Like a fine wine, this series just gets better ( )

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels series #2. Urban fantasy, paranormal. Best read as part of series.
Stolen maps lead to Kate helping the werepack where complications of a magical flare up occurs. Pre teen Julie asks Kate to help find her mother. Kate, of course, agrees at the same time dealings with the manifestation of battling gods.
None stop conflicts, fighting, and danger as Kate deals with magic and men that see to lust after her. The push and pull between Kate and Curran is tantalizing. He’s confident. We’ll have to see how long she can or wants, to hold him off.
Amusing chuckle at the very end. I’m looking forward to continuing this series. ( )

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.

This series is intense. There's so much going on. Kate's got a new ward - Julie - who stays with her while Kate looks for her mum. I love Julie. Julie becomes one of my favourite characters in this series - but man, I'd forgotten how bloody difficult she is at the start. All teenage angst and smartass-y. And I love Derek. Andrea is funny and badass. And Aunt Bea. Hot damn, she's awesome. And Curran have a sweet side. Even though he can be such an ass. And Kate. Kate is beyond words. I love her so much. She's such a badass when she fights. ( )

The series is starting to hit its stride (or a stride anyway). The big flare hits the city (and I assumed the world but as Kate knows about the city, that is what we know) and that makes things even weirder than before. As if having magic and technology alternate working and not working was not weird enough, the flare not only supercharges the magical side but also allows doors to be opened to other places and for gods and other mythical creatures to bleed into our world - usually with some help of someone on this side.

Kate has two separate issues on her hands - she is looking for Julie's mother and the Pack asks her to figure out who stole the city maps from them and to recover them. To noone's surprise it turns out that the two cases are actually two sides of the same one - the Mom had been part of a coven which seems to have done something stupid and the thief is tied to that in more than one way. Then a stranger, Bran, who cannot decide if he wants to seduce or kill Kate shows up and things get even more interesting. Curran is not amused (it seems like he never is anyway).

If the first book hinted at some of the mythologies which will play a role in the series, this one just throws them at you - hard. We get to hear some more about what/who Kate is and some of her powers (I just hope she does not get super-powered before this series is over) and the long game of the series starts coming into focus (or one of them anyway). It will be interesting to see where this goes next. ( )

Great book ( )