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Hey readers! I hope you have been having a fantastic month! In today’s review, I’d like to talk about my latest book binge; The Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews.
Authors Ilona Gordon and Andrew Gordon penned The Hidden Legacy series, a five part series told through the eyes of two sisters. For today’s post I’ll be focusing on the first three novels.
I have previously heard of Ilona Andrews, and I was familiar with the sheer volume of fantasy novels they have published, but I had never read any of their books.
This past weekend I read Nevada Baylor’s story which encompasses the first three novels . I was engrossed. The novels are set in a world where a magic elixir granted humans the ability to wield magic, those same magic users now hold sway and clout among the U.S government.
Summary:
Nevada Baylor isn’t a magic-user. She’s just a 20 something PI who took over her family’s business and spends most of her days catching cheating partners and investigating insurance fraud. However, when Nevada’s parent company forces her to retrieve bad boy magic-user Adam Peirce, Nevada ends up getting help from the just as bad and universally feared Connor “Mad” Rogan, an ex-military and now billionaire magic-user.
Despite Rogan’s dubious morals, Nevada finds herself attracted to him. But as Rogan and Nevada solve more cases, the two end up uncovering a tangled web of conspiracies and a plot for world domination.
Thoughts on this Trilogy
Four stars for all of them. Pick them up if you love romance and urban fantasy.
The big reason this trilogy is just so good is because of our protagonist Nevada Baylor. Nevada is clever, independent, and headstrong. There are many instances in this novel that those three things save her life.
“You seem to be under the impression that I work for you and you can give me orders. Let me fix that.”
I hung up.
Burn for Me Illona Andrews
Nevada is the biggest reason I enjoyed these books, but I also loved Nevada’s quirky family, the annoyingly handsome Connor Rogan, and the way the series handles PTSD.
Nevada’s family consists of her war veteran mother, her mechanic grandmother Frida, her teen sisters Arabella and Catalina, and her cousins Bern and Leon. Despite the life and death situations the family faces throughout the series, they all managed to bring comic relief and kick-ass. I especially loved that Nevada’s cousins are treated more like her brothers.
Additionally, how could I mention everything I loved about this series without mentioning “Mad” Rogan. Rogan is an interesting character who Nevada interprets as being without morals because of his time in the war. However, that assumption comes crashing down when readers learn that Rogan’s poker face isn’t as great around Nevada.
I like Rogan not because of his witty commentary but because underneath his rich, bad boy persona, he’s a big softie.
“Rogan,” I ground out through my teeth. “I’m on the clock. My client is in the next room mourning his wife. Stop flirting with me.”
“Stop? I haven’t even started.”
White Hot Illona Andrews
Furthermore, I enjoyed the way the novels dealt with traumatizing situations. PTSD is a main theme for these novels, Rogan himself suffers from it due to his time spent fighting a magical war during his early adulthood. Rogan continues to have nightmares about these situations, and because his magic allows him to project his dreams, he unintentionally shares one of them with Nevada. But Rogan isn’t letting these stressful situations rule his mind; in the last novel, we discover that he employs a PTSD specialist on his team probably for himself but also for his employees whom he cares deeply for.
In addition to Rogan, Nevada also suffers from PTSD because of the lives she takes throughout the series. I originally believed that the theme of PTSD was another foil to oppose Nevada to Rogan because he appears well collected after he kills people. However, as I continued to read the series, I realized that isn’t the case.
PTSD isn’t something I’m used to encountering in action stories, but I believe that Illona Andrews carries this theme throughout the trilogy to humanize these characters. Although the world Nevada and Rogan live in is full of magic, there isn’t any magic that makes PTSD vanish.
The very last thing I want to mention about this trilogy is the way that things are fast-paced. If it isn’t an assassination attempt, it’s romance, or Nevada unlocking a key to solve the case. There are hardly any dull moments in this series, which will keep you turning the page until you stay up past your bedtime.
However, because of the engrossing nature of these novels, I found myself forgetting the character’s names and traits. It didn’t ruin my overall understanding of the stories, but it’s something to keep in mind before starting a weekend binge.
“You’re everything to me,” he said into my ear.
I wanted to tell him that he was everything to me, that I wouldn’t let the darkness have him, that he never had to worry that I would give up and walk away. But the echoes of our shared pleasure stole the words, and so I said it the best I could.
“I love you.”
Wild Fire Illona Andrews
Don’t be fooled by the sexy covers; this isn’t a very smutty romance series but rather a slow burn romance. There is no sex in the first novel, but the following novels do contain sex scenes. The content warnings I’d give this series are as follows: PTSD, kidnapping, and violence.
If you would like to purchase the books yourself for your own weekend binge try the links below. Disclaimer: these are affiliate links and I receive a commission if you complete your purchase.
Burn For me Book 1 White Hot Book 2 Wildfire book 3
Would your read the Hidden Legacy triology? Have you read another novel of Illona Andrews? I open to recommendations.
Until next time book lovers keep living in libros,
Gaby
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