Has this ever happened to you?

Your browsing through your feed reader (or whatever) and you come across a book cover for a book that’s not out yet, but the couple on the front looks just like/reminds you of characters from a totally different book??

It happened to me recently.  I was just minding my own business and suddenly, there they were:

The hero had short blond hair and well-muscled.  The heroine had long brown hair and it looked like she could wield a sword.   It was them. . .

Kate and Curran.

The cover reminded a little of the scene in Magic Strikes, near the end of Chapter 27. They just defeated a silver golem and both are wounded. Kate chews him out and Curran swoops her into his arms and asks if she had been worried about him.

Here’s the book cover. Cassie Ryan’s Seducing the Succubus. Added to the wishlist.

“Kiss me and I’ll kill you,” [Kate] warned.
“It might be worth it,” [Curran] said softly.

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.

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

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.

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

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. ”

Magic Strikes

Title: Magic Strikes
Author: Ilona Andrews
Copyright: 2009 (Ace); 310 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0-441-01702-7
Series: Kate Daniels #3
Sensuality: Kisses

*** SPOILER-ISH ***

Two months have passed since the flare hit Atlanta. Kate’s been busy cleaning up magical messes and hanging out with her new best friend, Andrea. She hasn’t heard from, nor seen, Curran since the night he broke into her house in Savannah, made coffee, and almost kissed her. She’s convinced he got bored messing with her mind and has moved on to other amusements.

Meanwhile, two seemingly unconnected incidents occur that drag her back into the center of the shape-shifter world. First, Kate is sent to investigate the death of a shape-shifter, but when she arrives on the scene, Jim and his crew are already on the case. Jim refuses her help and Kate’s too tired to press the issue. Besides, she can always check up on the case later, and see if Jim’s followed through with filing the reports.

The second, Saiman calls to tell her that he caught Derek, Kate’s werewolf side-kick, stealing from him. Saiman can make things difficult for the Pack, and the last thing Kate wants is for the Beast Lord to find out about the incident. Saiman uses Kate’s friendship with Derek as leverage. He’ll forget all about the break-in, if Kate agrees to accompany him to the Midnight Games. He wants her professional opinion regarding one of the teams competing in the illegal gladiatorial tournament. Kate grudgingly agrees to go, reminding Saiman that it’s NOT a date, just a business agreement.

Before she knows it, Kate’s finds herself keeping secrets from Curran, searching for a way to save Derek, and trying to solve the mystery behind the strange group who annihilated Saiman’s team and left Derek for dead. On top of all that, Andrea and Raphael’s insight into Curran’s behavior implies that the Beast Lord is viewing her as his future mate – and he refers to her as such within Andrea’s hearing. As much as she tries to deny it at times, Kate finally acknowledges the fact that she’s falling for Curran. However, she still sees his pursuit of her as nothing more than a game for him.

We learn some Pack history and about how Curran became the Beast Lord. Kate has been a bit unreliable as a narrator when it comes to Curran. Biased as she is by the fact he’s in a position of authority (and she has issue with those in authority), she’ll assume he’s an arrogant jerk without fully understanding him. Make no mistake, Curran is 100% Alpha, but that doesn’t mean he’s unreasonable or insensitive to the feelings of others. In fact, as the Beast Lord, he’s had to be good at diplomacy and understanding the needs of his people. As he tells her early in the book:

“I’ve had a lot of practice. The Pack contains thirty-two species in seven tribes, each with their own hang-up. Jackals and coyotes pick fights with wolves, because they have an inferiority complex and think they’ve got something to prove. Wolves believe themselves to be superior, marry the wrong people, and then refuse to divorce them because they cling to their ‘mating for life’ idiocy. Hyenas listen to nobody, screw everything, and break out in berserk rages at some perceived slight against one of their own. Cats randomly refuse to follow orders to prove they can. That’s my life. I’ve been at it for fifteen years now.”

Curran’s been a combination king/CEO/den mother to a horde of potential spree-killers since he was 15 years old. They are his family and any harm that comes to them he perceives as a failure of leadership on his part. He’s going to be very careful about who he picks as his mate — which would explain his hesitancy, in Magic Burns, before handing Kate the soup. Submissive eye candy isn’t going to cut it. She has to be someone who can hold her own and cope with the daily drama of the Pack, because she’ll share his responsibility and authority as the Pack’s alpha female. Curran would not have handed Kate that bowl had he not felt she was capable of sharing the burden.

