A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter Series: Elemental Mysteries #1
Published by Selfpublished on October 13, 2011
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 398
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Purchase
A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mysterious manuscript he's hunted for over five hundred years. He never expected a young student librarian could be the key to unlock its secrets, nor could he have predicted the danger she would attract.
Now he and Beatrice De Novo follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, though the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation hundreds of years in the making.
If I hadn’t read other books from EHunter, I’d feel a lot worse for not having gotten to A Hidden Fire sooner. As it is, I’m still kicking myself. But I was thrilled to be able to join Sophia Rose and Lenore (COYER friends) in a buddy read, especially because I was able to chat, moon, and generally wax poetic about how incredible this book is!
Beatrice is a heroine after my own heart since she’s studying to be a librarian. 🙂 She lives with her grandmother, having lost her father and then grandfather, and attends school in Houston. Who would have thought her chosen field would lead her to knowledge of what really happened to her dad, a supernatural species she’d never have believed existed had she not seen them with her own eyes, and a mystery or two which allow her to stretch her academic research muscles.
Gio is an enigma wrapped in an intelligent, very attractive package. He meets B, who he always refers to as Beatrice just to goad her, quite by accident. He needs to translate an ancient text, for work, that happens to reside in the library where she works. He could never have guessed he’d end up drawn to B like a bee to honey, LOL, or that he’d inadvertently draw her into his world and the danger therein.
I freaking LOVED A Hidden Fire. The world building, the locales, the BOOKS! The danger and suspense. EHunter drew me in immediately and I was hard pressed to put this book down. Both B and Gio do some growing here – B due to a change of perspective and world view, Gio being drawn a little out of his “ways” and arrogance. The supporting cast added dimension and complexity to the story as a whole as well as the the character development of B and Gio. I admired that B was no shrinking violet when it came to all she learned and experienced. I admired her for not giving up her dreams despite her feelings and opportunities – not that Gio gave her much choice. EHunter gave the supernatural beings a uniqueness I’ve not heard of before and that only added to my interest.
A Hidden Fire has been on my virtual shelf since 2012. This isn’t my first read from her – I started with the Irin Chronicles – but this does rather solidify my awe of her storytelling. I’m grateful I get to continue this series soon as Lenore agreed to read book 2 for COYER’s Love & Libraries read-a-thon. 🙂
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
This sounds so good to me. I’m gonna add it to my (never ending) TBR!
This sounds so exciting. A romance, a mystery and an adventure. It wounds wonderful.
Twitter: Northwomn
Excellent review! She’s a favorite author of mine and I’ve read pretty much everything she has written including her earliest fan fiction. You have a great series with plenty of books in the Elemental world. This one has been free at some times so I reviewed it initially as a Thrifty Thursday.
I had a fabulous experience buddy reading this one with you and Lenore. I was tickled to see that you gals are pressing forward with the series. Great gem this was!