by Christina on February 22, 2010
in 2009 "Pub" Challenge, 5 Stars, Countdown Challenge, Fantasy, Ilona Andrews, Magic, Other Supernatural Beings, Paranormal Romance, Shape-Shifters, The Year of Readers 2009
On the Edge
Title: On the Edge
Author: Ilona Andrews
Copyright: 2009 (Ace); 309 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0-441-01780-5
Series: The Edge #1
Sensuality: Warm
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Once upon a time, there was a young maiden named Rose Drayton. She lived in the Edge, that place between magic and mundane, raising her two younger brother to the best of her ability. Rose has a menial job in the Broken (our world) and it is barely enough to keep them fed and clothed. Rose also has powerful magic. Yet, instead of being a blessing, it has been nothing but trouble for Rose. She’s been sought after – literally hunted – by lesser, weaker nobles of the Weird solely, for the purpose of providing potentially powerful children; even other Edgers, more interested in monetary gain than community loyalty, have tried to snatch her up for the reward money offered by desperate peers. The only thing Rose really has is her pride, and if she can’t have love and respect and be desired for herself, she would rather be alone and poor than lower herself to the status of mistress.
Then one day, a knight appears. Declan, Earl Camarine, doesn’t get the chance to say “Hello,” before he finds himself staring at a crossbow aimed at him by a lovely young woman who then proceed to tell him she won’t sleep with him. Intrigued by her out-of-nowhere announcement, Declan gets her to agree to issuing him three challenges: if he succeeds, she will be his; if he fails, he’ll leave her alone.
But all is not right in the Edge. Strange dog-like creatures who seems to have an affinity to magic are endangering the Edgers. Rose and her brothers are not safe, and Declan insist on staying at Rose’s house, to better protect them. Declan and Rose must convince the other Edgers that they band together to eliminate the threat.
What I liked: There is a lot going on in this book, stuff I didn’t even touched on — the above is just the main plot points. There’s William, the cute and mysterious guy who seems interested in Rose, but she can’t put her finger on the reason he seems a little off to her. Then there is George and Jack, Rose’s 10- and 8-year old brothers. Both are adorable without being cutesy. And of course, all the world building. There is quite a bit of it, since the Weird and the Edge are not simliar. Each has their own “rules” and culture. The elements seem familiar — the Weird sounds like a historical, but with magic — and even Rose thinks the nobles live the life of leisure attending parties and balls.
It took a bit, but I eventually warmed up to Declan. He comes across as your typical historical snooty noble — and you wonder why Rose isn’t falling for William instead. There’s more going on, of course. Once Rose gets to know Declan a little better, I started to like him.
What I didn’t like: Casshorn and the “hounds”. Yuck.
This book was the first full length novel I read on my e-Reader.
Recommended to: Fans of fantasy or paranormal romances (yes, this one is more a romance than the Kate Daniels books).
Started: 29 September 2009
Finished: 30 September 2009
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
Disclaimer: I purchased this book.
by Christina on January 7, 2010
in Ann Aguirre, Carolyn Crane, Gail Carriger, Ilona Andrews, Jessica Andersen, Kelly Hunter, Laura Resnick, Lori Devoti, Nalini Singh, Penny McCall, Scribblings
Today, Ilona Andrews posted the cover of the follow-up to On the Edge on her site. I thought this would be a good occasion to do a post featuring the covers of books I’m looking forward to reading. Most are ‘next in the series’. A couple of the books are for series I haven’t started but have the first book and the second is on order (Aguirre’s Corine Solomon series, Devoti’s Amazon series, Carriger’s Alexia Tarabotti series, Singh’s Guardian series — the books intrigued me enough to chance buying/ordering the second):
Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre
Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen
Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Untameable Rogue by Kelly Hunter
Changeless by Gail Carriger
Mind Games by Carolyn Crane
Amazon Queen by Lori Devoti
The Hellhound King by Lori Devoti
The Bliss Factor by Penny McCall
Doppelgangster by Laura Resnick
Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh
feedback
The meme is hosted by Reading at the Beach.
The rules are very simple: spotlight a book that begins with the featured letter. Include the book cover, title and author, a synopsis, and link(s) to retailer(s). If it’s a book you’ve already reviewed, link to the review. Return to Reading at the Beach and leave a link in the comments.
This week’s letter is: O
This week pick: On The Edge by Ilona Andrews
From the back: Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between two worlds: on one side lies the Broken, a place where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is nothing more than a fairy tale; on the other side is the Weird, a realm where blueblood aristocrats rule and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.
- On the Edge
Only Edger like Rose can easily travel between worlds — but they never truly belong in either. Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out the way she’d planned, and now she works an off-the-books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life determined to have Rose (and her power). But when a terrible danger invades the Edge — a flood of creatures hungry for magic — Declan and Rose must overcome their differences and work together to destroy them, or the beasts will devour the Edge and everyone in it.
Comment: This is the first book in a new series by the authors of the Kate Daniels books. It’s a bit hard to categorize. It’s definitely fantasy: magic and magical lands that coexist with the mundane world we live in. It’s more of a romance then the Kate books, but it’s still heavy on action and defeating the bad guys. Ilona recently talked about the differences in writing style between the two series. On the Edge is “written to imitate Regency era romances“. Declan is a nobleman; Rose is the poor young woman, raising two younger brothers. He’s arrogant and she’s fiercely independent. A little more tweaking and you almost have a historical romance.
I read this one when it first came out, and it the first full length novel I read entirely on my Sony e-Reader.
