Diamond Fire audiobook

3.5 stars. Final review first posted on Fantasy Literature:Nevada Baylor is getting married to Connor Rogan, and when Rogan’s mother Arrosa shuts down their plans for a small and simple wedding, insisting on a full-scale formal wedding, a couple of things happen. Nevada inexplicably gets incredibly fussy and controlling about the wedding details, firing two wedding planners, and her beleaguered 18 and 16 year old sisters Catalina and Arabella decide that the only feasible option is to handle the wedding planning themselves. And a large crowd of Rogan’s Spanish relatives on his mother’s side descends on Mrs. Rogan’s Texas mansion for a few weeks’ stay before the wedding. The half of those relatives who descend from her father’s second wife are already hostile, and matters only get worse when everyone is cooped up together in the same home, however large and luxurious.Now the Rogan family’s valuable heirloom wedding tiara has disappeared from the vault, a kokoshnik (Russian crown) with a large heart-shaped aquamarine as its centerpiece. An embedded sensor indicates that the Sealight Crown is still on the Rogan mansion’s premises. Arrosa Rogan, not wanting to involve the police in a family problem (since it’s almost certain that a relative stole it from their vault using telekinetic powers), asks Catalina to find the Sealight Crown and, by the way, get it back before the wedding in two weeks. But that’s only the beginning of the family problems that Catalina gets hit with before the wedding!Diamond Fire is an interim novella in Ilona Andrews’ HIDDEN LEGACY urban fantasy series, set in an alternative history of our world in which some families ― typically wealthy and powerful ones ― have inheritable magical powers. The Baylor clan is neither wealthy nor politically powerful, but does have several family members with powerful magic. The first three novels in this series, beginning with Burn for Me, featured Nevada Baylor as the main character. Diamond Fire marks a turning point, as the focus of the series now shifts to Nevada’s younger sister Catalina.Catalina has “siren” powers, the ability to make people immediately adore her and do whatever she asks, but it’s resulted in Catalina being shy and unwilling to trust that people really like her for herself, not just because of her magic. The case of the stolen Sealight Crown forces Catalina to begin breaking out of her shell and to experiment with her magical talent, finding interesting new ways to use it in her investigations.Andrews provides a handy Rogan family tree at the beginning of Diamond Fire; it’s worth studying. Trust me on this. There are a lot of underhanded dealings and resentments brewing in Mrs. Rogan’s mother’s side of the family, and it devolves into a near-farcical soap opera in the end, with the disclosure of several embarrassing secrets. The plot of Diamond Fire, though it never bored me, isn’t one of the more memorable or creative ones that Andrews has come up with, and contains no romance and limited use of magic to spice it up. The storytelling probably also was hampered somewhat by the novella length of Diamond Fire, especially given the large number of new and unfamiliar characters in its pages. The story seems quite tame after the pyrotechnics of the first three books in the HIDDEN LEGACY series.I enjoyed getting to know Catalina better, a talented young woman who’s unusually withdrawn and uncertain for an Andrews heroine. Wedding planning and jewelry theft investigation are a rather unlikely and hefty responsibility to dump on the eighteen-year-old sister of the bride, but Catalina rises to the occasion, and makes a new and useful friend in Mrs. Rogan in the process.Diamond Fire is for readers who are already invested in the HIDDEN LEGACY series. It’s a somewhat slight novella, but it has several good scenes and interactions (a quirky poison mage is a scene stealer!) and achieves the task of shifting focus to a new main character to carry the series forward. At just a $1.99 ebook cost, it’s definitely worth the price for fans of this series. I’m anxious to read the next Catalina book!I received a free eARC, courtesy of Edelweiss and Harper Collins. Thanks so much!!

