Review - Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews #AllHallowsWeek

 

Series: Hidden Legacy #1
Genre: Paranormal
Age Group: Adult
Mass Market PB -400 pgs
Source: Scribd Audiobook
Published - October 2014

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Rating: 3/5

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.

When I say mixed bad, I mean it for this book. There were things I really enjoyed like our narrator Nevada. She is a strong female character who has really interesting magic. The Houston in this world has a fascinating political dynamic and the origins of magic are interesting too. 

However, I had quite a few issues with this book as well. The pacing is a little slow and the story takes a while to get started. I think this was accentuated because I was listening to the audiobook. The villain is a little flat too. He wasn't very complex and I wanted more explanation about why he was doing what he was doing. 

Most of my issues were with the male lead of this book. First of all, there was a consent problem. "Mad" Rogan continues to pressure Nevada for a romantic/sexual relationship with Nevada after she rebuffs him. He is aggressive and ignores her boundaries which was very frustrating. My other issues were more about how Rogan was written instead of him. His interest in Nevada seems to develop overnight. He is nice to her and he works with her, but things go from vague to intense very quickly. It was such a quick pivot that I didn't buy into it. 

I also didn't believe his anti-hero personality. Even though Curran (the romantic lead in Kate Daniels) is an asshole, I believed he wore a mask in public from the very beginning. I didn't believe this with Rogan. He was too much of an asshole too often. Overall, he was very frustrating. I expected to like him and I did not connect with him. He had some redeeming qualities, but the constant asshole behavior overshadowed everything.

Since the entire trilogy is already published, I am interested in Nevada and the world enough to keep reading.

My Last Review: Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews