We are preparing for the holidays at Casa Andrews and we will be a bit scarce over the holidays. Here is a small snippet of RUBY FEVER.
“Is it haunted?”
Oh, for the love of… “No, Arabella.”
My sister squinted at the monstrosity of a house growing closer as the SUV sped up the gently climbing driveway. “It looks haunted.”
“It’s not,” Bern said.
“How do you know it’s not haunted?” Leon asked from the back.
Because ghosts didn’t exist. “Because Trudy is a nice person, I like her, and she wouldn’t sell us a haunted house.”
“Yes,” Arabella said, “But did you ask if it was?”
“I did, and Trudy said no.” Our poor, long-suffering realtor had answered more bizarre questions in the last couple of months than she had probably done during her whole career.
My little sister whipped out her phone and bent her blonde head over it.
“I heard realtors have to disclose if the house is haunted,” Leon said.
I looked at Mom in the driver seat. She gave me an amused smile. No help there.
“Apparently only four states require you to disclose paranormal activity,” Arabella reported. “Nine states require you to notify the buyer if a death occurred on the premises. And Texas does neither.”
“There were no deaths on the premises. Nobody died in the house, so it can’t possibly be haunted.”
“How do you know nobody died?” Leon asked.
“Because I checked the records,” Bern rumbled.
Clearly, there were two teams in this vehicle: Team Facts and Team Facts Be Damned.
“What if they hid it?” Leon asked.
Bern gave his younger brother a look. When it came to uncovering facts, Bern had no equal. If there was a record of something and that record was at any point entered into a computer connected to the internet, he would find it.
“What’s that building?” Mom asked.
She slowed as we passed a large stone and timber pavilion on our right.
“That’s a wedding pavilion. The beam work inside is really pretty. I thought that if we insulated it properly, we could use it as our office building.”
Leon frowned. “You mean like a separate office building? One where we could conduct business and then leave and not be at work? People have such things?”
I sighed.
“Leon,” Mom said. “She spent the last two weeks trying to get this place inspected. She barely slept and barely ate. As I recall, none of you helped except for Bern. How about you holster that razor-sharp wit and try to be less you for the next hour?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leon set up straight and appeared to look serious. It wouldn’t last, but it was a good try. My younger cousin was twenty years old and he showed zero interest in changing his ways. And that was fine with me. I liked Leon just the way he was.
“It’s big,” Arabella offered, looking at the walls. “Looks a bit like a Spanish fort with all the towers.”
“That’s a hell of wall,” Mom said.
The ten-foot-high stone wall was positively medieval in its thickness. It ensured that all you could see were the top floor on the main house and some red roofs, so on the drive up, the 21,000 square foot “mansion” appeared neat and orderly. But as soon as you drove through its massive gates into the 16 acres that made up its inner grounds, you realized that it was all a giant scam.
The driveway brough us to the arched entrance that cut through the wall. The huge gates stood open, and Mom guided the armored Chevy Tahoe through them and into the front parking lot on the right side. Alessandro’s silver Alfa Romeo already waited in one of the parking spots.
Arabella and Leon got out.
Bern leaned forward and rumbled, “I like this house.” He paused to make sure his point sank in and followed the others out.
I knew exactly why my oldest cousin liked it. The reasons were many but could be summed up by a single word: privacy.
Mom squinted at the two-story rectangular building in front of us. “What’s that?”
“’Cuartel,’” I said. “According to the listing documents.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Barracks?”
“Yes. The lower level has a kitchen, a mess hall, and an armory. The upper level has room for ten beds and a bathroom with four toilet stalls and three showers.”
“Hmmm.”
Normally interpreting Mom’s hmmms wasn’t a problem, but right now I had no idea what she was thinking.
We got out of the car. My cousins and Arabella had walked across the parking lot back to the main driveway. Mom and I joined them. The gate was directly behind us. The parking lot and the barracks were to the right, and the driveway stretched deeper into the estate, rolling between rows of old oaks to a paved forecourt and the two-story Mediterranean-inspired mansion beyond.
“Nice driveway,” Leon said.
“Enjoy it while you can. It’s the only straight road in the place.”
We started toward the mansion. The dense wall of hedges framed the oaks on both sides, hiding the rest of the grounds. The tree limbs reached to each other above our heads and walking down the driveway was like heading into a green tunnel.