Re-read Time!!!Just as good the second time.Original ReviewDiamond Fire is a transition story, it moves us away from Nevada as the main character to Catalina being the PoV for the series. This doesn’t have all of the things that I love in an IA book but please remember that this is a novella and so it isn’t supposed to come with all of the bells and whistles of a full length novel. ╰⊰✿ What Diamond Fire Did Great ✿⊱╮ ① - I think the movement to Catalina as the PoV went well. Nevada has tossed the baton beautifully to her younger sister to take over from here. ② - Everthing with the side characters is awesome as usually. We even get a new Grandma type to love in Rogan’s Mom. She is fan-freaking-tastic and I can’t wait to get to know her better in future books. There is the introduction of another House’s Prime mage who I hope we see in the future. But, Leon steals the show and is fantastic in his new role in the family. I really like this upgraded version of him now that he knows what his magic is and has become more comfortable in his skin. Leon let out a long- suffering sigh. “Are you sure that I’ll be enough? These places can get pretty rough. You walk into a cake shop and then some gunslinger tells you, ‘You ain’t from around here, partner,’ and the next thing you know, you’re in the middle of the street, your horse is dead, the bad guy’s got your girl by her hair, and you’re down to one bullet.”“What is going on in your head?”“It’s a dark, lawless place, Catalina. So dark.” ③ - The actual story. It isn’t as complicated as a full length novel but it is a fun little side show. I figured out where the Crown went pretty early but that was only one part of the story. The other was all the family drama. No wonder Rogan lets people believe that he really doesn’t have any family. There were a few gems in the family but most of them were just awful.④ - Showing off Catalina’s magic and the potential of what it can do. This is one of those times where when you get to see something from the inside it doesn’t sound as great. I thought it would be fantastic to have Catalina’s power when reading the other series. But it has to be hard to know that you can never relax with a person you like or your power might take hold of them and give them false feelings. But when I saw Alessandro, I wanted to snap my wings open as far as they could go and dazzle him with everything I had, so he would be mine forever. I liked him so much, I had to let him go. It would be a struggle. I really enjoyed exploring the magic though and the potential it could hold. Plus I’m glad that we are holding off on the potential romance between Alessandro and Catalina until there is a full series to play with it.⑤ - Catalina’s relationship with Arabella is also in the big win column for me. I love how they fight as sisters and are there for each other in every way. They are so close and protective. I’m hoping that we get to see a lot of Arabella in the future books since she is a great counterpoint to Catalina’s serious side. ╰⊰✿ What Might Not Work For You in Diamond Fire ✿⊱╮ I read this in a group and there were a few grumblings. I understand a few of them but just so maybe you aren’t too surprised I’ll just address a few.① - Nevada and Rogan seem so different. Well, yes and no. To me they seemed a little different and a loof or uncaring in some instances but remember this is from a totally different PoV and so perception is everything. Catalina is going to see both of them differently and just because you don’t see them doing things in the background doesn’t mean they aren’t reacting to situation.② - Nevada went all Bridezilla on us - Again…did she? I mean there are certain things that she wants in her wedding and doesn’t want to budge on. Plus she and Rogan only wanted a small wedding but they are Primes and so it had to be a big tahdoo There are other things she just doesn’t really care about all that much and so I don’t think she put a lot of effort into the colors of them. I’d feel a little bad for Catalina and Arabella as her wedding planners, but they teased her so much pre-proposal that I feel like a little bit of it is payback.③ - The resolution of the Kelly Waller plot line wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I’m totally fine with how this particular plot line played out. I thought that it was the perfect wedding present to Nevada and Rogan. With a new series starting up focused on Catalina and some of the other kids a little more I liked that this wasn’t left lingering.④ - This didn’t feature a romance with Alessandro. GOOD. I need books with the slow burn and intensity of their love story or another love interest inbetween or something. I don’t want it in a novella I need way more pages for that particular story to be told. ╰⊰✿Read This!!!✿⊱╮ It’s Ilona Andrews so you know that this novella is going to be fun and you are going to have a good time with it. I liked most of this book and even though we are moving from Nevada I see a lot of potential with the other characters and can’t wait to see where they take this series next.

I know it's a novella, but still, I needed more! I love these characters so much and can't wait for what comes next. This book was like eating one potato chip. Just that perfect chip, fresh from the bag, with the perfect amount of salt. Then, no more. Just one. The rest will sit there looking delicious and mocking you.So, it wasn't enough. But still, what we got was fun. Nevada and Rogan are getting married and Catalina is the wedding planner. She is under a lot of pressure, and then Rogan's extended crazy family shows up and makes everything a thousand times harder. Family - you can't have nice things with them, and you can't kill them. Except this grandma. I wonder if she'd do a boudoir photo shoot for me to give to my husband. Not of me. Of her. I could use the extra sleep.Of course someone steals a valuable item at the family gathering. They are all suspects and Catalina has to figure it out while trying not to offend everyone. The baby did it. I knew it!This was fun and gives us a little taste of what Catalina's series will be like. I can't wait. So, now I guess I'll just wait...

