Burn for Me

"The next time I kill someone, I'd like to do it in a way that doesn't freak you out.”

Because I - and so many others - fangirl Ilona Andrews, I was pretty sure I'd dig this book at least some. To my delight, I ended up falling completely head over heels.
Unique worldbuilding graces the pages. The world has magic in it to which only a few are granted, and to which an even smaller number are known as Primes (the super powerful). Houses made up of primes are what makes the world go round, as they've taken over sections of the world and are basically the government and controlling forces.
Regarding the cover, it looks like a generic paranormal romance that you'd find in a supermarket bin. I don't mind the cover as much as many do, but want show more to point out it's definitely not a generic PR - it's Urban Fantasy all the way like the Kate Daniels series, of course with a truly yummy male lead.
Nevada as the main character works well. Loved her personality, realism, humor, and how the authors gave her an existing family element that wasn't annoying. I also liked her unique ability and the private detective firm.

Fortunately Ilona Andrews writing style is epic as always, so this book flies by and is difficult to put down.
Only thing really bugging me about this book is that the sequel has been delayed and we have to wait until 2017 for it now.
Rogan is an epic male lead - Curran won my heart with the Kate Daniels series, but Rogan is a strong contender. He's fun, powerful, determined...seriously, heart-throbbing. It's not a "sex" book but there's definitely some steam, especially a particular power scene.

Magic makes the best fantasy worlds, and here isn't an exception as the author branches out to creatively give us unique powers. Loved everything about it and highly recommend.
Easily one of my top reads of the year so far. show less

This has been sitting on my kindle for a long time. I love Ilona Andrews, and I’m not sure why I was waiting to read it, except that maybe I wanted a guaranteed win waiting in the wings for my next book slump. Maybe I just wanted something to look forward to. Anyway, I knew I’d be glad when I finally got to it.
While the book definitely walks the line between paranormal romance and urban fantasy, the title and cover are still misleading, I think, about what to expect. For example, when I got to the “punchline,” as a friend of mine once called it when a story directly refers to the words of its title, it had nothing to do with hot romance.
Nevada and Connor have a very similar vibe to Kate and Curran in the Kate Daniels series, show more but that in no way diminished my enjoyment of this book. The imagination of this writing team never fails, and they have a real knack for battle scenes and romantic tension. I loved the family dynamic for Nevada, a notable difference from Kate’s loner status at the start of the Kate Daniels series. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better in the next book.
Within minutes of finishing this, I activated my library hold for book two, and it can’t come fast enough. show less

Book one in the Hidden Legacies series takes place in Houston, Texas, but it’s not the Houston we know. In this world, magic rules, and the families who have the most magic are the most powerful.

Nevada Baylor runs Baylor Investigative Agency, her family’s firm, mostly focusing on cheating spouses and small-time insurance fraud. But now the firm that holds their mortgage has a very specific and highly dangerous task for her, and she has to take the case or lose her business (and home). She’s supposed to bring in Adam Pierce, a Prime (the highest rank of magic user), whose special skill is his ability to set anyone and anything on fire. To do so, she joins forces with Connor “Mad” Rogan, a billionaire Prime with equally show more devastating and dangerous powers.

The authors (Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym of a husband-and-wife writing team) give us a pretty complicated plot with enough action to keep the reader turning pages. Some time had to be spent building the world of magic and how the various forms are manifested. We also had to meet the rest of Nevada’s family: her Mom (formerly Sgt Baylor, an expert sniper), Grandma (whose talent is all things mechanical), cousin Bern (a computer wiz), and her younger, teenaged sisters, Arabella and Catalina. There are some interesting side characters including “Bug,” who lives in “the Swamp” and is even more tech savvy than Bern). The romantic tension between Nevada and Rogan added to the fun.

Though I really hate cliffhangers that “force” the reader to continue a series, I might consider reading more in this series. show less

Burn For Me is my first Ilona Andrews book and even in the opening pages of this well developed, high action urban paranormal I found lots to love. I love Nevada, the almost ordinary, barely magic main character--her power is that she can tell when people lie--who’s struggling to keep her family’s PI agency afloat in a highly stratified alternate world Houston run by powerful magic dynasties. I love Nevada’s colorful, squabbling, loyal family members, including Nevada’s four teenage siblings and cousins who help with online surveillance and research when they aren’t doing homework, Nevada’s widowed sharpshooter mother, who’s a former soldier injured in the line of duty, and Nevada’s mechanically gifted, man-obsessed show more grandmother, who bears some resemblance to Stephanie’s Plum’s lively Grandma Mazur except that she can build tanks and other armored artillery-enhanced vehicles.

The world building is wonderfully vivid, mostly gritty but sometimes glitzy, Nevada has difficult choices to make, which kept me reading much later into the night than I meant to, and the philosophy of Hobbes is even briefly discussed, a smart touch that added to my entertainment. What I didn’t care for is the romance. When Nevada and Mad Rogan first meet he runs her down, knocks her out, chains her to his basement floor, and tortures her with magic because he wants information about the case she’s working on. While his actions make Nevada angry and wary, she finds his extreme “masculinity” a turn-on, but the episode and her response had the opposite effect on me. It took me a while to get back into the story, but the wife and husband author team writes with skillful savvy, and the many things I loved about the plot and characters meant I did enjoy most of the rest of the book.

