Wicked Wednesday Review of Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews in Must Love Hellhounds Anthology

Title: Magic Mourns (Kate Daniels #3.5)/ Must Love Hellhounds Anthology
Author: Ilona Andrews
Pages: 361 Pages (anthology), Paperback
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance
Standalone/Series: Series
Release:  Already Out
Publisher: Berkeley
Purchased by me
Author info: http://kate.ilona-andrews.com/
Spoiler Alert: Small spoilers for previous books

Blurb: Kate is on medical leave and Andrea is sitting in her office. Everything is going well, until a a giant hell dog escapes the Underworld and Raphael, the smoking-hot and very persistent werehyena, asks Andrea to help him track down…

I read this novella in the Must Love Hell Hounds anthology to help tide me over until the next Kate Daniels series release (1 month to go) on 5/25/2010. I love the Kate Daniels world with the alternate Atlanta, the magic and tech waves, and the People and the Pack. I also love the characters in the series, Kate and Curran of course, as well as the secondary characters. This novella focuses on Andrea and Raphael who also play a big part in Magic Strikes (Book 3). The way Raphael is described in previous books, as basically sex on a naughty stick, you have to wonder how Andrea could be putting up resistance to him for this long, especially with all the entertaining courting customs that occur with the Pack. I mean he created a beautiful metal chandelier for you and hung ornaments full of thongs, how can you turn down a sexy man who gives you sexy underwear?

In this novella, Andrea is filling in for Kate while she heals at home after her battles in book three. We get small appearances and mentions of Kate but this novella mainly focuses on Andrea and Raphael's discovery and battle with a Cerberus who is running into some resistance when trying to collect a soul for Hades. This of course makes the Cerberus, or hell dog the size of a house, a little angry and he seems intent on taking out his anger on whoever gets in his way, including Andrea and Raphael. Andrea gets forced to spend some up close and alone time with Raphael while trying to fight the hell dog and she also spends time trying to figure out her feelings for Raphael. For a novella length story it was a very satisfying read and delivered the twists and turns in plot that I love in Ilona Andrew's books. And Andrea delivers a magnificent work of guy liner with magic marker to get back at Raphael while he was sleeping.. that part had me snorting.

For a novella this was a 4 out of 5 for me - How can you resist the sex on a naughty stick and a woman who knows how to pack some serious heat.