Review: Ruby Fever

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

He would never let us alone. 

Catalina, Alessandro, and the Baylor family have battled and defeated all the enemies that have come for them, but there has always been one still lurking in the shadows ready to attack, Arkan. Once a Russian Imperium agent, Arkan killed Alessandro's father and stole a sample of the forbidden Osiris serum. If you've read the previous two books, Sapphire Flames and Emerald Blaze, which I highly recommend you do as these three books make up the mini-series of Catalina and Alessandro in the overreaching Hidden Legacy series, Arkan has been a villain lingering in the shadows and testing the waters for when he should come for the Baylors and Alessandro. In Ruby Fever he makes his move while also disabling one of Catalina's best assets, Linus.

A trail of dark blood stretched from his nose, staining his lips and his shirt. His eyes were shut. He looked dead. 

In the previous book, I missed more of the Baylor family dynamics as some of the character relationships were pushed to the side in favor of battle scenes. I think this one got the balance more right, as we get action but heartfelt emotion with the danger and reveals. Catalina finds Linus catatonic in his home after he injected himself with styxine to protect his mind from a powerful mental mage, this corresponds with the murder of the Speaker of Texas State Assembly, our old friend Xavier (Diamond Fire) showing back for some revenge, and a Prince Konstantin Berezin, the Russian Emperor's nephew, swanning in claiming to help but also having his own agenda. Catalina has the who and why of Linus' attack fairly early, around 20%, but she doesn't have the how, which as the now acting Deputy Warden of Texas because of Linus' state, she needs in order to act. 

“Linus was betrayed,” Alessandro said. 

There were the usual many moving parts and battle scenes but the human connections I felt were missing some in the second got more life and I thought helped me stay emotionally connected to the story more. I still think Catalina and Alessandro's romance sits passenger seat to the driving action, fantasy, and suspense but we get more of Alessandro's background here, and another fiancée that his grandfather “sold” him to, and that helped flush out his character and make him feel more dimensional and layered, thus, more interesting. We also get the heavily hinted reveal of how much more of a part Linus plays in the Baylor sister's lives and Evil Grandmother Victoria gets a strong appearance, and dare I say, gets a somewhat, tiny, little redemption arc. 

I put my fingers into his and we slipped from the table into the night. 

The ending finally brings in Arkan, I wish we could have gotten more scenes of him because he felt too much of a distant character for how important of a big baddie he was supposed to be, and we get the usual ending Big Battle Scene. It takes all the Baylors and the assorted friends to try and win the day. It was good and delivered on some great magical fantasy scenes with Catalina and Alessandro using some newly discovered powers and infused just enough tense moments to make readers fear for some of their favorite characters. 

The epilogue gave us Arabella's voice and that seems like the clear path for where the overreaching Hidden Legacy series could go as Catalina and Alessandro have defeated their main enemies and are off for a deserved vacation. There's still a lot of characters and side plots to wonder about, Linus seems to have made a deal with someone, was it with Russian royalty or Record Keepers? Does the deal involve Arabella and Prince Konstantin, Prince Mihail, or mysteriously powerful record keeper Michael? The Hidden Legacy fantasy world is vast and ever growing with plot threads and I would love to see the last Baylor sister Arabella get her happily ever after, of course, after a battle or two.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

Sapphire Fire meal was Tex-Mex for Catalina and Emerald Blaze was Gnocchi for Alessandro. 

So, Ruby Fever was for me, Fireball WHISKEY Glazed Chicken! 🤣 

I usually try for more finesse when taking these pics but I, ummm, may have really enjoyed the theme and had some sips of the Fireball while I was cooking 😳 those chicken tenders were plopped on the plate, lol. 

Ready to finish up my Sunday with the conclusion of Catalina and Alessandro's series! 

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews purchase link

Fireball Whiskey Glazed Chicken recipe

Review: Emerald Blaze

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.7 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

“One of these fuckers killed my boy,” he told me in a hoarse whisper loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “You find which one of them did it.” 

Emerald Blaze continues the focus on Catalina Baylor in the overall urban fantasy world of the Hidden Legacy series. Continued readers will know that Catalina is a Prime and the Head of House Baylor while also being the Deputy Warden of Texas. Catalina's power is a siren, her singing can lure beings to do her bidding but is a double edged sword as it can also make them deadly obsessed with her. While her love interest Alessandro, an antistasi Prime, one of the most powerful, with the power to conjure a copy of any weapon within a certain amount of distant to him, shows up earlier in this story, their romance still took a backseat to the action and political maneuverings. 

