Title: Ruby Fever

Authors: Ilona Andrews

Series: Hidden Legacy #6

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Ilona Andrews is back with the newest book in the exciting Hidden Legacy series—the thrilling conclusion to her trilogy featuring fierce and beautiful Prime magic user Catalina Baylor. An escaped spider, the unexpected arrival of an Imperial Russian Prince, the senseless assassination of a powerful figure, a shocking attack on the supposedly invincible Warden of Texas, Catalina’s boss… And it’s only Monday. Within hours, the fate of Houston—not to mention the House of Baylor—now rests on Catalina, who will have to harness her powers as never before. But even with her fellow Prime and fiancé Alessandro Sagredo by her side, she may not be able to expose who’s responsible before all hell really breaks loose. –Goodreads

The Review:

I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of the Baylor family.

This unlikely series has quickly jumped to one of my all-time favorites. To the point where the pending release for Ruby Fever was my most anticipated book of 2022. That’s crazy! But these authors have earned their place in my top spots by dazzling me again and again between their many series.

Two things about this series make it stand out to me: the cool structure for a magic system, where these competing houses pass magic down through their lineages, and said magic takes on all sorts of interesting forms. It’s everything you love about superhero powers, but in a much more accessible (and less cheesy) presentation. The wide variety of magics turns every book into a discovery process, and I lovelovelove the world building component.

The second thing is the characters themselves. This family is a hoot. Spending time with them reminds me of being included in the family festivities of my best friend growing up (who had 10 siblings… welcome to Utah), and the crazy sorts of dynamics and arguments that ensue with that many people under one roof. But at the end of the day, they support and love one another and work together to build their house into something to be proud of. Reading these books feels like tapping into the hopeful part of me I don’t see very often, and I love that. And considering how many fun family members there are to keep track of in this series, I’m impressed at how complete and well-developed most of them feel. The grandma is a riot.

Although these books are marketed as romances, they more closely resemble traditional urban fantasy than many others that I’ve read. The point of a paranormal romance is to see if the two are going to get together in the end (amidst some supernatural squabbling). The point of an urban fantasy is to see if they’re going to defeat the bad guy, with romance as a secondary arc. This last book had practically no romance development at all, but you wouldn’t know that from the covers. It’s why I have such a hard time recommending this amazing series to anyone, save those who have already read Ilona Andrews and know how brilliant they are. Take it from me, ignore the covers. This series is legit.

The only thing I found disappointing about the book was that it didn’t resolve a plot point I was most interested in seeing continued from the first two Catalina books. It kind of touched on it, but nowhere near where I think it could’ve gone given all the good setup. Given rumors on how annoying this book was to write for the authors (well, not really rumors considering I read it repeatedly on their blog), I wonder if at the end of the day they only had so much room to try to cram all the elements in and some things just didn’t make the cut.

The highlight of the book was actually the epilogue. I found in it the spark I love so much about the series and promises of more to come. I hope the writing duo do indeed continue the series, even if they go the self-pub route (I’ll be buying!).

Recommendations: as this is the second arc to the Hidden Legacy saga, I’d suggest starting back with Burn for Me (that title, though). And if you can’t get past the covers, I understand (although I actually really like the vibrant covers and pretty dresses of the newer ones, but you get my point). Start with the Kate Daniels series instead (the first book is meh, but then it grows into something amazing!) and maybe once you see how good they are, you’ll find your way back here. :)

I’d like to thank Avon and Harper Voyager, Ilona Andrews, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of Ruby Fever!

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by Niki Hawkes