Sorry, guys, we are going to skip the next installment of the Innkeeper. Nothing is wrong, the mammogram was normal – thank you to everyone who emailed – it’s just that we are working full speed on Hugh to finish in time for our deadline and because we are in the finale, it’s very hard to switch gears at this point. We have an action-packed scene coming up for Maud, and we want to do it justice. So we will see you next week.
But we do have a consolation bribe available for you this Friday. Click here to read the first two chapters of Magic Triumphs. Please keep in mind that the chapters haven’t been through the copyedit and will contain grammatical mistakes. They will be replaced with cleaned up versions once the book has been properly edited. Also, it is a massively long excerpt, so please be patient with the page load.
Kate has come a long way from her origins as a loner taking care of paranormal problems in post-Shift Atlanta. She’s made friends and enemies. She’s found love and started a family with Curran Lennart, the former Beast Lord. But her magic is too strong for the power players of the world to let her be.
Kate and her father, Roland, currently have an uneasy truce, but when he starts testing her defenses again, she knows that sooner or later, a confrontation is inevitable. The Witch Oracle has begun seeing visions of blood, fire, and human bones. And when a mysterious box is delivered to Kate’s doorstep, a threat of war from the ancient enemy who nearly destroyed her family, she knows their time is up.
Kate Daniels sees no other choice but to combine forces with the unlikeliest of allies. She knows betrayal is inevitable. She knows she may not survive the coming battle. But she has to try.
For her child.
For Atlanta.
For the world.
I AM SO EXCITED
Oh, lovely. Thanks for an extensive excerpt. What a great Friday.
Thank you, thank you. A wondrous respite from cleaning storage cupboards.
Well, this way Maud and Arland can have a few more minutes of peace before the screaming emergency descends, so bribe accepted!!
Thank you!!! =)
and now that I’ve read it… My brother’s birthday cannot come soon enough… =) This is going to be SO good and I can’t wait to see if my suspicions are correct. =) If they are, you guys are even more devious long-term plotters than I thought and that would take some doing! =)
Ooh, now I want to know… What do you suspect will happen?
Yes, inquiring minds (and just plain nosey people like me) want to know! What do you think will happen? ?
I’m so glad your mammogram results were normal!!
I know I’m in the minority but I’ve decided not to read this excerpt. The problem is my memory. When it comes time to buy the new book I keep wondering if I’ve already read it because it sounds so familiar. Buying a book now is a huge job as I keep hunting through my shelves and my past order lists just to make sure I’m not ordering a book I’ve already read! (It’s worse with series that are brought out in hardback first, because then the date on the book shows as last year and I’m sure I must have read it.) Then I finally get the book and start reading and for the first couple of chapters I still think I’m re-reading a book and that I’ve wasted my money getting a second copy. It seriously spoils my enjoyment.
I can’t wait for the whole book to come out so I can read it all in one piece without that worrying. I’m glad that the rest of you obviously don’t have these same problems.
Goodreads lets you make lists of read, want to read, etc. I use that to keep track.
Amazon tells me if I’m ordering something I already bought or ordered.
I have the same problem. I generally preorder books from my favorite authors so that helps a lot. Ordering Kindle books in Amazon is even more enormously helpful because I’ll see a big banner on the page saying I have already ordered the book / own it. If I didn’t use Kindle, I would probably go to the book listing on Amazon & look up the publication date. It lists the book release date which might give me a clue as to whether I have read it yet.
That is one reason I started getting my books on kindle. They do a message that I have already bought this book and when. If I do get a book by accident then I call them and they take it back.
Amazon used to tell me when I’d already bought a book but there have been a couple of times when the system has not worked – perhaps because I’ve pre-ordered it on Amazon (and it was way down the page because I ordered it so early) and then bought it again on the Book Depository.
I have ME/CFS and when I am tired the brain fog kicks in!
Also when a book is re-issued with a new publisher it will not show as being purchased in the past. I have over 6000 books on my kindle so I have to keep an extremely close eye on what I already have.
They will take a book back but I try to be careful. Every time I moved I had to donate my books, I just couldn’t move all of those books.
OMG, the first two chapters! Thank you! I have to get situated first. I need to make me some tea, take care of a pressing phone and then decide the kinda sorta cloudy day that warns of possible rain justifies me putting off mowing the lawn until later. I have no distractions and no feelings of guilt for indulging my favorite pastime, reading the Kate Daniels series.
Unfair, you put a comment in before reading. ha ha
Such a good bribe. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!
Sad to wait for the next Innkeeper chapter, but the bribe is sufficiently awesome to make up for it! Thank you so much!!
I love the bribe, thank you! Doubly excited to read the next innkeeper installment now…… off to read Kate now 🙂
Thank you for the except. Was looking forward to the next instalment but received a lovely surprise indeed.
Ahhhhhhhh!
Okay, I’ll wait.
Well, I have to admit that was a very nice bribe. Thank you,
Thank you so much! You guys are the best!
Haven’t read the excerpt yet — I’m trying to talk myself into waiting until after work, but I predict an epic fail on that — but let me just say… Feel free to bribe us anytime. We won’t hold it against you.
For the record, it was an epic fail, but I think I can hold off on a reread until I get home. (Don’t hold me to that!)
That was one epic fail. You lasted all of 30 minutes. But be proud you lasted that long and it probably seemed like forever.
You weren’t supposed to do the math.
Sometimes I feel SO lucky to have discovered you guys. Today is one of them–you guys are so good at what you do, it makes me break out in goosebumps.
Yes!!!!
Thank you?
Thank you for the excerpt,,, good luck with Hugh and his playmates. 🙂
Nope not going to do it not going to read first two chapters. Then rack my brain with what happens next for months on in. Nope no way.
Good luck holding out. I am trying to do so as well, but am afraid my will power won’t be sufficient to the task and that I will crumble and give in soon! Good for you for holding your ground, and I hope I can be as strong as you are. ?
Wow, just wow.
Very glad to hear about the mammogram. You gave me the push to schedule mine, thanks.
That is some powerful writing. My emotions are all over the map with the various characters. I won’t wish my life away for August, but I will certainly think about and re-read these two chapters frequently. Wow.
Hugh’s book, yay! Innkeeper next week, yay! Thank you for everything you do.
Thank you for the literary amuse busch. Glad the mammogram was good news.
I know many if us in the Horde are appreciative of your gifts as well as the hours of enjoyment you give us, but….
The folks who make up the Horde are nifty in their own right. This is a warm place in a cold world.
For that, endless thanks.
I loved it! OMG, love, love, chiiiiiii, whichever language–all languages! All my feelings, they explode! It totally sucked me in, so much that I got to the end and was shocked that there was no more! Awesome. So excited for its release! Must learn to compress time!
Sad I won’t get my fix of Maud this week. And tantalized about that “action packed scene” she has coming up (oooh. A fight, a fight!!) Author lords are so evil that way 🙂 But I’m also extremely happy you thought enough of your readership not to leave us in the lurch completely. 2 Chapters of Kate is a great bribe 🙂 I’m going to save it for next week when I’m really desperately needing a fix of something good!
*Sigh* I will miss my weekly fix, addiction or whatever it’s called for “Sweep of The Blade” as I have it bad waiting for the finished product. I completely understand the deadlines – really important stuff.
