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A review by divapitbull
Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews
3.0
Magic Steals is an engaging little novella that takes place while Curran and Kate are off on their Black Sea “vacation” and fills in the blanks on how Dali and Jim became an actual item when Jim was still just alpha of Clan Cat and doing his best to date Dali. It’s a fun interlude for fans of the series who know the characters well.
Dali was enjoying Jim’s attentions but was afraid she was going to get her heart broken, because “Girls like me didn’t get guys like Jim and if they do they couldn’t keep them.” Dali has some serious self esteem issues; and she actually makes a pretty good case for why Jim shouldn’t date & mate her; “I was everything an alpha of a clan wasn’t, I was physically weak, with an aversion to blood and bad eyesight. In shapeshifter society, an alpha couple acted as a unit. They upheld laws together, they made decisions together and when they were challenged, they answered challenges together. In a challenge I wouldn’t be an asset to Jim I would be a vulnerability. Soon Jim would wake up and smell the reality, he would leave me and that would rip my heart out.”
But of course Dali’s perception of herself isn’t entirely accurate and Jim certainly doesn’t see her the way she sees herself. Jim sees her as absolutely majestic in her beast form. Over 700 pounds of tiger with paws the size of his head and accelerated healing. Jim tells her they’ll make a great team because not only can Dali look intimidating as hell; all she has to do is sit on an attacker for a second and that gives Jim enough time to go in for the kill.
So Jim and Dali work out their relationship issues amidst a backdrop of Dali running around fulfilling her destiny as the descendant who guards the balance between good and evil and Jim getting to help her out and seeing her exercise her Balinese magic. All while Dali tries to keep her love life from her very intrusive family members; and Jim tries to out them at every opportunity.
Dali was enjoying Jim’s attentions but was afraid she was going to get her heart broken, because “Girls like me didn’t get guys like Jim and if they do they couldn’t keep them.” Dali has some serious self esteem issues; and she actually makes a pretty good case for why Jim shouldn’t date & mate her; “I was everything an alpha of a clan wasn’t, I was physically weak, with an aversion to blood and bad eyesight. In shapeshifter society, an alpha couple acted as a unit. They upheld laws together, they made decisions together and when they were challenged, they answered challenges together. In a challenge I wouldn’t be an asset to Jim I would be a vulnerability. Soon Jim would wake up and smell the reality, he would leave me and that would rip my heart out.”
But of course Dali’s perception of herself isn’t entirely accurate and Jim certainly doesn’t see her the way she sees herself. Jim sees her as absolutely majestic in her beast form. Over 700 pounds of tiger with paws the size of his head and accelerated healing. Jim tells her they’ll make a great team because not only can Dali look intimidating as hell; all she has to do is sit on an attacker for a second and that gives Jim enough time to go in for the kill.
So Jim and Dali work out their relationship issues amidst a backdrop of Dali running around fulfilling her destiny as the descendant who guards the balance between good and evil and Jim getting to help her out and seeing her exercise her Balinese magic. All while Dali tries to keep her love life from her very intrusive family members; and Jim tries to out them at every opportunity.