Magic Strikes - Ilona Andrews (Book 3)

At first, I found myself thinking this book is my favorite Kate Daniels book so far, but my enthusiasm tapered to normal by the end--not necessarily a bad thing. I was surprised with the development of Saiman's character. The scene where he reveals himself and enters the fight could have gone horribly wrong, because Saiman could have become too powerful to exist in the story, but the author(s) handle him deftly.

Kate's back story grows larger and more ominous, though Kate may be in danger of "leveling up" if she is going to handle Roland, but so far she has not grown too powerful. My main fear at this point is that Roland will be a huge disappointment when he finally appears, but I plan to keep reading/ listening to this series. I have many favorite characters now and the Ilona Andrews team delivers consistently entertaining stories.

The courtship rituals of the pack are interesting. There were a few more scenes with Kate drooling over Curran than I needed. And Kate is always “remembering to breathe.” By the end of the book, I was not as intrigued by the bad guys as I was at the beginning, but still wanted Kate and her friends to hammer them. Having said that, and even though I was not looking for romance, I enjoyed this story from start to finish.

My favorite scene, though it is not a major scene, is when Kate goes to pick up Julie at boarding school.

Magic Strikes is another good Kate Daniels book.