A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter

Title: A Hidden Fire
Series: An Elemental Mystery
Author: Elizabeth Hunter
Copyright 2011 by Elizabeth Hunter
Released: October 13, 2011
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Synopsis:

"No secret stays hidden forever."

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he’d abandoned years before.  He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract.  Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

A Hidden Fire is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers.  It is the first book in the Elemental Mysteries Series.

5 Stars!!! *Adult Paranormal Romance

A Hidden Fire is saturated with mystery, intrigue, and romance. To be quite honest…this book will make my paranormal romance top ten list of 2011. The characters are enigmatic and brimming with charisma. Every character has a specific purpose in the story, they are important and multidimensional. The romance is slow and builds with a burning intensity throughout the book.  And the mystery…well, it just keeps going and going and going…and then at the end, it continues. The sequel cannot come out soon enough for me. A Hidden Fire is to say the very least…intense.

Let’s say hello to the characters, shall we?

• Giovanni Vecchio is an Italian god; at least he looks like one. Rich, sexy, and mysterious is a completely accurate description of Gio. His weekly trips to the Special Collections reading room at the Houston University library unearth a long lost collection of letters and poetry. This collection will complicate every part of Gio’s life…as well as others.

• Beatrice De Novo is beautiful and intelligent. She is snippy, sarcastic, and made me laugh so hard. Her job at the library entwines her fate with Gio’s. B, as she prefers to be called, has had a difficult life. Her father died when she was young and she is left the haunting feeling that he is still around. She is a strong heroin and will bring feeling to Gio’s heart.

• Casper appears to be Gio’s butler; however, the more you learn about Gio, the more you realize that Casper is family. Casper cares deeply about Gio’s well-being and attempts to help him find the life he has always deserved. I loved Casper because he tells it like it is. He doesn’t let Gio pull anything over on him and forces Gio to answer for his actions.

• Stephen De Novo found something he shouldn’t of. He paid with his life…in one form or another.

• Carwyn, a great friend to Gio, is probably my favorite character. He is a Welsh Priest who has lived a long time. Funny and flirtatious, he is able to give Beatrice some of the answers she is looking for. He believes that each person should tell their own story.  He and Beatrice are great as friends…he can read her like a book and knows exactly what to say.

• Isadora De Novo is Beatrice’s only living family member. She and Beatrice have become very close since her grandfather’s passing. Isadora has been keeping a huge secret that may bring much unwanted strife to Beatrice’s life.

• Tenzin remains a mystery to me. She is very old and powerful. A very close friend of Gio and Carwyn. She fights by their side to obtain something extremely important to Gio. Tenzin is an odd one, but I loved her.

• Lorenzo is the pain in Gio’s ass. He seeks power and seizes any opportunity to cause Gio discord.

Elizabeth combined the lore of elementals with the lore of vampires and created an out-of-this-world world. I was extremely interested in the creation of these immortal creatures. Being from Texas, I appreciated the location of the story and became more interested as she took her characters from Houston to Greece to Chili ending in California. The author did a great job of pulling local culture into each of these locations.

The romance that is portrayed is not immediate and overwhelming. It simmers slowly until it engulfs you in its entirety and leaves you a tad bit disappointed, not in the story or the romance, but in the situation. I wanted what Beatrice wanted…I wanted Gio to fight for her. I suspect he has his reasons for his actions, but it doesn’t mean I agree. Ugh…men.  There is plenty of humor sprinkled throughout the book to leave you smiling right before the tears come.

For fans of vampires or elementals…I highly recommend A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter. I don’t believe you will be disappointed.

JUST IN - BOOK TWO WILL BE RELEASED IN DECEMBER. NO LONG WAITS FOR THE SEQUEL!

Two of my favorite quotes:

“Right,” she frowned. “Right. No one would believe me because vampires aren’t real.”…He chuckled in amusement. “Everyone knows that.”

Carwyn rolled his eyes. “Silly B, love is friendship…just with less clothes, which is far more brilliant.”

*I was given a free e-copy of A Hidden Fire by the author in return for my honest review.