Burn for Me

August 4, 2014
This series start from popular author Andrews serves up a refreshing new magical society, excellent world-building, beguiling characters, and strong storytelling. The Osiris serum, discovered in 1863, activated latent human magical talents. In the novel’s alternate present, families with strong magical lineage are now dynasties called Houses, and they rule the world. Nevada Baylor of Houston’s Baylor Investigative Agency is from an ordinary family, meaning she has little magical talent and thus must rely on more mundane abilities to survive. Under contract to an influential House, she reluctantly accepts a mission that will make or break her family’s company. Along the way, she tangles with Mad Rogan, an incredibly powerful scion who renounced his House. Fighting her attraction to Mad Rogan at every step, Nevada must capture the bad guy, unsnarl layers of deception, and come to terms with her own magical heritage if she is to survive. The pace and plot start slowly but soon quicken. Romantic sparks and a tangled mystery make this a lively, impressive series debut. Agency: Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

Starred review from September 15, 2014
In the world of Andrews' novel of romantic suspense, magic equals money and power. Houston is run by wealthy families with ancient magic lineages, clans who have been selectively coupling to ensure that their houses remain genetically and, therefore, magically powerful. When Adam Pierce, one of the most dangerous and powerful Primes (those at the highest magical level in their own specialty), begins systematically incinerating banks downtownhe's a pyrokinetic; that is, his specialty is fireNevada Baylor, owner of her own PI agency, is called in to stop him. Nevada's magic is that she can tell if someone is lying. She's smart, fierce, morally principled, and about to find an irresistible teammate in the handsome Mad Rogan, an equally powerful and dangerous Prime who happens to be searching for Pierce for his own mysterious reasons. The stakes are high throughout, the action is tight, and the romance is steamy. Andrews fully paints this modern-day world of magic with rewarding detail and reveals the true versions of such historical events as the Great Chicago Fire, which was not caused by Mrs. O'Leary's cow, but rather by an experimenting pyrokinetic. Readers will burn for the next installment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)