1st read - 15th August 20182nd read - 27th August 20183rd read - November 20184th read - March 20195th read - August 20196th read - May 20207th read - August 20208th read - March 20219th read - July 2021Diamond Fire is a novella in the Hidden Legacy series that bridges from the first trilogy told in Nevada's point of view and helps us transition into the upcoming trilogy that will have Catalina at the forefront. It ties up a few loose ends, raises a whole new set of questions and gives us just a tiny hint of the kind of main character that Catalina is going to be.I have to confess that I was kind of hoping this story would be told entirely from Nevada's point of view, I'm a teeny bit obsessed with Nevada and Rogan so I was hoping for one last story with them entirely front and centre (let's face it, I just wanted more tactile sexy times!) but I know to trust Ilona & Gordon Andrews and they didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed the chance to see Nevada and Rogan take this next big step in their relationship and I'll be happy to see the occasional glimpse of them in the background as the series continues but I absolutely loved getting to know Catalina better.Catalina is a very different type of heroine to Nevada, she's less confident and more self conscious, especially when it comes to her magic, but she's just as protective of the people she cares about and equally capable of standing up to anyone who threatens her family. I really enjoyed seeing Nevada and the rest of the family through Catalina's eyes and I loved getting to know Rogan's mother a little better as she takes Catalina under her wing. I think what is going to be really nice about Catalina's story is that we're probably going to get to know the younger members of House Baylor a little better, Nevada was quite a bit older than her sisters and cousin Leon so Catalina has a different type of relationship with Arabella which will be fun to explore.While this story is very much about Catalina and Arabella helping to plan the wedding of the century it is also a mystery with a possible thief amongst Rogan's closest family members and a potential plot that could put the entire wedding party in danger. Catalina doesn't want to worry her sister so she's going to have to do the one thing she really hates doing and start using her magic to help her figure out what is going on. We've already seen a little of Catalina's powers in the past but we find out so much more of what she can do here and I can't wait to see her exploring her ability further as the series continues.Diamond Fire was a fantastic story that left me with a massive smile on my face about Nevada and Rogan's HEA and also left me ridiculously excited to get my hands on Catalina's spin off series. I've been a huge Ilona Andrews fan for a long time now but their stories honestly just get better and better every time.__________________________Full review to come closer to the official release date but this was all the epic awesomeness that you'd expect from an IA story. I'll confess I was hoping for a little more Nevada and Rogan sexy time BUT I absolutely loved getting Catalina's POV, she's very different to her big sister but super sweet and I'm looking forward to her trilogy even more now. Rogan's mother is fantastic, the wedding planning was hilarious and we get to spend time with Nevada's fab family which is always fun.UPDATE 15th August:DIAMOND FIRE IS UP ON EDELWEISS!!! This is not a drill people DIAMOND FIRE IS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEWERS RIGHT THIS SECOND AND I JUST SENT IT TO MY KINDLE!!!! ____________I know nothing about this, there's no title, no cover, no blurb . . . all we can tell is it's something to do with the Hidden Legacy series.Hell, what more do I actually need to know? It's already up on Amazon so OF COURSE I've preordered it! Is it November yet? How many times do we think I can manage to reread the first 3 books between now and the release date?Update 18th April:From Ilona's blogWe get a wedding novella AND THREE MORE BOOKS in a new spin off trilogy!! And I thought I couldn't possibly get more excited LOLUpdate 26th April:In case you missed it there is all kinds of extra info about the new Hidden Legacy series in this Entertainment Weekly interview with Ilona and Gordon. I am so bloody excited about this spin off!

Pretty darn good for a short.And it's not really all that 'short'. Think of it as a less-than-medium-size-story.If you're an Andrews fan, you'll read this regardless. Because they are magic.The good kind, though.Ok, so I'm actually way more interested in Catalina than I was in Nevada & Connor's story - even though I liked those two quite well. There's just something about this kid that makes me want to read about her.The idea that your powers make it so that you never know when someone truly loves you? Of course, I'm sure there must be a way around that...It a nice HEA wrap-up for Nevada & Connor, and just enough of an intro to get you excited for the next real book with Catalina.Very cool.

