I hope your holidays were quiet and peaceful. Our Christmas was low stress and chill, with lots of gifts and warm and cozy family time. I got a new toolkit, markers, and yarn. Beautiful yarn! Hehehehe.
It’s Monday. All of the previous giveaway winners have been taken care of. Their prizes have been sent or put into production and they should be receiving them shortly.
I’ve had a very frustrating morning. Our health insurer pulled out of the state exchange and so we are back to BCBS HMO, and that means trying to get a primary doctor for all referrals. I cannot even explain what a PIA that has been so far. Grrr. I finally gave up and called Jeaniene to vent.
Oh, by the way, this was not from my cousin-in-law but from Jeaniene.
I should’ve known!
Also the following dialogue had taken place just before Christmas.
Gordon: Strange package from Amazon. No specific sender.
Me: What’s in it?
Gordon: Wagyu beef lard, black garlic, and a stuffed toy French fires. Who would send us expensive lard?
Me: I have no idea. Was this misaddressed?
Gordon: I have to tell you, the idea that unknown and possibly random people are sending us packages is vaguely upsetting.
The next day…
Grace Draven, texting: Did you get an Amazon delivery yesterday?
Me: It was you!
Grace: I thought you would figure it out because of the fries.
I am in possession of gourmet lard and black garlic. I must do something with it. But the French Fries are probably the best. I’ve hugged them already. They helped.
The Last 2024 Giveaway
I promised you one more. This one will be a very simple one and will have no monetary value assigned to it. Not very exciting. There will be just one prize.
Prize:
- The winner will receive one spot on ARC list for all Ilona Andrews fiction for the year 2025. Meaning, you will get to read Maggie early and whatever else is coming down the pipeline.
Limitations:
- For the legal purposes, we might have to ask you to sign a document stating that you will not upload or share confidential files. It will not be a full NDA, as in we will not prevent you from discussing the book, but we might request that you stick to a certain time frame. We will have to coordinate with our publisher. This is not a reflection on BDH trustworthiness, but more of a standard operating procedure because there is a publishing partner involved.
Who Can Enter:
- Anyone.
How to Enter:
Leave a comment on this blog post telling us which is your favorite Ilona Andrews book and why. If you are a new reader and haven’t tried us before, leave us a comment wishing us happy holidays. You must comment here, on the blog. Not on Facebook or on Insta, on this blog post. Here is a link if you are reading the article in your email newsletter.
Deadline:
You must enter by the end of Thursday, January 2nd. Winners will be announced on Friday.
Burn for Me. I love all the peoples! – the mains, of course, but also the side characters. The humor is sometimes just so hilarious in that specific perfectly quirky way. You all know what I mean.
My favorite is Sweep of the Blade because of Maud, Arland and Helen,
their relationship growth and interaction and seeing part of One Fell Sweep from a different POV.
Of course, whichever IA book I just re-read for the umpteenth time is also my favorite.
So hard to pick, I’ve reread everything by House Andrews and loved all of them! If I reeeeally had to pick one, it would be Magic Triumphs because it was such a satisfying conclusion to the Kate’s Roland problem, plus the Avengers (Atlanta?) Assemble moment was so good, bringing everyone together.
It is a rather tall order, hmmm? To pick just one? ;D
I really enjoy “Magic Claims” – it is my go-to comfort read right now. It is just so lovely to see characters growing and learning new things.
Sweep in peace is my confort read , I can never get enough of it. The various species, the pomp, the humor, the feelings ! I am gutted each and every time and I love it
My favorite book is definitely Magic bites. I’ve read all the books related to Kate, but the first part will always be my favorite, because thanks to it I fell in love with your work and found my favorite book genre ❤️. I remember the day when my dad let me choose one book in the store, and I share the best possible decision and chose Magic (I was delighted with its cover then – I’m from Poland and the newer editions here are really beautiful). I was maybe 14 then and quickly fell in love with this world. A few years later, your series was my comfort during the lockdown, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing Magic bites. Thanks to you, I discovered a lot of different amazing authors, for which I am very grateful. (It was also probably the first time I saw my name in books – Kalina 😆). Greetings from Poland ❤️
Iron and Magic! I love how it started as an April Fools joke, and became such a beautiful book about redemption. Also I think Elara and Hugh are so hot together 🙂
I have read (and re-read) all the series; Kate Daniels, The Edge, Kinsman, Hidden Legacy, Inn Keeper, Iron Covenant – but I find that I keep coming back to Blood Heir and Sweep of the Blade, with Blood Heir slightly edging in to the lead. I really want to see the next battles, the navigation of the relationships, the banter, the hope that good will win over evil… Julie and Derek deserve some happiness.
I love all your books… but started out with the Kate Daniels books that I adore!
I absolutely love the Innkeeper Series. I can’t pick just one book from the series. They are my go-to series whenever I’m down and need a pick-me-up. The world created is magical and is my safe space.
Love the Inkeeper Chronicles. If I have to pick one book, (today) it would be One Fell Sweep. I love having both Maud and Arland and Dina and Sean in one book. Love the interactions and it made me chuckle a lot.
It was a toss up between Sweep in Peace and Sweep of the Blade. However, I have read and reread Sweep in Peace so many times it has to be that book. I think everyone in the world should read it. I have never, ever understood the absolutely futility of war as I do now after reading Sweep in Peace. It is a treatise on the subject. So very well done and so very horrifying. The physical and psychological ramifications for those fighting and the families left behind should be enough to stop before beginning. It never is. Thank you for this masterpiece in writing.
Blood Heir is my favorite. Can’t wait for more Julie when you get there 🙂
Big fan of all of the books! My favorite is a tie – Silver Shark because it captured my imagination in the right way at the right time, and Sweep of the Heart for the fun feeling of genre mashup, spectacle, and combination of the familiar and new. Thanks!
So many to choose from, but, if I have to pick one, it’s Sweep of the Heart. I loved the amazing creatures, characters, and cultures within the story. I did not actually plan the alliteration above, it just came out that way.
Thank you for all you do, and have a wonderful 2025!
I love all the books, and reread every series when I’m in need of a specific pick me up. Innkeeper is great when I need light, zany laughs (space chickens!). Kate is when I want a long fun ride with sarcasm, Hidden Legacy is for zingers and plots, Kinsmen is for a quick colorful story, and the shortest one I wish was longer is a mere formality. I loved everything about the run up to the kneeling – it always makes me laugh. But honestly, sometimes you need ripper cushions or a nice ferret heist.
Iron and Magic is my favorite. I love people reinventing themselves, starting over, plus the adversarial romance is perfect.
I love all your books, but the one that will always be my favorite is Magic Bites because it was the first. I fell in love with the world of Kate Daniels, devoured them all, and then moved on to your other series.
Thank you for all that you do.
That’s a tough one. I would say my favourite IA release is “Magic Cla(i)ms”. It is my comfort – feel good – protected book. I have been listening to the audio version for the last couple of months while going to bed. Having Kate fighting the good fight back in my “book” life is a cherished gift. Thank you.
Oh wow – this is like picking my favorite dog! I mean, of course I have one, but I would never tell because it might hurt the others’ feelings. If you are going to force me to put it out there though, it would be the first Kate Daniel’s book. It was my first Urban Fantasy, my first Ilona Andrew’s, and my first venture into Kate’s world. I was hooked from page one and my reading world exploded in the best way.
My favorite (why torture us this way?) is Sweep of the Heart. I enjoy stories that play with physics in the way inns and innkeepers do. After all, my blue car is named “Time and Relative Dimension in Space.” Furthermore, the characters are delightful: Excellent assassin, top-of-the-line cook, human ally, intelligent chickens, all-around fighter, protector and lover and so many more. I named this last book of the series as my favorite because each new book reveals more talents of Dina and Sean, more allies and enemies, more features of Gertrude Hunt, more extremely interesting stories. Each new book in the series is my favorite, which means that all IA books were at some point my favorite.
С новым годом
I really love magic strikes!
Magic Strikes! I don’t know why but I’m a sucker for underground fighting rings. What happens in the midnight games, stays in the midnight games. Plus that was the first contact spark between Kate and Curran. <3
My favorite is “Magic Bites”. It introduced me to a whole new world where I truly care for the people in it, thanks to you, Ilona, and Gordon. I got invested into Kate’s merc life, her ultimate goals,and loved that there were all kinds of Shifters, and that Magic was finally coming back into the world- sometimes like a petulant child, sometimes old and deadly. How people survived, complied, dealt with the new world is quite logical to me.Last, but definitely *never* least, I also love Kate and Curran’s developing relationship!
Happy New Year to House Andrews and Mod.R!
Probably KD Wilmington years. Although Sanctuary was so good. As to why, I love the endless possibilities of the many unopened towers and how Kate and Curran’s relationship has matured. And seeing other beloved characters around them. Plus it both answers and poses the question of ‘What happens next?’ So I’ll always want more of that! Thanks!
I’m in the US. Happy New Year to everyone!
Omg this is the best giveaway ever!! It’s so hard to pick just one book but I suppose I’ll go with the one that kicked it all off for me: Magic Bites. I feel a reread of the series coming on to help decide which is my *true* favorite.
Whew, Just made it. I’ve been away from the computer since early Monday morning. My favorite Ilona Andrews book has to be Sweep of the Blade. I’m just smitten with Arland, Maud, and Helen. It is so much my favorite that when life throws crap, I pick up this book. Sometimes out here in the inner Mountain West, a little reminder that “Wuv, twue Wuv.” is possible makes everything alright again.
Magic Slays
It’s a sentimental choice for me. It’s where I went from casual reader to searching out all your other series. It’s the point where I knew I would be profoundly sad, if you never wrote another book. This is where you hooked me on your wonderful gift of world building, humor and characters that felt so well written that they felt alive.
Choosing one book or series from you guys would be hard!
First of all I love all your books but when I read ( or listen ) “..Yes. Dryer vents.” I have big smile on my face – I can’t help it. So White Hot.
