Emerald Blaze

Emerald Blaze (2020) Ilona Andrews (Hidden Legacy)

I used to pre-order all Ilona Andrews books and then devour them as soon as I got them.

But to be honest I still haven’t finished the Kate Daniels series, and I have not found the Hidden Legacy series as enjoyable as their other series.

I started this book soon after it came out, but then remembered that the previous book had ended with Alessandro Sagredo walking away from her and leaving her broken-hearted, and I just wasn’t ready for that level of angst. So I’d read a few pages then read something else. Finally I decided to just bear down and finish it.

It’s fine.

I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it, and that meant I spent more time thinking about the things I didn’t love.

Catalina became a Deputy Warden as a way to try and protect her family and their fledgling House. But (for some reason) no one is supposed to know the identity of the Wardens (even though several times she tells people as part of her duty) so she doesn’t tell her family what she is doing or where the extra money is coming from.

Alessandro is an assassin and back in town working for a man whose son was murdered and Linus the Warden decides he is the best person to protect and assist Catalina. (Because romance.)

OK, I was curious as to Alessandro’s reasons for his actions and behaviors, and I did enjoy discovering those. And the banter between various family members was fun as always, but mostly the book just fell flat for me.

Part of it is because I’ve grown tired of each of the sisters having to save the entire world, all on their own except with their significant others.

I am just tired of “Hollywood endings”, and that’s what this series has had. Bad things happen, it turns out the bad things are really really bad and humanity and the world are at stake, and then the couple (mostly on their own) defeats the big bad and saves the day.

Don’t get me wrong–I love action and adventure, but what I want right now is more along the first three “Edge” books–small adventures and lives changed rather than doom and world-ending danger every single book.

Oh, although it isn’t as egregious as earlier books, I really dislike this cover. “Alessandro” just looks stoned and not the slightest bit like a world-class playboy. He’s just… ick. And her outfit? UGH. Not a single scene in this book matches this cover. But at least he’s wearing a shirt and she’s got a weapon?

Publisher : Avon
Rating: 6/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection » »
• « « Secrets in the Mist