Aly's Miscellany

Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh
As I said 1000 times before, Nalini can never disappoint me. Never! That being said, I loved Bastien’s story. He’s such a protective and cute dude, I can really see he’s Mercy’s brother. He’s a very sensual guy and Kirby is a very lucky girl *sigh*[I want one of Nalini’s heroes btw].
The story takes place during a few days. Bastien feels his mate close, but he can’t just find her. He can’t sleep, he’s cranky and to make matters worse, his mum cons him into coming to a “book club” where there are lots of single women. After he gets out of there by giving an elder packmate a lift, amazingly, he catches the scent of his elusive mate, exactly in front of the elder’s home.
From there, things proceed quickly. I felt they were a bit too quick, but it worked with the story so I’m not complaining. You definitely want to read this novella, especially because we see a bit of Lucas and Naya and Dorian and, obviously, Mercy and Bastien’s family.
Rating: 4.5*


Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews
This novella from the Kate universe continues Jim and Dali’s story. I have a feeling it takes place between “Magic Rises“ and “Magic Breaks”.
The novella starts with Dali making dinner. Those of you who’ve read the Kate Daniels series know how important this is in a shifter courtship. Vegetarian Dali is even cooking meat for Jim, dude this is important! Unfortunately the dinner doesn’t go as planed. First, Jim is dead tired, and after they catch some rest Dali’s mum comes to call! This kids just can’t catch a break =))
In this story we see a bit more about Dali’s heritage, her magic, and her relationship with Jim. Also, we get to experience her fear of not being good enough for Jim, which, since he’s a smart man, disabuses her of that stupid notion. Likewise we see some different facets of Jim: we see him being great with Dali and how freakily good he is undercover!
All in all I loved it!
Rating: 4.5*