Truthfully, I’m surprised I’m reading the weekly “Sweep of The Blade” installments as I don’t usually do this, but there is something about Maude and Arland (which I relate to the novels I initially fell in love with the “Sweep in Peace” series” – I love me some Dina and Sean).
As one of the previous comments above mentioned, I’m going to pass on reading any excerpts from “Magic Triumphs” as I don’t want to know anything about it until the entire novel is in my greedy little hands and I can read repeatedly. Kate, Curran and the rest of the gang will have to wait until current release date of August 2018 as I love me some Kate and Curran. I really love me some Ilona Andrews – whatever you write.
I could be reading into it too much, but it sounds like we can expect a bit of Bouda in the Hugh’s story. ;D
Action packed sounds lime a challenge but maybe that’s too obvious. I have to admit I see Arland and Maud like Benedict and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Not the main couple but in many ways the more interesting pair.
Thank you! Glad to hear Innkeeper’s postponement is just a question of devoting all your time and energies to Hugh’s story. And the excerpt is marvelous – a great way to start the weekend!
I am going to sit at work and read two chapters. Yes I am.
Thanks, happy writing and happy Friday!
Thank you so much for the first chapters of Kate’s last book. They were great and I loved them, though honestly this just makes the wait that much harder and the anticipation that much sharper. Kudos for a job exceptionally well done, as always.
I hope that all goes well with Hugh’s book and look forward to reading whatever you do with Sweep of the Blade whenever you’re able to get to it. But at the same time also sincerely wish that you take your time and not overextend yourselves in the doing.
That said, the prospect of Kate 10 is bittersweet to me. As much as I’ve loved the series and characters, to see the main arc end is going to be both great and painful. I’ll miss Kate and Curran terribly as I’ve grown to love them but definitely agree that they’ve more than earned their HEA. Please take pity on us and show glimpses of them in future World of Kate works if only to let us watch Conlan’s (and any additional siblings’) development.
Thank you again for being who and how you are, your generosity to your fans, amazing writing ability, rich and imaginative world building, etc. all of it combines to make the two of you my favorite writers. Bravissimo!
Oh yes! What she said.
I agree with that. 100%.
Couldn’t agree more – you put it so nicely Kitkat9000! Bravissimo indeed!!!!! ?
I ate (read) the forbidden fruit and now I hunger for more, I know I shouldn’t have, I knew this will happen, but I had to…
Now it’s time to start the rites of waiting and hope I can keep my sanity until release date.
(So many thoeries of the potential enemy…. so many. I might need to do research on the previous books)
I’m betting it’s the enemy that Erra described in the last book. The one that came to their kingdom and killed some of Kate’s aunts, uncles, and cousins.
yeah, i though the same, but i need to reread that apart again, and the previous uses of bones in spellcasting.
That was absolutely worth no Innkeeper today. I’m thinking that a day off from work to read when the full book comes out may be in order.
Bribe accepted with thanks ?
This book will be something else. Thank you for the 2 chapters. In many ways Kate and Curran have their HEA already. Kate is a different better person. I am even rather fond of Erra. I sadly look forward to August.
BEST
BRIBE
EVER!!!!
Congrats on the positive medical news! Will return to cyber-stalking for the next Inn Keeper segment next week!
I love it, thank you. While waiting for Hugh and Kate, I’ve reread the Hidden Legacy series and been reminded how much I love the characters and the world, especially Nevada. Have the Author Overlords given any thought to serializing a story in that series?
Thank you, a great way to end a Friday….
Wonderful! I can already see that this final chapter will be worthy of our Kate. Thank you for the glimpse into paradise.
Loved the bribe and cant wait for the book to come out!
Thank you!
Such a large bribe, including the Prologue! Need to start planning on when to start my reread of Kate’s books so I’ll be all ready for this. Still, enjoying Sweep of the Blade so much, but also need Hugh’s book . . .
You have so many swords in the fire. Thanks for thinking of us!
You know what? Thank you very much! ❤️
I had a crappy Friday so was really looking forward to Maud’s story but your bribe is great, I am going to take the time to savor it!
?
Bribe away! I was able to get off work early to read the next installment and found this wonderful surprise. Will read as soon as I’m done commenting. Thank you in advance.
Hugh giving you trouble? Have Kate and Curran show up in a cameo appearance. That might help. ?
I finished reading the bribe. Wow! If this is what the unedited chapters are like now, imagine what they will be like in the finished book?! Holy moly! ?
Absolutely amazing and now I’m dying to read the rest!!! Thank you for sharing this with us.
2 chapters of Kate 10!????
woaaaaaaaaaah, best. friday. everrrrrrr!!!!!!! 😀
Something I’ve wondered.
How much of this ending / story arc was worked out in advance? I plan to go back and re-read the whole series after the final one comes out. Will I find little hints along the way and realise that you were working towards this all along?
Excerpt was totally awesome, can’t wait until whole book is released. Probably will need to start planning now how to take the release day off so I can focus on reading it, I know I won’t be able to put it down. Love your books!
This made my day! Great excerpt.
Wow! I was just going to start rereading the KD series again because I miss the characters and THEN!!!
What a gift. I have always known that you would end this series spectacularly. These two chapters reinforce that. Already some sadness though. Will miss Ascanio.
August really isn’t that far away.
Glad health news is good.
Love the first two chapters!!
Yes, I just stood in my kitchen and read the whole excerpt because I have to get back to work and don’t have time to sit and take a reading break. I was all set to wait till tonight to read the innkeeper installment but couldn’t pass on the Kate bribe. So good!
Glad to hear your mammogram was fine☺
Good to hear that everything is OK with the mammogram. Always a weight off your shoulders, isn’t it!! Looking forward to when you feel you can better concentrate on Maud and will GLADLY accept the Kate bribe!!!
I’m so excited. I love the books, in fact, I love everything you write. I can’t wait to read the book in August.
A thousand thanks for your time and your work, you have a loyal fan in Mexico, and from my beautiful city I send all my love and admiration.
Birbe accepted. 🙂
Aaarghh!!! AMAZING!!! OmG yes .. YES please!! Please write forever Authorlords.
Teach the kids.
I want this in my life. *heart*
LOL!!
Glorious!
Oh, wow! That lovely bribe more than made up for no Innkeeper installment this week. I feel like a 6-year-old waiting for Christmas. So impatient. So excited about the final Kate book. Dying to read the Hugh book. Loving Maud. Missing Dina! Getting a kick out of all the little references, like the carved figure that Wing made. So glad I found your blog, your books, and your Horde. Thanks. For everything you do, thanks.
Exactly! Couldn’t have said it better. Thank you!
Yes to all you’ve said ❤
Did anyone else feel like cheering the moment Derek showed up? …also, in a very different way, Luther. (The good folks of Biohazard…)
I just read this. At work. One could argue I needed a break – we’re short on animals of an appropriate size for me to work, with, and the ones we have aren’t interested in behaving (and it’s in their best interest to do so – minimally invasive in vivo studies are the way to go!) but, um, well, that was awesome!
…and thanks for the news on the mammogram, I was very nearly one of the people writing, but it didn’t seem fair, since I’d mostly have been begging for some good news in the face of a lot of bad. The last couple of weeks have been one finding after another that mean that my friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer definitely does not have stage one or two and is in a much more difficult place than originally thought. (She has excellent treatment options, and a strong local community, but it’s hard. And I’m on the other side of the country. :-p )
I have 2 first cousins each from my parents siblings – who are fighting cancer. We thought both were doing well until just recently one ended up in ICU and then flatlined. Doctors suspect this latest health crisis is related to her cancer. She just got out of the hospital but can’t fly off-island for more modernized treatment until her heart is strong enough to handle the long flight.
