Still doing the Scenic Sunday countdown to Ruby Fever! Only two more Sundays to go!

I am not a patient person and cliffhangers are my one big no-no. Therefore, I binged Sapphire Flames, Emerald Blaze, and an arc of Ruby Fever in July and honestly, it was the best decision I ever made for myself, holding off on reading the first two books until I had the 3rd one firmly in my grasp.

In this week’s Scenic Sunday countdown to Ruby Fever, we bring you a scene from the first installment of Catalina and Alessandro’s trilogy. We met Catalina in the first trilogy and briefly caught a glimpse of Alessandro. When this book starts, they haven’t seen each other in some time but suddenly, Alessandro is everywhere and Catalina can’t escape him, especially as she’s in the middle of investigating a very suspicious death. She finds herself drawn to him even as he continuously thwarts her at every turn of her investigation, showing up at the most inopportune times in the most unexpected places.

My hip hurt. I would put the dog pillow down for Shadow, then I would wash my hands and go down to eat some lunch, during which I would sit across from Runa and Ragnar and have to think of some way to explain why I hadn’t found their sister yet. Ugh.

I walked into my loft.

Alessandro Sagredo lounged on my bed. He lay propped on one elbow, his large, muscular frame taking up the entire space. He couldn’t be real; he had to be a painting made to tempt women; masculine, handsome, erotic, from the broad spread of his shoulders and his flat stomach to his long legs.

Shadow lay next to him, chewing on some yellow rectangular thing.

Alessandro raised his head. His amber eyes lit up and he smiled a slow, lazy smile, like a wolf cornering a doe.

He was holding the pink frame with his picture in it, which I had left on my nightstand.

The enormity of it hit me all at once. I wanted to fall through the floor, strangle him, grab my dog, and scream at the same time. My brain took those conflicting urges and compromised. I dropped the dog pillow and hurled the pack of puppy pads at his head.

Alessandro caught the pack one-handed and tossed it to the floor. He didn’t even move, the son of a bitch. Just raised his hand, caught the pack, and went back to looking at the picture.

He turned the frame, so I could see his picture in it. “Smoochie poo?”

“It’s Italian for ass clown. What are you doing in my room?”

“Admiring your taste in arts and crafts?” He titled the frame. “The application of glitter could use some work.”

The book is full of action and adventure and two MCs who are absolute badasses but also manages to be funny and the banter between Catalina and Alessandro is full of fire and wit. It is an absolutely delightful start to their trilogy.

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews
Hidden Legacy #4
Published August 27th, 2019 by Avon

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