Wildfire has the odd quality of being a series-ender that really doesn’t feel like a series-ender, but the ride’s worthy of Book-Thirsty Thursday.
(As with the Culturess review of White Hot, the previous book in the series, we’ll be referring to the two authors who write under the name Ilona Andrews as one entity. The very cover of Wildfire has a blurb doing the same thing, so we feel okay with this choice.)
Like many words in the English language, thirsty has multiple meanings. That bastion of modern vernacular, Urban Dictionary, has over 70 separate slang definitions for the word, most of which are pretty similar, but you have to admire people’s dedication nevertheless. And, since this is Book-Thirsty Thursday, we’re about to make a lot of water/fire puns for Ilona Andrews’ third book featuring Nevada Baylor, Wildfire (out Tuesday, July 25 from Avon). To get it out of the way, they’re all intentional.
The basics are these: Magical House politics in Houston have gotten to the point where Nevada Baylor has to unveil the talents of her family (and also unveil more of a certain conspiracy). Oh, and she still has a hot, extraordinarily powerful Connor Rogan, but her current case involves, dare we say it, something of an old flame of his.
No, we’re not seeing ourselves out. Let us have our puns.
And in that way, Wildfire feels like a step back. Yes, grown-up relationships are complicated. Let’s face it, you’re probably not going to find someone on the first try, either, so it’s not that this subplot is nonsensical. Nevada inspires some similar feelings in Connor as well, thanks to her emerging family. Both instances are at least partially politically motivated, so it feels a little less weird than it really could. However, both characters have some weird hang-ups about jealousy, too, or at least a weird relationship to it.
It does not help that Nevada calls him a “dragon” early and often. We get it. He’s powerful, he has a hoard of money, and he’s alluring because of his danger. Also, dragons are in right now. It makes sense.
But when the two of them are on, wow. There are some seriously … ahem … steamy scenes to be had here, a strength we also noted in our White Hot review. They’re more spread out than they might normally be, since Wildfire‘s a little longer than your standard Avon paperback.
However, Connor and Nevada aren’t the only characters here. Wildfire lets more of Nevada’s family step into the spotlight and wade into the waters of the world Andrews has created, thanks again to Nevada’s House decision. Between this decision and some choices surrounding the ending, one has to suspect that Andrews has something in mind for further visits to this world.
That feels a little bit like a cop-out considering that the back of the book promises that this is a “conclusion” to the series. To make a Star Wars reference, even Return of the Jedi had a relatively sturdy ending with the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader making peace as Anakin Skywalker before dying. Wildfire lacks some of that same firmness, which is a touch disappointing.
Next: Review: Heroine Worship, Sarah Kuhn
Other than those hiccups at the end, though, Wildfire again has a cool plot. When we reviewed White Hot, we talked a lot about how it balances between the book’s main story and the trilogy’s main story. Wildfire is really no different. That combined with Nevada and Connor generally makes it worth your while if you’re into paranormal/urban fantasy, that weird, wonderful genre.