Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels, #5.4)

by Ilona Andrews

It isn’t often that Kate Daniels and the Beast Lord Curran get to take a break from protecting their pack and enjoy some time for themselves. So when Curran offers Kate a romantic dinner in town, there’s no way she’s going to pass.

But their quiet night doesn’t stay quiet for long. The trouble starts with a necromancer dying at a nearby table, continues with bloodthirsty vampires crashing though the windows, and ends with more blood on the walls than any dining establishment needs.

Pulled into a deadly game neither wants to play, Kate and Curran find themselves dealing with the vile undead and tolerating a clan of maniacal, hard partying Vikings while desperately trying to save the life of an innocent child...

Magic Gifts previously appeared in Gunmetal Magic.

• ASIN: B015DLURNU
• Publish Date: 1 December 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Imprint: Ace
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 146
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

I heart Curran and Kate!

The first time I read Magic Bites I didn't get why there were so many rave reviews. I mean it seemed pretty average. The world building was cool and Kate seemed alright but a bit standoffish. The romance between Kate and Crest was mediocre - it seemed like she didn't like him at all and it felt forced and awkward. The romance between her and Curran wasn't any better. It didn't make sense why he followed her home while he was on his date. I liked Derek and Ghastek was creepy. There was lots of snappy, witty dialogue and I had a few laughs - but I was just confused. It was good but it wasn't great.

Yeah - read the rest of the series. It gets SO MUCH BETTER. Kate stops being standoffish and starts letting people in. Derek becomes a total badass. Ghastek - well he's still pretty creepy. But also funny and kind and sweet when he wants to be. And Curran - I love him now. He is an absolute ass in this first book. But I forgot. He becomes everything you want in a love interest. There's a ton of new loveable characters; Julie, Andrea, Aunt Bea, Raphael, Barbaras. Some new evil ones; Hugh, Roland. So much action and adventure and intensity and laughs.

So do yourself a favour. Keep reading.


What a disaster. Poor Andrea with Raphael showing up with some other chick. I liked that Curran and Kate trick Ghastek - about time he gets screwed.

[mitabird]

3.5 stars

[Amanda]

This was JUST what I needed to survive the wait between Kate Daniels books (hopefully Gunmetal Magic will help with that as well at the end of July). I actually really enjoyed the brief look into Kate and Curran's life and was very satisfied with how their relationship is progressing. You know, now that they're together, I had fears that their relationship would become complacent, but if the sixth book goes something like this, I think those fears will be assuaged.

With the world and characters already established, Magic Gifts really did feel like the perfect mini-story between books. So glad Kelly convinced me to read this one.


Magic Gifts was a free download I got from the author's website on December 29th, 2011.

[Quirky Cat]

Well written, funny, and absolutely engaging! I spotted this up on the blog Christmas Eve (ok, it was technically Christmas day for me) and stayed up reading it until I finished. It was fantastic! All Kate fans should read!

[Melanie]

Great short story that was a holiday present from Ilonda Andrews.