Early Review – Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, Book 2) by Ilona Andrews (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 245 pages
Publisher: NYLA
Release Date: June 13, 2023
ASIN: B0BVGK9FBP
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years series
Source: eGalley for review from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Kate and Curran have just settled into their new home and their ‘low profile,’ when a local businessman approaches them with an offer they can’t refuse. A mysterious evil has spawned in the nearby forest and is holding a defenseless town hostage. The ‘due date’ is rapidly approaching.
It’s exactly the kind of fight the Lennarts can’t resist, not for the prize the town offers, but for the people who will surely die if they ignore it. If they succeed, they’ll be rescuing an entire community and can build a strong new base for their family and the Wilmington Pack. If they fail…well, fail is a four-letter word.
Nothing comes without a price. Now Kate must decide if she has what it takes to pay it.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in the Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years series. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: This was absolutely fantastic. I am so happy Andrews is writing in the Kate Daniels world again. This story was non-stop action and fun from start to finish. I loved reading this and love where the story is going.
In this book Kate and Curran are presented with an interesting offer; a huge amount of land to build a fortress of their own on in exchange for them eradicating a mysterious evil from said land. The evil has been tormenting a small town and demanding human sacrifices from the town. Of course they have to accept because rescuing people and building a new strong base for both their family and the Wilmington pack is irresistible.
There was a ton of action in here and a lot of our favorite new characters as well as many wonderful characters from the original series. I enjoyed learning more about what was going on with the Atlantic Pack too. The evil uncovered was fascinating and tied into some of Curran’s background story nicely. We also get to see Kate expand on some of her “claiming” powers. It was good to see her start to embrace some of her power rather than hiding from it. Conlan is both adorable and scary throughout.
I really have nothing negative to say here. I love this world and these characters. This new spin-off series both brings back a lot of the things I loved from the original Kate Daniels series and keeps the world new and fresh and intriguing. There were also some comments about Julie, which I hope means that there’s another Aurelia Ryder book in the making as well (pretty please??)
My Summary (5/5): Overall I really, really loved this book. The Andrews are one of the (if not the best) urban fantasy writing teams out there and I am so incredibly happy they decided to start writing in the Kate Daniels world again. I would love to see both more books in this series and more in the Aurelia Ryder series…or I guess just more books by them because I love them so! This whole series (and all the spin off series in the Kate Daniels World) are highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy.
