Author: Ilona Andrews
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Hidden Legacy #3.5
Paperback, 160 pages
Publication: November 6, 2018 by Avon Impulse
Source: Personal Library
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Nevada Frida Baylor and Connor Ander Rogan cordially invite you to join their wedding celebration. Summoning, weather manipulation, and other magical activities strictly forbidden.
Catalina Baylor is looking forward to wearing her maid of honor dress and watching her older sister walk down the aisle. Then the wedding planner gets escorted off the premises, the bride’s priceless tiara disappears, and Rogan's extensive family overruns his mother’s home. Someone is cheating, someone is lying, and someone is plotting murder.
To make this wedding happen, Catalina will have to do the thing she fears most: use her magic. But she’s a Baylor and there’s nothing she wouldn't do for her sister's happiness. Nevada will have her fairy tale wedding, even if Catalina has to tear the mansion apart brick by brick to get it done.
I’m so glad Andrews released a novella for Rogan and Nevada’s wedding and making Catalina our main heroine. It’s a nice bridge to Catalina’s trilogy, the first book, Sapphire Flames which is slated for this summer. I normally don’t like spin-offs, but I was totally digging Catalina’s POV. Diamond Fire clocks out at over 160 pages, longer than usual when it comes to novellas, but this is ILONA ANDREWS, nothing is ever too long. More words equal happy readers.
I don’t read novellas often. I find, most of the time, that they lacked character development, world building, plot or a combination of all three. However, that wasn’t the case with Diamond Fire. Diamond Fire excelled in all three aspect. I’ve always enjoyed Nevada’s interaction with her family and thought her sisters were great. Catalina turned out to be just as capable and interesting of a female lead as Nevada, whereas Nevada was like a firecracker, Catalina was an introvert that kept everyone at arm’s length, but for an understandable reason. Catalina is a Siren Prime, she can get people to do anything she say. However, Catalina spent most of her life suppressing her abilities; afraid she’d lose control and hurt someone. I loved getting to know more about Catalina, reading about her thoughts, feelings and seeing how she interacted with people around her. And if Diamond Fire is any indication of how Catalina’s series is going to be, I’m all for it!
We also met many of Rogan’s extended family and boy, were they a crazy-dysfunctional bunch. Again, there was only so much an author can squeeze into a novella, so I was amazed at how well fleshed out everyone was…even five-year-old Mia, whom I hope to see again in future books…she’s adorable! While I liked learning about all the family members, I especially liked learning the backstory/history of Rogan’s parents. Rogan’s personality and why he does the things he does can all be, in some way traced back to the type of parents he had. And his parents were strong-willed and powerful. When they wanted something, they got it. Does that sound like another couple we know?
I really enjoyed Diamond Fire. It was fun and had a solid mystery that had a clear beginning, middle and end. Despite the plot of a missing heirloom being simple and straightforward, Andrews created complexity with layers of family secrets and weaved thread of subplots to reinforce one another. I can’t wait to read Sapphire Flames later this year, super excited that we’ll see more of the Baylor family!
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