Book Rec : Kate Daniels series

Book the first.

Okay, so very recently, I finished reading the third book of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.
Oh. My. God.

It is wonderful.

Now, I'm not such a huge fan of urban fantasy. Most of the books I've read in that genre seem to be pretty meh for me. The only other UF that I'd read and loved was the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, and after Shadowfever, I'd been pining away for a great, new series to fill the void. I read the first books of countless series, all of them leaving me bored. Until now.

Basically, this series has everything I hope for.

Kate Daniels is a kick ass heroine. She has a freaking sword and cuts people apart, and when she meets the Beast Lord for the first time, she calls out, "Here, kitty, kitty", knowing that he could rip her apart if he so wished. How epic is that? She doesn't take shit from anyone, and that's the kind of strong heroine I like to read about, yet she still knows her flaws, and works around them to get what she wants.

Next, there's the romance. It is definitely not insta-love. The romance develops over several books (which spans at least half a year), starting with cute flirtation, finally moving on to full on steamy scenes that had me drooling and wanting more. There's that feeling of anticipation that grows, and Andrews uses that anticipation so well, far better than most romances I've read.

There's a whole range of characters, and none of them are two-dimensional. They all seem to be living, breathing, ass-kicking people, and I love each and every one of them. They grow steadily, and all have flaws that make them real. Damn, it's so hard to find real characters lately. But man, Andrews makes it work.

Finally, I have to talk about the plot. The plots for these books gets better and better. You can see Andrews becoming a better writer with each book, and that sort of growth in writing is something I admire a lot.

Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, I urge you to go and get your hands on them now.