4 stars12/11/18Review to come. Loved it even if I missed Nevadas voice. 31/5/18SNIPPET!My phone chimed. A text from Rogan. “You’re missing the show.”“What show?”“Come outside.”I really wanted to run upstairs to my old room and lock the door. I couldn’t do that for two reasons. One, I was an adult, and two, Catalina moved into my room, so it wasn’t technically mine anymore.It was absurd. I was a trained private investigator with almost ten years of experience. Baylor Investigative Agency existed today because I took it over when Dad got sick and made it successful against all odds. Not only that, but I was a Prime, the highest level of magic user one could reach. My paternal grandmother had the same talent, and people cringed when they heard her name. I had stood up to her and to a dozen of other Primes. In the past year I’ve been shot at, hit with a car, burned, teleported, and frozen nearly to death. I had a bus almost dropped on me, I faced a psionic who nearly destroyed my mind, and I told Connor Rogan, the Scourge of Mexico, no repeatedly and stood my ground. I should be able to meet my fiancé’s mother.I could do this.I got up, put my plate into the sink, hugged my mom, and went to the door.A gunmetal grey Range Rover waited in front of our warehouse. Rogan leaned against it. I’ve seen him in twenty-thousand-dollar suit and in dirt-stained jeans and a T-shirt. No matter what he wore, Rogan always had a kind of rugged masculinity about him. You got a sense that nothing would knock him off his stride. Whatever came up, he would handle it and he wouldn’t panic. The fact that he was huge, over six feet tall and built like he fought people for a living, only added to it. Today he wore a pair of jeans and an olive T-shirt.Oh no.I stopped.“What?” he asked.“We match,” I ground out.“So?”“I’m going to go change.”He caught my hand and drew me to him. His dark blue eyes laughed at me. He leaned down and kissed me. He tasted of mint and coffee and the touch of his lips anchored me. You know what, it would be fine.“You look great. Also, if you leave, you’ll miss the best part.”He nodded to my left. I glanced in that direction.A sapphire-blue Maserati GranCabrio was parked at the curb. Next to it, directly under my – no, my sister’s – window stood Alessandro Sagredo. 19/4/18So excited! We get more Baylors!!http://www.ilona-andrews.com/hidden-l...Three more novels in Ilona Andrews‘ Hidden Legacy series, focusing on the emerging powers and personalities of previously-introduced House Baylor family members, for publication starting in fall 2019, plus a novella to bridge the gap, published by Avon Impulse in November 2018, to Erika Tsang at Avon, by Nancy Yost at Nancy Yost Literary Agency (world).7/4/18 Where was I???? What's it about??? Is it Catalina and Alessandro?? I might faint! I have not seen this on their blog or any of their newsletters. I sure hope it's for real. It is, right? GR wouldn't let me down. Right?

Diamond Fire is a transitional book, taking us from Nevada Baylor and Connor Rogan as the lead to Catalina Baylor. Don't worry, you get plenty of time with the Baylor family, similar to the first 3 books in the Hidden Legacy series, you just get a little more spot light shown on Catalina now...and wow, does she shine.Nevada and Connor are getting married and all the relatives have come out of the woodwork. Someone has stolen something precious that Nevada is suppose to wear on her wedding day from Mrs. Rogan, Connor's mother. To keep Nevada's and Connor's day special and away from the family drama, Mrs. Rogan hires Catalina to uncover who has stolen the family heirloom. I just can't get enough of the writing team Ilona Andrews! I loved this novella length story telling and of course they left me wanting more. This is a series that I will periodically re-read and its like coming home...if your family was packed full of magically superior prime beings, LOL...well you know what I mean. Check it out, its an amazing series.I received this ARC copy of Diamond Fire from Avon Impulse - HarperCollins. This is my honest and voluntary review. Diamond Fire is set for publication November 6, 2018.Written by: Ilona AndrewsOn Sale Date: November 6, 2018, ISBN 9780062878410, 0062878417E-Book | 384 pagesFiction / Romance / ParanormalAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Fire-H...Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/diam...Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/diam...Want more check us out on Tome Tender Book Blog or on Facebook

