• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • 2022 Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo
    • Completed Challenges
      • Pondathon II
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2017 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: Diamond Fire – Ilona Andrews

November 5, 2018 Leave a Comment

Review: Diamond Fire – Ilona AndrewsDiamond Fire
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Hidden Legacy #3.5
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Publication Date: November 6, 2018
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: Edelweiss

I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

together with their parents
NEVADA FRIDA BAYLOR
&
CONNOR ANDER ROGAN
invite you to join
their wedding celebration
November 6, 2018
Summoning, weather manipulation, and other magical activities strictly forbidden.

Amazon  Apple  Barnes & Noble  Kobo  Indiebound

Goodreads

5 stars icon fantasy icon


I’m a humongous Ilona Andrews fan.  I’ve been reading their Kate Daniels series since the first book came out in 2007, and I’ve happily consumed their Edge and Innkeeper novels as well.  My favorite, however, is their latest series, Hidden Legacy.  I adored Nevada, her strong moral compass and her dedication to her family, so while I’m sad we’re moving on to a new character, I’m also excited to learn more about Catalina and the rest of House Baylor.

This novella is meant as a bridge between Nevada’s novels and Catalina’s novels, so while the prequel is from Nevada’s point of view, the rest of the story is from Catalina’s POV.  The best way I can describe this is “Ilona Andrews does Poirot.”  A Rogan family heirloom has gone missing, and the only possible perps are the members of Rogan’s extended family, who are staying at his mom’s mansion in advance of the wedding.  Nevada’s busy being a bridezilla in the most Nevada-way possible, so Mrs. Rogan enlists Catalina’s help, and what ensues is a ridiculously fun investigation, Baylor-style, that gives us a taste of Catalina’s unique style and also manages to tie up a few loose plot threads.

Catalina shares many of the Baylor family characteristics with Nevada – her commitment to family and doing what’s right, even if it’s difficult, for starters.  The similarities end there.  While Nevada, as the oldest, has been shouldering the family’s burdens since her father died, Catalina, due to her Siren magic, has been much more sheltered.  While we got a bit of that in the previous novels, the full ramifications of her gift are explored more here.  Catalina is a very different young woman than Nevada, but she is just as kickass.  The plot moves along quickly, with lots of hurdles to overcome, from a possible poisoning attempt to finding a bedazzler for Rogan’s niece’s stuffed unicorn.  There was one particular plot thread left dangling that I had a major quibble with at the end of the third book, as it felt like was more specific to Nevada and Rogan than the overarching “Primes will take over the world!” plot line, and that’s finally wrapped up here.

My one criticism – there are so many characters for a novella of this size!  Even with the family tree at the front of the book, I had issues keeping the characters straight.  I can’t help but wishing this was a full-length novel, but I understand the constraints behind that.  For one thing, there’s not much here in the way of romance, besides the obvious romantic setting of a wedding, though for very good reasons in Catalina’s case.  I think a lot of people would’ve been confused by a whodunit mystery smack dab in the middle of a romance series.  It does appear to set up Catalina’s romantic interest for the next novels, and I am ALL IN for that couple!

Overall, this was a delightful cherry on top to Nevada and Rogan’s HEA, and a deft handover to Catalina.  I am ever so excited to see what comes next for her!

Related Posts

  • By Ilona Andrews
  • Same Genre
The Kinsmen Universe
Review: The Kinsmen Universe – Ilona Andrews
Review: Fated Blades – Ilona Andrews
Iron and Magic
Review: Iron and Magic – Ilona Andrews
Review: The Dawnhounds – Sascha Stronach
Escaping Eleven
Review: Escaping Eleven – Jerri Chisholm
Shadow of a Dead God
Review: Shadow of a Dead God – Patrick Samphire
The Jasmine Throne
Review: The Jasmine Throne – Tasha Suri

You might also enjoy

Into the Drowning Deep coverReview: Into the Drowning Deep – Mira Grant
SpellboundReview: Spellbound – Allie Therin
The ChateauReview: The Chateau – Tiffany Reisz
Previous:
Review: Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero’s Journey
Next:
Review: Roomies – Christina Lauren

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me


READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow

Currently Reading

June Reviews

Oaths of Legacy  by Emily SkrutskieThe Dawnhounds by Sascha StronachSweet Berries by C.M. NascostaDead Draw by Layla ReynePartners in Crime by Rachel BowdlerThe Merciless Ones by Namina FornaAll Signs Point to Yes by Cam Montgomery, Adrianne White, g. haron davis, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Mark Oshiro, Eric Smith, Emery Lee, Byron Graves, Karuna Riazi, Roselle Lim, Alexandra Villasante, Lily Anderson, Kiana Nguyen

Recently Read

Goodreads Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Lauren has
read 7 books toward
her goal of
250 books.
hide

7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo 2022

RB Summer Romance Bingo 2022
June 1 - August 31

hide
3 of 25 (12%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks

Currently Reading

  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in