Because one person dies of cancer every 3 days in our island, I try to faithfully do mammogram yearly. In the past 12 years, the results letter states that I have an increase mass, they’re keeping watch on it and they believe it’s benign…. It’s always good to be safe than sorry.
Family and friends with cancer is hard. But knowing statisics like that is harder. I grieve for the deaths take care and remember that all of the BDH is behind you.
That sounds like a really hard situation. Both where I live now, and back home, have excellent medical care available – especially back home, where there’s a cancer research institute which partners with the surrounding hospitals. (One of my favorite cousins flew in from Japan, twice, to be treated there.*) And as long as part of my research has biomedical applications, this will probably be true for me. The idea of care being inaccessible like that is frightening. As Sage said, we’re behind you. Stay in touch?
My friend’s cancer is aggressive and fast moving, which is worrying… and she’s in her thirties, though a screening mammogram probably wouldn’t have helped what with how quickly this developed.
* And eventually died. But that was a complicated situation, spanning many years, and a great deal of it had to do with the treatment she received in Japan. Or didn’t, as the case happened to be.
Tylicat and Karen, I am so sorry to hear about your friend and cousins’ diagnosis. I will keep them, and you in my thoughts and prayers.
Thanks for the bribe, it is humbly accepted with great joy.
So, amazing <3
Can't wait to read the book!
Bribe accepted. Thank you!!!! A snippet would have worked.
Ssshhhh ?
Wow, that was a fabulous bribe! I hope you are planning a short break when you finish Hugh, some “me time” to relax and get the kinks out. Doing an April fool book joke this year? I’ve been rereading “Lake Silence and Burn Bright”, fabulous books and with Kate, Maud, and Hugh it will be a banner reading year. Its hard not to wish the time away so I’ll try to be patient. That said, roll on next Friday.
Thank you for this, I loved this, it made my evening . Fabulous world building in these first two chapters, my levels of anticipation for this the last book have increased exponentially. Amazon have just emailed me to say I will get release day delivery, also ebook ordered. Thank you for all your hard work and the joy you bring. Good news on the mammogram.
Yay for one-click! Amazon rocks!
Bribe accepted and devoured. Congratulations on the mammogram. Good luck with Hugh. Have yourself some nice chicken tacos at some point.
WOW! Just WOW WOW WOW! I am looking forward to August. I can wait for Maud next week. That sweet family scene can be savored longer and will make the action packed scene coming more intense.
I. Want. Luther’s. Shirt. (Will trade monies)
Ditto!!!
I just love Luther, from his constantly calling Kate “the unclean” to his shirts.
Luther is a hoot!! ?
“Behold, the Immortal One, the In-Shinar, the Blood Blade of Atlanta.”
I peed myself laughing! That’s supposed to be an expression damnit! Oh hell, I can’t remember when last I laughed so hard! Thanks for the bribe, can’t wait for the book!
I had exactly the same reaction picturing Kate standing there, “beheld” by the new recruits while this lovely introduction came out.
Loved both chapters and can’t wait for the book.
By the way, has it been 7 years since book 2 or not yet? – I’d love to see another flare!
Thank you for the updates and bribe. Good Luck with Hugh’s book.
Thank you! Much appreciated.
That was amazing.
OMG. I can’t wait for the book to come out! Bribe accepted such a lovely Bribe too.
All this greatness in the first two chapters!? ?I don’t know if my heart can take the whole book
Good bribe.
I am completely confused by Erra. I must have missed something somewhere; the last I remember of her is Kate’s father telling Kate that Erra had committed suicide by Kate, which Kate had a hard time accepting. Have I missed a book somewhere?
Yes, the last one.
Yes, you must’ve missed Magic Binds, book #9…. I just re-read it again; it’s one of my favorites, Erra is hilarious.
I thought Erra was hilarious also!! Would really enjoy more of her. ?
Wow. That is an excellent bribe. Thank you! Have to admit to whining like a puppy when I saw “delayed,” but I totally get needing to focus on one thing for a while. Glad all’s well with the mammogram!
I felt sad when I read the end of the chapter. I never thought that Ascanio would have felt like that. But it does make sense once I think about it.
Sadness here too. He and Derek were such a great team. its not like he disappears but…
Yeah, I agree. It is sad that he is leaving. He needs to talk to Kate directly. I wonder if Deric knows?
Thank you both for the great bribe! Not necessary but wonderful!
This is not a bribe, this is torture! I start stalking the site for the innkeeper 12 hours before it is due to find out more about Maud. NOW I also have to start stalking Amazon for the last Kate book!!! It is like seeing the most amazing pair of shoes, trying them on, loving them, but having to put them on layby because you can’t afford them yet!
Aaarrrggghhhhh
(But thank you and please don’t stop the amazing stories coming!)
Hahahaha yes that is exactly how I feel!! I also really excited for Hugh’s book as well!!!
Thank you!
That’s a wonderful bribe indeed. ^^
Enjoyable, but also quite heavy at the beginning and end, the Casino scene offered a good splash of humour and some relaxation in the midst of that.
My first reaction was to mourn this gloomy and rainy Friday and throw a mighty hissy fit but I was thoroughly satisfied with the bribe. You know us too well.
Thank you. Just thank you for giving us this world of wonder
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I think I’ll have to start re-reading the series one more time (right after I finish re-reading Outlander).
Thanks so much! Loved it and can’t wait for the book to be released.
Best. Bribe. Ever.
OMG. OMG. OMG. You have the best bribes! This is the best combo of pain (having to wait), and glory (reading some of it now.)
Thank you so much.
ThNk you! Can’t wait ?
Thank for a great bribe. I wish it was the end of a year already and we could read the book now.
I appreciate the growth that characters have been allowed in these first two chapters. It is the small moments of living and growing that elevate this story. It is the human side much more than the urban fantasy that keeps me coming back to read more.
Thank you for the excerpt and good luck getting to your finish line with Hugh’s book.
What a fabulous bribe. Waiting for August will be tough, but worthwhile. Congrats on the mammogram results.
You are experts in bribery! Amazing – anxiously awaiting until release date. Thank you
sequels are supposed to decrease in everything positive as they multiply – you’ve beat the odds by a HUGE margin
I wish I had a pinch of your imagination and talent
thank you for your wonderful work, & keep up the clear mammos
No bribes necessary but thank you anyway.
Amazing start to the final chapter. Really looking forward to Magic Triumphs.
This book is going to be so fabulous!
The bribe was great. You got so much into the prologue and the first two chapters and made it look easy.
Thank you for letting us visit Kate & Co. I am personally guessing Conlan will shift when he’s good and ready and not before.
OBTW – Just because Ascanio isn’t working for Kate, it doesn’t mean we won’t see him anyway…
I’m grinning ear to ear. It is so good. What a fabulous bribe! And really like that you started with the birth of Conlan. Thank you.
? wow, just wow!
Many many thanks for this ?
I died of laughter at the transfer phone call snafu it was priceless xD
Ditto!
Awesome bribe. Thank you!
Thank you so much! Wonderful chapters! Much appreciated!
Just finished rereading the Kate series. So this was very timely. Thank you.
