Another Ilona Andrews review. Surprise, surprise. It’s not like they’re my favorite authors or anything. Hidden Legacy is probably my favorite series to date. There are three so far, Burn For Me, White Hot, and Wildfire, but it looks like more are headed our way starting November 6th, Diamond Fire: A Hidden Legacy Novella
The Story
What would happen if a serum was invented that unlocked everyone’s hidden magic? In the Hidden Legacy world, families with strong magic form houses and rule. Everything is about power. To get more power you need more magic. To get more magic, crazy arranged marriages based on genes happen. When the houses are involved, there’s usually violence. As long as the violence is “house business” and doesn’t affect the general population, the authorities let them beat each other to smithereens, if you fill out all the paperwork at least.
Magic is genetic. They have services that run peoples genetics to predict what kind of magic their offspring will most likely inherit. How else would they choose a spouse, love? Everyone’s magical abilities are examined and their strength labeled, Minor (might as well not have magic), Average (Meh), Notable (probably won’t get mocked… much), Significant (you’re cool), and Prime (magical lottery winner). The worldbuilding for it all is fabulous. All those details meld together beautifully to drag you right into the story.
The Characters
Nevada Baylor is the main character and you can’t help but fall in love with her in the first few pages of Burn For Me. She’s smart, practical, and sassy. She will stand up for what she believes, even if it’s not in her best interest. She’s a family gal through and through. I can see bits of myself in her and that made her all the more endearing. It doesn’t hurt that she has tons of magic, that she’s chosen to hide from everyone because her magic is rare and dangerous.
Connor Rogan AKA Huracan, AKA Butcher of Merida, AKA Mad Rogan… (Not ominous at all.) Rogan is a scary badass that walked into a magical war a boy and walked out an mentally scarred man. Nevada and Rogan’s first encounter is not the meet-cute you would expect from this type of book. I won’t ruin it for you, but I literally laughed out loud the entire time.
I love all three books and I re-read them frequently. Wildfire is probably my favorite because I love, love, love the ending. I can’t wait to see what else happens to these cool characters in this captivating world.
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