Note: I scheduled this entry in advance so that it posts at 8:00 AM. I’ll be late getting the link posted on the host’s blog.
The meme is hosted by Reading at the Beach.
The rules are very simple: spotlight a book that begins with the featured letter. Include the book cover, title and author, a synopsis, and link(s) to retailer(s). If it’s a book you’ve already reviewed, link to the review. Return to Reading at the Beach and leave a link in the comments.
This week’s letter is: M
This week pick: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bites
From the back: When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake. Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles. The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings — and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league — but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Comment: There was never a doubt in my mind regarding what book I would feature for the letter M. The Kate Daniels series is one of my favorites. It’s urban fantasy, not a romance — though there is a slowly evolving relationship between Kate and Curran. The series also features non-glamorous vampires and creatures/beings from different mythologies and folklore. For instance, in the short story “Magic Mourns”, the characters have to deal with a creature straight out of Greek mythology.
Though I loved the book, Magic Bites — being the first book in a series — has it’s rough spots. Kate pushes her luck a lot and is mouthy, and there are several “Eewww” moments. But what makes it all worth it is the first time Kate meets Curran. Below are the links to my thoughts on the three books and short story, plus — as a bonus — a little bit of silliness I posted last December.
Magic Bites
Magic Burns
Magic Strikes
Magic Mourns
Cover Talk
site-map
by Christina on October 10, 2009
in 1st Person POV, 5 Stars, Anthology, Ilona Andrews, Magic, Other Supernatural Beings, Paranormal Romance, Shape-Shifters, The Year of Readers 2009, Vampires
Must Love Hellhounds
Story Title: Magic Mourns
Story Author: Ilona Andrews
Story Length: 90 pgs.
Anthology Title: Must Love Hellhounds
Copyright: 2009 (Berkley)
ISBN: 978-0-425-22959-0
Series: Kate Daniels
Sensuality: Subtle
Who: Andrea Nash and Raphael
Where: Atlanta (alternate reality)
Can it be read at any point in the series, or as a stand alone? It could, but if you’re new to the series and hadn’t read Magic Burns and/or Magic Strikes, I would consider it a spoiler in regards to Andrea mostly, and Kate (how and why she’s on medical leave). The story takes place after the events in Magic Strikes.
Summary: Kate’s on medical leave, so Andrea takes her place at the Order of Merciful Aid. Since Kate’s cases tend to be either Pack-related or involving the Mercenary Guild, things have been kind of slow. Then she gets a phone call from some guy called Teddy Jo. He informs Andrea that he spotted a shape shifter being chased by a huge dog. A house-sized dog. Andrea’s definitely on the case, especially if it means she gets to shoot something. However, she hopes the shape-shifter in question ISN’T a certain bouda (were-hyena).
Much to her consternation, the shape-shifter in question is in fact Raphael. The house-sized dog? Well, neither knows what it is, requiring a phone call to Kate. Apparently, Andrea and Raphael are not very well read up on Greek mythology. The dog is none other than Fluffy Cerberus. Raphael was tracking whoever had body-napped his recently deceased step-father when he encountered the beast. There is no way Raphael is going to be sidelined on this case, so Andrea has no choice but to allow him to help her investigate. During their investigation, they get the opportunity to discuss his attraction to her and the reasons she is so reluctant to get involved with him.
Comments: This story is told in 1st person, just like the series, except from Andrea’s point of view. It’s a real treat to see the this world through someone else’s eyes. We learn more about Andrea then we probably would have in the series. Andrea tells Raphael about her past and we see a different side of Raphael.
It is interesting to note that Kate and Andrea have much in common: heavily armed, independent women with a big secret that could cause major problems if the wrong parties found about them. Both women are being pursued, romantically, by men who could have any woman they want. Neither women is convinced of the sincerity of the pursuit, believing they are just passing fancies of the men in question. We’ll have to wait for future Kate Daniel books to learn whether or not Curran and Kate have any chance at long term relationship; however, in this short story, we learn that Raphael is honestly attracted to Andrea and he wants a chance at a relationship with her, and her alone:
“Things happened before I met you and before you met me. Those things don’t matter. You had no control over your past, but here, right now, you control the situation and you’re voluntarily giving it up. You’re punishing both of us because of something that happened half a lifetime ago. It makes no sense.”
Raphael’s admission brought up something interesting that I noticed about the boudas. Even though they are sexually adventurous and have no inhibitions, once they find a mate, they seem to be faithful. The idea is re-enforced by Aunt B’s grief over the lose of her mate. He wasn’t bouda and I just can’t imagine…well, you can figure it out for yourselves.
The story has another treat. Andrea and Raphael visit the Casino, headquarters for the vampire-controlling masters of the dead. They go deeper into the place than we’ve seen in the previous books.
I heart Maxine. I just love her to death. And I really loved Teddy Jo. He’s insights at the end were enlightening.
All in all, a fun read and it worked really well as a short story.
Read: 16 September 2009
Favorite Quotes:
“You couldn’t detect your way out of a shoe if someone lit the way with neon signs.”
– Andrea expresses her opinion of Kate’s investigative skills (or lack thereof)
Rating:
LOVED IT !!
Disclaimer: I bought this book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a re-post, due to data loss. (Oct 09)
12 Oct – Amy – “I love Andrews’s books. I’ll need to pick this one up. Thanks for the review!”
12 Oct – Me – “You’re welcome! 
It’s a great read. Definitely not to be missed. ”