Part of Kate’s reluctance to acknowledge that there might be something between her and Curran stems from her heritage and her mission. She’s lost everyone she’s ever loved. Having loved ones makes her venerable and them targets. However, this time her enemy has already decided to target the Pack because they’ve grown too strong. Which made me wonder about Greg’s friendship with the Pack — did he cultivate the friendship because he suspected Roland might move against them? Greg had to have known that Kate partnered with Jim, and he had to have known Jim was the head of Pack security. Was Greg’s attempt to convince Kate to return to the Order’s academy — the last time she saw him alive — his way of keeping her out of Atlanta?

Some things Kate and Curran have in common: both were raised by men not their fathers; both are mentor/guardian to an orphaned child; both have a strong sense of duty and a willingness to put themselves in harm’s way to protect/save those they care about; and both have a tendency to impale themselves on sharp, pointy objects. They fight well together. Their “courtship” is hilarious and it’s fun to watch. I liked that Curran doesn’t go off in a snit when she says no (Look! An alpha who understands that “no” means “no”! Kate, you have no idea how lucky you are! Quick! Snatch him up before someone else does!).

As to the revelation regarding Roland, I wasn’t surprised. It was hinted at in the first two books. The details, however, were a surprise. Up until this book, I would have said that Roland had no idea Kate existed. So, he knows she’s out there somewhere. And after the events in this book, I’d say he’d have a very good idea where to find her.

I could go on babbling. It’s taken me this long to write up my thoughts because I keep picking it up to re-read. I really loved this book. It was both funny and heart breaking. I’m looking forward to the next one. I’ve read the snippets for book four, so I’m prepared for the snarling, the angst, and any further developments regarding Roland.

Favorite Quotes:
Maybe if I prayed to Miss Marple, she’d hook me up with a clue . . .
– Kate Daniels, ace investigator (thoughts)

“It was an awesome smackdown.”
– Andrea, admiring Curran’s butt-chewing skills

Help. I’ve drowned the Best Lord.
– Kate (thoughts)

“You came for me.”
“Always.”
– Kate, Curran

Started: 26 March 2009
Finished: 28 March 2009

Rating:

LOVED IT !!

What Others Have Said:
Lurv A La Mode
Dear Author
BSCreview
Reality Bypass
Ramblings About Books and Book Love
Angieville
Ciaralira
Janicu
The Booksmugglers
What Am I Reading?
Leslie’s Psyche
Literary Escapism

Books in the Series:
Magic Bites
Magic Burns

Addendum:
This is a re-post, due to technical difficulties. Comments, if any, were lost. I apologize for the inconvenience. (Aug 09)

This is a re-post, due to data loss. (Oct 09)

Updated 10 April 09: Thanks for all the input. I never thought I would read so many romances that I would actually have to split them up into more accurate sub-genres.

__________________________________________________________________

Recently, I was perusing my category tags, both on-line and off.  Since I label even contemporary-set paranormals and urban fantasy as “contemporary”, it looks like I’ve read more contemporary books than historical.

My original thought behind labeling them as such was to distinguish them from historical-set fantasy and paranormal, on the off chance I read one — Mary Jo Putney’s “The Marriage Spell” — and futuristics — most of  Colby Hodge’s “Twist” is set in the future.

I’m beginning to think that this is misleading.   Readers looking for straight contemporaries might be unhappy to learn that the main female character in “Ace is Wild” is a psychic — though nowhere near the level of Feehan’s GhostWalkers or Singh’s Psy.  Fans of those series might take exception to “Ace is Wild” being labeled as paranormal.

So my question is, is it misleading?

On a slightly related note. . .

In Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews (urban fantasy set in an alternate-reality Atlanta), we learn one of the characters is a big fan of paranormal romances (not Kate — her favorite book is “The Princess Bride”).  Later, we learn that several books (or all of them) by the character’s favorite author features. . .pirates.

This got me thinking.  In Kate’s world there are shape-shifters, vampires, magic.  What would these characters consider “paranormal”?  Your average Harlequin Superromance? Chick-lit? Ye Olde  Bodice-rippers of the 80′s?