“How many acres did you say this was?” Mom asked.
“Twenty-three point four,” Bern said ahead of us. “Sixteen are walled in, the rest is deer fenced.”
“I saw a metal gate retracted into the wall when we drove in,” Mom said. “How is it controlled?”
“There is a guard room built into the wall. The gate can be opened from there, from the office in the barracks, and from main house.”
“Question!” Arabella raised her hand. “If we buy this, can I get a golf cart?”
“You can buy the golf cart with your own money,” Mom said.
The driveway ended and we walked onto the forecourt.
“The main house is five thousand square feet,” I said. “The bottom floor is split into two wings. Each wing has a master. Four bedrooms upstairs, all en suite.”
“Four bedrooms?” Arabella asked. “So, Mom and Grandma take the downstairs, and we take the upstairs?”
To say she sounded underwhelmed would be a criminally gross understatement.
“We could do that,” I said, “or we could live in auxiliary buildings.”
Arabella squinted at me. “What auxiliary buildings?”
I turned my back to the mansion and pointed with both hands to the sides.
The family turned around. On both sides of the driveway, separated by the hedges, lay a labyrinth of buildings and greenery. On the left rose a round tower three floors high. On the right, half hidden by landscaping, sat three two-story casitas, each sixteen hundred square feet, joined by a second-floor breezeway. Between them and us, lay gardens, benches, gazebos, and water features. Stone paths, designed by a drunken sailor, meandered through it all, trying to connect the buildings and mostly failing.
Leon spied the tower. His eyes took on a faraway look that usually meant he was thinking of flying ships, winged whales, and space pirates. “Mine.”
“It needs a bit of work.”
“I don’t care.”
Bern started off to the right.
“Where are you going?” Mom called.
“Home.”
She looked at me.
“He really likes the casitas,” I told her. “Runa likes them too.”
My oldest cousin and my best friend were slowly but surely moving towards marriage, and it was harder and harder to ignore Runa slinking to the bathroom across the hall out of Bern’s room in the morning.
I could relate. Both Alessandro and I wanted to stay together and both of us felt awkward about him moving into my room, so we settled for him staying in the side building and me keeping my window open. Him climbing in and out of the window was infinitely preferable to having to run the gauntlet of my family just to get to my door.
“Where am I going to stay?” Arabella asked. “Am I going to stay in one of the casitas?”
“I think they’re spoken for,” Mom said, watching Bern double time it down the path.
“There’s a shack in the back,” I told Arabella.
She marched around the house. Mom and I followed her along a narrow path, flanked by Texas olive trees, esperanza shrubs, still carrying the last of its bright yellow flowers, and sprawling clusters of cast-iron plants with thick green leaves.
“So Bern and Leon get their picks and I get the leftovers,” Arabella called over her shoulder.
“Yep.” I nodded. “You’re the youngest.”
She mumbled something under her breath. Torturing her was delicious.
“What did you say this place was?” Mom asked.
“A failed bed and breakfast. The first owners built the main house, the Tower, and the bigger casita. Then they sold it to a man who decided to make it into an ultra-secure “rustic” hotel for the magic heavyweights. His website called it ‘a country retreat for the Houston elite.’”
Arabella snorted.
“He owned this place for about twelve years and turned into this, and when his business completely dried up, he sank the last of the money into that wedding pavilion we saw outside.”
“In for a penny, in for a pound?” Mom said.
“Yes.”
To add insult to injury, the owner or someone he employed thought he was handy and did a lot of the renovations and maintenance himself. According to our building inspector, his handiness was very much in doubt.
His greatest failure wasn’t his eclectic taste or his haphazard home improvements, however. The previous owner simply didn’t understand the psychology of the magical elite. Weddings between Houses, the most powerful dynasties, served to cement their alliances. They didn’t want a neutral ground for their ceremonies. They wanted a public show of trust. And the visiting Primes didn’t trust third party security. They brought their own.
“How much does he want for this place?” Arabella asked.
“Twenty million.”
“Ha! Ha. Ha.”
“That’s out of our budget,” Mom said.
“It’s not if we get a loan from Connor.”
“We can afford to put a third down,” Arabella said, “But this place isn’t worth twenty mil. I mean I don’t even get a house I get a shack…”
We turned the corner and the path opened, the greenery falling behind. A huge stone patio spread in front of us, cradling a large Roman style pool. Past the luxuriously large pool, the patio narrowed into a long stone path that ran down to the four-acre man made pond. Between the pool and the pond, on the right-hand side, stood another three-story tower.