Wow, thanks for the consolation, although it wasn’t necessary. You spoil us fans as it is. I’m gonna save this until a time when I’m not surrounded by people who want my attention. So exciting to get these chapters. Thanks!
Baby B…squeeee! Made my Friday. Please tell us we can look foward to the short story of Julie and Curran’s excellent adventure? Or the long story? I can only Hope. Thank you.
Thank you thank you!!! I can’t wait to read the whole thing! Someday, after a long vacation, it’d be wonderful if you guys could write a novella or Curran POV of pregnant Kate. Given the birth scene, I bet she was amazing. 🙂
I humbly bow to your amazing talent. Thank you for the lovely bribe. So glad you’re well.
Fell in love with the wonder boy again with that last scene with the tacos.
“what else would I need?”
DEREK <3
Agreed! Yay!
Oh my god! Yes!
Never fell out of love with him but I need his HEA!!!!!
Thank you! I’m not sure if this makes the wait for Magic Triumphs easier or not, but it is greatly appreciated!
So kind is this bribe accepted
And when at the end
I found no further page to turn…
I found staring at the screen
Did nothing to help
THE BLOODY ANTICIPATION!!!
Thank you
I love this so much. Can’t wait to buy the book!!
All the feels. Creepy, sweet, scary, funny. It is going to be a hell of a book. Can’t wait.
A very good bribe 🙂
I second that! Tears in my eyes from the birth.
So excited to see Derek getting some page time front and center. Can’t wait for this book!!!!!! Thanks for the preview!
You monster, you sadist, you articulate savant, you absolute wonder of a person/writing duo. How can I wait for this book, how can I survive knowing that this is the last one? You are what I want to be when I grow up.
Ditto – every bit of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, that’s what I call a BRIBE! Thank you!
Love this so much. I can’t wait for this book, but am so sad for their main story to be wrapped up. Thank you two so much.
Sweet, It covered all the emotions and then some. Just wow.
Thanks for the bribe.
Well I guess I can forgive no Innkeeper today because the substitute was freaking awesome. Thank you
Bribe accepted.
You should do a spin off based on the biohazard unit and its crew. Humour, adventure, gross things….all the elements of an adventure
I can literally say nothing…I am gobsmacked I am in awe I am in denial [still can’t accept knowing its the last book] I AM SO VERY EXCITED!!! CHIIIIIIIII Its going to be MAGNIFICENT!!!!
Omg wonderful & very excited. Cant wait. Counting down the days?
I’m still upset about how Raphael told Kate off like that. I realize it was for Ascanio’s sake, but Ascanio better has the balls to face Kate and tell her directly what he wants. I know it’s not like they won’t meet again but it still hurts. Even for me who read it from the point of view as a reader. I hope small retribution (because I still adore Ascanio-Kate’s funny banters) shall come and knock some senses to their thick heads. So what if Raphael is an alpha and act like a ruthless one, but telling Kate to cut off Ascanio’s employment ties like that; it irked me to no end. Cider or no cider.
Honestly, ever since Curran stepped down as Beast Lord, at times Raphael has been getting under my skin for his treatment (direct or not) towards Kate and Curran. The couple might not mind it much since Raphael is a savage businessman, their ally, etc etc. But imho, he already lost quite a lot cookie points from me for some of his attitude.
It might be just me. I’m sorry if other readers and fans might be offended. I think I need to get a fresh air.
Yes, it it like this world is my neighbor, so you know, one gets involved. I kinda wonder if Ascanio might get his own back at Raphael at some point. I hope he doesn’t risk his life.
Raphael is doing Ascanio a favor. Ascanio would not leave Kate on his own, but he would not be satisfied with Cutting Edge. Kate knew this was coming since Aunt B set it up years ago.
I totally agree with you. I never liked Jim since his treatment of Kate from the beginning. I don’t know why I was surprised how he and Raphael cheated Curran from his personal shares of the Pack businesses. I thought leftover loyalty and appreciation for all Curran did those years and getting the formula to prevent loupism would count. Curran said the reclamation business brings in millions. Money Raphael was Not willing to part. So Jim and Raphael were Only willing to give the Pack’s shares of the Mercenary Guild, a sinking ship. I lost total respect for both of them.
I think Raphael is going behind Ascanio’s back. He wants Kate to break the loyalty/bond of Ascanio. He doesn’t want to be the bad guy. If Ascanio wasn’t smart and an asset to the Bouda Clan, I bet Ascanio would still be working with Kate.
I don’t know if I believe that Raphael is actually going behind Ascanio’s back to speak to Kate, but that’s a great point about Jim and Raphael only giving shares of the Mercenary Guild to Curran (but I’m glad Curran was able to turn that organization around).
As for Jim, I also really, really dislike him. I haven’t liked him since the beginning because he has never (or rarely) shown loyalty to Kate, even after all she has done for shapeshifters. He blamed Kate for Dali getting stabbed, although Jezebel was part of Clan Bouda before Kate had ever been to the Keep and had no control over that situation. He doesn’t share information with her unless she threatens him (like when she was still in the Order) or if he really needs her for something. He doesn’t apologize for his behavior or seem to care if she is hurt (emotionally) or not. He uses the excuse that she is not a shapeshifter, but other shapeshifters have shown loyalty or have been supportive of her, even the ones who have not known her for as long as he has (e.g., Doolittle, Aunt B, even Mahon eventually!), …. I get so mad at Jim every time I re-read the KD books, ugh…
Do you think Ascanio should stay with Kate? Or that he wants to? I mean, has Raphael been cleverly keeping him away from Kate against his will? (Playing out that scenario in my mind is amusing as hell, but I don’t see either Raphael or Andrea having the patience for it. He’s valuable, sure, but if he wanted to stay with Kate, it would be so much easier to let him do so!)
Here’s a thing with interns and proteges – it’s your job to help them grow into the people they want to be. Not who you want them to be, and definitely not your permanent underlings because having permanent underlings is convenient. Kate isn’t trying to play on those bonds of loyalty – she’s just busy with other stuff and could use the help. But it’s the kind of situation that can form easily, especially when there’s a power differential (and love and gratitude and all that, reinforcing the tie)… and it can get corrupt and toxic as hell.
Or to put it another way – what would Roland do? And then, thinking about that, what should Kate do? It’s all of a piece with walking away from ruling Atlanta, in a way.
(I’m super opinionated about this, I’m afraid. My birth family had wretched internal politics, and sometimes made demands on loyalty that I consider unethical – and just gross, and with some painful consequences. And I’ve seen far too many bad examples of this socially, the most simple case being where a charismatic person collected a group a insecure people and encouraged them to be dependent. Though all the bad examples can be instructive.)
But what would have Curran done with all the money? Maybe it was meant to give him something to feel useful, how would he have fared without this opportunity?
Jim is ruthless, so is Raphael, but maybe they tried to do the best for the pack and for Curran both. Curran still had enough to by his whole neighborhood…
Concerning Ascanio, yes I think Raphael is acting without Ascanio’s input, but that’s his role as alpha (and parental figure). If Ascanio was able to ask him to do so, he would be able to go ask Kate himself, if he asked Raphael to tell her, it would negate all this “he likes you too much and is too much loyal to be able to leave you”.
But at the same time, i don’t accept this crap about working with Kate preventing him from rising within the clan. Kate is a friend of the clan, all boudas know her and know she was respected by aunt B, and she’s their alpha best friend, so Ascanio could work for both (he couldn’t work for Jim though).
