Magic Claims by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels: The Wilmington Years #2
Urban Fantasy
June 13, 2023- NYLA
ARC

Review by Angela

You never really know how much you will miss certain characters and worlds until a series ends, and you’re not sure if you’ll ever see them again. Which makes these last two books in the spin-off to the Kate Daniels series so special. The first book, Magic Tides, gave readers a sense of what Kate, Curran, and Conlan were up to after leaving Atlanta and settling down to a quieter life. Kind of like a slice of life in novella form. But this book felt like a homecoming, this is the Kate and Curran I missed. This book felt like a promise of new and more. And I am here for it.

I’m sure you’ve read the blurb by now, but here’s a quick rundown: A small local town is in trouble, being forced to offer human lives as a tribute to an unknown magical entity. The townspeople can’t leave for extended periods of time or else they will sicken and die. Others have come to help and ended up dead, so now the town is nearing a deadline for more human lives given as tribute and they are out of ideas and options. A representative goes to Kate and Curran for help, and of course, they can’t say no. The gift of 81 thousand acres of prime land is just icing on the cake.

This book really felt like a fresh reawakening of the Kate Daniels series. There are still all these threads, from Julie’s current life to Kate’s Shinar magic to what’s happening in the Pack back in Atlanta that are dangling and this book picked them up and started to weave them all together. Then there is Conlan in all his adorable, super smart greatness that bursts onto the page and makes this story even more interesting. I just love him so much.

I won’t spoil anything or get into the villain’s identity, but suffice it to say the battles between them and Kate and Curran are epic. Kate and Curran make some big decisions about their future and how they plan to proceed. And I predict readers will LOVE the conclusions they come to and what that might mean for future books in this series. I know I am beyond excited. I love this new cast of characters, but I’m also kind of hoping to see some older ones I’ve missed.

The epilogue! OMG!

This book made me happy. Thinking of all of the possibilities of what might come in the series in the future makes me even happier.

Final grade- A

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