtracking would be a mistake. For one thing, Kate and Curran spend a good chunk of this novel apart, and while they are clearly a unit, if you haven’t read any of the books before this, you probably won’t be able to achieve as satisfying an emotional investment in them as a couple. For another thing, because you haven’t lived vicariously through all the crap Kate had to go through to get to this point, you might not appreciate the decisions she makes (or you may feel that she makes these lightly, because she doesn’t). It’s an immensely satisfying novel for someone who has been anticipating the events that occur in it for six or more books (hello, spinoffs) now, but I don’t know if you would be as happy with it if this was your introduction to the world of Kate Daniels. As an added note, though, this book comes with a short story featuring Julie! For an extra half hour or so, it kept me from gnashing my teeth in impatience because Book #8 won’t be available for another six months! This is part of a review originally posted on my book blog, WillReadforFeels.com: http://www.willreadforfeels.com/reviews/magic-breaks-ilona-andrews-review/

Eu mal espero para ler o próximo livro, está série é incrível de tirar o fôlego super bem escrita, tem um excelente ritmo de leitura e as informações são sempre bem ponderadas

Each year, when Kate's latest adventures loom on the horizon, I ritualistically take out the previous books in the series and enjoy my yearly 'Kate bookathon'. Actually, I reread them a couple of times each year for the sheer hell of it. And honestly, they never get old. The whole series is simply amazing. Way back, when I read book 1, I knew this was the best UF I had ever come across – yes, even ranking them against other gems like the 'Fever' series, the 'Black Jewels' series or the 'Anita Blake' series – it is simply not possible to beat the camaraderie, the intense bonding of characters, the nerve racking thrill of the plot, and the crazy humour in these books. Magic Breaks is beautiful. So much satisfaction at the various denouements in this plot. The badies get whacked but good, our heroic gang fight the good fight and we get to laugh, cry, gasp, grit our teeth and eat the cushion covers as we read on through the whole freaking night! And that moment, when I truly realised who Roland is meant to be, how Ilona and Gordon have tied this back to some of our oldest mystical legends and stories, well hats off to you guys for that tour de force. Thank you so much, both, for the joy of these books. Can't even imagine this series coming to an end but I love these characters so much that I'll take whatever I can get for as long as I you're both willing to dish it out!

Book 7 Kate Daniels. More action/adventure. Hugh acting up. Another minion of Roland met......and we meet Roland. Interesting to say the least. My kindle edition also had a short story starting Julie that I was very impressed with. Kate now has to make some serious decisions. Her choices will not only affect her and Curran and the Pack, but the whole city of Atlanta. Ghastek and Kate also develop something akin to friendly understanding. All in all a great book. 4 3/4 in my judgement.

I've said it before but I'll say it again - I'm an Ilona & Gordon Andrews fan girl, in fact, I'm a total addict of this series and Kate & Curran are one of my favourite fictional couples ever. So it would be fair to say that I was excited to get my hands on an advanced copy of Magic Breaks. In fact I was so excited about it that I actually read it twice before the release date - that's how fantastic this book is. So, you're probably wondering why it has taken me so long to write this review and my answer is that I've been feeling intimidated. How can I possibly describe the level of awesome that this book (in fact, this entire series!) has reached? I'm afraid to say that this review will probably involve a lot of gushing but I've decided that I just have to share my feelings about it and hope you'll forgive me for lack the of sensible insight. Fans of the series will already know that this book is the cumulation of the long running story arc with Kate's father Roland, that doesn't mean this is the end of the series, just that Magic Breaks is a game changer. This confrontation has been a long time coming and it's fair to say expectations were high for Kate and Roland's first face to face meeting. I've spent a lot of time throughout the books wondering what would happen when they met but I don't think I could ever have been fully prepared for what actually happens. The showdown is nothing like I was expecting but it has totally set things up for exciting things in the future. That ending was epic and I can't wait to see where things go from here. I love how much Kate has grown as a person throughout this series, she has come such a long way but she still has a lot to learn about her abilities and she doesn't have full control over her powers yet. The most special thing about these books has been seeing her go from a lonely young woman who felt she had to keep everyone at a distance to someone who has close friends and a self-made little family that she would give her life to protect. She has worked hard to find her place in the Pack and she comes into her own even more in this book when she has to take charge while Curran is absent. I love how her relationship with Curran has developed too, they have become such a strong couple and no matter what happens they never lose faith in each other. I adore them both and find myself wanting to reread every single moment they spend together. I don't want to say too much about the plot of Magic Breaks because I would hate to give spoilers but I will mention a few other highlights. I loved the bickering between Derek and Ascanio who had me laughing out loud numerous times with their antics. Kate's confrontation with Jennifer was a long time coming but so worth the wait - that really was the best smack down EVER. I enjoyed getting to learn a bit more about Gastek and his background and I'm actually kind of starting to like the guy. Andrea is awesome and she always has Kate's back no matter how dangerous the situation, how fantastic is it to have more than one strong female character in a series! Magic Breaks is everything I want from a book in this series, it is humorous and has some fantastic one liners, it is action packed and full of unexpected surprises and most of all it has the best characters, the strongest friendships and a wonderful relationship between the main characters. There is so much to love about these books and it's quite unusual to find a series that is still this fresh and exciting seven books down the line, I never want it to end.

Oh Kate how i love thee. And Ilona Andrews how you both are amazing for bringing us the Kate Daniels series. I read it in a day, thats how much i loved it - i was hooked from the get go. This book is AMAZING, it is full of action and it has many highs and low and twists and turns. Kinda like an awesome filled roller coaster ride. Like me, you will not be able to put this book down, so plan ahead and make sure when yous tart reading that you have time for it! The book picks up not long after where we ended in Magic Rises and includes an awesome Character List! A first for this series but EXTREMELY helpful. Also, there is a synopsis of the storyline so far, provided by the lovely Barabas. The writing throughout the whole book is a work of art and you will have so many emotions throughout the whole book. At the end of the book the main story arc comes to a close, but DO NOT WORRY, this is not the end for Kate.