Review: Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...

While I haven't loved every single moment of this series and all the characters it introduced, I am so sad that we won't have another full-length Edge book.  So although this is the end of the series, I still feel it went out a great note.  

Charlotte is an unbelievable character.  She's fully developed on the page, and I found myself rooting for her from the outset.  I wasn't as sold on Richard.  He's been mentioned throughout the series, starting with Bayou Moon, but he's not like the rest of his family.  Where Charlotte and Richard become equals is by their devotion, specifically to family.  Combined, they are a force to be reckoned with (or certainly Charlotte is).  

The one thing I didn't like is that the world isn't "ended" or made to be neat and tidy.  There's still badness within the Edge and abroad; there's still danger Rose, Jack, George, Sophie/Lark, Richard, and Charlotte must face -- but we aren't guaranteed a bird's eye view.   Still, a great urban fantasy series.     

Review: Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Born to a family of conmen, Audrey Callahan left behind her life in the Edge for an unmagical existence in the Broken. Audrey is determined to stay on the straight and narrow, but when her brother gets into hot water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades.

Kaldar Mar is a gambler, a lawyer, a thief, and a spy with some unusual talents that guarantee him lucrative work. When his latest assignment has him tracking down a stolen item, Kaldar doesn’t expect much of a challenge—until Audrey turns up to give him a run for his money.

But when the missing item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal, Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job and survive, he’s going to need Audrey’s help…

Kaldar Mar is kind of larger than life.  He's one of those great secondary characters who invades the page, and you find yourself searching, wanting another glimpse of him.   The same can also be said about George and Jack.  By putting these three together on a "mission" of sorts, you would think I would be chomping at the bit to gush Fate's Edge praises.  It was a good book, don't misunderstand, but it wasn't on par in my opinion with the previous books of this series because The Edge was missing, or at least The Edge Rose, George, Jack, and the Mars inhabit wasn't truly present.  So while good, Fate's Edge was...different. 

That being said, we are left with somewhat of a cliffhanger and a revelation of who the villain for the next book might be.  It will be most interesting to see who shall be the hero or heroine.

Review: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swath of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan's long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over in the Edge—and Cerise's life. William, a changeling soldier who'd left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation's spymaster.

When William's and Cerise's missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they'll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

 
 
Sparks completely fly between William and Cerise. 

He wore jeans and a white T-shirt.  His clothes molded to him.  William wasn't built, he was carved, with hard strength and lethal speed in mind.  No give, no weakness.  He had the honed, lean body of a man who was used to fighting for his life and liked it that way.  And he strode to her like a swordsman: sure, economical movements touched with a natural grace and strength.

Their stares met.  She saw the shadow of the feral thing slide across William's eyes, and she stopped stirring the stew. 

They stared at each other for a long tense moment. 

Damn it.  That was not supposed to happen. 

And while watching them admit they like one another is fun, the real action is in the Mire itself.  Their surroundings seems to become a character and, lest we forget, there are several "characters" present in Cerise's family. 

At times Bayou Moon felt more in the gothic tradition of Flannery O'Connor or Carson McCullers rather than straight-up urban fantasy, particularly because of the layers upon layers of subtext.  There is more here than putting William and Cerise together to get from point A to point B or achieve such-and-such goal or even to play out their romantic arc.  This is deep, life-changing (for all characters involved), and damn if Ms. Andrews doesn't do oh so well.  I couldn't put this book down and cannot wait to read what's next for The Edge.

Review: On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.


Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn't turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off-the-books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—-or they'll devour the Edge and everyone in it...

I saw the cover for Bayou Moon at Lurv a la Mode.  I can't really say what drew my eye, but it did.  I've all but stopped reading urban fantasy and/or paranormal romance (except for a select few authors), so I'm always hesitant when I read the cover copy and discover a book I'd like to read is in either one of those genres.  After discovering Bayou Moon was the second in an inter-connected series -- or that's what I believe anyway, since I cannot find a blurb for Bayou Moon -- well, it had me at "series".

I am so glad I took a chance. 

On the Edge sucked me in from the first line, and lines like these kept me reading:

"I, Declan Riel Martel, ade Dominik, ade Logran, ade Rotibor, Earl of Camarine, Lord of Longshire, Svyator, and Veres, hereby swear to fulfill three tasks given to me within the next two weeks by..." He looked at her.

"Rose Drayton."  He owned more titles than TitleMax. 

...

"Rose," he said, as if tasting her name in his mouth.  "Let me in."

She simply shook her head.  It was all she could do.

"Shall I strip and try to entice you with my manly body?"

...

"That's the other thing I don't quite understand about you.   You're an earl.  You have money.  You're not ugly."

"I'm quite handsome, actually," he said.

Handsome was for ordinary mortals.  She rolled her eyes.  "And so modest, too.  Why are you here trying to get me to marry you?"

Despite being mired in fantasy, Rose could have been one of my neighbors where I grew up.  (This small-town feel has brought so many books to my attention, so I'm glad when authors decide to "write small," regardless of how big or developed their world is.)  She was real, a smart-ass, and I wanted to know more about her, wanted to spend more time together.  Her problems are magical, yes, but also fact-based.  Who doesn't understand living paycheck to paycheck and fighting to keep your family (and town) safe? 

I cannot wait to read Bayou Moon in September.