Title: Beast Business

Author: Ilona Andrews

Series: Hidden Legacy #6.5

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Augustine Montgomery is an Illusion Prime who owns a premier PI corporation and alters his appearance with magic. The people who have seen Augustine’s real face can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The people who witnessed the full extent of his power are dead. The illusion isn’t just the brand of his magic. It’s become his lifestyle. Show as little as possible. Make them think that illusion is all you have. Your life depends on it. Augustine lives by this creed. He’s cold, rational, and calculating. He doesn’t get emotionally involved. Then one day Diana Harrison walks into his office and asks for his help. Diana is a Prime, an animal mage who bonds with animals through her magic and prefers their company to humans. Something precious has been stolen from House Harrison. Something Diana must recover at all costs. The two Houses are allied through a friendship pact. Assisting Diana is simply good business. And yet, there is something about her that disturbs the careful balance of Augustine’s inner world. Neither of them is who they appear to be. Both would die to keep their secrets. But the enemy they face is more powerful than either had imagined, and saving the life that hangs in the balance will demand the ultimate price neither Augustine nor Diana ever anticipated to pay – complete honesty. –Goodreads

The Review:

I am so ready for the next one…

It’s sometimes hard to get back into a series after an extended break – so not the case with Hidden Legacy. Every tiny detail regarding Arabella reminded me of my fierce passion for the series, and I truly cannot wait to read more about her in her forthcoming trilogy. She’s such an interesting character! And don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved spending time with each sister so far, but Arabella feels different somehow. More relatable. Likable in a flawed character kind of way. And I am really excited to see what they are going to do with her story arc because she’s starting with a baseline of not being able to measure up to her older sisters, but she also has this fierce determination that doesn’t seem to rely on external validation… I think it’s going to be good.

So I realize I’ve overlooked the technical selling point of the novella: the first hundred pages (Beast Business) which only includes Arabella as a peripheral character. Focusing instead Augustine and Diana – the leaders of two powerful houses, who I imagine will play pivotal roles in the upcoming trilogy. And even though it wasn’t my personal highlight of the read, it was still magic-filled and action-packed. After reading the short stories contained in the back of the book, I realize that Augustine is a character we’ve seen before during various conflicts in the main series, but it has been so long since I read it that he really didn’t leave the lasting impression. So I’m grateful for the refresher here, and getting to know more about his magic and the magic of his ally/presumably counterpart Diana. It also set the stage for the culture of Arabella’s story with Augustine is her mentor. The authors were very, very clear to imply that Augustine is in no way going to be a potential love interest.

And then we get another short story from Arabella’s perspective during the same timeframe. This is the piece of work that has me so excited! I love how Arabella presented in the story as a PI/Fixer type character, who is building her own career based on her ability to accurately psychoanalyze people and contain her own rather hostile magics during the process. I thought it was phenomenal how well she related to the other characters in the story, and how completely I felt the POV immersion into her character (down to unique mannerisms and careful word choices). She’s the type of character who inspires likability from the reader based on the fact that she can inspire likability with the other characters. It’s awesome!

And beyond that are some short stories that have been published before on the authors’ website, most of which I’m pretty sure I’ve read previously. But I went ahead and reread them anyway because I thought they were excellent refreshers to the world and to many of the key players presumably appearing in the next books.

I cannot state enough how freaking excited I am for book 7!

Recommendations: I went into this book thinking I was getting a 200 page Novella. Then it ended at 120 pages and I felt a little swindled… until I read all the good stuff that came behind it. Just go in knowing that this is a collection of pieces and not one long narrative. Also, if you haven’t read the series, please give it a try – it is awesome! There is romance involved as a secondary component, but this is not a romance-heavy series despite what the covers would have you think. It’s a perfect balance of all the elements.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Karen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Poochtee, Kinsey, Alysa, Derek, Kelly, Grace, and Carmen! <3

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My Annotations (contains spoilers!). This is for the print edition [ISBN: 9781641973724].

Beast Business (I didn’t get inspired to annotate until about halfway through this story)

[57] This page is reading like a bad romance. So weird. There hasn’t been enough time or interaction for anything to develop between Diana and Augustine yet, just superficial attraction. Maybe we’re ramping it up earlier due to the smaller page count?

[63] Vernal, Utah <- Cool!! And ironically one of the very few places in the state I haven’t been to yet.

[68] Best scene of the book so far. NOW I’m feeling a bit more invested.

[72] I wasn’t expecting Diana to be such a vicious hunter. The ferocity! She just became 10xs more interesting.

[74] Way too many poorly used F-bombs here. Swearing is an art form…

[75] “She walked toward him, and it was liquid sex.” Haha, is this really how far we’ve come? [Future edit: This really was a one-off. I think this was to establish physical connection. We’re getting the very basics here to show how these two house leaders ended up working together to set things up for the actual MC in the next trilogy. It’s making it clear that Augustine is NOT a romantic interest for Arabella. He’s a mentor. It makes me wonder how many issues came up in the early drafts to warrant this story being written and published.]

[103] “Your stomach is lacerated… If we don’t keep it wet, your intestines will dry out.” <- Learn something new every day.

[113] I liked Arabella’s peripheral inclusion in this story. It sets things up nicely for the next trilogy. Yes, we’d better get an entire trilogy.

Arabella Saves the Day (I loved this story so much!!)

[119] So funny that there’s more book… I thought Beast Business was going to be about 150 pages. Not complaining…

[124] I’m getting a lot of enjoyment out of this story! NOW we’re back to the awesomeness that is this series. :D

[128] Me too, girl. Me too. What a total asshat.

[130] I love the dramatic irony here. Arabella is such a dynamic and interesting character.

[131] Nice – I remember Arabella reporting briefly on this in Beast Business.

[135] “This is not high school. This is big-boy, adult shit.” haha

[136] Holy shit, this is triggering. ::anger spren::

[138] She’s a Fixer (like Oliva Pope)!! How cool?!

[145] I see her constantly making references that she’s not enough. That she can’t possibly measure up. I’m really hoping we get a wonderful growth arc where she sees that she is more than enough. I love how invested I feel already and her trilogy hasn’t even started yet.

[146] Oohhh, she psychoanalyzes too?! We’re going to get along brilliantly.

[148] I’m so glad I read this!! It 100% got me back into this world with all the enthusiasm I’d left behind. <3

A Misunderstanding

[159] Ramming the door with a tank car seems rather reckless… couldn’t that just outright kill the beings inside the panic room? I still love Grandma, though haha.

The Cool Aunt (I’d definitely read this one before)

[171] I ain’t going to lie, I feel this. Maybe as PTSD from childbirth.

[174] I really love the high level of POV immersion here.

Marty (mkay, who the hell is Marty?)

[177] Oh, okay this is Matilda’s POV. Marty is a critter.

[179] This strikes me as great parenting. Asking the hard questions. Being sensitive enough to see when pain was caused. Willingness to listen. Making amends.

[182] “If I wanted love, I didn’t have to look very far.” <3

Inn Talks (Fun Fact: George and his brother are originally from the Edge series, not the Innkeeper Chronicles)

[189] I like how much of a go-getter Arabella is. She has such a fire. And very little of it comes from external validation. I like this girl.

Augustine Montgomery

[195] I guess Augustine was quite involved in the main story, but I have to admit that I did not retain much, if anything, about him. Good thing we have been refreshed.

By Niki Hawkes