Burn for Me

This review first appeared on A Weebish Book Blog

BURN FOR ME by Ilona Andrews is another riveting read by my all time favorite writing duo and the first novel in the Hidden Legacy series. Like her Kate Daniels series, BURN FOR ME sucked me in from page one. If I hadn’t the smallest amount of control (and more money to burn), I would have been up all night binge-reading the other books in the series.

Nevada Baylor is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She must successfully apprehend a dangerous fugitive or lose everything. To make matters worse, she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan, a man with the power to destroy entire cities, who demands her help. She wants nothing to do with the Scourge of Mexico, but he may be the only show more chance she has of getting out alive.

Navada is not only a kick-ass heroine, she’s a smart kick-ass heroine. She doesn’t have a death wish as many heroines of the genre appear to. She does her job well, but has no qualms with stepping aside to let someone else more experienced and adept handle a situation that is too much for her. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than a character that repeatedly bungle plans/situations by being reckless and rash.

Ronan, quite frankly, the most adorable potential psychopath I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. He is devastatingly powerful and has no objection to killing tp benefit his cause, but there is just something about his confusion about simple human emotions that is so cute when he’s trying to woo our unwilling heroine.

Ilona Andrews has once again hooked her claws in me and I couldn’t be happier. She serves us kick ass characters, a brilliantly crafted world, and writing that continues to enslave me. BURN FOR ME has become another favorite from Andrews, and I cannot wait to devour the rest of this series! 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!

A paranormal romance for gun bunnies is the best way to describe this book. I liked the world building - about 100 years ago a serum was developed that either unlocked magic powers or warped people (sort of like a Victorian Wild Cards), and the world is now controlled by magic dynasties existing uneasily with various governments - magicpunk not cyberpunk. Light, but none the less well-written, and, more importantly, not smutty like so many PNRs are (I suspect this is because the author is a husband-and-wife team who probably don't want speculation on their sex life). I got it as an Amazon deal having read The Edge series and The Innkeeper series, and enjoyed it enough that if later books come up as deals I'll probably get them. Heck, I show more may even get the next 2 full price if I get an Amazon voucher for my birthday. show less

I never read paranormal romances.
lie

Ok, fine. And I'm not in the Andrews fan club, either.
lie

I've only read this book once.
Oooh, big fat lie.

Well, that was unexpected.
true

Despite being a charter member of the Kate Daniels fan club, I've been hit and miss on the Andrews' other offerings. When I read a chapter preview with leads Mad Rogan and Nevada in a kidnapping scene, I was out, and never gave the series another glance. But desperate times call for desperate measures. On a PNR stretch, I needed a palate cleanser after binging Singh's Psy-Changling series. Among my most compatible friends, this was four stars (view spoiler) so I what else was I to do? Read literary fiction?

One of the biggest surprises is the balance between action and show more relationship; I'd only call it a PNR by the loosest of definitions. Nevada, the lead character, is a PI running an agency with the aid of her family: ex-sniper mom, mechanic grandma, two younger sisters and two younger male cousins. The agency that owns her firm has forced her into taking a 'find and return' case of a missing son on a pyromania spree, and absolutely no one thinks it is a good idea. As she's tracking down the pyro, she runs into Mad Rogan, ex-military mage. Rogan runs his life like he's in active combat, so it doesn't go well--see kidnapping scene--when they first meet.

Honestly, teaser chapters should probably be tossed out, because it was very misleading. It was the initial encounter where two people get the measure of each other, and Nevada walks away with a healthy perspective of the situation. Before they even met, however, Nevada gets historical insight into young Rogan, and it colors her impressions. Events conspire to continue to throw the two together, and much to my surprise, it was done well enough to permit growth of a kind of uneasy friendship. You know the kind--the one where you might have inappropriate thoughts, but you keep them on lock-down, even if the object of your thoughts flirts. It's really beautifully done, the way they end up having reasons to re-evaluate each other every encounter, but without Andrews spelling it out for the reader. Nevada is definitely an empowered person that owns her skills and her feelings.

There's a strong supporting cast, and Nevada is particularly interesting in the PNR world because of her over-involved family. I especially appreciated the multi-generational family. Grandma is a lot of fun, and well, let's just say she's twin to Stephanie Plum's Grandma Mzur. Perhaps a little too carbon, but maybe there are all sorts of grandmas out there like that--I don't know, mine definitely weren't. Humor threads nicely through the story as well. There's a number of one-liners that are well-integrated into the story without making it seem like all the leads are doing is trading quips.

For those who really want the romance, there's a different spin on the sexy times in this book, but it's not (view spoiler) Still, a fun read. I went straight on to the next. show less

OMG! This book was downright awesome. I cannot believe I took this long to read an Ilona Andrews novel. I have read a few books within the urban fantasy genre which I enjoyed, but this my favourite.What the book is aboutNevada Baylor is a private investigator with Baylor Investigations, which is run by her family. Unfortunately, the business is facing financial challenges and as a result; it was mortgaged to the hilt. The company who holds the mortgage issued an order for her to take on an assignment, which may or may not lead to her death. She had no choice but to accept the assignment as failure to do so would lead to the loss of the business and her family home.In the midst of the chaos, she is kidnapped by Mad Rogan, a man who was show more rich, powerful and feared by all whom he came in contact with. They are both after the same target, so working together seemed the logical thing to do. However, their unexpected partnership will lead to them discovering things about themselves and developing feelings they never thought was possible with each other.What I enjoyedSuperb Writing: The manner in which the story was presented made me feel as if I was a part of the story. I loved he uniqueness of the setting and the premise. The story is set in a world that is similar to ours, with one main difference, magic. In the 1800s, a serum was developed that gave humans magical powers and since that time magic has reigned supreme. Years later, you have a world where some humans have interesting and unique powers. There were those whose powers were stronger than the norm who are called primes.Delightful Characters: Nevada is a strong, brave, honest, kick-ass heroine. From the moment I was introduced to her, I knew I would love her. She cares deeply for her family and would do anything to protect them. She is not the type to behave like a damsel in distress. While working on this case she would come to realise that there is more to her powers than she originally believed.Conner Rogan AKA Mad Rogan is a formidable and complex man. He was former military and a trained killer. He has no qualms about killing when the need arises. However, I soon came to realize that underneath all that craziness lay a heart of compassion. Few were privy to this side of him.I loved every moment spent with the supporting cast of characters. I loved how Nevada’s family had her back. They had a bond that was stronger than any magic. It is rare for me to like the villain in a story, but this time around, I could not help but like Adam. He was cocky and entitled, but there was something about him that I found endearing.Fun and entertaining story: There was tons of action, and thrilling moments to keep me on my toes. It moved quickly sparing me no time to be bored. There was humour to help lighten the heavy moments. There was loads of sexual tension permeating the pages of this story, but there was no intimacy and no romance. Not that I am complaining. It is evident that there is an attraction there, but with all what was happening there would have been no to explore their feelings for each other. I am curious to discover how this aspect of the story will eventually play out.I was happy with the ending. Thankfully, it was not a cliff-hanger. The situation in this instance was adequately wrapped up, however, there was a shocking revelation in the epilogue which left me with questions. Thankfully I am able to proceed to next book in the series right away so my questions will be answered soon.VerdictOverall, this is a great read and one, which I highly recommend. View all my reviews show less