Burn For Me

A unique page-turning bad boy romance filled with mystery, suspense, and a magical alternate reality

Oh, “Hidden Legacy” series, where have you been all my life? I read A LOT, generally about 200-300 books a year, and I can’t remember the last time I found a story that had me blathering on about it to anyone who would half-listen, reading it way past my bedtime, and daydreaming about the characters and the world to this degree. I was looking for a similar series to Patricia Briggs’ “Mercy Thompson” or Charlaine Harris’ “Sookie Stackhouse” and this is a great match! (Thank you, Novelist, one of the book-finder tools on CADL's website: https://www.cadl.org/research-learn/research-tools-guides/books-reading). The cover for Burn for Me looks like a trashy romance—and while I do love those too!—this is so much more. It’s a mystery with unique and amusing characters, family drama, and lots of action and suspense with a will-they/won’t-they bad boy romance.

I like my mysteries with a dash of paranormal/fantasy because there is already enough real-world violence to go around, but I do enjoy a good puzzle, and this book definitely delivers on that, with lots of interesting world-building elements as a bonus. Imagine what today’s world would be like if some people are magical and it is inherited through family lines, where the rich and the powerful have condensed their abilities into dynasties. The government has pseudo-control, but many of the magical and therefore rich elite have near god-like powers, so what is a plucky, small-time detective and bounty hunter like our main character Nevada Baylor to do when she is constantly used as a pawn surrounded by powerful and corrupt forces?

The voice of the husband-wife author team is seamless. I like that the husband, a former communications sergeant in the army, made me feel like there was some expertise given to the descriptions of fights, guns, and armored vehicles—things I know little about. It added some realism to a fantasy story and made me feel like I was learning something along this wild ride.

This book is classified as a romance, and while the romance is central to the plot, there is enough going on here that fantasy and mystery fans may also want to give this series a try. I had book 2 in the series, White Hot, checked out from the library before I finished this one, because I knew I wanted to start reading it immediately! I am annoyed with myself for not finding out about this series sooner!

Where have you been hiding, little gem?