Where Leon’s tower looked like something plucked from a Norman castle, this one could have fit right into the seaside of Palm Beach. Slender, white, with covered balconies on the top two levels and a sun deck on the roof, it had a clear vacation vibe. A narrow breezeway connected its third-floor balcony to the main house. Of all the places on the property, it was the newest and required the least amount of work to be habitable.
“Your shack,” I told her.
Arabella took off across the patio.
Mom and I strolled down toward the pond past the giant pool. The coping and the plaster were in excellent shape, but the water had gone green from neglect. It almost looked like a quiet corner of the Pit. I shivered. I still had the nightmares. Except now when I woke up, Alessandro wrapped his arm around me, and I snuggled into him and went right back to sleep.
“Can we really afford it?” Mom asked.
“Yes. We will put 25% down. It will need a lot of repairs, and our bills will go up. We’ll need to invest in some livestock for the agricultural exemption. The place already has solar panels, so we’ll be saving some money there, but we will need a yard crew and probably a maid service of some sort.”
Mom bristled. “I never needed maids in my life. If you’re old enough to have your own space, you’re old enough to keep it clean.”
“I agree, but the main house is huge, and we have the barracks and the offices. We are all going to be really busy. There will be an army of people to supervise, renovation decisions to be made, and we still have our regular caseload and then there is the warden business…”
Mom hugged my shoulders. “We’ll handle it.”
“Does that mean you like the house?”
Mom sighed. “I haven’t seen the house yet.”
“It’s … interesting.”
“I thought so. We can put it to a vote.”
Arabella burst onto the third-floor balcony. “Do I like it? No. I love it!”
Mom grinned. “Well, you got her vote.
Which team are you on?
Wonderful gift, thank you!
Love the snippet, hope you have a wonderful holiday!
+1
+1
Great Christmas morning gift! Wishing you and yours the best! May you have a happy, warm, healthful day!
When will Iron Covenant book 2 be released? I don’t see it on the schedule and my friends and I have been looking for book 2 for what feels like forever. Update?
Ilona mentioned a couple blog posts back that they hope to get to it next year (2021).
I would love to see a visual of this. I know that Ilona sometimes shares crazy real estate that she finds. Was this inspired by an actual property or a mishmash of a few?
+1
I have been watching tons of “Escape to the Chateau DIY” so I am loving this!
Have you seen The Chateau Diaries on You Tube? I can highly recommend it.
I also recommend highly ‘doing it ourselves’ on you tube, another great chateau series and Michael, the one doing it,is amazing as is his dad.
Sounds terrific! Apparently they have entered the big leagues. I’m very happy to see that there are a couple of romantic developments! Yay! I hope Grandma Freida likes it too.
Thanks so much for the snippet. Merry Christmas to Ilona, Gordon, Kid 1, Kid2 and all furry babies!
If there is a RV garage tall enough for a double decker bus…four-bays wide? Grandma Frida will be ecstatic. If it already has tooling benches and a Haz-Mat setup? She’ll start you your own religion!
So Sweet!!! I love this!!! Thanks for bringing sunshine into my day with this excellent snippet!!! Have Happy Holidays, stay safe and Joy for the coming year. Thanks for being.
So looking forward to this book. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas to you and yours 🙂
Thank you so much! This was wonderful. I can’t wait to visit the ol’ gang once more. This is stupid, I know, but I miss them.
Dear Ilona Andrews, Kid1 and Kid2, I’m wishing you a very Merry Christmas and pray that next year is much brighter for all of us. I hope we all get a Covid vaccination plus follow-up booster in our Christmas stocking this year. As always, I’m Very grateful for all the doctors, nurses, technicians, EMS personnel and medical admin support who, in many cases, gave their lives so that others had the best chance at survival. Thank you is not enough, but Thank You!
PS: Ilona, may your knitting basket be overflowing this new year with all that gorgeous, expensive yarn just waiting for your magic touch.
Great Christmas gift, thank you!!!
Peace and Joy for you and your family!
Love, love, love,thank you!
Just one question… Did your home, with all its quirks, inspire those one?
Wow. Wonderful. Thanks so much for this snippet. A fantastic Christmas Eve gift.
