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Author: Ilona Andrews
Title: Gunmetal Magic
Release: July 31st 2012
Series: A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels
Reviewer: Noa
Source: Personal library
Purchase: | Book Depository

After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. She tries to put herself back together by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend. When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda, and Andrea’s former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate. Now she must work with Raphael as her search for the killer leads into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta. And dealing with her feelings for him might have to take a back seat to saving the world…

When the author duo behind Ilona Andrews announced that they were postponing the next book in the Kate Daniels series, instead choosing to focus one book on Andrea Nash – Kate’s best friend – there were many readers who were quite disappointed… I was not one of them. Not that I couldn’t wait to read the next book in Kate’s saga, this series is one of the only ones I have left that has yet to let me down. Waiting an extra year? Not fun. But knowing that I get to delve into a completely new side of Kate’s Atlanta? Awesome.

Still, I was worried – this entire series has ben told from Kate’s perspective (and thanks to Gordon – an occasional glimpse at the world from Curran’s point of view) would it work when told through Andrea’s eyes?

Seriously, you would think that by now I would trust these guys to know how to tell a story.

When we last met Andrea in Magic Slays she was finally out of the Order and working with Kate’s private detective agency Cutting Edge Investigations. But she also had many issues to deal with – her identity issues (born bouda, able to shift to her human form), her status with the pack, her relationship with Raphael, son of the alpha of clan bouda and male alpha of the boudas…. Andrea has a lot on her plate and in Gunmetal Magic she is forced to deal with them.

When a group of shifters is murdered Andrea is called in to take over the investigation. The problem is, the victims were Raphael’s employees and she can no longer ignore the man she mated with.

Andrea has also decided to finally face who she is and that means she either needs to join the pack (which means having her boyfriend’s mom as her alpha), face Curran’s wrath or leave town.

Add an Egyptian God, shifter killing snakes and and a sexy Russian Volhv and well, Andrea has quite a lot on her plate.

Andrea has always felt like an outsider, and while the Order meant everything to her, she knew that even there she had to keep her guard up.

Andrea’s backstory is heartbreaking and explains so much about who she is as an adult, seeing her come to the realization that she can be her badass self means that she may finally let her guard down enough to see she has a place and a family.

Pack and family, two very important themes in Gunmetal Magic, where we get to see a completely different aspect of pack life and internal politics to the ones we have seen from Kate’s perspective. If Kate was a complete outsider living outside pack rules, Andrea is a completely different kind of outsider of a that now must learn to live within those rules.

And of course, there’s Raphael who thinks Andrea bailed out on him while she thinks he bailed out on her. When they’re forced to work together, things get explosive in the best possible way.

I have loved Raphael ever since he took care of Andrea when she was ‘outed’ as beastkin and yes he has his minuses – I wanted to hit him across the room when he walked out on Andrea – still, in Gunmetal Magic Andrea finally explains where she is coming from and Raphael …well, you’ll just have to find out.

Favorite series characters have important parts to play in Gunmetal Magic – Ascanio the teenage bouda who will be giving Raphael a run for his money, Roman the Russian Volhv who seriously and totally needs his own story, and of course Aunt B, Jim, Julie, Doolittle, Kate and Curran.

This book had everything I have come to expect and love from an Ilona Andrews story, a character driven plot, adventure, humor and an addictive aspect that often makes me believe they have made a deal with the devil.

Gunmetal Magic is a fantastic addition to the Kate Daniels series but it is also an exceptional story all on its own. You just have to wonder, where will Ilona Andrews take us next?

As usual, I cannot wait to find out.

Noa first fell in love with books when she discovered 100 acre wood and its inhabitants. To this day, the last pages of “The House at Pooh Corner” make her cry. In a good way. From“Calvin and Hobbes” to “The Iliad and the Odyssey” and lets not forget “Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes”. Biographies, mysteries, history books and romances all have a place on her bookshelves. Who needs furniture? This 29 year old singleton’s dream is to invent the zero-calorie chocolate. But until that day arrives, she tries to create sweet confections with whatever chocolate she can find. An MA in conflict studies (need a mediator?) means Noa loves a good debate, especially when she wins. If she were in charge, books would be free for everyone.

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