Gunmetal Magic

By: Ilona Andrews

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Paranormal, 2013

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

©2012 Andrew Gordon and Ilona Gordon (P)2012 Tantor

Fun listen!

Any additional comments?

Gunmetal Magic is a fun journey. Andrea Nash is hired to investigate some pack deaths. To investigate the murders, Nash must interact with Raphael. Some of the truly great characters in this series such as Barabas, Roman, and Aunt B also return. If you like other books by these writers, you will like this book, but I do not suggest starting the series with this book. You should read the Kate Daniel's series first to get full enjoyment out of this book. Renée Raudman is still great.

Ilona Andrews = Pure Magic!!

My favourite husband & wife writing team has done it again. Solid writing with plenty of humor and enough action & romance that I think even those readers new to the world of Kate Daniels ( The original "Magic" series of which this book is a spinoff of sorts) will enjoy.

Having said that --- I would still greatly encourage people to read the entire Kate/Curran series as they are FABULOUS. As stated the writing is solid/stellar and no previous knowledge of other books is needed but for those who have read the other series, you will appreciate some of the humor more as you are more well-aquainted with the characters.

Also, as a reader of both series... it's great to get some answers to things that motivated some of Andrea's actions ---- now I can say IN YOUR FACE to all the naysayers who were blasting Andrea.

I enjoyed learning more about Andrea's beastkin background; I always enjoy Raphael (smile) ---- Basically, I enjoyed seeing characters I already know and love.... as well as some new (well, almost new) characters as well.

"Russian Sugar Bear" was it???



A note on Rene Raudman ---- She may not be on my top 5 list of favorite narrators, but she is also NOWHERE near my list of "can't stand to listen to" narrators either. Another reviewer mentioned her earlier works --- I'm only familar with her in conjunction with Ilona Andrews books and she continues her reading style ---voices, inflections, etc --- so I guess listen to the sample first. Personally, I have enjoyed her readings of both the Kate Daniels/Magic series and the Edge series --- which I also love and adore.

Great read

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

defiantly its a good book

What three words best describe Renée Raudman’s performance?

Something is wrong with her voice in this, i'm not sure what it is but it drives me crazy. Something about the accent idk.

Any additional comments?

Great book not the narrators best work though

Spin off as good as original

What did you love best about Gunmetal Magic?

This book is fast paced and a fun read

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gunmetal Magic?

The purple shag carpet had me rolling on the ground

gunmetal magic

wow! excellent storyline, perfectly performed and an all around great adventure!!! I can't wait to read the next in the series!!!

You have to buy this book!

Would you consider the audio edition of Gunmetal Magic to be better than the print version?

I love the audio versions of these books because Renee Raudman does a fabulous job characterizing non-human, or should I say, not completely human characters in their alternate forms. I get totally lost in these stories, not only because they are well-written, but because of the fabulous narration.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Overall, I must give my vote to Kate Daniels, the main character of the series. However, this book is written for and about Andrea, Kate's best friend. To let you know how good this book is, I didn't miss Kate that much. Oh, she's in the story, but it centers around Andrea, who is a strong and likeable leading lady. Her back-story and point-of-view are very interesting and yet very different from Kate's life. Although that can spell disaster in some series, it actually enhances the reading experience for this series. Well done, Ms. Andrews. I am very happy with every aspect of this story. You write likeable characters who are well thought out and fully developed, even if they are werewolves, badgers and bears, oh my!

Which character – as performed by Renée Raudman – was your favorite?

Andrea in her, uhmmm, I think it is called beast-form. It allows her inner being to be on display which is well written and extremely fun to hear. Kudos to both the author and narrator for making me laugh out loud.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but work made that impossible. I did spend every second outside of work listening to the book the first time through. Yes, I said first time, I think I've listened to it three times so far..that is quite a compliment.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend starting with the first book of this series and moving forward. However, this is such a fun read that it probably wouldn't hurt to start here and then move back to book one. I love it and I think you will too!

Fantastic listen

Would you listen to Gunmetal Magic again? Why?

I love that we went into Andrea's world with out mucking up Kate's world. I was worried about how it would affect Kate's world but it did not. I really enjoyed listing to this book and would listen again and again

Good side story set the Kate Daniels world

This is the 5.5th book in the Kate Daniels series and the 1st book in the Kate Daniels World series which features side characters from the Kate Daniels series. This book features Andrea Nash. It was a very well done book and it was good to hear Andrea’s back story and get more insight into her character.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was a very well done audiobook. It is read by the same lady who narrates the Kate Daniels series. She does an excellent job capturing the characters’ moods and voices.