This is the first of a new series so the romance is just developing--I imagine it will become a larger part of the story as the books continue. I read an advanced review copy of this book supplied by the publisher; the review opinions are mine. show less

I think I'm turning into an Ilona Andrews fan girl. This is the third series by the author I've tried and it did not disappoint. This one leans more paranormal romance than I normally go for but turns out I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. There was enough urban fantasy mixed in to balance the romance out.

Nevada Baylor has been put in a bad situation. She can either take a suicidal mission or forfeit the family business to the corporation who owns their mortgage. Feeling like she's been set up to fail Nevada takes the job, determined not to cave to corporate bullying. Of course all she has to do is find and convince Adam Pierce, a pyrotechnic Prime (the most powerful classification of magic users), to come home to his family. show more Just as Nevada gets going she finds herself kidnapped by Connor "Mad" Rogan, a telekinetic Prime who is also trying to track down Pierce. Rogan needs the information Nevada's gathered and Nevada needs a Prime on her side if she wants to have any hope of surviving.

The world building is interesting. The story is set in alternate Houston. Back in the 1800s scientists discovered a serum that unlocks magic powers in humans. Turns out these powers can be inherited by future generations. Magical abilities manifest differently in each person, both in the nature and magnitude of the power, and as with many hereditary traits they stay relatively similar throughout a family line. Naturally the wealthy worked hard to match up the best bloodlines to build up their families, which are now called Houses. In modern day this has lead to many Houses that vie for power over the world.

Nevada is a strong heroine. She's fierce, protective of her family, very determined, has a solid set of morals and a healthy dose of compassion. She has a low grade power of being a human lie detector, which comes in quite useful in her line of work. The rest of the Baylor family is a great supporting cast and their family dynamics are hilarious. Everyone pitches in though Nevada is the primary breadwinner since their father died and mom suffers from an old army injury that limits her mobility. Even the younger siblings and cousin provide assistance. I think I love grandma the most, in her 70s and still a tech mage that fixes tanks! On the flip side you have Connor, aka Mad Rogan. He is morally ambiguous, lived a life of privilege though didn't have a great childhood, is ex-military and his the control he has over his powers scares most people. Yes, he's quite the bad ass. I'm still not entirely sure of his motivations though he and Nevada seem to be a good pair. They challenge each other which provides opportunities for each to grow.

About the romance. I like that it is more drawn out. Instead of insta-love it starts as insta-lust, which is much more believable to me, and seems like it will work its way to the real thing in the next book or two. Also the Andrews can write a steamy kiss that puts many sex scenes to shame. I did get tired of Nevada's habit to obsess about it in her mind. Thankfully those sections never lasted too long.

The book has other flaws too but in the end I just didn't care. The story has tons of action, a neat mystery, fun characters, an interesting world and is just so darn entertaining that I could overlook the inconsistencies. show less

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶/4

Welcome to the Urban Fantasy, alternate reality magical world of Houston TX. A hundred or two years ago, while trying to find a cure for the influenza epidemic, many countries discovered a serum that while dangerous (and potentially deadly), could also grant the lucky survivors magical powers. These powers ranged in strength and type, but they ended up being passed through the family line to offspring. As families grew and powers spread throughout bloodlines, a dual form of government was formed. For the non-magical regular folks, the standard government we know today still exists. But for the magical families, now organized into powerful House dynasties, a special Assembly was formed so that the magical show more could govern and deal with their own messes and problems.

Fast forward to contemporary times and we meet the Baylor family, of Baylor Investigative Services (a family run PI firm). Nevada is the eldest daughter of the family and the head of the firm. He father passed away from cancer years ago, her mother is a veteran who still sports old injuries from her time as a POW, and her grandmother (also a veteran), runs a side business making military vehicles and tanks. Nevada feels a great sense of responsibility to protect her family (mother, grandmother, two younger sisters, and two male cousins), who all live together under one roof and work for the business together.

But Nevada is also hiding a secret, the whole Baylor family is. Nevada has powerful magic, but has kept it out of the public eye for her whole life. She can always tell when someone is lying, but that's just scratching the surface of her mental magic powers. They've managed to keep out of the prying eyes and power struggles of the magical House elite society, but when Nevada is forced to take a dangerous case, that anonymity gets threatened.

Through her search for a dangerous criminal, she meets Mad Rogan, a notoriously powerful and dangerous war hero and reclusive billionaire. Sparks may be flying, but Rogan has way too many red flags for Nevada to actually consider taking any steps with him. So for now they'll just have to work together to save Houston from a crazy madman hoping to burn it all down.

But don't fret, the burning sexual tension of this slow burn is hotter than anything their villain can hope to unleash on the city.

This was a great intro to this series and I couldn't wait to continue on to the next one!

Key note: DO read these in order show less

AAAAAAUUUURGHGHHGHGH!!!! What do you mean I have to wait for the next book to come out?!? WHY?!?!?!?!

My favorite writers of badass women in magically destroyed southern cities have a new series out. This time, it's Houston under the knife (glee!) and a wonderful new private detective who puts her family first. Delicious magics, swoony love interest, highly amusing snark. Hooray!