Audiobook Review: Slouch Witch by Helen Harper

Series:	Lazy Girls Guide to Magic #1
Pub. Date:	July 11, 2017
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Tanya Eby
Length:	8 hrs 9 min
Source:	Publisher

Slouch Witch is the first book in the series, the Lazy Girls Guide to Magic. The series title and blurb sucked me in for this story - I thought it would be a cute and light-hearted read. I was right! 

Slouch Witch takes place somewhere in Great Britain (London, I think but can't quite remember), and revolves around the lives of witches. Most witches are members of the sanctified Order, and they all have their own feline familiar. Our heroine, Ivy Wild, bucks convention and got herself kicked out of the Order for cheating and assault, and now makes her living by driving a taxi. Between a very vocal familiar and her lackadaisical outlook on life, Ivy definitely marches to the beat of her own drum. I thought her laid back attitude and lazy genius were endearing, and I found her character to be fun and entertaining.

ARC Review: The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown

Pub. Date:	April 25, 2017
Publisher:	Ballantine Books
Length:	336 pages
Source:	NetGalley

This is the second debut author I have read this week, and I very impressed by the new talent on the scene. Beth Underdown delivers a morbidly fascinating look at the witch hunt that occurred during England's Civil War told from the perspective of the fictional sister to the Witchhunter General, Matthew Hopkins. This idea of telling the story of a historical figure from the perspective of that person's sister/daughter/wife has been trending for the last year or more, and I have to say that I do enjoy this method of storytelling. It provides a fresh look at history interweaving fact and fiction in a way that keeps the reader engaged and interested.

Matthew Hopkins was a cold man, sullen and spoiled with a quiet and calculating manner. I think he would have utterly terrified me if I had lived during this time period, as he seemed to have an aura of questionable evil about him. I couldn't tell if he really believed in witches, or if his motives were purely for revenge and a dislike of women in general. Neverthless, it is believed that Hopkins was responsible for the death of over 300 "witches" from 1644-1646. The women he targeted were often old, widowed, physically disabled or mentally infirm - and he would torture them until they confessed to devilish deeds of their own, and also reported on other women in the area. Hopkins authored the book, The Discovery of Witches (1647) detailing his methods and manner of investigation.

Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Magic Slays 
by Ilona Andrews
Series:  Kate Danies #5
Pub. Date:  June 8, 2011
Publisher:  Tantor Audio
Narrator:  Renee Raudman
Length:  13 hrs 7 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Hoopla / Library


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job. 

Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she's still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate's mate. 

So when Atlanta's premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price.

Coming off the most interesting villain to date in Magic Bleeds, Kate has quit the Order of Merciful Aid and opened her own investigation company, Cutting Edge... which is floundering. Kate helps out with a runaway vampire and shortly after gets her first case from the Red Guard - to find something they have lost. Kate's investigation uncovers a huge plot to kill all magical beings with the equivalent of a magic-sucking nuclear bomb.

The villains in this book are an anti-magical hate group known as The Lighthouse Keepers. So we have an undertone of social issues in this book, which is somewhat a different take from the biblical references we got with Kate's aunt in the last installment. Like most hate groups, the Lighthouse Keepers don't make a lot of sense. They are jealous of what other people have and seem too lazy to work... so their solution is to kill all the magic users because its not fair that they (the hatemongers) were not born with magic. Kate and Curran bring the magical community together to fight against the Lighthouse Keepers.

While this installment was not my favorite of the series, it is still a really good story with a lot of good action and some romance. I absolutely loved the humor we got with the witches and Volves (sp?) going at each other. We got some Russian mythology here centering around these groups, particularly the head witch, Baba Yaga. And I cannot say enough how great the narrator is on these books. Renee Raudman is great at characterization, accents, inflection and keeping your auditory interest in the reading.

I continue to enjoy all of the secondary characters in these books, we get one or new characters per book it seems so there is always someone new to watch grow or tug on your heart strings. This time we have a new Bouda boy, Ascanio, who has to learn very quickly that he is not as tough as he acts. Then of course we have our staples in Julie, Derek and Andrea.