I don’t know if that’s where I’d look for the key to that interaction. Jim was understandably upset, because Curran stepping down not only put him in a hard job (that, okay, which he also wanted, but people get to have mixed feelings) but more to the point meant Curran was going to take all his toys and leave, leaving the pack financially crippled. I don’t think it’s unfair for Jim, as the new Beastlord, to be a bit put out at this outcome for the organization Curran spent the last many years building up.) Raphael… I suppose I see him as someone who looks as business as play. I mean, he’s in it for the best deal, sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s personal. (I am thinking of a relative, again, but Raphael is so much more amiable…)
But that’s just background. The key is before the deal is presented. The neighborhood is bought, the land is secured, and Curran… he’s pretty happy not being the Beastlord, but remember the bit about him missing making it work? He’s getting a little bored. Cutting Edge is Kate’s thing. He can dabble in it, but it doesn’t really play to his devious and domineering strengths.
I think under other circumstances, Curran would have refused, there would have been some protracted process of growling back and forth over a few months, possibly punctuated by exchanges of information through back channels over coffee (I’m thinking Kate, Dali and Andrea here…) and eventually something equitable would have been hammered out. I mean, do you really think Curran would have let himself be cheated? The reason this didn’t happen is that Curran started wondering what he could make of the Mercenary Guild, and the idea caught his imagination. (I suppose there’s a question around whether Jim anticipated this?)
I do hope… hm, I’m not sure that Jim getting his head out of his ass is quite what I’m aiming at here. Learns to use his words? Jim has had a pretty lousy time of it the last bit, and his actions strike me as consistent with his character. I don’t see Dali is likely to allow herself to be pulled into playing diplomat while Jim’s failing his plays well with others role, at least as a regular thing.
I think Raphael was being on the level. He wouldn’t have been so unhappy had he not been – Kate is a friend, and his mate’s best friend. And Ascanio being young and not up to the job, and Kate being a bit oblivious (or just not having the time to deal with it, and figuring it wasn’t her problem) meant that he ended up interceding in an uncomfortable situation… but one that had been going on for a long time by then.
Throwing the In-Shinar bit in her face… eh, Kate’s super uncomfortable with that, but it doesn’t mean it’s not relevant to the situation. The real discussion is about Ascanio’s future, and that’s a serious factor. (Not to mention a factor that’s relevant to everyone’s future.)
Okay. I will give Raphael the benefit of the doubt. {{gritting teeth}}
I have to agree with Raphael being on the level. And I thinks it’s completely legit that Ascanio himself could never go to her to break that bond; his loyalty wouldn’t permit it. Kate recognizes Ascanio has become valued because of her contributions in building his character and strengths. Aunt B giving him to Kate was a form of fostering, similar to the Middle Ages, and it worked as it was meant to. I think everyone put this off as long as they could but now it’s needed for Ascanio and that’s how Kaye could let go; for Ascanio and no one else.
I woke up the next day. My mind feels clear and refreshed. Then I re-read what I said yesterday and contemplated other’s opinions on this… nope. I still can’t get over this nagging slightly upset feeling. I will wait until the full book is officialy released and read/savour it thoroughly. Thank you all for your offered perspectives. Most makes sense. But maybe sense is often not one with the heart.
I don’t claim to have an all seeing eye, so hey 🙂
(Though I did construct one once, out of dissected organs and pipette tips…)
Nah, some of your explanations almodt swayed me. It really brought a new perspective that didn’t occur to me before. So thank you! 🙂
*almodt : almost
Wait a minute. Dissected organs?
It’s one of my teaching preps? I do a lot of work in soft body biomechanics. Recently, largely in the feeding grasper of Aplysia californica (a sea slug. Science – it’s soooo sexy. *sigh*) So, it used to be that one of the things I’d do with new-ish research students is take a dissected buccal mass (there are always extras), dissect out the grasper, and then rig it out as kind of a puppet so they could get an intuitive feel for the dynamics. And since it’s all made of a bunch of squiggly stuff, the first thing we’d do it mount the two large firm muscles on the side to a firm base, that still gave us access from all sides. So, an early student and I came up with the idea of using a couple of large pipette tips (the grasper is maybe a centimeter across, if it’s a big one).
My student looked at this intermediate stage of the prep, and intoned “It is the Eye Of Sauron!” …and we both lost it. (I suppose the technically it’s just one organ…)
You know, that sounds completely fascinating to me!!! I LOVED all the labs I had when I was premed. Even the things that grossed out everyone else, just interested me. I also loved the Sauron remark! My kind of humor! Tylikat, you sound like you have such an extensive and interesting background!!! ?
FWIW, these are students working in the lab, rather than lab classes (oh, I wish – I taught one cool neurobiology lab class a few times, but the amount of effort for the number of students we could have in it made it not work for our current enrollment.) I am going to miss my pre-meds, though (well, mostly! I used to tell my anatomy students that they were totally free to challenge for additional points, but I wouldn’t even talk to them until they had a citation in the primary literature to support their claim. Cut down on the whining!) Pulling students into a working environment, and getting them involved in research both in a hands on way and involved in experiment design and problem solving has been some of the most rewarding part of my work here. I don’t entirely know what to except from MechE.
You’d probably love the lab culture. After I hacked together the above image (from bits I’ve used for other things) I posted it to FB, and the original student, who’s now a veterinarian popped up to comment on how much she missed her sluggies, and another then started casting the LotR entirely as marine invertebrates. (Except for Shelob. She can be a vertebrate.)
For a moment there, I thought it was dissected bodies of… human. I did some lab works for my physic, biology, and chemistry classes back then in high school. Some of the experiments are interesting but mostly my group mates took over the deeds because either I was too impatient or I messed up the work. In the end I often wrote the final reports because I like describing and organizing the steps and details.
Once I was in chemistry lab and one of my friend made an NaCl* stone or stone something exploded because she put the tiny, tiny stone at the washbasin which made the stone interacts with oxygen (O2) and water (H2O). Then boom. Fortunately no one was injured because beside my friend’s group, other groups haven’t finished their chemistry experiment yet. At that time I was in charge of experimenting with the tiny stone too and my hand trembled when I returned it to my teacher after the explosion fiasco.
*cmiiw it was so long time ago and I endep up majoring in design after high school
I left the language ambiguous because I have a bit of a perverse sense of humor, but that’s a bit more macabre than I was aiming for!
One of the things I like about being in a working lab is that there’s room for all kinds of different talents and working styles. Some people are doing almost completely programming, others electrophysiology, others microsurgery, or coming up with novel experimental devices out of legos and modeling clay (I’m so not joking). If someone is bright and really interested, you figure out what they’re good at and what holds their interest, and find a project that’s a good match. (With the caveat that there is a certain amount of frustration and tedium in all of it!) I do a little of everything because I’m weird and obsessive, but most people are more sensible. And this is just our lab – obviously, all kinds of lab, all kinds of work. (Though I’ve still taken very few lab classes, so I’m pretty clueless on that.)
That sounds like it was metallic sodium? Impressive stuff! There’s a cool video of stock of it being dumped in lake (that poor lake…) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7mTCMvpEM …which reminds me that I really need to see if my former housemate left a chunk of it in the basement when if moved out.