Sometimes I felt like a spider who'd spun a web across a bottomless drop. My family was walking across, balancing on hair-thin strands, and it was my job to keep them from falling. 

Like the first, Catalina and Alessandro must work together again to solve and stop murders and villainous beings. Linus, the Warden of Texas and a possible closer connection to Catalina than she realizes, assigns Catalina the task of finding out who murdered Felix, a man on the board of five who are working to clean up the Pit. The Pit is a section of Houston that was abandoned after Hurricane Ike destroyed it years ago. Sapphire Flames left off with Alessandro leaving to continue his search and revenge on an assassin named Arkan, the man who killed his father, but he suddenly shows up at a business meeting Catalina has with the remaining four board members and suspects of Felix's murder. Turns out that Felix's father hired Alessandro to find Felix's murderer and kill them. It works to bring Catalina and Alessandro together and set them off on another mystery solving adventure. 

“Catalina,” he repeated. His voice told me he wasn't going to budge on that point. “I'm sorry I hurt you.” 

I started late in the series, and thus world-building, so while I get the general aspects of the fantasy elements, I'm can still get a little lost. This story focused a lot on the weapons, magical beings, and battles. Through their investigation, they learn that The Pit has creatures they've never seen before, some called constructs that were made and some that possibly came from the arcane realm. The biggest issue is the constructs and the main monster that Catalina calls the Abyss. The Abyss was obviously created with the help of some of the missing Osiris serum (a continued plot thread) and it appears to be unstoppable and all it wants to do is grow and destroy all human life. So, our leads are trying to solve a murder, find out who created the Abyss while trying to figure out how to destroy it, fend of Arkan's killers he keeps throwing at them, keep one step ahead of Catalina's grandmother Victoria who while jailed is still dangerous with all her seeds and plots, and oh, maintain family, friend, and love relationships. 

The Abyss stole humans, killed them, and used their bodies and minds to create hybrid constructs. This was a nightmare. 

There were a couple times where my mind started to wander when all the weapons talk got going and there were a lot of little battles in this. I would have liked to see more depth developed between Catalina and Alessandro, it still feels like they just woke up one day and were like “I love you!”. Alessandro was a little different in this one with a more subdued personality and we get to know more about him. We learn more about why he's set on killing Arkan, his family, and his relationship with them. His background sets him perfectly to fit in with Catalina and her promise to her grandmother, so with that conflict out of the way in this book, I'm curious what their relationship will be like in their third and final book. 

He looked at me like I was everything that anchored him to life. 

Even with all the action, we still get a good look at the Baylor family. Nevada comes back into the picture in this one and I loved the scenes she had with Catalina and it made me really wish for more scenes of all three of the sisters together. This was so focused on the action that I wanted more of the human element and their relationships to bring in the feels more. The tone wasn't quite cold and empty but it did feel emotionally distant at times, which I found a shame because at it's essence, this is a story about family. 

“I'm not leaving.” 

The ending gave us a consummation between Catalina and Alessandro and a huge explosive battle scene. This specific case of finding out who murdered Felix and the trouble at The Pit has been solved but the dangling threads of Arkan, the other missing samples of the Osiris serum, and devious grandmother Victoria are still left hanging. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of Catalina and Alessandro's series but I also hope the last story brings in more of the heart of the series and it's characters.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

I just finished up Sapphire Flames, so guess what my Friday night is going to be all about? 

It was serendipitous I made Tex-Mex for Catalina, so how about some Gnocchi for Alessandro 😘 

Sapphire Flames had these two separating and some danger still left lingering, I can't end it like that. Time to dive back into this world. 

Hope everyone else is spending their Friday night in such great company as I! 

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews purchase link

Lemon Chicken Gnocchi recipe

I loved this one!

Review: Sapphire Flames

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

I'd been attacked by two corpses, saw my teenage crush stab a man in the heart, and then watched him jump out of a three-story window. 

