Author: Ilona Andrews

The Weekly Recap (151)

Posted August 31, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

It’s been a quiet week for me. Work kicked my ass because I was covering an additional 4 offices for my work best friend who was out on vacation all week. I’m so glad that she’s back to work today because gah…my region alone is a lot of work but her region was extremely busy this past week so she can have her region back. 🙂 I did manage to get out and hang with my friends for a little bit before our bestie, Mulu, went back to Utah. And then I hung out with my friend B Nice and we took a trip to Fountain Valley to try the brown sugar milk tea from The Alley, that I saw in my Korean drama, The King: Eternal Monarch. It was super tasty even though I hate boba. I can’t wait to try something new next week with B Nice. Our weekly night drives are always full of adventures.

Now, let’s get into all of the things that I did last week…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (151)Iron and Magic
by Ilona Andrews
Series: The Iron Covenant #1
Published by NYLA on June 18, 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 394
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 A-Z Challenge, 2020 Goodreads Challenge

No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work.

Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.

Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.

Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies?
As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.”

Hugh and Elara may do both.

So far, this one is pretty good so I’m hoping Hugh and Elara keep the party going. I’m pretty anxious to see the link between the beginning of this new series and the Kate Daniels series. I haven’t gotten to that part yet, it’s still early days but I’m definitely interested in where this book is going.

What I Read

Magic Binds (Kate Daniels #9) by Ilona Andrews | 4.5 out of 5

I read a book, yall!

I heard that Julie is going to get a book and that Derek is in it so I’ve got some catching up to do because I WANT THAT BOOK! So I dug back into the Kate Daniels series so that I can wrap that one up and be ready for Julie and Derek. Kate Daniels is such a bomb ass character and even though she scared me from time to time in this book, I still completely adored her and already jumped into the next book in the series, or actually, I started Hugh’s book because that’s what I was told to do.

What I’m Currently Watching

Train

Starring: Yoon Si Yoon, Kyung Soo Jin, Shin So Yul
Year Released: 2020
Genres: Sci-Fi, Drama

A hard-hitting detective who fearlessly dives into his work, Seo Do Won (Yoon Shi Yoon) is relentless when it comes to bringing criminals to justice. Willing to take on any case, no matter how hard, Do Won has made a name for himself as a man who gets the job done. But when the woman he loves becomes the latest victim of a serial killer, his world completely changes. Literally.

Mysteriously able to move between parallel universes, Do Won now lives in both worlds as a man who must pay for the sins of his father in one, and as a man forced to live a precarious life because of those sins in the other. As if the duality of his life wasn’t hard enough to deal with, he soon learns that his deceased love may be gone in one world, but she’s very much alive in the other. Vowing to track down her killer in one universe, while simultaneously trying to protect her in the other, Do Won is quick to acknowledge this is not something he can do alone.

Seeking the help of his colleagues in both universes, Do Won asks Han Seo Kyung (Kyung Soo Jin), an honest, yet reserved prosecutor with a big heart in one world, and a cold and emotionless detective in the other, to help him out. Together with Lee Jung Min (Shin So Yul), a tenacious member of the scientific investigation unit, they’ll do whatever it takes to track down the killer in one world and protect his love in the other. But will their efforts in either universe really be enough?

A suspenseful thriller with a sci-fi twist, “Train” is a 2020 mystery romance drama directed by Ryu Seung Jin.

This show came across my radar while browsing the selection on Viki. It looked interesting so I started it and I’m two episodes in and already I’m hooked. There’s so much going on and I’m so ready for the story to come together.

What I Watched

Thirty, but Seventeen | 4.25 out of 5
The Hospital Playlist | 4 out of 5
A Company Man | 4 out of 5

Eye Candy Friday

Ko Dong Man
Fight for My Way

What I Reviewed

The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil | 2 out of 5
Love Alarm | 3.75 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (150)
The Monthly Plan: September 2020
Eye Candy Friday: Ko Dong Man

What’s On My Radar for This Week

Prison Playbook
One Spring Night
The Table
Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels #10) by Ilona Andrews

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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The Weekly Recap (146)

Posted July 13, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 13 Comments

Hey everyone! Long time, no chat. I’m sorry I up and disappeared and that I seem to keep doing that on the regular. You’d think that since I ain’t going nowhere thanks to this ‘Rona that I’d have all the time in the world to blog and to read and to do all of the things but I’ve sunk into the hole of Korean Dramas and that’s about all I’ve been doing. I’m watching a lot more than I’m reading right now but I’m working on trying to find a balance so that I can, you know, do all of the things.