Curran and Kate's relationship continues to grow without overpowering the story. But one of my favorite aspects of this installment is that we learn so much more about Kate's history and parentage. This is one of the series that I hope continues well into the future because I know I will be very sad when it ends.

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Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Magic Bleeds 
by Ilona Andrews
Series:  Kate Daniels #4
Pub. Date:  May 25, 2010
Publisher:  Tantor Audio
Narrator:  Renee Raudman
Length:  13 hrs 7 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Hoopla / Library


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren't for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose.

Kate Daniels works for the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle---especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community.

When she's called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar on the border between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers that there's a new player in town. One who's been around for thousands of years---and who rode to war at the side of Kate's father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Beast Lord, to handle. Because this time Kate will be taking on family. 

So I was able to listen to this book today when I had to drive to Birmingham for work, and man did it make the time go by fast! I think that the villain of this book is probably one of the most interesting in the series. The authors did a great job creating an engaging back story, and I liked that it was worked into religious events that people are familiar with. I know some people don't like when religious aspects are worked into a story... but thats not me. I think its fascinating and creative to work the bible into paranormal stories with explanations or to provide a back story for extremely old characters. We learn a lot more about Kate's father, Roland, in this installment as well. So you really realize just how long he has been around and how incredibly powerful he has to be.

In my last review, I said how much the previous installment caused me to like Saiman's character... but in Magic Bleeds, he really loses much of the ground he gained by using Kate and taunting Curran. Of course Saiman's rash behavior finally pushes Kate and Curran over the edge... and I imagine ever reader screamed out FINALLY~ then proceeded to re-read that scene several times (just to make sure you didn't miss anything). While the explosion and release of all that tension was fabulous, it also made me a bit sad because I really enjoyed all the tension, teasing, sarcasm and playfulness that lead up to the start of this relationship. I mean the best line of the series still has to be "Here kitty kitty kitty..."

We do get to see a softer side of Kate at the end of this book, which helped develop a stronger emotional connection with her character. To avoid spoilers, I won't say in what context that came about... but I was a watering pot while driving down the interstate. All those truckers probably thought I was a bit loony.

So happy I decided to re-read this series. 

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Series Saturday Review: Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Magic Strikes 
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #3
Pub. Date:  Aug. 6, 2009
Publisher:  Tantor Audio
Narrator:  Renee Raudman
Length:  10 hrs 50 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Library / Hoopla


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

When magic strikes and Atlanta goes to pieces, it’s a job for Kate Daniels… 

Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.

But when Kate's werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games—an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament—she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta's shapeshifting community…

Warning - do not start this in audiobook unless it's first thing in the morning and you can listen all day. Otherwise, you will find yourself up at 4am still wide awake and not wanting to push that pause button! Now my brain is so foggy that I'm not sure I will be able to write a coherent review.

Even though this is the third time I have read/listened to this book, it is still entertaining to me and I pick up on things I missed the first two times, or that I have forgotten along the way. I really started to like Saiman as a character in this installment. His Aesir form and heritage is so interesting to me, and the "lost monster" characteristics were endearing. I would love to see Saiman get his own love interest and novella.

Derek, who I already loved from the earlier books, learns a hard life lesson in Magic Strikes. I always tear up right along with Kate when she sees what has happened to the beautiful werewolf boy. And we really see this spark start to show for Julie here as well. I can't wait to see how these interact in the rest of the series.

The games, of course, were barbaric and what you would probably expect from the "bad" side of shapeshifters, magic users, etc. But the characters, powers, and weapons were so freaking fascinating. I often found myself rewinding the story so I could hear again the description of some person, monster or event. Ilona and Gordon certainly have a vivid imagination.

And, of course, the best part - we see Kate and Curran being drawn together even more. I love love love the way he plays with her like a little mouse. Eating her pie, breaking in, teasing her - its great. And the slow burn of sexual tension between these two just puts you on the edge of your seat.

Thank heavens I have some long road trips this week so I can continue listening to this series while I drive!!!

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