Andrea is recovering from her expulsion from the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid and working at Cutting Edge (Kate’s investigative firm). She is hired by the Pack to look into a strange incident that happened at reclamation site of her ex-boyfriend Raphael. Four Bouda clan members were murdered near a vault at the reclamation site and it is up to Andrea to figure out who did it, why, and how. Of course she has to work with Raphael, who she is not on good terms with and has an extremely explosive relationship with.

The book starts a bit slow...first we have to get into Andrea’s story and then she spends a lot of time whining and avoiding Raphael. In the beginning of the book there are places where I wanted to smack Andrea and tell her to her stuff together. Things really pick up about 25% in though, as Andrea gets deeper into investigating the death of four Boudas.

Andrea is a good character, but she is definitely more of sidekick. She’s just too melodramatic and not witty enough to make her as fun to read about as Kate. Everything is black and white, life or death with her. She does change as the book goes on, but I still rolled my eyes at her drama at points. While this was an interesting book and I am glad it was written, I am also hoping this will be the only book from Andrea’s POV.

Raphael is kind of jerk for large portions of the book. Him and Andrea have a very on again, off again type of thing going on that was a bit frustrating and annoying to read about. He wasn’t my favorite male lead. Him and Andrea definitely have good chemistry though.

I loved the addition of Rowan (the black mage) to the story. He is quirky and funny and has some awesome powers. I really hope we see more of him in future books. He is what really made this book a fun and interesting read for me. We also meet some excellent new magical baddies in this book as well...love the crazy snake people!

The book is full of some absolutely wonderful action scenes. There is also the whole mating tradition going on between Andrea and Raphael where they see who can play the biggest practical joke on the other. Some of these scenes were hilarious and all I have to say is...purple shag carpet...enough said.

The story ties up nicely and the book is well written.

Overall this is a good addition to the Kate Daniels world. It was nice to hear Andrea’s full background and watch her transition from a Knight of Mericful Aid, to something not quite as law-abiding and a lot more dangerous. Andrea doesn’t have the humor and wit Kate has and she is a bit too melodramatic for my liking; so I didn’t like her as much as Kate in the role of heroine. Andrea and Raphael have great chemistry but their on again off again relationship bugged me a bit. There are some very funny scenes in here, we get to spend more time with Rowan, and we meet some wonderful new magical baddies. Definitely not my favorite book in this series, but it’s still a good urban fantasy read. I definitely recommend this book if you love urban fantasy or if you are a fan of the Kate Daniels series in general. I would recommend the Kate Daniels books over this one though if you are a first time reader of the Andrews.

Gunmetal Magic

I cant believe how quick I got this read. I bought yesterday and although it was on audio just went fast! I really wanted to read this story because I read book 6 and was a wee bit lost because the last time I knew Andrea and Raphael were at odds and then boom they were together in book 6. So, at the suggestion of a friend I read this. Makes much more sense! I really enjoyed reading about these 2. Learned more about Andrea and the shit she went through as a kid and even now she gets treated differently by some. I do wish we got to know Raphael a little more. This is from Andrea's POV so thats probably why. I really laughed in this book and got sad with what Raphael did to her. That was low even for him. No wonder Andrea wouldnt give in right away he had to work for that. What he did was really horrible and hurtful. They are both to blame but Andrea didnt see that she had a choice when she made her choice in book 5 I think. The Order is all she knew and considering her childhood Raphael had trouble seeing that. Lets be honest. He's entitled and spoiled I blame Aunt B. A wee bit selfish. Although he loved Andrea he was still damned selfish and didnt look to her side until he really f'ed up. He did finally but damn the damage was kind of already done. Her prank on him though? Oh, that was awesome and priceless and well freakin deserved! This book too had its twists and turns and a great plot and Roman. Although they aren't the main couple we get The Beast Lord and his Consort, Kate in this book. Did I mention Roman? Oh how I love Roman! We do find out some interesting information about him! He's attracted to Andrea but she feels nothing for him but being friendly its really not awkward and he accepts easily that Raphael is her mate. I really like him and love how he doesnt give a shit and isnt afraid of Raphael. Fun times! I did get to read Magic Gifts. That was included in this book. Starts out with dinner with Kate and Curran and all hell breaks loose! Loved it.

great follow up

was so happy to learn more about Kates friend Andy,she was such a special friend to Kate yet we know little about her, this book cleared alot of loose end.. loved it...