Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First of all I would compliment Ilona Andrews: this author duo is hugely gifted, and I have loved every single book they have ever written, both in terms of plot and writing ability. Having acknowledged their talent I am sorry to say that compared to their Hidden Legacy trilogy this book is a mere shadow, exactly as compared to Nevada Baylor, Catalina is a mere angsty and less self-assured double. Although in the trilogy Catalina was presented as a well-defined character, here she is merely a mishmash of Nevada's values and reasoning processes combined with a dollop of angst, another dollop of lack of confidence, and a healthy dose of teenage infatuation. She is not her own person, she is merely a faded copy of what her sister probably was at her own age: great values and work ethics but emotionally still not mature enough. And therein lies the main problem: Nevada would have never left the precarious future of her House in the hands of a sheltered and unexperienced young shy woman over what amounts to a family tiff; as a character she is much too mature not to understand that her family was simply worried over her health and that walking away from her responsibilities before having solidified the future of her House is a huge gamble with the lives of her loved ones. Let us review the situation: in the previous books we were told that, once established, a House had three years of respite, years that its members should use to build alliances solid enough to sustain them once the grace period expired, and we were told that at the trials Nevada knowingly chose to declare her engagement to Mad Rogan, thus assuring that in the future a connection would always be drawn between House Rogan and House Baylor. In Sapphire Flames however we find that House Baylor has probably slept in the past three years, because instead of changing their behavior to suit their new position as a member of Huston magical elite, they have chosen to continue simply being an investigative agency without involving themselves in any kind of house politics, and so not only are they without any ally (other than the two they started with), but they have even tried distancing themselves from House Rogan.. How incredibly genius: distance yourself from your only powerful ally when you have nobody else to turn to! Considering that their special counselor and "doting uncle" should be Linus Duncan, a political powerhouse, I wonder what kind of counsel exactly has he given them in the past three years: "act like sitting ducks and hope for the best" just does not seem very savvy as a counsel to me. And if we were to take for granted the explanation the author gave us for House Baylor's inability to secure alliances, i.e. the Houses united against Mad Rogan, than would not it stand to reason that at the end of the tree years the latter would never leave his wife's former House unprotected and in the hands of a mere six members' security staff guided by a power hungry (as Harte himself indicated) chief? Someone may object that the members of House Baylor have their pride, and as such they would never accept protection from Rogan: well, the members of this family have also a healthy dose of common sense, and they have already demonstrated that in the face of danger they do not let their pride take precedence, so it is really shocking to me find that both Rogan and Nevada (that, let us repeat it, left her House in the worst possible moment simply because they staged an intervention to make her understand she was working too much) left for Spain right at the end of the grace period for House Baylor without making sure they were protected first. So, to sum it up, Rogan, who bought an entire block to make sure Nevada was safe when he had no ties to her and who explained to her that House business was extremely dangerous and, having she decided to play in the big league, she couldn't simply ignore it anymore, once he marries Nevada and "takes her away" from her family, quite simply abandons House Baylor to its destiny even though he clearly knows how weak it actually is in terms of funds, manpower and alliances... how plausible is that? And talking about funds: how can House Baylor still be "poor"..? Both Nevada and Catalina have the ability to uncover secrets: that is a highly remunerable skill,, and even taking into account their outstanding morals I simply do not believe that in three years were not able to find worthy and well-payed jobs that enabled them to build if not a fortune, at least a hefty cushion; and if the Huston elite would not hire them, they simply had the rest of the country to choose from! Let us now talk a bit about Alessandro Sagredo: first of all, as an Italian, I would like to point out that my country has stopped being a monarchy in 1946, so titles of nobility are now an affectation without any legal value; frankly it is a bit ridiculous to hear the character being referred to as "the Count", because Italy, unlike England, pays no attention to blood nobility and as such it seems like an inconsequential thing to point out, more appropriate probably to a nineteenth century romance. Secondly, as some other reviews have already pointed out, it is simply unbelievable the way he is besotted with Catalina: what exactly is it that he likes about her? Rogan clearly appreciated Nevada's morals, strength and untarnished honesty, all of which he sees with his own eyes during various events, but what is that Alessandro sees in Catalina? Her shyness and her fear of having influenced him are the only substantial things he witnessed three years ago, should they be enough to fuel his attraction today, considering he knows nothing else of value about her? What is it that makes her so special in his eyes? Why is she different from the other shy, powerful girls he must have encountered before in his travels? Moreover, after three years without any contact, the first time they see each other again he kills a man in front of a woman (even though I should say girl, given her emotional growth) he doesn't really know and he doesn't worry at all: how is it plausible? He has just blown up his hard projected cover of lazy playboy in front of what amounts to a stranger and he offers her an arm as if they were strolling in Hyde Park and she were a complete nitwit? Although as it turns out he is right, because she takes it! Very smart, trained investigator, Head of House: take the arm of an unknown man that has just demonstrated unsuspected and lethal abilities and may very well kill you to prevent you from talking to the police, just because he is oh so very handsome... how pitiful. I have always loved Ilona Andrews' strong female characters, and how, when they fell in love, they were able to retain their sense of self and didn't diminish themselves to please their male counterparts, but this time the author fell short: Catalina looks like a simpering fool. And Alessandro keeps treating her like the "little woman", interfering without explanation, telling her to leave this mess alone and walk away, not caring that this is her job and that she had taken a commitment with her client, not explaining anything about his peculiar abilities; this is not respect: he does not trust her, he simply likes Catalina and because of that he thinks that he has to protect her, but he never sees her as an equal (the way Rogan instead saw Nevada). And lastly, let us consider for one moment the "great sacrifice" the evil grandmother asks Catalina: that whomever she should marry join Baylor House instead of her leaving the family like her sister.. is t really a sacrifice? Because I seriously doubt the girl would have simply left her house to marry and go live in Italy, considering that in doing so she would have left House Baylor with only one very young, very inexperienced prime, thus basically both delivering a fatal blow to House Baylor possibilities to grow and flourish and leaving her beloved family even more unprotected than it already is. But of course, who could resist the lure of becoming an Italian Countess..? Oh, the wonder! Thank god evil grandmother thought about the well-being of House Baylor, because at the moment she is the only one doing that.