Magic Bites

This urban fantasy is set in a fantastical Atlanta, where magic comes in unpredictable waves that interfere with technology.

Written by a husband-and-wife team, I picked up this first book when it was on sale for 99 cents, then went on to purchase all the books in the series. I love the imagination behind the worlds this writing team creates and the way the characters interact with them.

Worldbuilding is a huge part of fantasy, and for anyone who knows the real Atlanta, Ilona Andrews makes the fictional version in Magic Bites equally realistic, as seen through the eyes of… show more.

This book started my love of urban fantasy. My copy is failing apart at the seams.

I love this series so much. I would like to think I could be friends with Kate. This series is finally complete for those who want something done before they start it.

Atlanta looks very different than the city you and I know. Kate is a mercenary who has to track down the murder of a family member. Yet, losing him kicks off the creation that maybe she doesn’t need to be alone.

It's the start of her creating her own family and not… show more.

The Kate Daniel’s series has everything—great world building, an interesting backstory that grows with each book, and writers (a husband and wife team) who understand the craft of writing enough to draw you in so you forget you’re reading.

Have you ever wondered why magic happened in the bible, but doesn’t happen now? Burning bushes and all that?

This series has an explanation—the magical pendulum swings back and forth, and we’re heading back into a time when magic rules. Unfortunately, technology and magic don’t work well together.

Ilona Andrews sets the bar for post-magic apocalypse books with this first novel in the Kate Daniels series, and it is the book that made me fall in love with Urban Fantasy. While Kate tries to keep her unusual talents hidden, she can’t help but make a splash in post-shift Atlanta, among the ruling elites of the creature world. Here, the normal monsters like shifters and vampires take on all new roles with Ilona Andrews’ unique world building. In the fifteen years since its first publication, there still isn’t anything to compare with Kate Daniels.

The Kate Daniels series features a unique urban fantasy world where magic and tech fight for dominance. This was one of the first series I read in this genre and I instantly fell in love with Kate Daniels. She is tough and snarky but isn’t afraid to ask for help when she needs it. 

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who is hiding from her enemies. When here gradian is murdered she seeks justice and gets drawn into a power struggle. She is snarky and headstrong, which sometimes get her into trouble. Her dynamic with the Pack is interesting to watch and the world building is fantastic.

The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews combines an epic magical apocalypse with one of the snarkiest and most badass heroines in urban fantasy. While the first book is not the best in the series, it is necessary to appreciate the rest of the series. And oh boy, what a series it is!

Kate Daniels is one of those formative urban fantasies for me, as it didn’t balk from having magic out in the open. It explores the interaction of the supernatural with the world we know without escaping into hidden worlds and the masquerade so prevalent in most urban… show more.

Readers will love this book for its exemplary world building, its kick-ass heroine, and its smooth writing style. I loved this book because it had straight-up action, a main character I could happily follow, and a promise of romance to come.

The fight scenes were well choreographed, and the shift from tech to magic and back again at random moments lent an air of uncertainty. It threw obstacles at the characters and forced them to create workarounds for it. 

I enjoyed discovering the intricacies of this unique world and immediately sought out the second book in the series. I read… show more.

This is probably considered more urban fantasy than paranormal romance but I had to include it. The world building drew me in instantly in this series. Set in post-apocalyptic Atlanta, GA, Kate Daniels, a powerful magic user, lives in a world where magic wars with tech. Where one minute the phone and electric lights work and the next you have to rely on magic to see in the dark or to communicate. The heroine has an amazing backstory that unfolds as the series continues and Ilona Andrews (actually a husband and wife team of writers), makes you wait for the… show more.

I like the grit, humor, and slow build of romance. The characters feel real, the world-building is stellar, and I enjoy the genre-bending. It’s definitively not cookie cutter. Shapeshifters and vampires liven things up, but it’s the slow ascension of the main character that drives the plot. Her relationships can be complicated, but the reader is satisfied that the bad guys need a good killing.