Medium Used: 40% audiobook via Hoopla | 60% ebook via Kindle
Ratings out of 5
Overall Rating:
💜💜💜💜 (4/5)
Sweetness Level:
🍫🍫🍫 (3/5)
Spice Heat Level:
💧 (0/5)
Slow Burn Steamy Tension Quality:
🥵🥵🥵 (3/5)
FMC Likability:
👗👗👗👗👗(5/5)
MMC Likability:
🎩🎩🎩🎩 (4/5)
Plot Engagement:
🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️ (4/5)
At least 1 bad dad (pass/fail):
💯 (pass)
BONUS audiobook narration:🔉🔉🔉
Spoiler Free Review
Murder at the Seven Dials is the first book in the Bow Street Duchess Mystery series. It (presumably) begins a slow burn romance between Audrey Sinclair, the Duchess of Fournier and a Bow Street Detective, Hugh Marsden. Their paths cross when Mr. Marsden finds Her Grace's husband, The Duke of Fournier covered in the blood of a murdered opera singer Ms. Lovejoy.
This is a fun read, an intriguing mystery, and cute start of a love story. I appreciated that its pace and brevity. I loved the subtlety of the paranormal fantasy that is woven into this story. Her Grace has a gift that allows her to see other's memories when she touches objects or people. A gift that she considers a curse and keeps a secret. For me, this 'light' fantasy in an otherwise grounded world was novel. I am interested to see if the paranormal aspects of the world will grow at all as the fantasy continues.
The unique circumstances surrounding the meet (not so) cute of Her Grace and Mr. Marsden and their differences in station made their growth in admiration for each other both humorous and endearing. I look forward to seeing where this series goes. Consider me hooked.
The Sequels book take what the 1st built and deliver action packed, contemporary fantasies, with Veronica Mars meets X-Men vibes.
Content Warning: These books and this review include references to gun violence and car crashes.
This review is: #SFW
Medium Used:
* 80% paperback 20% audiobook via Hoopla {White Hot by Ilona Andrews}
* 100% paperback {Wildfire by Ilona Andrews}
Ratings out of 5
Overall Rating:
💜💜💜💜💜 (5/5) 1
Sweetness Level:
🍫🍫🍫🍫 (4/5)
Steam Quality Level:
🔥🔥🔥🔥 (4/5)
Steam Quantity Level:
🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5)
FMC Likability:
🕵️🕵️🕵️🕵️🕵️ (5/5)
MMC Likability:
🐉🐉🐉🐉 (4/5)
Plot Engagement:
🔍🔍🔍🔍🔍(5/5)
At least 1 bad dad (pass/fail):
0️⃣ (fail)
BONUS audiobook narration:🔉🔉🔉🔉🔉
1 the rating I gave book 1 {Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews} was a 4/5 in 2022. I did not revisit it as part of reading the sequels.
Spoiler Free Review of the first trilogy in the Hidden Legacy Series
Each book in Ilona Andrews' The Hidden Legacy series is an action/adventure mystery set in an alternative history modern day Houston. The first three books are told from the perspectives of Nevada Baylor, a mid twenties private investigator. In Nevada's world the most important part of the genetic lottery is magical prowess. The resulting society is a caste system based on the magical strengths of each family.
Nevada and her family get by in this society by keeping their heads down and their rare magics hidden. Nevada is the primary bread winner and does her best to follow a strict code in her work as a private investigator. Work that is widely aided by the fact that she is a human lie detector – an incredibly rare and feared form of magic.
In book one Nevada's work drags her into the world of Houston's upper elite. Here she encounters one of the most powerful mages in the world Connor 'Mad' Rogan. A war hero, telekinetic, billionaire who is a crazed paranoid asshole.
The first trilogy in Hidden Legacy is exactly the slow burn I prefer in a serialized romance story. Connor and Nevada's love develops over the three series with time passing on page. They face multiple external conflicts together that forces them to see the good and the bad in each other. It does not deliver the meltiest gush or the sweatiest spice but the raw chemistry (with plenty of sassing) that develops over the series places them among my favorite book couples.
At the end of the day, the number one thing that sets this series apart (particularly book 2 and book 3) is the quality of the plot, action, and humor. I did not want to put White Hot nor Wildfire down. Plenty of time is set aside to establish side characters and Nevada's relationships with them. The individual mysteries/client jobs Nevada works gives each book its own beginning, middle, and end but the trilogy also fits together as an overarching story.
** What I love about this trilogy**
* The side characters are all interesting and loveable in unique ways. Each character adds something to the world.
* The sass between Nevada and Connor is excellent through the whole series. They feel right for each other in so many ways.
* Action, mystery, sappy sweet scenes, and steamy tension with an unrushed payoff.
What I do not like about this trilogy
* Book 1 starts off with a bit of some odd vibes (see spoilers).
* The series shifts to other member's of Nevada's family after book 3. I haven't read anything but the transition Novella yet but I kind of love Nevada and am sad to have the story move on.
* There is an excessive amount of car violence / crashes. It does not bother me but I know people who this would be a massive deal breaker for who I'd otherwise like to recommend this series to.
Content Warning: At First Spite deals with depression and past trauma directly on the page. I discuss these topics vaguely in the spoiler free section and in more specificity in the spoiler section. It also includes a scene with one of the MCs administering vaccines as part of their job as a physician. As a Trypanophobe myself, I was able to listen to that scene but it did make me anxious. There's enough warning to skip it. The foreword of the book includes a more detailed CW warning.
“Love makes you helpless. You think about the object of your affection all the time. Your happiness or misery depends on another person’s mood. You give up all power over yourself, hand it to the person you love, and trust that they will be gentle with it.”
There are rare reads for every romance fan when they pick up the right book at the right time. When they see so much of themselves in the book's story that the fiction stops being escapism and starts being therapeutic. When this happens, it is hard for the romance reader to do anything but love that book. It's why I love Roll for Romance.
Content Warnings for this Review (Items in Spoiler Text only appear in the Spoiler Section.)
– The Spoiler Section of this review contains references to the sexually explicit material in Knot My Type and may be considered #NSFW by some.
– References to Low Self Esteem / Low Self Worth
– References to Consensual Bondage
– References to Foster Care
– References to Alcoholism
– References to Cheating
– References to Toxic Exes / Gas Lighting