Things might look a little different around here but I thought a little makeover was long overdue. I also thought that changing the look up might motivate me to start writing again and…it worked! With this new look and a little change of direction, I’m pumped to start blogging again. Now, I know that you guys are here for the book content but I’m thinking of going back to a more personal blog so that I can write about more than just what I’m reading.

So, Welcome Back! Pull up a seat, grab a beer, and let’s catch up, shall we? I missed y’all!

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (146)Magic Binds
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #9
Published by Penguin, Ace on September 20, 2016
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 333
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads

The new, “heart-stopping”* novel in the New York Times bestselling series that “defines urban fantasy.”

Mercenary Kate Daniels knows all too well that magic in post-shift Atlanta is a dangerous business. But nothing she’s faced could have prepared her for this…
Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar…

Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in his never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead.

The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules…

After taking almost two months off from reading, I’m back at it again and I’m about a third of the way into this book. I need to finish this series before I jump into any other new to me books because I tried to read a few contemporaries before this one and I couldn’t finish any of them. You know its bad when I tried reading a Lauren Layne book and my attention was all over the place. I couldn’t buckle down long enough to finish the book so I gave up not too far into the story. I blame Kate Daniels. I just need to see where my friends end up after the last book and hopefully, it’s somewhere nice and tidy. So far, this one is good so I’m glad to be back with all of my homies…especially Curran and Kate. So I’m looking forward to finishing this one.

What I Read

Blind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden | 4 out of 5

I finally read a book, y’all! I haven’t read anything since the end of May and though I’ve been trying, nothing has been holding my attention but after chatting on Zoom with my book girlfriends, I picked this one up (at their recommendation) and I’m super glad that I did. It was too cute and super short so just what I needed to kick my ass in gear and start reading again. Thanks Ames and Holly!

What I Got

Blind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden
The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
My Truth by Don Benjamin
The One by John Marrs

What I’m Currently Watching

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)
Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016)

I debated with myself on if I wanted to start Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth right now because I’m running out of Park Seo Joon shows and movies to watch. He is my number one boo thang right now and I want to savor everything of his that I still have left.

What I Watched

Strong Woman, Do Bong Soon (2017) | 4.5 out of 5
Weightlifting Fairy, Kim Bok Joo (2016) | 4.5 out of 5
Juror 8 (2019) | 4 out of 5
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) | 4 out of 5
The K2 (2016) | 3.5 out of 5

My favorite watch of the week is a tie between Strong Woman, Do Bong Soon and Weightlifting Fairy, Kim Bok Joo. Both dramas were kind of similar in the sense that both heroines were physically strong and the love triangle is different in Weightlifting Fairy but I hella loved both of these shows. I enjoyed the romance, the stories, and just everything about both of them. I’ve already made a list of shows and movies that my favorite actors/actresses from both shows are in because I want to see more of them.

My least favorite show from this week goes to The K2. I was looking for a different speed than the other shows I watched and I’ve been hearing such great things about this show so I started it up. It’s on Netflix, the main male lead is FOINE so I thought, why not? While it was interesting and I did like it overall, the beginning was a bit slow and I struggled to connect with both of the main leads for a bit. Still, not bad just not my favorite.

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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Eye Candy Friday: Curran from Kate Daniel’s Series by Ilona Andrews

Posted June 21, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

Eye Candy Friday is all about the heroes and heroines that I’m loving and wanting to spotlight right now. Sometimes I’ll do full-on gush fest posts on why I love these guys, sometimes I’ll post pictures of what I think they look like and that’s it but if they’re featured here, the one thing that will be constant is I loved the hell out of them and want everyone to know. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Eye Candy Friday: Curran from Kate Daniel’s Series by Ilona AndrewsMagic Burns
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #2
Published by Penguin, Ace on April 1, 2008
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 260
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
four-half-stars

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

Today’s eye candy is Curran Lennart from the Kate Daniels series, but more specifically from Magic Burns. Magic Burns is the second book in the Kate Daniels series and it is where a crush developed on Curran because I’ll be honest. I didn’t like Curran all that much in Magic Bleeds. I thought he was an arrogant jackass but we didn’t really see him in that book. He’s in this book a lot more and Kate knows him better and seeing the amount of care that he has for his pack is something else.

