SAPPHIRE FLAMES by Ilona Andrews

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews comes an enthralling new trilogy set in the Hidden Legacy world, where magic means power, and family bloodlines are the new currency of society…

In a world where magic is the key to power and wealth, Catalina Baylor is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, and the Head of her House. Catalina has always been afraid to use her unique powers, but when her friend’s mother and sister are murdered, Catalina risks her reputation and safety to unravel the mystery.

But behind the scenes powerful forces are at work, and one of them is Alessandro Sagredo, the Italian Prime who was once Catalina’s teenage crush. Dangerous and unpredictable, Alessandro’s true motives are unclear, but he’s drawn to Catalina like a moth to a flame.

To help her friend, Catalina must test the limits of her extraordinary powers, but doing so may cost her both her House–and her heart.

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Title : Sapphire Flames
Author : Ilona Andrews
Series : Hidden Legacy (book four)
Format : eARC
Page Count : 400
Genre : paranormal urban fantasy, romance
Publisher : Avon
Release Date : August 27, 2019

Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

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Hollis’ 4.5 star review

Was this everything I wanted it to be? Can I get a hell yeah? Did I love this Catalina-centric installment more than the Nevada-centric ones? Really.. long.. pause.

Maybe?

It’s been a while but I do have great memories of the trilogy that kicked this series off. And yet for some reason this one just shines a little more brightly. And not only because it’s obviously fresh in my mind.

Other kids were encouraged to be cute, to perform for adults. If I smiled, the adults became mesmerized, and if I wanted them to like me, they would love me with obsessive intensity.

Catalina’s struggles, and her struggles with her magic, just felt.. interesting. Fresh. Exciting. Her power is different and that gives her role something a little different. The love interest was a flipping delight, too. There are so many layers to Alessandro and I loved how they played off each other. 

“I found your vomit muffin. He’s driving a crappy silver Italian import. He’s about to merge on the 1-10. Where are you?“
“In the passenger seat of the crappy import.“
“This is a great car.”

I enjoy the politics and the messiness of this warped world. All the side characters, too. Honestly there isn’t much I didn’t love. The only thing keeping this back from a full five stars is some of the intensity of Catalina’s feelings. I get she’s been invested for a while, and also somewhat resigned to a complicated future romance, if any, but it did come off strong. She was just very in it when it wasn’t really a thing to be in yet? Hard to describe. But it only came off weird a few times. For the rest? I was quite pleased.

“But what would I do alone for hours with no one to admire me?“
“Take selfies, kill random people, take selfies of you killing random people?“
“Is that why you think I’m not a good person?“
“No, lots of people take selfies. You just do it more than most.“

I have so many questions about where things are building, who is hiding what, and the authors did tease some things that I’m sure are to be revealed down the road. Hell, I’m still waiting for the reveal from the epilogue of book three. Did we get that? I can’t remember. Suffice it to say there’s so much more for this series to give us, so many places it can go, and I’m delighted there’s so so many characters that could take us to all these yet-uncharted areas. Want, need, more. But I always say that. These authors rarely, if ever, fail to deliver.

“I don’t know if you know, but Leon is psycho. I heard him talking to himself when shooting people. He used funny voices, Catalina.“
“Your brother thinks he’s a werewolf.“
“Good point.“

I’m so so excited for more of this world and it was such a delight to slide into an Andrews in this post-Kate Daniels world.

** I received an ARC from the author (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **