And the best series award goes to… Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews

Micky here. The Kate Daniels series has been a non-labour of love for me this year. After about 2.5 years of Hollis telling me to read this, gifting me book one, I finally bit the bullet and started MAGIC BITES (see what I did there). From that point on, it has been a lesson in restraint as I would have liked to have binged the series one book after another. What I’ve done in the main is one or two per month. I actually think this has made me enjoy it more, savouring the stories, anticipating the next…

If you don’t know anything about the series, let me enlighten you. This is a paranormal/fantasy series with the most kick-ass heroine I have ever adored – Kate Daniels herself. This is a world of crazy, powerful magic and Kate is an elusively special person, you don’t know for quite a while who or what she is but that’s all part of the charm. She is full of snark and humour, she’s super strong, honed like a weapon but she has a heart that shows sometimes. This is a world of shapeshifters, vampires (like you’ve never known them before), witches and many weird and powerful beings, good, bad and definitely ugly. I also want to say as a bit of a scaredy cat, this series can be pretty gory.

There is a love story woven through this series but I am not going to say who. It is deliciously slowly burning and it has taken my breath away many times. However, let me just say, the love story is rarely in the fore, it is the foundation and it is superb.

This is a series with Kate at the fore in the main books and quite a number of novellas, usually dedicated to the side characters, many of whom I love and was delighted to get some focus on. We have put a series list at the bottom for anyone wanting to know the series reading order.

Hollis, you know this series better than me, having read then re-read it. Give us you thoughts, musings and adoration please.

I mean, I can’t say it better than Micky herself already has. This series really has something for everyone. For the die hard PNR or UF fans, those who are fascinated by other cultures and the various mythology and folklore and want to see more than the standard Irish/Celtic infusions come out to play, for the modern day snark and humour, and definitely the Shippiest of Shippy couples. And there are a lot of them!

For me, though, I think what makes this series so great, and so enduring, and definitely rereadable, is the ensemble cast. Not only do these authors offer up novellas and extras but the non-leads get plenty of time in the main books, too. They triumph, they suffer, they find love, they lose it, they die, all alongside Kate. They are an integral part of her and her world and they make it all the richer for it. Sometimes they are her friends, sometimes they are in her way, and sometimes bonds are tested and may break. But it’s always interesting, often fun, and occasionally heartbreaking. Also, there are plenty of cameos. Thought this one character was nothing more than a footnote in a random scene and you’ll never see them again? Hah! Guess again. The eater eggs, the follow ups, the relevance to the big picture.. it’s all meticulously planned. It’s scary, really.

If you want a series that will make you laugh (and laugh and laugh.. and laugh), cry, will creep you out, break your heart, and have you clamouring for more, you definitely need to give Kate Daniels and her crew a try. And, once you’ve run out of things to read (because sadly this is our reality now..), there are plenty other fascinating and funny series by these authors still to try.

Recommended Order of Full-Length Novels & Novellas/Shorts

A QUESTIONABLE CLIENT (book 0.5, found in the bind-up SMALL MAGICS)
MAGIC BITES (book one)
MAGIC BURNS (book two)
MAGIC STRIKES (book three)
MAGIC MOURNS (book 3.5)
MAGIC BLEEDS (book four)
CURRAN POV (with alt-POVs [1-9] taken from books one to four)
MAGIC DREAMS (book 4.5)
MAGIC SLAYS (book five)
MAGIC TESTS (book 5.3, also found in the bind-up SMALL MAGICS)
MAGIC GIFTS (book 5.4)
GUNMETAL MAGIC (book 5.5)
RETRIBUTION CLAUSE (book 5.6, also found in the bind-up SMALL MAGICS)
Curran Twitter and/or Curran Texts (book 5.7)
MAGIC RISES (book six)
MAGIC STEALS (book 6.5)
MAGIC BREAKS (book seven)
prequel to MAGIC SHIFTS (book 7.5, Curran POV #10)
MAGIC SHIFTS (book eight)
MAGIC STARS (book 8.5)
MAGIC BINDS (book nine)
IRON AND MAGIC (book 9.5, also first in The Iron Covenant series)
MAGIC TRIUMPHS (book ten)

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Are you already a fan of this series? Do you have a favourite character or book? Or, if you haven’t yet started, do you think we convinced you to give it a try? Let us know!