Title: Burn for Me

Author: Ilona Andrews

Series: Hidden Legacy #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy / PNR

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire. Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive. Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world. –Goodreads

The Review:

Everybody who said “ignore the cover, this book is awesome!” was absolutely right.

I should preface this review by saying that I recently got up to date with the Kate Daniels series (my current holy grail of urban fantasy), so I’m still riding the high from all the amazing things I experienced there. My opinion of Burn for Me was definitely influenced by my feelings for these authors in general. Had I read this first, I’m certain the rating would’ve been more conservative because I’d have still been trying to assess how I felt about the writing. Since I already know what these authors are capable of, I can’t help but have my rating reflect my unbridled excitement to be reading more from them.

I read Burn for Me with my FBR Goodreads group, and one friend summed it up perfectly: if you’re a fan of the Ilona Andrews formula, you’ll probably love this one too. As you can see from the cover, it’s clearly marketed towards / written for more of a paranormal romance fan base (as opposed to urban fantasy). This is also evident in the way they told the story (there’s a heightened focus on half-naked bodies). However, where most of the PNR books I’ve read focus mostly on the romance aspect and do just enough with everything else to get by, that was so not the case here – the plot and world building were just as robust, and in fact the “love story” kind of took a backseat at times.

The most compelling part of this book for me was the attention to detail – basically all of the “setup” components that set the base for the story, including backstories, alternate world histories, and magic systems. I also loved the fun dynamics between the main character and her family. All the characters were good, but my favorite was the Grandma. :)

I was worried the characters and the narrative would be similar enough to KD to feel like a knockoff series. While the snarky comebacks, feisty MCs, and relationship dynamics are in the same spirit as what I’ve seen before, it was presented differently enough alleviate that worry. Overall, they did a great job presenting characters and a world that felt fresh. The things that were similar (like the grumpy love interest) were so much fun to read that I probably gave it a pass anyway. I actually thought this was a much better start to a new series than KD, so that should count for something.

Analytically, I can see the book isn’t perfect, but from a pure enjoyment, x-factor standpoint I enjoyed it thoroughly and can’t wait to see where the story goes next.

Recommendations: Read all the things Ilona Andrews. I’m totally biased, and justifiably so considering how much I love these authors. I’d definitely hand this book to UF readers who don’t mind a little more of a romance focus. Burn for Me was a lot of fun and one of the more entertaining books I’ve read this year. Recommended if you like humor, snark, magic, and romance.

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