Review ~ Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

Posted November 9, 2015 by Tanya in Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 12 Comments

Review ~ Magic Shifts by Ilona AndrewsMagic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
Narrator: Renee Raudman
Length: 14 hrs 10 mins
Series: Kate Daniels #8
Published by Ace on August 4, 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 342
5 Stars
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After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters.

So when the Pack offers him its stake in the Mercenary Guild, Curran seizes the opportunity—too bad the Guild wants nothing to do with him and Kate. Luckily, as a veteran merc, Kate can take over any of the Guild’s unfinished jobs in order to bring in money and build their reputation. But what Kate and Curran don’t realize is that the odd jobs they’ve been working are all connected.

An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece…

I was so excited for this release I actually pushed it between series reads. Kate and Curran are out on their own now after protecting the pack by leaving. The two try to put together a normal life. Well as normal as they can get with their day jobs. Curran helps Kate out with her job at Cutting Edge. Things are pretty low key, little jobs trickling in here and there.

Then Kate gets a call from Ghastek and the world starts to unfold. We’re introduced to some new characters and monsters. Little pieces of Kate & Curran’s life that all seem like separate jobs all roll into each other. The creatures were pretty original and scary.

Some of the characters that are being brought into the story have fairly similar, strange names, and I did start to get characters mixed up. So much is happening at such a break neck speed that it is hard to keep up with who is who.

I was slightly disappointed in the relationship aspect between Kate and Curran. I wasn’t happy with the secrets and broken promises. Most of that blame lay on Kate, but Curran had a few little secrets up his sleeve too. It is fun to see the two of them with Julie making life as a normal family, just with the odd, crazy job stuff thrown in. You know, like taking the kids and dog for a little zombie hunting. Also, we would have thought that all the Pack dynamics and issues would have been put behind them. Not so. The Pack has had Curran as Beast Lord for too long. Jim makes a good leader, but the connection is still there. I loved how the Pack all seemed to play a part in the book, despite Curran and Kate no longer being members.

Another thing that was kind of running on the sidelines was Roland’s interest in Kate. Is this an act he’s putting on or is he really interested in having a relationship with her? I don’t know what to think and I’m really anxious to see how this plays out!

Once again we have a great Kate Daniels book where the action does not stop, new characters show up as friends and foe and we have an ending that just makes you smile from ear to ear.

As usual, the narration was spot on. The whole experience of Magic Shifts was amazing. I had such a great time and can’t wait until the next one!

About Ilona Andrews

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.)

About Ilona Andrews

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.)

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • 2015 Audiobook Challenge

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