Kelly: I didn’t want to punch Curran at the beginning of this book (unlike the beginning of book 4) which is a plus since he’s, like, 900 times bigger than me. In fact, I kinda sorta possibly found myself lurving him even more than I did before because he was so obviously trying to give Kate her space when she got in a pickle. *pets Curran*
Amanda: Is it possible to love Curran even more?
Kelly: Umm… yes. Yes, it is.
Amanda: Because I find that hard to believe. There is a lot of love for Curran and his lion loins here on this blog.
Kelly: I’m not pointing any fingers here *holds up seven fingers behind Amanda’s back* but there’s a lot of love for Curran’s lion loins on Twitter, too.
Amanda: That’s because our love for Curran’s lion loins is so large…
Kelly: *snickers*
Amanda: …that it cannot be contained by this blog or even Twitter. I suspect the lion loin love is going to spread to Tumblr soon.
Kelly: DON’T TEMPT ME!
Amanda: Mark my words. As much as I liked the evolving nature of Kate’s relationship with Curran, Magic Slays seemed absent of the tension that I’ve come to love between these two. In fact, it kind of reminded me of what happened in the later Night Huntress books. I liked book 5, but books 3 and 4 were definitely better, I thought.
Kelly: I like that we’re seeing them at different stages of their relationship. They had the seething hatred, the grudging attraction, the all night marathon sexin’ *holds up seven fingers again with a laugh* and now we’re seeing them attempt to make a go at the give and take of a long-term committed relationship. Considering how hard headed those two can be, I can’t imagine things are going to always go smoothly.
Amanda: True. I think I just miss the “will they or won’t they?” tension. Everything got sooooo heated. And it added another layer to the story arc. Now I just get sad when they fight because there aren’t more sexy times.
Kelly: I need to talk about Andrea and her craziness. I was appalled by the stance she took at the end of book 4, but I do understand her reasoning. I don’t agree with it, but I can see how she’d be looking to make changes to the Order from within. Of course, it ended up backfiring in her face and it broke her on several emotional levels but I think that’s only going to make her a more interesting character down the line. I’m really looking forward to her book now!
Amanda: Yes. You know we’re going to have to jointly review Andrea’s book, too.
Kelly: *nods enthusiastically*
Amanda: I am actually quite interested in her perspective. Like you, I understand Andrea’s reasoning for what she did, though I don’t necessarily like it. Kate voiced her reservations about it, and it was easy to see the utter futility in it. I am actually interested in the whole shifter/magical being versus humans dynamic. It really came to a head in Magic Slays.
Kelly: I know you had some big questions about how the tech/magic waves came about in the earlier books. After 5 books, are you happy with the answers we’ve been given or are you still waiting for more?
Amanda: Yes and no. I don’t think think the tech and magic waves have ever been fully explained (or if they were, I skimmed over it and missed it), but part of my desire for those answers was mainly to orient myself in Kate’s world. After five books, I have a good grasp on the world. It is almost as though they simply are. No explanation; they just are there. I can see that now, but the first couple books drove me a little crazy. Now I just enjoy “watching” how the characters deal with the unpredictably of the waves.
Kelly: Fair enough. I actually enjoyed not knowing *anything* in the early books. It made everything feel so much more unpredictable and deadly.
Amanda: Sometimes I’m okay with that and sometimes I’m not. Usually I’m not. Hello? Information whore here. *points to self* Can we also talk about how utterly terrifying this book/bad guy(s) was?
Kelly: OMG! Right? I kept imagining the worst case scenario with this and it was BAD.
Amanda: I think the only times I ever put Magic Slays down were when I had to pee. I was very resentful of my bladder pulling me away from my book.
Kelly: Ugh. I know! Except mine was more along the lines of eating.
Amanda: I don’t remember if it was this book or book 4, but I hadn’t even realized I was hungry until I finished the book and my stomach let out a huge growl. That’s what this series does to me. I had to read to find out exactly what happened. Because the synopsis doesn’t lie — Kate and everyone she loves were in danger of “paying the ultimate price” right up until the very end, we really didn’t know how it would end.
Kelly: I think I might be quietly hyperventilating at the realization that we’ve come to the end of the published Kate Daniels books and won’t get another Kate/Curran-centric one for many, many months. *goes off in search of something vaguely paper-like and possibly bag shaped to breathe heavily into*
Amanda: *hands you a paper bag* *pets you* It’ll be okay. Now, rather than ending on a panicky and sad note, let me share with you one of my favorite passages from Magic Slays.
I rose. ”Your way of doing things isn’t working. Time for a new strategy. The only difference between you and Derek is discipline and training. Either you can work on both, or you can keep thinking with your balls. It’s your choice. Say ‘pop.’ ”
“Pop?”
“That was the sound of me pulling your head out of your ass. If you stick it back up there again, there is nothing I can do about it. This is the only lecture you’ll ever get from me.”
Amanda: After I finished laughing out loud at that, I immediately filed that line away for future use. And I think that’s the moment that Kate officially became my hero.
Kelly: Awww. Kate’s giving life lessons. I’m going to use this one on my son. Although I don’t exactly have the presence Kate has. Oh, well. I’ll still try it. We’ll see how it turns out. *cheeky grin*