This is like asking to choose my favourite yarn! I’m going to go with the Kinsman series, I think – especially Silver Shark. I love everything IA writes, though!
I love all your books, but my favorite is Magic Bites
My favourite (the book I usually re-read every year) is Sweep of the Blade. Why? Helen, the absolutely deadly serious child – who reminds me of my eldest nephew.
When asked what he wanted for supper, the reply was ‘Meat!’. He didn’t care what meat, or how it was cooked, as long as it was meat. (Unlike his younger sister, who had very definite dislikes and is now vegetarian.)
omg, I just made me in time! My da favoriteis… oh it’s so hard to pick just one… uh, the one I reread the most is Sweep of the Blade. I freaking love Maud. And Arland. But mostly Maud.
I love all of your series. If I had to choose just one book, it would probably be Burn for Me. As one of three sisters, I think I really identify and enjoy the sister relationships and relate to Nevada especially as the oldest.
Happy New Year!
I have to pick a favourite? Not easy as I enjoy all of your series and novellas. I guess I’ll go with Magic Strikes as that is the one I’m rereading right now.
I can’t pick a favorite, so Happy Holidays?
I love all of your books. But if I had to choose a favourite book, it would be Sweep of the Blade. Helen reminds me of my youngest child!
I waited until the last day because I just couldn’t decide which was my favorite. I am going to say On The Edge because it was my IA gateway book. It was my first IA book years ago. Now I no longer have to work on being p*tient because there are enough books and series for me to reread and re-listen to while I wait for the new ones.
My favorite Ilona Andrews book is impossible to state. But I am particularly partial to the Kate series and the Hidden Legacy series though I like almost all of them. I’m currently crushing particularly hard on Blood Heir because I think Julie’s story is fascinating, and I’m very excited to see more, and on Sanctuary because I love the little details of Roman’s story.
I’d like to say that I could no sooner select a favorite Ilona Andrews book, than I could pick a favorite of my 4 children… but since I’m being incentivized by the prospect of ARCs for 2025, I’m gonna narrow it down and decide!
I think my favorite would have to be one that I’ve reread the most, which is … I’ve honestly reread most of your published work over a dozen times each. I listen to them on Audible, too!
Maybe Magic Strikes… because that’s the one I enjoy restarting my Kate Daniel’s binge with (at least once a year). Then I cycle through Hidden Legacy, The Edge, mixing Dina’s Innkeeper series alongside, when I want more George & Jack, then after Sweep of the Blade, I reread Silver Shark and Silent Blade, Grace of Small Magics, that cute one with the Russian family young woman who rescues the cutest pig during her rotten date, read A Mere Formality, other side stories online, then start all over again.
Thank you for keeping me forever entertained. Love all your worlds & works! You’re the best!!
How to choose a favorite? I guess it would have to be Burn for Me. It was the first one I bought. I had always got them from the library but after BfM I bought it and forever after preordered all books. Then discovered audiobooks, then Graphic Audio.
I own and have read all your books and love them all, so picking a favourite is impossible. I’ll go with Magic Bites because Kate meets Curran in such a memorable fashion and I still remember clearly my first sight of my now husband in December 1977. We married in March 1980 and have four children and a third grandchild on the way. I also have a daughter of the heart. She was older than Julie when we met but there were many struggles, both between us and in within as I tried to work out how best to support her. I so identified with this storyline! Thank you so much for all your wonderful stories. They have helped me through some very hard times, no matter how many times I’ve read them.
Burn for Me is my favorite! It’s got everything you’d need magic and family. The slow burn is also fun.
I love them all, but I have a particular fondness for Magic Breaks. There is so much movement in Kate’s story, and so much progression in her relationships. It really paves the way for her to grow into her true self, and I loved the journey. That said, I could make a good argument for any of the books, for which I thank you. Happy new year!
Sanctuary is my favorite at the moment because Marzanna is one of my all-time favorite goddesses!
Burn for Me—it was my first Ilona Andrews novel. The humor snagged me from the get-go and the whole series is my comfort read.
Blood heir!
Hello Authors!
I am new to your Newsletters and I just started following you. I must say that you are one of my three top favorite fantasy writers. So far I read or listened (audiobooks) or combination of both to two of your series and I love them both. The first one I read was the Inkeeper Chronicles. The world you have build reminded me of Star Wars for some reason. It might have been the different worlds and such verity of creatures living on different planets. I enjoyed the reach environment, the depth of the characters, and of course the adventures.
Just recently, I finished the Hidden Legacy series and I am still a bit “hangover” after it. I am hoping that you will change your mind and add a book or a few for Arabella. I feel like it is not complete without her story… wink wink… Unless I missed it, what did Linus Duncan mean by “I take back my objection, but I will not facilitate” (I’m not sure if I remembered it exactly)? And then Michael looked at Arabella. Unless I missed something that could be a plot for Arabella’s story???
I am looking forward to starting your other series!
Happy New Year!
I should have proof-read before clicking “Post”. Sorry for mistakes. Embarrassing…
I really enjoyed the the Kate Daniels series!