Oh yes, I watched the video.. and ended up watching another video to make sure it was that tiny explosive stone called sodium hehe. Originally our experiment is to have the sodium dissolved in some liquid (not water) and counted the time it took to dissolve. My teacher forgot to mention that we need to return the remaining sodium stone and not just discard it somewhere like the washbasin. In the video I saw the explosion is in white smoke, the one I witnessed was mostly all grey, black, and orange. No hint or white smoke. It looked like an unnatural 3D animation explosion turned real. For a second I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Oh, I also like doing the drawing during biology lab experiment. Although most of the shapes were irregular or didn’t really make sense like when I draw the paramecium, leave’s structure, cells, etc. etc.
Sounds like your teacher was quite remiss I’m not giving instructions on what to do with the stone after the experiment, especially for something as reactive as metallic sodium!! I taught physical science for 23 years, so know how important safety is as well as giving COMPLETE instructions to students performing lab experiments. Glad it was a small piece and a small explosion, lol!! It certainly was memorable though, wasn’t it!! Tylicat, I really like the sound of the lab you work in! ?
Do y’all think that maybe the adventure Ascanio had w Raphael that he didn’t elaborate on has some deeper bearing on the need for Ascanio to develop into his own alpha and continue to play an important role in Kate’s life?
I hope so! I like the sound of the last sentence. It made remember in previous book when he wants to get ‘stronger’ so he can protect everyone he loves better. Ouch, I think some of the dust invaded my eyes.
I thought Raphael handled it very well. He said Ascanio would not be able to leave Kate himself because of loyalty, but both Kate and Raphael know Ascanio wants more out of life than he could get form Cutting Edge. Yes, Kate did most of the hard work shaping Ascanio, but she knew that from moment Aunt B told her. I just wonder if Derek and Ascanio ever got a civil working relationship going.
I am also. He might have been trying to help Ascanio, but really he isn’t. My parents would have made me go to Kate. My job, my responsibility. Of course it would be very hard, if it was me, it would have taken a couple of months before I got the courage up to talk to her, but that is part of growing up, being an adult. Is Raphael always going to step in when Ascanio is in a hard spot with friends? As a father figure to Ascanio I can see how Raphael would want to help. All parents want to make life easier for their kids, but they cannot, kids need to learn.
As I write this I begin to wonder if it is part of the make up of a Bouda, the loyalty, not leaving Kate. Maybe the Author Lords will clarify?
Amazing. Absolutely amazingly awesome. All hail the Author Lords!
That was torture…sweet, glorious torture. I need the rest of the book! Thank you for sharing with us today
Such a bribe ……. thank you. I think I had better read all the Kate books beginning to end to stave off incipient withdrawal symptoms.
Bribe gratefully accepted.
It’s so bitter sweet to have Ascanio grow up and leave the nest. I’m like “*sniff* My baby’s all grown up and savin China!”
But I’m grateful for Derek. But yeah.
Ha ha ha ha!
This was an incredible gift! I get all misty eyed at the thought of this being the last Kate Daniels book. But! I can start rereading the series from the very beginning, in order to prepare.
Thank you for all the hard work you both do.
Why oh why does it have so good.
Bribe accepted thank you!
Now I want both…Kate and Maud….
Much eye rolling and stamping feet… tantrum start…not able to get my way ?
Good news on mammogram ??
That was a hell of bribe! So bummed that we have to wait months for the full book, but it’ll give me time to re-read the rest of the series (something I always do for a series I love). Hard to believe it’s going to the be the last Kate Daniels book, it’ll be the end of an era.
Glad to hear the mammogram came back clean!
Love the prologue, Conlan’s birth was not easy for Kate and even exhausted that maternal instinct is already in overdrive from Roland. I’m in love with this mischievous child already, can’t wait to see his adventures. Raphael’s being proud of baby B beating a wolf pup bloody, aahh the joys of being a shapeshifter parent!!! I love how Kate takes in every and anyone that would be considered an outcast and nurture them and in the end doesn’t stop their progress. Ascanio loss is felt but Derrick is not going anywhere. Thanks very much for this, I look forward for Maud’s action scene next week. ??
Well I can picture Conlan pouncing on Kate^^. But I looked forward to see Kate managing her pregnancy, and the first months of Conlan, so many things could happen^^.
Curran calms kids with his alpha “aura”, but he should feel lost sometimes too (my husband finally discovered that his “magical hands” don’t work all the time to quiet the kid, how hard on him^^), for no other reason that because it would be so funny ^^, but well, also because it would be fairer (yes , world is not fair, and kids are even less so, but well… it’s a book, we can dream)
I feel like someone just broke up with me and I’m not sure how to feel. Wow, idk why losing Ascanio hurt so much. I guess I thought the Wonder Team would always stick together. Damn I’m so excited for this summer!!!
Mom: Honey, why do you look so upset and gloomy since yesterday morning?
Me: *sniffs* someone just broke up with me ((secretly re-read chapter 2 from KD’s 10 excerpt and feel sad-disbelief-hurt-and-sad again))
Mom: ….
Mom: ((Since when did you have a boyfriend?))
Thank you.
Thank you for this fantastic bribe! Thank you also for letting us know all is fine regarding the mammogram- very good news!
I am in a highly conflicted state. I want to dive right into this bribe and devour it, but know that it will end all too soon and I will be left hanging until the book comes out. Inconceivable!!! Then of course comes the knowledge that when the book does finally come out, once I finish it (which will be all too soon for me), that will be it as well!! Oh what exquisite torture!!! To read or not to read? THAT is the question. Obviously my self control will break at some point and I will plunge in, but I am trying to hold off on reading the bribe as long as possible – knowing every minute I hold off is one minute less I will be in agony waiting for the book release.
Such is your incredible talent as authors, that you get your readers to care so much about these characters (even while we are still conscious that they are fictional characters – we are not crazy after all, at least not most of us!) that we want to spend more time with them and know what is happening with them. I hope I made sense with this and don’t come across as some deranged stalker!
I truly hope that Hugh’s book (much as I look forward to it) is not the only spin off from the Kate series you are going to do. There are so many wonderful characters that I would love to spend more time with. Fellow fans, can I get an Amen?
Thank you for your immense talent, your superb and always enjoyable books, and for being so generous with your fans! I am very glad to know the results of the mammogram were good, and am still sending positive and supportive thoughts and energy to daughter #1, that she find the right job for her that will make her happy. I hope that the finale for Hugh’s book flows smoothly and as effortlessly as possible – allowing you to finish well before the deadline with as little stress as possible. ?
Wow. No “Amen”s from anyone? Ok. I can only come up with a couple of reasons why – and all of them make me want to go back to just reading the comments other people make and keep my mouth shut. That is probably what I should just do. The reasons I didn’t get “Amen”s from anyone that I came up with are:
1. No one read my comment (or all of it).
2. Not one single member of the BDH wants any books about any of the other characters in the Kate Daniels series (other than Hugh).
3. I have made some comment somewhere that people really did not like and I have become a pariah with the BDH, and no one wants to in anyway show any kind of support for me or any comment I make.
Reason #1 is the one I most wish for as being why I didn’t get any support from the BDH in hoping for more spin off books.
I know you, the Authorlords, are quite busy enough with what is already on your plates, and you have your own plans for future books and storylines, and don’t need someone squawking about the end of a wonderful series that you have already devoted a great deal of time to, or making requests as to what they personally would like to see you write about. I just hoped that if enough of your fans clambered for more about some of the other characters, then you might – just might, give some thought to doing more spin offs.
