Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Ilona Andrews - Sapphire Flames

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.
 


Comment: This is the most recent book released by team writers who publish as Ilona Andrews. This is the fourth book in the Hidden Legacy series, the first featuring Catalina as the main character, after the previous three have featured Nevada.

In this new arc, three years after what happened in the last book, we see Catalina as the head of her House, since Nevada left to be part of her husband's. Catalina feels a bit pressured because she doesn't want to worry her family and also because the trial period given to a newly formed House is about to end, meaning anyone could try to attack them so the House wouldn't succeed.
In this delicate state of things, though, Catalina can't turn her back on Runa, a young woman who tested Nevada's wedding cake for poison. Now Runa's younger brother is about to commit suicide and Catalina feels like trying her powers to help him. The problem is that by doing that, she puts herself and her family in the path of someone very dangerous... thankfully, the incredible Alessandro Sagredo, whom Catalina has a crush on, suddenly appears out of nowhere and starts to help her. 
Will Catalina be able to understand anything of what's happening around her?

Once more, I feel amazed by the brilliance of the author's ability to create and develop such a well thought plot with characters that make perfect sense even in a world of magic and special powers.
I don't even think there would be much to tell and there are other places online where anyone can have a better grasp of what this book is about or even on its flaws.

Yes, the story has some flaws and when they are pointed out to us, they make sense but honestly, I could put them aside while enjoying reading the novel.
Probably the biggest issue is the fact this story not being too different from the previous three. The formula is similar, just different main characters. This means there are always changes in how some things happen but in terms of plot and execution things are pretty much the same as we've seen in the other books.

What makes this special is how the story and the characters in Catalina's family are fleshed out and make perfect sense. The authors combined the vulnerability of some characters and their own personalities with the incredible love they have for one another and this means it's so easy to care to read about them.
The secondary characters are all intriguing, of course, even the ones that came back from the other books. It will be interesting to see where some of these characters evolve to.
The villains were well thought too and some action scenes were really easy to imagine, I can't see myself being able to create all those characters and abilities so how amazing the authors are in how they plan these things.

There's no actual romance in this book. A lot of flirting, of sexual tension, of little powerful scenes but the HEA is certainly reserved for the next books.But even in this, how easy hey make it feel the main couple is into one another. Without sex, with funny scenes in between, it just makes sense those two should be together. So much better done than many romances out there with characters who can't showcase chemistry.

Globally thinking, this was a good novel. It has issues but I didn't care, it was just fun and addictive to go through and I can't wait for the next one.
Grade: 9/10

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