"Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy #1)" by Ilona Andrews

So, the first agenda in this book review is to cover that awful cover. Ignore it. As I imagine the characters, they look nothing like that. Nevada is supposed to have skin as dark as Rogan, and she never once wears a 'Gone With the Wind' rejected dress/top, and I don't recall reading Rogan as 'shirtless with dog tags'. Nevada would also never pose like that with Rogan, since he kidnapped her- and not in the fun 'I'll let you go after I torture you with a feather' way.

Now that we've moved on from that subject (and mourned the loss of the original cover), it's onto my first impressions. This is a much easier book to crack into than Magic Bites, which had uneven pacing. I was in a headache-induced slump when I picked this up, hoping it would prove as entertaining as my beloved Kate Daniels series, and it was. We have a larger cast of characters in this book, in addition to a mechanic grandma who fixes up tanks for private security firms. Yep, you read that right.

The Plot: (As Seen on Goodreads)
'Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.
'Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.
'Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.'

As always, a good urban fantasy cannot be good without a decent amount of worldbuilding. In Burn for Me's case, we have a world that's similar to ours, but changed as a byproduct of magical inheritance. People in power marry other people with magical genes so they might stay in power, since the serum that gave them the magic has been destroyed.

The characters, as I may have eluded to previously, were of Ilona Andrews' usual caliber. In other words, they were pretty much perfectly personified. In 'Mad' Rogan's case, it worked against him, because he was so brash and stupid with how he went about things, but I believe in later books I may warm more to his character. Nevada and her family were my favorites, winning me over whenever I began to grow a little too creeped out by Rogan.

Burn for Me isn't what I'd thought it would be- which is a good thing. While the cover suggests an excess of paranormal romance, in reality, it's much less than other books people deem Urban Fantasy like Halfway to the Grave. I recommend Burn for Me to Ilona Andrews fans (no duh), urban fantasy aficionados, and those who like urban fantasies with superhero-like characters.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars for an excellent start to a new Ilona Andrews series!

Content: Ages 18+ for kidnapping, monstrous magic, some sexual elements, and some swearing.

Page Count: 400 pages