But, whatever you do decide to write, I am positive it will be fantastic, and I am equally certain that I shall purchase it and enjoy it mightily. ?
Amen! 🙂
Thank you Fera!! ??
Hahahaha, I had thought “Amen, amen, amen!” in passing when I originally read your comment, but I was already running late for something at the time… And I always want more, more, MORE! (spittle flying, excuse me) when it comes to an Ilona Andrews book. Amen!
What she said. Often a silent reader also but never stop hoping and praying for more authors’ books<33
?
Pope’s!! That was supposed to be a smiley face!!
Ok, just going from one mistake to another – going to stop while I am semi-ahead!
Thank you. ? I guess I don’t need to eat worms then curl up into the fetal position in the dark! ? Just kidding! That WAS a bit over the top, wasn’t it? The “thank you” was completely sincere though. ?
The worms remark was just a bit of poking fun at myself – NOT to be taken ?!!!!!
Not to be taken “seriously” was the word accidentally dropped in previous remark – and Oops was what I intended instead of Pope’s. Most people probably figured this out on their own – but though I would put forth the clarification just in case. Going to stop now before I make another snafu and this becomes an eternal loop of snafu then correction then snafu! ?
Your comment has been read and noted. 🙂
All hail the Authorlords!!!! ?♀️ Thank you. Your graciousness knows no bounds!
May your creative juices flow with no abate and may your offspring prosper in health and happiness! ?
Careful Ilona! You will make us all needier for a personal response!!???
Lol!! Wasn’t looking for personal response from Ilona, just some support from the BDH requesting more spin off books containing characters from the KD universe. Of course, did not mind at all getting a response from Ilona! ?
Thank you for the bribe, it was definitely worth it.
Thank you for thinking about us..even though you are so busy….the bribe is really tantalising… cannot wait to for more Maud, Kate and Hugh!!!
My country was part of Dilmun, back in the mists of time. I didn’t realise I was so sentimental about it until I saw Conlan’s middle name.
Thank you, this was a wonderful bribe.
Truly excellent bribe 😀 REALLY looking forward to next week’s Maud.I get the idea from your blog that family/writing /life is like juggling chainsaws with the occasional
grenade as a change of pace O-0 I will miss Kate’s adventures, amazing family
she collected, the unique world you and Gordon willed into existence filled with the weird, the bizarre and the downright disturbing(pinched from Simon R Green.
Your books belong in a pile that follows me in all my moves.Tresured reread to rhe point of disintegration. Willreread them til I die.The join Tolkien, Lois McMaster bujold, Terry Pratchett, John Ringo and Simon R Green.I wish you both health, happiness, and good luck.Think about taking the family on a cruise to destress before jumping into the next project.You don’t want to burn out…Good Luck and Best Wishes for the works as yet unborn ♥
What a great bribe! Counting the days til release.
Wow. Many thanks. Looking forward to release date.
Bribe accepted.
Excellent start. I am anxious to learn what talent baby Conlon displays, who will replace Ascenio as the new trainee, whether Rowena may find happiness, if Kate will be pregnant again in the near future, if Jim and the tiger have finally mated, where Julie’s career path is going and if it includes Dereck, if our favorite warlock has found a nice girl, and whether Roland will get a chance to babysit his grandson.
I enjoy this series very much. After reading the books, I have listened to the audio books as a delightful way to enrich the stories–at least those audiobooks that I have found.
Thank you for this most excellent bribe! Glad the mammogram came out okay. Have a glass of wine for me.
Great news about the mammogram
Thanks for the bribe – gratefully accepted though I still can’t believe this is the last Kate book – all those wonderful characters most of whom have become old friends but hopefully there will b more spin offs e.g. Derek and even Julie
I’ll definitely b reading the whole series again before delivery of new book
Hope your daughter finds the job she wants
All the best with your new projects and give yourselves a break, even a holiday!
BRIBE, Bribe . . . Bribes are an enticement to condone an action . . .
OH, Oh, oooohh … Bribe, bribe, don’t want no stinkin bribe!!!
Me want Innkeeper!
Want Maud book, completed, edited, ready for owning.
O-O, o k I’m awake. I was dreaming I run the world.
Bribe, bribe,
‘how darest thou put such temptation before me!’ cursest varlet.
I am pure,
I am true,
I’m going to go out of my mind, knowing this is here & I’m waiting.
C U next week.
*My internal dialogue:
‘Oh thank God it was only TWO captivating chapters and not the whole book!
-I have time sensitive things that I have to get done today! ‘
*My out loud voice:
“Thank you for the thoughtful (and market savy) gesture ?. I’m eager for both of the books to launch? and look forward to seeing Maud ? next week. I appreciate you! ?”
Your bribe was so much nicer than Raphael’s!
I’ll admit I’m another who’s liking him less and less as the series progresses. He and Jim make me want to snap. I really can’t see what Andrea or Dali see in them.
I can’t wait to be able to read the whole book, and fully anticipate a marathon Kate Daniels reading extravaganza will follow. (I tend to read the new book, then reread the series from start to finish).
I soooo agree in regards to Jim…. Dali could do way better.
First ,congratulations on your mammogram. Second,thank you for your bribe. So glad to read the baby’s birth with his family . Love the name Conlan, love his relationship with Kate and Curran and his aunt.
Raphael’s relationship with Kate is complicated and I think he is not being fair to Kate and Curran. And the cider bribe is lame.
But I think Raphael is looking out for Ascanio and maybe he is right. It is time for Ascanio to leave the nest .
Looking forward to Maud and Arland having a kickass fight. I know it will be thrilling and funny and the BDH will be going Chiiiii!!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you as well! May the luck of the Irish be yours! ??
So glad everything’s okay with the mammogram. This was an amazing, unlooked for and gobbled up too fast gift, in place of Maud. I’ve said it countless times but I still marvel over how fast I’m immersed back into the KD world. Everything else in my everyday world fades into the ether the minute I read the first sentence. It is, always has been and will always be, MAGIC. Thank you.
SOOOOO good. I cannot WAIT for the release! You guys rock!
Wonderful! Can’t wait to read the book!!!!! Happy dance.
Cool. I already have this pre-ordered. I do like Derek – when are you going to do another story with him and Julie?
This was fantastic! Thank you so much.
If you are accepting reader feedback, Doolittle seemed very out of character to be the one pulling that kind of a shenanigan. In my mind he is far too respectful, empathetic, caring, and wise to do something like that without Kate/Curran being informed and consenting. I loved the scene – it bothers me a lot though that Doolittle is the instigator there. I would have rathered he walk in and be almost as pissed off as Kate to have someone take that kind of liberty with one of his charges.
Doolittle is exactly on point.
Was Doolittle standing in the birthing pool?
I’d be surprised if we’ll get any more hints. 😀 I believe something is up with the good doctor. The game is afoot! 😀
(thank you Ilona!)
Hm. Well, it could be than some kind of sufficiently scary thing prompts Conlan to shift at a pivotal point in the book?
Is anyone else as worried about Curran seemingly being gone all of the time? Away from
his son, his wife, his FAMILY without any indication of when he will be returning? It seems so out of character that ever since the FIRST excerpt we had showing him gone I have been freaking out. This one is garnering the same response!
