Frankly, I can't imagine that anyone has ever finished an Ilona Andrews book without immediately craving the sequel, but the Hidden Legacies series in particular really brings out the 'gimme' mentally in me. It doesn't help that each book seems to end with an Epilogue that ensures I'm already online and ready to pre-order the sequel by the time I've finished the last page. Maybe the issue is that we're dealing with authors with supernatural abilities, and we all need an antistasi boyfriend to resist their charm. Or maybe they're just that good? I guess we'll never know.

What I do know is that Emerald Blaze is a must have for everyone. Okay, I say almost hear some of you getting ready to inform me that you 'hate' urban fantasy and 'would never under any circumstances' enjoy anything resembling a paranormal romance. For your own sake, hear me out and pick up a copy of this book. You can thank me later. Although to save yourself the confusion, at least pick up Sapphire Flames first. And really you should be reading the entire Hidden Legacies series for the full effect... Plus it would be rude to not read the other series by these brilliant authors, you know, to see how their writing evolves. Basically, go buy their entire published works. I still promise you'll thank me later.

Whilst you await your order, let me give you the lowdown on their most recent work, and why you should be excited about it. To say that things between Catalina and Alessandro were on the rocks at the end of Sapphire Flames would be an understatement. Emerald Blaze drops you right into the busy life of Catalina Baylor six months later, as she wraps up a case of a missing monkey. But this is post-Osiris serum Houston, so she runs into her next case pretty quickly. Or rather, it runs at her. This chapter had been released as a preview a while back, and if this was any other author, that would mean skip skip skip to all the new juicy stuff. But honestly, anyone other fans of Ilona Andrews will tell you that when you get your hands on a new release, you savour every word of it. And boy does this opening grip you.

I really love this structure at play here, taking an action packed start to draw you back into the story, and then catching you back up after the fact. It works so much better than the standard 'here's what you missed' catch up that so many authors cram into the start of the first chapter, and the story feels all the more organic for it. What you get instead is a reminder of how badass Catalina is, and how much you love her family and friends. 

And can we please talk secondary characters? No one does them better! I realise that this review should just be called '20 reasons I love Ilona Andrews', but honestly can you blame me? Although we live in and age where spin off, prequels and sagas are at the height of popularity, its not often that you feel so very invested in the characters that you're hoping that every single one gets their own series. I can tell you for a fact that I would read a trilogy centred around any member of the Baylor family, their friends, scary Tremaine grandmother, sapphic security chief, possible suspects and more. Each one of them is fleshed out and interesting to the reader. 

And that is not to say that the protagonists aren't interesting themselves, because they are. Since the last book, Catalina has grown into her still relatively new role as Head of House, as well as now also toting the role of Deputy Warden of the State of Texas. She's grown into herself all the more for it, while regressing a little in her willingness to open up. She's been burned one time too many and had come back stronger, but more closed off. Being abandoned as you're about to confess your love will do that to you. 

I liked the dynamic between her and Alessandro in this instalment. They're both changed from when we saw them last, and in a sense the tables have turned. Alessandro isn't exactly an open book, but compared to the uber secretive Italian she faced a mere six months ago, his willingness to answer any question is as close as you'll get. Now Catalina need only trust him enough to ask. Meanwhile Alessandro isn't the only one vying for her attention. He has competition, ranging from Prime this and Abyss that. 

"The wolf was coming." (Prologue)

"Be careful, Catalina. The night is dark, and the wolves have vicious teeth. Guard yourself." (Chapter 3)

With each instalment the stakes are higher, the characters even more developed and diverse, and the world even ore fleshed out in history. This plot is my favourite yet in this series. one that I found truly original and gripping from start to finish. 

This is the series that keeps setting the standard for the genre, as far as I am concerned. 

Now to face the only downside about Ilona Andrews: figuring out what the hell to read next that won't flop by comparison. 

PS: How could you leave us with that ending??? 

It's 1937, and welcome to a story of self-discovery, forbidden love, and a whole lot of mystery.

