Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews – a Review

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Description:
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.

Review:

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews is the first book in the new arc trilogy of their fantastic Hidden Legacy series.   First off, I love everything ever written by the Ilona Andrews duo (Ilona & Gordon). I have read a few early snippets of Sapphire Flames, and could not wait to read Catalina taking control of House Baylor.  I loved Nevada and Rogan in the earlier books, and now after reading Sapphire Flames, I love Catalina and yes Alessandro, too; I love this family.  Give me more Please.

Refresher:  The Hidden Legacy series is fantasy romance, with families that have magical powers and control society, with each family having their own Prime members (high magical ability).  The entire Baylor family returns, and they are all such wonderful characters; besides Catalina, there is Arabella, Mom, Grandmother, Leon, Berg, just to name a few; and we get a brief snippet of Nevada, away with Rogan on a trip.

Three years have passed after Nevada and family became a house, now called House Baylor.  With Nevada married to Rogan (our heroes in the earlier books), Catalina, the middle sister has become the head of House Baylor, and she is a powerful prime, being a ‘siren’ with persuasive magic.  Catalina is woken up in the middle of the night to help another house that needs her to use her magic to stop a boy from jumping to his death.  The Etterson family has just lost their mother and a sister to a tragic fire, and Runa, who is a poison mage that we met in a previously, is now the head of her house.  Catalina, who does save the brother, will bring them both to stay with her family, as they both are grieving, with no remaining family members left.  Catalina will take their case, as there are suspicions about the death, and in a short time, the supposed deceased sister is alive, but missing.  Other Prime houses have approached Catalina to not take this case, but she refuses to abandon Runa. One of those is Alessandro Sagredo, a powerful Prime, whom Catalina always had a crush on him when she was a teenager.  

What follows is an exciting, nonstop action with Alessandro pushing himself to help Catalina, and together they find themselves in many life-threatening situations. The truth begins to unravel with extremely powerful enemies that seem unbeatable, despite Catalina and Alessandro own powers, and even with the help of another powerful Prime, things look bleak.  This was an amazing edge of your seat story line that kept us glued to each page.

As I have said before, I love the Baylor family.  Nevada was one of my favorites and now Catalina rises up to take over as family head, and she too is awesome.   Her fantastic, somewhat crazy family steps up to help Catalina, and it’s just fun being around them.  As for Alessandro, ‘whew’, he was not only hot, but oh so good with Catalina.  Though you can see how each felt about each other, there was no real romance… yet.  We will see this in future books.  Can’t wait.

Sapphire Flames was an awesome start to this new arc featuring Catalina, who was fantastic.  She is learning more about her powers, and at the same time, coming out of her vulnerability and gaining confidence.   To tell too much more would be spoilers, and I do not want to ruin it for you.  If you have read the Hidden Legacy series, you need to read Sapphire Flames to enjoy every moment.  If you have not started this series, please go back and start at Burn for Me and meet our illustrious heroes that started it all, Nevada and Rogan.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two children and many dogs and cats.

They have co-authored four NYT and USAT bestselling series, the #1 NYT bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels, rustic fantasy of the Edge, paranormal romance of Hidden Legacy, and Innkeeper Chronicles, which they post as a free weekly serial. For complete list of their books, fun extras, and Innkeeper installments, please visit their website at Ilona-andrews.com.