*4.5 stars*The only thing I didn't like about this novella was that there wasn't 200 pages more. I didn't want it to end!I love, love, love the writing couple of Ilona Andrews, and I think their Hidden Legacy series is their best work. I rarely preorder books, but I preordered Diamond Fire as soon as it was available. The story was a lovely transition from a Nevada-book to a Catalina-book, and I need a full length book ASAP. Ilona Andrews can't write fast enough to satisfy me.goodreads|instagram|twitter|blog

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.I loved this novella! Absolutely loved it! It is hard not to gush over how much I loved this book so I am just going to go with it. I adore the Hidden Legacy series and have read the original three books two or three times each already so I was really excited to learn that the series would be continuing. I was really excited to see this world through Catalina's eyes and I was not disappointed. I had so much fun with this story.I love Nevada and Mad Rogan but I really like the rest of Nevada's family as well so I am more than okay with the torch being passed along to Catalina. I like Catalina even more after reading this story. I felt like I knew her before I got started with this novella but the amount of character development in this short piece was extraordinary. In this story, readers actually see more of Mad Rogan than Nevada which I think worked perfectly since it gave Catalina a chance to really stand on her own for the story. I also fell in love with Rogan's mom. She was amazing in this story and I hope we get to see a whole lot more of her in future books.There is a mystery that needs to be solved on top the upcoming wedding. There is a big group of Rogan's extended family in town for the wedding and causing a whole lot of trouble at the same time. This is not a very likable group overall and it was hard to trust most of them. It was a lot of fun to watch Catalina navigate such a complicated group of individuals and get to the bottom of it all.I would highly recommend this story to others. I think that it could work as a stand-alone but I think that it really works better when read in series order. This series is amazing and you don't want to miss any of the books anyway so I would suggest starting with Burn for Me. I can't wait to read more from this fantastic series!I received a digital review copy of this book from Avon Books via Edelweiss.Initial ThoughtsThis was beyond amazing! It's a shame that I can only give it 5 stars since it clearly deserves a few bonus stars. Ilona Andrews packed more story and character development into this novella than most books with 5 times as many pages. Fans will not want to miss this one!Before ReadingEven pretending that I can do anything but read this one right away is just silly. I can't wait to read more about this group of characters!ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss.

A fun, and well written novella with action, mystery, betrayal, and lots of drama!This novella was perfection to me! A wonderful end to the first trilogy in the Hidden Legacy series, whilst setting it up nicely for the next book about Catalina! ❤️ Lets face it, sometimes novellas can feel a little unsatisfying to read, but Diamond Fire was so well written so it felt anything but that way. Only this duo could combine a big family event, with a jewellery theft, attempted murder, and blackmail amongst other things, and weave it all together so masterfully!I love the character of Nevada, and even though I was a little sad that her story came to an conclusion, I ended up loving Catalina too. Her POV was totally different to Nevada's, and she had a different voice, which was great! I cant wait to read more about Catalina's journey 👍 This book was drama, drama, drama! It could have been a soap opera, but I loved it! I loved that the Baylor family still featured heavily, and the contrast between their tight-knit, loving family and the Rogan family was huge!I've stormed through this series, and now there is only Sapphire Flames to go! 😯 So even though I'm really excited to read that, I am sad that I have almost caught up!A must read if you enjoyed the first three books in the Hidden Legacy series!

An entertaining transition into the second book arc and Catalina‘s PoV when she investigates a theft and an attempted poisoning in the days leading up to Nevada and Rogan‘s wedding - deftly uncovering some family secrets along the way. Often novellas like these center on the romance of it all - this is not the case here; the wedding serves as backdrop for Catalin‘s character arc, which I was grateful for. It made for a fun, fast read and didn’t get corny along the way. Also, I find descriptions of wedding planning and its inane details tedious and was relieved they were only occasionally mentioned. I will say that the entire extended family was confusing and the info dump of characters at the beginning was quickly forgotten; however, the partial family tree helped. (I worked out there is probably a mistake in my ebook though: I think the same person is once called Markel and then Mirkel. As there is also a Mikel, this only helped to confuse me more.)All in all, I am looking forward to Catalina’s books. I know I will miss Rogan and Nevada though.

Another absolute gem! RTC :D