I can honestly say I loved this one! I've read Bennett's Arcadia Bell series, and its one of my favourites, so I knew the standard would be good going in. I think I picked this one up based on that alone, and the stunning cover, but only gave the synopsis a quick glance. So I was a little taken aback to discover whilst reading that The Lady Rogue was a fantasy novel! But it was a pleasant surprise, for the most part.

As with a lot of historical reads, finding the right balance in the language can be a little tricky. Too old school, and your reader can feel out of their depths. Too modern, and it can feel noticeably off brand. The Lady Rogue missed the mark for me a bit at first, at times feeling a little too modern, but I eventually settled into it and it wasn't overly distracting.

The setting was really well fleshed out! From start to finish, you can really tell that there's been a huge amount of effort put into research and subsequently the descriptive moments really shine for it! Setting is obviously super important for the plot, and so the effort that obviously went into shaping it and keeping it clear throughout really makes a huge impact. Also, the map that was included was super helpful, and adorable on top of that! Who doesn't love a map? As someone who struggles with visualising things, having a clear example of where everything is taking place makes a big difference! Also it just gets me so hyped up for the story to come! Is this a Pavlovian reaction from the GoT intro? Quite possibly, but I'm not complaining!

My biggest complaint overall was structure, mostly because I found that I got bored of the diary entries very quickly. Much like the nickname that kept popping up for him, Richard Damn Fox's diary entries left me feeling more irritated than interested. I found myself glancing them over for the most part, because they couldn't hold my attention. I was more focused on the characters and what was happening to them. The diary entries, although focal to the story, just felt like a distraction overall for me unfortunately. Thankfully, by comparison, the rest of the narrative felt a lot more vibrant!

Let's talks characters! I liked our protagonist, Theodora, even is she was a little grating at times! I think she was a well rounded character with an obvious fleshed-out backstory. Actually, a lot of the book revolves around the past and the impact it has on the characters now. Our love interest, Huck, is fleshed out most in regards to the past, and the relationship the two shared before the book begins. He can feel a little distant from the reader because of this, I think, but is overall likeable. The relationship as it plays out withing the event of the book, has its cute and serious moments alike. We get a nice role-reversal to the typical damsel in distress trope towards the end. It's evident the two care for each other, but I have to admit that I closed the book feeling like their story wasn't wrapped up.

My resounding thoughts for this one is that it felt like an intro into a series, although to my knowledge there aren't any plans for this to be a series? The ending definitely was left open for a sequel, with the resolution between the main characters, and the promise of them going forth to explore future adventures together. I just hope we get a glimpse into their future at some point, even if it's just a short story.

I'm really exited to see we we see any more of this family, and their adventures! I know I'd definitely pick up a sequel! I think there's a lot of potential there! The only things that bothered me in The Lady Rogue were feeling some of the characters needed more growth within the narrative, and the epistolary form. But with the reader already familiar with the characters, there's a solid basis to built on to flesh them out more. And as for the diary entries, based on how The Lady Rogue ended, I'd say that they'd likely be from Theo's travel journal, which I think would feel less jarring! We'll have to see!

Ilona and Gordon are back with a new addition to the Hidden Legacy series, and this time we're following Catalina. We got a little peak into her (younger) head with Diamond Fire, and I think we definitely needed that stepping stone from Navada to Catalina. I know a few people have struggled a little with the swap from the eldest Baylor sister that we'd all grown attached to, which is understandable. After all, we know reasonably little about Catalina. But isn't that kinda great? A fresh take on a world that we've already grown to love sounds perfect to me.

 I decided pretty early on that I wasn't going to re-read the previous three instalments leading up to the release of Sapphire Flames. And honestly I think it did me the world of good. I came in a little hazy on the events of Navada's triology, but remembered enough to feel comfortable in catching up pretty quickly. And as usual, our favourite author duo pave the way beautifully for returning and new readers. You could definitely cut in here if for some ungodly reason you felt the need to shun the previous books. Again, from the hours I've spent reading reviews for this one, I know that a fair amount of readers felt the loss of Nevada and Rogan in this one. But I think we really needed it to cement us in Catalina's narrative. I did at least! And in a way, this was really a introduction to a very new Catalina.

We had a taste of her in DF, as I mentioned, but 3 years have passed, and she's had to grow up. I say had to, because as Sapphire Flames opens, we're at the end of House Baylor's grace period, and as such, our protagonist is just about to really experience what it means to be Head of her House. Oh and there's the little issue of good people getting murdered. In terms of plot, we're thrown in deep straight off the bat. It'll come to absolutely no one's surprise that the execution of the hit the ground running start is pretty flawless.

Honestly the book is flawless, so if you were hoping for a 'but' at some point, you came to wrong place. I'm pretty damn smitten with the characters, setting, plot and general writing style. And lets just take a moment to discuss the setting. Sure, it's the same world we've walked in throughout the series, but damn if it isn't incredible. No one world builds quite like the Andrews. The magic structure is fresh and fun, you can tell they have a perfect control on the history of the world and the magic, and it really pays off. I struggled for a while trying to figure out exactly what is was that makes these books, more so even than the Kate Daniels series, so incredibly readable. And I think it's just that. Its no single part of the world or character building, or the fun and witty dialogue that makes's this so great. It's all of it. I honestly don't know how they do it, but at the risk of sounding cliche, picking up a Hidden Legacy book feels as easy as breathing. It's completely effortless. Some of my lucky Goodreads friends received ARC copies, and some of them read the book several times before it's official release date. Normally this would confuse me, because I'm not typically someone who easily re-reads within short frames of time. But let me tell you that I could just as easily have turned back to page one when I finished Sapphire Flames than put it down.

In fact, I'd say it was a great deal harder to put it down than to just start it all over again. This series is so addictive, that I'm pretty much ruined for all other books. If I had to reach for any series, it would hands down be this one. And with the ending of Sapphire Flames, I'm left desperately ready for a sequel. You can bet any money in the world that I will be spending every book until Hidden Legacy #5 just slightly disappointed, because nothing quite lives up to this standard. I'm almost tempted to say that I wish I'd waited to read Sapphire Flames until closer to the next release. 'Almost', because I'd be doing myself such a disservice. Honestly I've said it before and I will say in again and again until someone stops me: No one else write quite like Ilona and Gordon. There such an energy to every word, can you can tell how much love goes into each piece of writing.

 On the subject of love, lets talk romance. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Alessandro and Catalina, mostly because I wasn't fully sold on Alessandro going in. I know, I'm surprised too. Happy to say that that was pretty swiftly nipped in the bud. We learned more about him pretty early on, that immediately had me sold. What can I say? All it takes is confidence, a nice smile and the ability to murder a man and then jump out a glass window. I'm a girl of few needs. But less on myself and Alessandro, and back to him and our new protagonist. I loved these two. In just one book, we really got a chance to see them in a variety of scenarios, and it was a nice chance to see how they reacted to each other. Angry, annoyed, flirty, protective, to name a few.

We went in knowing that Catalina had issues when it came to her magic and the possibility of any romantic endeavours was pretty off the table as far as she was concerned. Thankfully for her (and us as readers), Alessandro is pretty keen to put things very much on the table (or sink, I'm looking at you chapter 14). I was worried that I'd find the issue of Catalina's powers and the relationship a little iffy, but actually it was nice to see her vulnerable. As Head of House, she has to be everything but vulnerable, so the moments we get of her like that are pretty great.

Going in, I had a lot more questions about Catalina than Alessandro, but boy have the tables turned. Honestly I could go on and on and on about this one, but I'm in danger of spending all night glued to my laptop staring bleary eyed at the screen while typing away all my thoughts. I'll leave you with this quote:

"He should've never kissed me. He was mine now and I wanted him." 

If that doesn't have you eagerly awaiting the next instalment, I don't know what will. (Other than a pregnant Nevada finally returning, unveiling secrets about Alessandro and seeing how many more sacrifices Catalina is willing too make for the people she loves.)