Title: Diamond Fire
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Hidden Legacy 3.5#, Nevada Baylor Trilogy #3.5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal romance, Romantic suspense, Strong women
Dates read: 26th June 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Avon
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: Arabella was still in school, and today she was crash-writing a two-thousand-word essay, which was assigned to her a month ago and which she had started this morning.

Nevada Frida Baylor and Connor Ander Rogan cordially invite you to join their wedding celebration. Summoning, weather manipulation, and other magical activities strictly forbidden.

Catalina Baylor is looking forward to wearing her maid of honor dress and watching her older sister walk down the aisle. Then the wedding planner gets escorted off the premises, the bride’s priceless tiara disappears, and Rogan’s extensive family overruns his mother’s home. Someone is cheating, someone is lying, and someone is plotting murder.

To make this wedding happen, Catalina will have to do the thing she fears most: use her magic. But she’s a Baylor and there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for her sister’s happiness. Nevada will have her fairy tale wedding, even if Catalina has to tear the mansion apart brick by brick to get it done.

I absolutely loved this novella. It was the perfect glimpse into Nevada and Connor’s happily ever after and the perfect introduction to Catalina. A great little bridging novella that let you know that Nevada and Connor got their happily ever after. But also written in Catalina’s voice, so you immediately began to fall for her, as you said goodbye to Nevada’s voice and welcome a whole new trilogy.

One of the things that I enjoyed about the Kate Daniels series was that you got to read from different characters points of view in the different novellas and short stories. This isn’t quite the same as it effectively ends one trilogy and begins another – but it does beautifully change the tone of narration. I don’t know many authors who can continue on in the same world and reality, but completely change the tone of narration. And that is done seamlessly in this novella. To the point that it starts in Nevada’s voice, and ends in Catalina’s.

Not only is this a great bridging novella, but it is also the perfect little cozy mystery feeling. There is a mystery running through the pages that isn’t quite life or death. But, whilst you are getting introduced to the different characters, you’re also wondering who stole the tiara. And why. And what other secrets are being hidden in Rogan’s family…. All things you really should find out… by reading this fantastic novella.

Image source: HarperCollins Australia

Title: Wildfire
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Hidden Legacy #3, Nevada Baylor Trilogy #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal romance, Romantic suspense, Strong women
Dates read: 18th – 26th June 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Avon
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Most of all, she needed someone to step up and be there.

Nevada Baylor can’t decide which is more frustrating—harnessing her truthseeker abilities or dealing with Connor “Mad” Rogan and their evolving relationship. Yes, the billionaire Prime is helping her navigate the complex magical world in which she’s become a crucial player—and sometimes a pawn—but she also has to deal with his ex-fiancée, whose husband has disappeared, and whose damsel-in-distress act is wearing very, very thin.

Rogan faces his own challenges, too, as Nevada’s magical rank has made her a desirable match for other Primes. Controlling his immense powers is child’s play next to controlling his conflicting emotions. And now he and Nevada are confronted by a new threat within her own family. Can they face this together? Or is their world about to go up in smoke?

I absolutely loved this conclusion to the story of Nevada and Connor. It was just as ridiculously fast-paced and intense as the first two novels. But, FINALLY Nevada and Connor are together, so you get that extra layer of steaminess that you can only find when a couple finally decides to be together. It left me with a seriously happy buzz, not only when I turned that final page. But throughout the whole storyline.

I love that although there is a serious point in which jealousy could exist between one of my favourite couples, they have this constant open communication. Even the few moments of miscommunication are few and far between. And none of it is tinted with distrust. I love that there is a great, strong couple who are completely able to understand and trust each other. Even when they’re both being incredibly difficult and kind of silly. It meant that when Rynda appeared, what I thought was going to be a kind of huge issue… ended up being almost no issue at all. That’s what true relationships are all about… at least to my mind. It was nice to have a literary one in the same vein.

At the conclusion to White Hot, Nevada is discussing becoming a “House” in her world. The construction of worlds is one of my favourite aspects of Ilona Andrews’ writing and I thought it was brilliant that she is able to continue building on the world in the Hidden Legacy series even into the third book. The politics and complexity just keep progressing and I honestly cannot get enough of it.

Not only is this a great conclusion to Nevada and Connor’s story. But you also FINALLY get to find out what Arabella’s hidden talent is. And you begin to become a little more introduced to Catalina. And her love interest. Which perfectly sets this series up for the next little trilogy…

Image source: Goodreads

Title: White Hot
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Hidden Legacy #2, Nevada Baylor Trilogy #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal romance, Romantic suspense, Strong women
Dates read: 17th June 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Avon
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: His face was flat, his eyes bloodshot.

Nevada Baylor has a unique and secret skill—she knows when people are lying—and she’s used that magic (along with plain, hard work) to keep her colorful and close-knit family’s detective agency afloat. But her new case pits her against the shadowy forces that almost destroyed the city of Houston once before, bringing Nevada back into contact with Connor “Mad” Rogan.

Rogan is a billionaire Prime—the highest rank of magic user—and as unreadable as ever, despite Nevada’s “talent.” But there’s no hiding the sparks between them. Now that the stakes are even higher, both professionally and personally, and their foes are unimaginably powerful, Rogan and Nevada will find that nothing burns like ice . . .

Yet again, I absolutely adored this Ilona Andrews story. There is just something about her works that I find completely unforgettable. And impossible to put down. And just generally leaves me in my happy place. It’s… comforting. And enthralling. And whilst I loved the Kate Daniels books, I have a new series to heavily obsess over now… the Hidden Legacy series.

Nevada Baylor is definitely one of my favourite new characters… I started seriously falling for her in Burn For Me. But it really wasn’t until I read White Hot that I fell completely. She’s tough and independent. Driven by her love for her family and just amazingly powerful. Her power, however, doesn’t make her confident, and she’s constantly trying to train and improve. I can’t wait to see how her power evolves in the last book of this series. Especially with the cliff hanger that White Hot ends on.

Even though I am head over heels with Nevada, I think that Rogan is great. He’s obviously kind of damaged and messed up. But Nevada realises that and accepts him as he is (she also manipulates him a little knowing this, but who wouldn’t?). She also manages to completely infuriate him and constantly argue with him. Something that I think is seriously important in any good relationship. Particularly one with a strong, alpha male – we all need to remind them to keep their controlling impulses under control and Nevada does this is a way that has absolutely zero finesse.

Although I found the dynamic and relationship between Rogan and Nevada absolutely fantastic, it is the main plot line that really makes this book impossible to put down. The conspiracy that started in Burn For Me gets more complex. And I’m seriously hoping that things are solved in the final novel. You also being to discover more about Nevada’s siblings and cousins – the powers that they’ve kept hidden. And, you know, the fact that they are some seriously powerful magic users that have just been mostly ignored…

Image source: Goodreads