Thank you and happy holidays!
The moment when you find The Perfect Place. There is nothing like it.
Thank you for the Christmas Snippet!
I hope you and your family all have a great and relaxing Christmas!
Thanks for this gift!!!!
“Your shack”
I already love it.
Merry Christmas!
I like the complex. Those Baylors never do anything simply.
Merry Christmas to all.
Love the snippet ♥️ can’t wait for ruby fever.
Ahhh how i wish I have a vacation “shack” to relax to. It’s white Christmas in my part of the north ❄️ ⛄️
Merry Christmas 🎄 hope you all have a great time
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday and Happy Holidays to everyone it pertains to.
Thanks for the snippet for Christmas.
Thank you for the surprise snippet. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! 🥳
I’m on Team “buy the house”!
Thank you – kinda fun trying to picture it all in my head!
Safe, healthy and happy holidays to all in HA!
Warm wishes to you and your family for a safe and happy holiday season.
And may 2021 be your best year EVER!
Thank you for the gift!! I loved it <3 Happy Holidays to you and your family!!
Thank you so very much!!!! Merry Christmas to you and your whole family!
Arabella be like Oprah: Casita for you! And casita for you! 🙂
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Thank you and merry Christmas!
The snippet (and the new house) is awesome!
Thank you so much for this wonderful gift. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Oooh, lovely.
Thank you so much for the gift of time and effort.
We know you don’t have to do it – that’s why we appreciate it so much.
May *your* Holidays be loving, joyous and safe, to you and the other “hordesters” (yes, I know that’s not a word, but nothing else seems to fit…) who make this blog so much fun.
OBTW – Love the house!
Thank you. Merry Christmas to your family
Happy Holidays! Best present I got this year. Thank you all!
Thank you so very much! Merry Christmas!
Ps Team Facts
I love this snippet! Thanks for the great gift. Because of Covid, it will be just my two dogs and me this Christmas. Thank you so much for brightening my Christmas Eve!!!
Thank you for the early Christmas present. Best wishes to you and yours.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you very much for the Christmas present! Delightful!
Best wishes to you and yours.
That said … I really liked the idea of living in the middle of Connor’s fort … his private base.
I thought that was a good life goal to aspire to … 🙂
Merry Christmas!! And thank you 🙂
The run down places are the best bet, you can fix it up how you like it… those which come all done, is just that, done.
Let’s move in! I can take one of the rooms in whichever wing Grandma Frida lives in.
I’m team Buy the “House”! Thank you for the snippet, and a Joyous Christmas Season!
Thank you! I love them all scrambling around and calling dibs.
Happy Christmas!
Thank you so much! Have a very happy holidays and a Happy New Year! I hope you have time off and enjoy relaxing!
Happy Holidays to the Andrews family!! 🎄 🎅🏻 🎁🎉
Thanks for this wonderful Christmas Eve treat. Way better than all the chocolate bomb cocoa balls whatever that I’ve gotten 😁
Love it. You two are amazing! Wishing you all a relaxing and happy holiday.
I love this! I can’t wait for the next one ! You always transport me to another place, I just get lost in. Thank you for writing and Merry Christmas !
Definitely in team get the house
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!!
Thanks for the wonderful Christmas present. Happy holidays and stay safe!
Thank you!!!
How old is Alessandro? And poor Catalina the head of house.
I LAUGHED OUT LOUD at the image of him having to climb in and out the window.
Yes, I vote yes. Those horny youngish adults need privacy! And maybe Mom & Heart will make progress.
Plus, Stephen will like being located next to the pool, yes? (Wink)
Grandma deserves a love interest too.
Thanks for sharing & Happy Holidays. Hope you get a nice long break and CAN’T WAIT for BH.
Thank you thank you! Can’t wait for the whole thing!! Merry Christmas to you and yours. Hope it’s peaceful and full of joy. Happy New Year to come!
Thank you and hope you and your family have a Very Happy Holiday
I think I have a serious case of house lust. Those casitas are bigger than my house.
Buuut where is Catalina’s shack?!?
Team facts 😂
I’m with you! Where is Catalina staying? The way I read it: a tower each for Leon and Arabella; in the main house, Mom and Grandma each get a wing. There are three casitas but sounds like Bern is laying claim to them. So where is Catalina staying???!
