3.5 Stars

This was a good read but to be honest not as solid to me as some of the previous ones. I would have liked to see more of some of the highlights of this series (at least to me), the humor, the Baylor family interactions, and chemistry between Catalina and Alessandro. It's not that the chemistry isn't there, but it feels more like you're being told it's there instead of actually being made to feel it. I feel like the majority of Emerald Blaze was spent within Catalina's head and as much as I love her, she has a very pragmatic sometimes even robotic way of analyzing everything which can be a little monotonous when outside things aren't breaking it up a bit. Her family, and even Alessandro help do this a ton, they give her balance and in turn us as the reader. I missed some of Alessandro's antics and again, his transformation from the last book to this one was more telling instead of showing which dampened the effect for me. Still a solid read and I loved seeing Catalina owning her roles inside the family and out. I love that she's shaping up to come to an epic showdown with Granny dearest. Also, loved seeing Nevada and Rogan! That epilogue was CRAZY. I shudder to think what it means for the next book but I'm really looking forward to it!