In this book, there’s a part where Curran is fighting the bad guys and he doesn’t give up. He just plows through enemies left and right and he keeps going, even if the odds are against him. He just keeps fighting and fighting to keep his loved ones safe and to give Kate a fighting chance. He won me completely over in this book because man, I loved it…and that’s why he’s this week’s eye candy. Yummo.

You can read my joint review of Magic Burns, here. I reviewed with my Book Binge team and we all liked it much better than the first book.

Hero Casting

Saw this casting floating around the internet and that definitely fits in with the image that I have of Curran in my mind. I can definitely see this guy annoying the shit out of Kate and turning into a majestic lion. Gah, I heart Curran.

Buy the Book

AMAZON || BARNES & NOBLE || GOOGLE BOOKS || THE RIPPED BODICE

Kate Daniels Series

Have you read Magic Burns? Did you love Curran as much as I did? Who is your favorite character this week?

four-half-stars

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The Weekly Recap (127)

Posted April 15, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

This week was a pretty busy week for me, both in my real life and on the blog. I actually wrote up some posts and had them go live. Woot! My squad also celebrated my bestie Theresa’s birthday with loads of sushi, some Mexican cocoa with a side of gossip as well. My family also celebrated another family member’s birthday on Sunday at one of those fancy brunch spots in Downtown Los Angeles. That was the best party because on top of fabulous food, we had a huge TV in our party room and it was on the Dodgers game so if you know, that’s my idea of the perfect party!

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (127)Magic Burns
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #2
Published by Penguin, Berkley on April 1, 2008
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 260
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

My reading slump is still kicking me in the ass. I’ve been reading this book ever so slowly for the past week. I’m just not in the mood to read these days but I really, really need to kick that slump because I have shit to read and review. Fingers crossed that this is the week I kick my reading slump in the ass for good.

What I Read

Fumbled (The Playbook #2) by Alexa Martin | 4 out of 5
The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years #4) by Sarina Bowen | 4.25 out of 5

Eye Candy Friday

Jon Snow
HBO’s Game of Thrones

What I Reviewed

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton | 4.25 out of 5
You’d be Mine by Erin Hahn | 4 out of 5
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton | 4.25 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (126)
My TBR Pile: April 2019
The Wednesday Post (10)
Eye Candy Friday: Jon Snow from Game of Thrones

What I Got

Nothing this week. Maybe next week?

What I Got for Review

No Judgments (Little Bridge Island #1) by Meg Cabot

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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The Weekly Recap (124)

Posted March 11, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

We had a pretty bad scare over the weekend with Caiden and my heart still hasn’t returned to normal but we’re monitoring his fever, keeping it down and everything seems to be better with our little guy so that makes me happy. I read some books over the week but I didn’t get around to finishing all of my books from last week because I was distracted with family stuff but I’m hopeful that I’ll pick right back up this week and get all of the books read. Fingers crossed.

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (124)Magic Bites
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #1
Published by Penguin, Berkley on March 27, 2007
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 260
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2019 GoodReads Challenge, 2019 TBR Challenge

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, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…

I’m buddy reading this with Casee and Holly on Book Binge and I’m really enjoying it. Kate Daniels is a fantastic character and I can’t wait to finish this one so that I can jump right into the next one.

What I Read

Overnight Sensation (Brooklyn Bruisers #5) by Sarina Bowen (eBook) | 4.5 out of 5
Team Player by Julianna Keyes (eARC) | 4 out of 5
Repeat by Kylie Scott (Audiobook) | 4 out of 5

What I Reviewed

Bad Bachelor (Bad Bachelors #1) by Stefanie London | 3.5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (123)
My TBR Pile: March 2019

What I Got

A Week to be Wicked (Spindle Cove #2) by Tessa Dare (eBook)
Naked in Death (In Death #1) by J.D. Robb (eBook)
Repeat by Kylie Scott (Audiobook)

What I Got for Review

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann
Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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