Happy Holidays to House Andrews!!! Thanks for the awesome gift!
Two things come to mind instantly. Penelope had better get used to maids and a yard crew is first. Second is wondering where Grandma will have her repairs garage. Because they are totally going to purchase this magnificent piece of living space, I’m sure. It’s perfect for them all. It’s time that they didn’t all live together at the office.
It’s exciting that you have already figured out the whole living space issue and written it very well. I can’t wait to read about the inside of the house now. But what’s more exciting and I can’t wait to read about is that one day, Ruby Fever will go on sale for us all to devour and enjoy.
Have a fantastic holiday season with your family and keep thinking good thoughts like this one.
Thank you for the snippet, and for everything you do.
Wishing you, Gordon, Kid 1 and Kid 2 a wonderful holiday, with lots of laughter and relaxation.
I live for snippets, thank you!! Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope you take a much deserved break and gorge yourself on Christmas goodies.
What a wonderful Christmas gift. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I hope we get a map!
+1! I love maps!
+1 for maps, and many drawn/rendered pictures.
Please?
My brain is quite good at “seeing” descriptions in books,
but I need some help with this one.
Yes! A map, please. Buy this house! And it needs a friendly ghost.
Thank you and Merry Christmas! So excited for upcoming books!
Love the snippet, hope you have a wonderful holiday!
🤣🤣 I love it!! I can see Leon running through his tower acting like a pirate and Arabella standing on her balcony over looking the pool and acting like Juliet maybe Stephen will make an appearance for that!!
There was a house for sale around San Antonio that I absolutely loved that had two towers one on the house that had the master and the second was separate but had its own room and kitchen. The entire thing looked like an old castle with the grey stone and everything.
Thank you for the present.
This is exactly the kind of place that the Baylors would end up in.
Quirky and eclectic.
I noticed that you wrote “three two-story casitas, each sixteen hundred square feet,” why wouldn’t Arabella take one of those three?Not that I don’t love her tower.
I am thinking that Bern and Runa live in the large casita and Runa’s brother and sister can each get a casita. Bern is planning ahead.
Aaahhh!!! Thank you for such a lovely Christmas Present!!! I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday.
I cannot wait! Please write fast! Thank you for this Christmas Eve surprise.🤗
Thank you so much! Happy holidays
Oooohh a Christmas present 💝
Thank you so much!
And obviously I’m on Team Facts. My scientific mind allows nothing less than that 🤣
Happy Holidays and stay safe!
Happy holidays and thank you for the wonderful writing.
Oh, this is a great snippet! Thanks so much.
Merry Christmas to your family.
That land sounds so heavenly, also stressful, but heavenly for the whole family and mini families and work !
1. Given that this is an Ilona Andrews story, I am for sure Team Facts Be Damned. There will be ghosts — or something more interesting!
2. Thanks so much for the Holiday present!
3. Get some rest — hug the kids — enjoy the holidays — blessings to all and to all a good night! <3
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thanks for the “short” snippet. It’s wonderful.
I love that you found a quirky house for the Baylor clan. It’s perfect for them!
Can’t wait to see what Grandma’s motor pool looks like!
Thank you!!! Wishing you all a VERY VERY Merry Christmas!! ….. and a soon to be Adi-!!!!!!!-os to 2020 !!!
Thank you for this little Christmas present. While I have loved each and every one of your books, the Baylor family ones are my favorite. Merry Christmas.
Thanks for the early Christmas present! Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Delightful! thank you. I am addicted to HGTV so this is just my style. Explain to Mom that a maid service is a business deduction . Merry and Happy to all.
Definitely “Team Buy-This-House” 🏠! Thank you for the peek into the next Baylor family adventure!!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! 🎄⭐🎁🎆
Now I know why you spent so much time online looking at “unique” real estate.
Yea! Thanks for the gift! Merry Christmas!
Wonderful, thank you.
Safe & Happy Holidays 🌺
Thank you so much for the lovely Christmas present! To see the Baylors all so happy and about to get such a great place to live was the best. I love that family, but Grandma Frida is my very favorite.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thank you. Merry Christmas. Wonderful wonderful snippet.
What a lovely gift, thank you!
Health and happiness to you and yours.
New favorite phrase:
“Clearly, there were two teams in this vehicle: Team Facts and Team Facts Be Damned.”