Sapphire Flames is fourth in the Hidden Legacy series, and I will say it's possible to start here. A friend told me to read the novella before this, Diamond Fire, and that helped with giving me a crash course into this urban fantasy world and all the character relationships and dynamics. This takes place in Houston, Texas, but with fantasy elements, and it's obvious the authors have established this world. The fantasy side involves the Arcane realm and the Osiris serum that originally enured people with magical elements and have now been passed on and breed through the families. When two Primes, the strongest magical beings, show-up in three generations, that family can apply to be a House. That is the case for Catalina Baylor's family and with the new House of Baylor designation came a period of grace, where no other Houses could attack them, but that time is up. Even magical beings need their politics and war! With Catalina's sister Nevada (#1 Burn for Me) having married and joined her husband's house, Catalina is now the Head of House Baylor and the leader and protector of her family. 

“Work with me and we'll get this done together,” he said. 

Catalina is a siren prime, which means that she has to consciously contain her magic because when it reaches out to people, the instantly love her, which leads them to become obsessed and eventually want to pull her apart to get pieces of her. While Catalina has her older sister Nevada and younger sister Arabella, grandmother, mother, and cousins who aren't affected by her magic because they already love her, her magic leaves her isolated and not wanting to get too close to anyone. When she was being tested for a Prime, she had to test against Alessandro, a Prime and count of an old, rich Italian family. Catalina had an instant liking to him and when he came to see her after the test, she couldn't believe if he really liked her or if her magic didn't wear off, so she pushed him away. 

This could never happen. He and I could never happen. I was a siren. My magic would turn him into a lovesick zombie. He was an assassin. He killed people for a living. 

With a storyline that has a little continuity from the previous novella I mentioned and took place three years ago, Runa, a Prime who can poison and ended up saving the Baylor family and wedding guests of Nevada from a poisonous cake, comes to Catalina (the Baylor family has an investigation business) to help her solve who killed her mother and sister. It's a case that has people warning Catalina off of it, even by Alessandro who suddenly shows up. The case has Catalina and Alessandro working together and it's clear that Alessandro has feelings for Catalina but that he also is not being honest about who he really is, not the playboy Catalina thought as he kills people with the skill of a very experienced assassin, and what his motivations are. 

I wasn't alone. It didn't undo the weight that settled on my shoulders, but it made it lighter. Alessandro would stay with me. 

As I mentioned, I'm new to the series and world, so I didn't have clear understanding of the magical world, there's all different kinds of Primes, sirens, poison, teleports, and beings that can shift and morph into half-animal half-humans, Catalina has wings that can sprout for instance and her sister Arabella can turn into a huge beast. There were a lot of Baylor family members to keep track of at first too but the story gives ample time to get to know everyone as Catalina works the case. As Catalina investigates further it unravels more and gets more dangerous with powerful magical Houses, political Texas National Assembly, and the dark dangerous secret of the Osiris serum having been stolen and used to illegally create magically warped humans. I liked how the story seemed to build on previous books in the series, bring readers into a new thread, and build over the course of the book. 

Around half-way Catalina and Alessandro start to work together and their relationship starts to build, too. Alessandro's feelings are clear but it's also clear that he's keeping secrets of his own. If you're a reader of the series, you'll know that while some answers are given here, Catalina and Alessandro's story isn't finished in this book. Catalina is now also working as the Deputy Warden of TX under the powerful Linus, who obviously has a big secret involving Catalina, and after being forced to go to her powerful but other grandmother who is jailed, she made a promise that could forever keep her and Alessandro separated. 

This was rich in danger, intrigue, and character relationships, delivering in an urban fantasy setting that bewitched my imagination. I'm definitely continuing on in the series to see what other trials befall Catalina and Alessandro and if they can fend them all off and come together.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

First, thanks to @blood_rose_books for telling me to read Diamond Fire before jumping in with this one. It was the crash course I needed to introduce me to this world ❤️ 

I swear all I knew about this series was that it was fantasy, so me making Tex Mex is a wild simpatico that came out of nowhere. Guess universe was like, "Yes, you should be finally starting that series" 🤣 (I'll also be in Houston next week!) 

Ready to get more than a glimpse of the dashing Alessandro and see Catalina gain more confidence her with powers! 

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews purchase link

Tex-Mex Sweet Potato Hash recipe

Listening to your recs

 

Ever since I put the call out for fantasy romance, Ilona Andrews has been the author readers have consistently recommended to me. 

So you know what? Time to dive in! 

Next week is going to be my impromptu Andrews week. I'm starting with #4 in the Hidden Legacy series. 

Is this crazy of me, have any information I should know before I start? 

Can't wait to discuss these books with you all!

Sapphire Flames purchase link

Emerald Blaze purchase link

Ruby Fever preorder (Aug 23) link