Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy, #3.5)

by Ilona Andrews

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This novella set in the Hidden Legacy world is a bridge between Nevada as the lead character to move to Catalina, Nevada’s younger sister. So Nevada and Mad Rogan are getting married. As if that wouldn’t be chaotic enough, a crown that Nevada is to wear in the wedding, a family heirloom in Rogan’s family, goes missing. Rogan’s mother doesn’t want to upset Nevada, so she asks Catalina to look into it.

So, Catalina has some massive power. Most people don’t know what it is, which is the way she wants it. She has the powers of a siren, so to speak. She can make people fall in love with her and do whatever she asks. She’s never really tried to develop her powers, but mostly works on keeping them contained and just avoiding people in general. She has to use her powers to figure out what happened with this crown.

I really enjoyed this short novella. We already see Catalina growing up, as she takes more of a role in the family business, investigations. She has learned that she must learn how to do more than just keep her powers under control. I think I’m really going to enjoy my time with Catalina, even as I will miss time with Nevada as the leading lady.

Overall, this was a fun story and a nice bridge between the two main women in the series.

Narration
So, this book starts off with Renee Raudman narrating as Nevada. Then quickly the reins are turned over to Emily Rankin as she narrates Catalina. I’m not sure the reason for a change in narrator. Renee Raudman has been narrating Ilona Andrews books since the beginning (with the exceptions of male narrated stories). I think it was a shock to most fans to have someone else narrate this story.

All that being said, I thought that Emily Rankin did a great job with the narration. I liked everything about her narration. She does a great job with the wide cast of characters (there were quite a few characters in this book, especially considering the length), and she did a great job with all of them. I thought the male and female voices were done well. Her pace and tone worked great for the series as well.

While, I’ll miss Renee Raudman’s narration of this series going forward. I think Emily Rankin will be a great substitute. I have no doubt that she will win the hearts of the Ilona Andrews fans if given a chance. I know that she has already won mine.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.