Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Title: Burn For Me: A Hidden Legacy Novel

Author: Ilona Andrews
Information on series: First in series
Audience:  Adult
Rating (scale of 1-5, with 5 being highest): 4.5

TL/DR: Nevada Baylor is a small time PI faced with the most challenging case of her career.  In modern day Houston, many humans have been blessed with magical powers.  It is common knowledge and some are more powerful than others.  Can Nevada work with her unlikely ally, Mad Rogan, to bring in a dangerous being?  The first book in this Urban fantasy series pairs a smart, savvy female protagonist with a dark, brooding anit-hero.  Burn for me is fun and engaging, with a dash of romance. 

Longer Review: I must confess, my favorite sub-genre of Fantasy is Urban Fantasy.  I’m a sucker for well written fantasies that take place in real world settings, with strong female characters, magic, and some romance.  Ilona Andrews (the husband and wife writing team of Ilona and Gordon Andrews) is one of my top 3 favorite authors in this genre.

In Houston, Nevada Baylor has taken over her family’s detective business that is mortgaged out to a much larger firm.  In this modern day alternate world, magic equals power and none are more powerful than Mad Rogan.  Nevada is tasked with bringing in a fire mage and she needs to work with Mad in order to complete her assignment.  Nevada isn’t powerful, but she is essentially a human lie detector.  A skill that comes in very handy in her line of work.  She is smart, scrappy, loyal, a very well rounded woman. 

Thoughts on Mad Rogan:  Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy?  I just don’t know!  I mean, he helps Nevada, but is he putting her in more danger?  Is he even capable of real feelings?  There is a bit of romance in this book, but as this is the first in a series the main characters are really just getting to know one another.  No insta love in this book (yay)! 

Thoughts on Nevada’s rag-tag family:  Her cousins seem like normal teenagers caught in a not so great situation.  Nevada is barely older than her cousins, yet she seems to be in charge of the entire family, including her mom and grandmother. Speaking of her grandmother,  I LOVE this women! She kind of reminds me of the grandmother in the Stephanie Plum books, but not quite as wacky.  She is a weapons expert so I guess the two grannies do have the love of guns in common. I suspect we will be getting more back story on Nevada's family in future books. 

The twist at the end, wow!.  I totally did not see that coming.  I read an advanced readers copy of Burn for Me before its October, 2014 release date.  Fortunately the new book in the series "White Hot" will be out in October of this year, I honestly can't wait to read the continuing saga of Nevada and Mad.   

I would call this a gateway book to Urban Fantasy.  Light on the world building because it takes place in modern times, and no vampires, werewolves, shape shifters etc.  If you've wanted to try Urban Fantasy but have been hesitant for some reason or another, this is a great choice for your first book.  

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Amy Muchmore, Carnegie-Stout Public Library