And would a comtemporary be a story about a hunk of a werehyhena romantically pursuing a heavily armed Knight of the Order?

Anyone else pondered this?

There’s a poll in my sidebar regarding the labeling .  Please take a moment to vote.  Thanks.

So…taking a little break from reading and scribbling.  Here are a few books I have on order, coming soon..or sometime this year.

This should surprise no one:

Magic Strikes

Nor this one. Oooo. Another purple cover…

Dark Crusade

Another book by the same author as above:

Amazon Ink

The next two are by the same author (Pamela Palmer). Anxiously waiting to hear when Book 3 in The Esri will be released:

Desire Untamed

Sapphire Dream

Nalini Singh’s new series:

Angels' Blood

These I’ll order directly from Harlequin:

The Whispering Room

Silent on the Moor

Midnight Cravings

Update!!! Corrected the post title.  Shesh.  That’s what happens when you stay up to all hours.  “Addition” changed to “Edition”. Plus…

I’ve been sick all week, so I haven’t been in the mood to read.  However, I’ve been contemplating my “best of” for 2008.  That got me thinking about Magic Burns (by Ilona Andrews), which got me thinking about Magic Strikes, book 3 in the series.  I amused myself by imagining Kate and Curran talking about their book covers.  I thought it would make a clever post.

Of course, the characters don’t belong to me.    Without further ado:

Kate: So. Here we are again. Book 3. Imagine that.
Curran: Yes. We haven’t killed each other yet.

Book 3

Kate: Interesting cover.
Curran: If you say so.
Kate: You know, I have a theory about our covers. Would you like to hear it?
Curran: No.
Kate: You see. . . with the first book, we were the new kids. The unknowns. No one really knew us. Just another butt-kicking girl with a sword, who hangs out with a shape-shifter –
Curran: “Hangs out with”?

Kate Who???

Kate: So hair, make-up, and wardrobe was do-it-yourself, you know? Just show up and pose. You did notice that it was a muted cover, right?
Curran: Yes. Go on.
Kate: But by the second book, we’ve gained a modest following. People are taking notice. So we get a little star treatment.
Curran: Sparkly Atlanta and some lip gloss?
Kate: And my hair’s pretty, too. But it’s still not accurate. Hmm. You look like you’re frowning on that cover.

Sparkly!!!

Curran: It’s the company I keep. I’m almost afraid to ask this. What about the third book?
Kate: Oh, they asked if I’d show a little skin.
Curran: Your idea of “a little skin” is to shed the jacket and go sleeveless?!
Kate: Yeah. So?
Curran:  I think they were looking for bare midriff and cleavage, Kate.
Kate: Goes to show you what you know. Notice the first two covers? Yeah. Cleavage.
Curran: Never mind. What’s with your arm?
Kate: It does look bruised, doesn’t it. I imagine I take a beating. The title does say “Strike”.
Curran: Oh, I know where that came from. She had a poll. Kate, Don’t you have a tattoo?
Kate: Yeah. It must be on the other arm.
Curran: Hmm. Isn’t it the norm around here for Urban Fantasy heroines to show off their body art?
Kate: You’re right. You’d think they’d take advantage of my sleeveless shirt.
Curran: Probably momentarily stunned by you’re misinterpretation of “a little skin”. I think you’re not the typical UF heroine, Kate.
Kate: Because I usually wear sensible clothing?
Curran: That, and the fact your tattoo isn’t someplace . . .interesting.
Kate: And I don’t have lovers. Or a lover, for that matter.
Curran: Yet.
Kate: Why rush? We — that is to say, me and the other party — might not be right for each other.
Curran: You’re right.
Kate: Thank you.
Curran: Cat and mouse is soo much more fun. Right, mouse?
Kate: Hey!
Curran: So. Do you think I’ll ever be depicted as a human on a cover?
Kate: No! It’s the “Kate Daniels” series, buster! I’m not gonna be upstaged by a hunk in a t-shirt! Besides, some confused soul might mistake you for a Navy SEAL and shelves us in the with contemporary romances!
Curran: You know, you make an excellent point. . .
Kate: Thanks!
Curran: Mouse.
Kate: Ugh! Stop calling me “mouse”!
Curran: As you wish.