Thank you for this lovely, fantastic bribe! Really enjoyed the read, so much looking forward to KD 10 and Hugh’s book. Such treats coming our way this year, after the Hidden Legacy extravaganza 2017.
So, what happened in Kentucky that Raphael and Ascanio had to deal with?
I am a little bit sad for Kate that Ascanio didn’t speak to her himself about his situation, but maybe it really would be too hard for him. So I think Rapahel did the responsible thing and sorted a potentially bad situation that Andrea and Ascanio couldn’t. I had also gone off Derek a little in the last book, because his criticisms of Kate got on my nerves but I am so glad of his loyalty now. She really needed that culinary treat at that point.
Bribe is acceptable. Inner beast appeased and has descended back into the shadows for another week.
Good news re mammogram.
Thank you for the bribe.. Accepted & welcomed!
Loved this…”Everybody wanted my son to be something more. He was perfect the way he was.”
Do not like Rafael…sounds like an excuse for Clan Bouda to ‘acquire’ Ascanio for their own benefit. One lousy bottle of cider?!! I would think Ascanio is worth more than that.
I wonder if Andrea knows about Rafael’s visit to Kate?
Now, that would be interesting…
Thank you!
That was an excellent surprise and now I am even more eager and impatient for the book to come out later this year ( I was fine before because I was trying not to think about it).
What a tease.
Awesome.
So good 🙂
Thank you! Love the bribe!
Wow, you sure know how to placate the horde. Thank you so much. I hope the work on Hugh’s book is going well.
Did anyone else catch when Raphael said ascanio ran into H….could H be Hugh?
I thought is was something like “his”…relatives, former alpha, something like that.
Honestly I have no idea of what/who ‘H…’ was. But if it’s indeed Hugh. Now that’d be a twist!
AM I the only one who thinks they spotted a hint about who else might be in Hugh’s book?
Really happy if I’m right:)
<33
Ascanio meets Hugh…. Now I really can’t wait for Hugh’s book!
eeee
Bribe is best bribe. 🙂
Uuuuugh I’m not gonna read only because I know how TERRIBLE I will feel after reading the last word. It can’t just stop!
I’ll feel like that after reading the last page of the book as well but at least that will have been a proper ending. The hangover will last a couple of days, I’m sure.
Ditto. Good luck with Hughes book Authorlords.
Love, love, love!
lovely excerpt, thank you <3
If i may ask, how is Kate able to use the land's reserve magic to fight Roland in the prologue. I thought Erra said she wasnt supposed to take magic from the land….
Kate isn’t supposed to pull magic when Tech is up because then she is pulling from the “reserves” every living thing has. When Magic is up as it appears to be in this chapter then she can use the lands magic for defense because she’s not pulling on just the reserves she’s pulling on Magic itself.
But Erra and Curran exchange a look when that happens. There is always a chance Kate’s ‘Happily Ever After’ is ‘rocks fall, everybody dies’.
The magic is up. She can use the land’s magic while the magic is up, which is how she shielded Atlanta from Roland at the end of Magic Binds.
Thank you for the bribe ! It is awesome !! Don’t get it wrong I like the Innkeeper books and also Nevada’s but Kate … I read two sentences and I was already soooo much into it ! That I was really amazing 😀
I love Derek, he knew what Kate needed and just silently give support ! I am also sooo relieved to learn that he is getting better and starting to make jokes again… Such a relief ! Being broken forever is just … I don’t have word for it
I read some of the comment’ (not all them pardon me –to much of them haha) but I am not really fond of the theory that Ascanio runs into Hugh because Hugh is kind of an important, powerful, bastard but interesting caracter really “tied” to Kate and Raphael hiding it ? It doesn’t sit well with me. I just think Ascanio runs into someone or something that has a personal importance for _him_ ? I don’t know, just thinking. That and I don’t really like Hugh, I mean even if the guy doesn’t work for Roland anymore and found someone (his people or a girl) that can change him… I spend to much time worrying about him and wanting him out of the picture for all he has done to appreciate him right away, I’ll have to wait for the book.
For Raphael, I don’t think he was wrong going to see Kate to tell her, but the way he is saying it I understand why it is bothering a lot of you. But I do agree with those of you that can’t stand Jim anymore haha
I am so very scarred that Curran won’t be present for a good part of the book (I don’t know if this sentence make sence but don’t know how to say in a better english)
Since when is Erra able to touch things ??? God it is awesome
Going back on Ascanio I don’t really like the “loyalty” and all, I mean it sound more like an obligation and to much in a “In-Shinar context”, so I don’t really the word, maybe because in French it has a different connotation than in english ? I don’t kow, anyway, “back to our sheep” haha, I really think this “loyalty” business has nothing to do with Ascanio staying or not in Cutting Edge, if Kate is in trouble he’ll come running, friendship before loyalty haha, maybe it is a naive way of thinking haha
Sorry for the long post haha
Made a mistake in the begginning “that was really amazing” not “I” ?? sorry
Hugh was responsible for healing Ascanio that one time (of course he was responsible for the injury too but Hyenas are not known for their careful logical thought processes), I figured that had come up somehow. Actually if Ascanio did have some reason to avoid telling Kate about Hugh, it would explain more of why he’s been avoiding Kate, I’m not completely sure I buy that he’s only feeling guilty about not wanting to work for her agency any more.
I’ve never particularly liked Raphael (even in Andrea’s book he came across as spoiled and petulant for most of it) but I’m hoping this book will change that (after all he’s lost a parent and is a father and a clan head now, poor guy had to pack a lot of growing up into a very short time)
I think Ascanio is 19 and conflicted. When you love someone it is always hard to let go.
Wow, now that is a bribe!! Thank you
I felt for Kate when she let Ascanio go. That was a really sad moment and I shed some tears for her.
Thank you!
Great excerpt. I can’t wait for the whole book. Loved the “favorite nephew” exchange. It’s pretty much identical to the one I have with my nephew every time I see him – even to responding “Details” to him pointing out that he’s my only nephew. Of course, at 17, his next comment is “you always say that” complete with eye roll.
I’m so excited for the big finale! I’ll be sad, but Kate deserves a break and a HEA.
I just finished re-reading the series for the 65 billionth time, and I have to say it… screw Jim! I really hope Kate sticks to her guns and doesn’t forgive him in the final book because “he’s paranoid, he made a mistake, he’s a friend and she doesn’t have many of those” bullshoot. He’s an ass, and I hope he gets in trouble and she tells him to f* off.
Sorry, just finished reading the final page a minute ago and I’m still pissed off hahaha I needed to vent my anger with people who might understand lol
I totally understand and agree with you! (I always have to comment in support of anyone who says anything against Jim, because I am the president and CEO of the ‘I hate Jim’ club… What’s the opposite of fan club?)
I’m also a member of the I Hate Jim Club.
August feels very far away… Thanks for sharing!
I understand Jim. He’s a realistic product of his experiences. He’s never been loyal to anything but the shapshifter cause. Everything else is other, and when Curran left he became other. Do I agree with him? No, I am disappointed in him. But I don’t hate him either.
I was sad to see Ascanio leave Cutting Edge. But I do agree it was important for Rafael to do it. Aunt Bea gave him to Kate for his own good, Rafael takes him back for the same reason. He never separated from the Pack like Derek did.
I can’t wait for all the books this year in Kate’s world.
Great bribe, thank you.