Made me laugh until I choked. 😂
+1
Love it!
Go team facts!
Happy holidays to all! The snippet is a lovely gift. Thank you, House Andrews.
Needed it. Thank you and have a merry Christmas, enjoy yourselves.
Team facts, thank you!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Thanks for the surprise gift. Today is getting better and better.
“Clearly, there were two teams in this vehicle: Team Facts and Team Facts Be Damned.” Ahahahaha!! So good!
Thank you so much for the Christmas present! Sending love and peace to you all!
Thank you and Happy Christmas 🎄
I’m on team Andrews!
Happy holidays, may the be restful and drama-free!
Team Facts Be Damned! (When other people make sense, but I don’t care) AND Team Facts! (When I KNOW I’m right and can prove it, ha!)
Thanks for the snippet, woohoo!
Thank you for this gift!!! I love the Baylor family interactions so much.
I’m on the “I can’t wait” team. Thanks for the lovely gift.
Many, many thank yous! Hah ha on Team facts or team facts be dammed.
May House Andrews have a wonderful Christmas.
5am Christmas Day waiting for the grandkids to wake – thank you for a delightful read while biding my time.
A happy & joyous day to you all.
Stay safe
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you all!
I’m on the Buy Team🎅🎄🎁❄⛄and Thanks for the snippet !
Wowza!! Where are the secret passages?
I love all the visuals! I’m on team buy the house cuz they’ll never find anything else to suit each family member like this estate does… Can’t wait for to buy this book! Thank you for the snippet and happy holidays!
Definitely Team House! What a place! Thanks for the snippet. Can’t wait to buy the book. Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas 🎄 and a joyful New Year to all 😁
Love it! I love houses in general so I like all the details of how it looks so I can imagine it.
Hope you all have a happy and safe holidays!
Crazy house for a crazy cool family 😀
Thanks for this christmas gift!
Thank you! What a wonderful snippet. I hope the compound has a big garage for grandma!
Happy Holidays to House Andrews – wishing you and your family a merry time and all the best for 2021.
Happy Holidays to the BDH! Best Wishes to one and all.
Thank you!!! And Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to your whole family??
Sounds great! When can we move in???
Buy it! It’s fantastic.
Merry Christmas to you! May your holiday be full of peace and rest.
I think they’d love the place and should get it. Being house poor is no fun though, so maybe you can arrange a big job that will enable them to pay most of it off? Or maybe be awarded it by a grateful city?
Love these books. The Innkeeper series, Hidden Legacy, and the Edge novels are all comfort reading. Thank you for all you do.
I’m on team Arabella’s Tower!!! Course you had me at Roman style pool.
Freaking love it!!! 🥰🥰🥰👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thankyou!!! And happy holidays – hope they are filled with all the best stuff in life
Oh this is so good. Love it!
Love the snippet and happy holidays to everyone 🎄🎁😃
I haven’t read the Hidden Legacy series, but that snippet might have switched it to “not yet”! I can definitely imagine that house in Texas, love it! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family.Thank you for the many wonderful hours of reading pleasure you’ve given me over 2020. Be well and stay safe.
I’m on ‘Team is it Huanted?’ and ‘Team I Love it if there’s no evil genius or villainous organization living in the basement’.
Could we get a littler sketch of the property? I’m confused with the layout. I’d be willing to bet that you have one. Put it in the book at the beginning of the chapter. Please?
Thanks for the gift. Can I go leave with them in one of the Casitas?
Joyeux Noël Casa Andrews 🎄🎅
Hope you have a safe and wonderful Christmas 🎄🤶
Live not leave (stupid auto correct 😜)
Love it! Thank you so much. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
I am definitely on Team Facts Be Damned. 🤣🤣
Thank you for this treat! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
It’s pouring rain here in Durham, my turkey is still a solid block of ice, and it’s just me and my cat for the holidays. HOWEVER, you and your gift of snippets and laughter make me smile and believe that everything’s going to turn out just fine! Wishing you and all of your family the best of holidays and a spectacular New Year 🎄🎁🎆🎇🎉🎊.
Thank you for the wonderful gift!
Happy Holidays to you all. May it be restful and kind to you all.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!! I’m so excited for their new home. Can’t wait for the book. Woohoo!!!
Thank you very much for this snippet. Have a wonderful Christmas & New Years.
I am on Team Get The Mansion and Assorted Buildings. Also I cracked up at “Team Facts Be Damned”. 🙂 🙂
Happy and Merry Holidays!
Thank you so much for the lovely snippet! Can’t wait to see what House Baylor does with the new digs (or the rest of the story arc for that matter). January 12th cannot get here too quickly.
To House Andrews and The BDH: Merry, Happy, Blessed, Joyous and most of all Safe and Warm for what ever you celebrate this season!
Luv luv luv it look forward to the book woohoo
Awesome. Thank you. Have good holidays!
Love the snippet, the snippet, the snippet.
Love the snippet, the snii-ii-pet!
(Sorry , my local NPR station has been playing the Hallelujah Chorus intermittently all day.)
Welcome Yule!
Awesome snippet! Thank you. Hope we still get Baylor family dinners and everyone congregated in the kitchen.
Ilona and Gordon, thank you for keeping us sane this year.
Happy Holidays!
Of course it is haunted. I warned people when I sold mine that it was haunted, but that the ghost might follow me and leave the property. So no one can ever say I didn’t warn them. 🙂
Thank you for the snippet. <3
Wishing you a lovely family holiday, and good health, joy, and creativity in the year to come.
Thank you for all that you do for us. Loved the snippet and can’t wait to buy the book. Have a healthy, happy holiday and a prosperous New Year.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I hope you have a wonderful Holiday and a New Year filled with peace, love and joy!
That was a great present! Thank you!
Team Buy It.
Merry Christmas and thanks for all the words you have corralled for our entertainment.
Dear Gordons,
Thank you!
This is the best Christmas gift ever!
Have nice holidays and be lazy!
May the new year be better than 2020!
Thank you for everything!
Stay safe!
Marina
Thank you for my Christmas gift!!! Merry Christmas to you and your family, may 2021 be nothing like 2020!
Whee! Thank you for the snippet.
Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.
thanks for the snippet. It’s an amazing place. A proper headquarters for House Andrews. Two towers and a barracks and livestock -hmmm I wonder if horses and cattle will be interesting. They can have a self-sufficient homestead!
Merry Christmas and thanks for the snippet!
Merry Christmas to the Andrews family.🎄
Whose team am I on? Arbella’s, of course! Just don’t pull on that dark red thread, young lady, okay?
So how do the authors plan to play it? Did Arbella know — or at least suspect —that her sister was pulling her leg regarding the “shack” that was some thing just a bit better than that? Or did Catalina put one over on poor, little sister?
Now I want a tower. Thanks for the snippet and hope you have a merry and healthy Christmas and New Year!
Thank you for the splash of color.😁
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to House Andrews!
Let’s all stay HEALTHY in 2021.
And a Birthday is coming soon!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂
Thank you for sharing your GENIUS with us!!
Thank you for the snippet I. Your snippets are the best. Wonderful present. I am Team facts be Damned.Because it’s more fun.
I am a visual person, and I need to try to draw the many properties. Right now I am confused. But excited.
We get Blood Heir, and then … Ruby Flame.
Merry Christmas to Team Andrews and all the pets. Merry Christmas to the BDH !!🎄🎄🎄.
Thank you for all the blogs and everyone’s comments . They have meant so much to me this difficult year.
Happy Holidays!!! Hope you all have a fantastic holiday. Thank you for the early gift!
Team Get-the-Darn-House but make a lower offer because it’s clearly been on the market FOREVER and don’t forget to nitpick about all the repairs that need to be made to justify the lower offer 😀
Oh and I agree with secret passages. Oooo, the house may not be haunted but what about the secret passages or hidden rooms!
It also MUST have a decent library with one of those 2 story moving ladders!
A lovely gift; thank you, and may you have a Merry Christmas.
Best Christmas Gift Ever!!! Thank you so much. May you and your family have a wonderful and peaceful holiday with lots of fun and no drama!!
Merry Christmas and thank you for this present.
The house sounds quite fun- so many towers and features. Just needs a garage somewhere for Grandma Frida and its perfect. I’d settle for the shack too 😉
And ponds, barracks and a pavillion plus livestock? Ahhh the possibilities……
If they don’t buy it, I will. That is…if someone can loan me a few million.
I suggested pairing the kitchen island and my spouse told me to stop watching home improvement shows. Three cheers for home improvement and fixer uppers!
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Thank you for the entertaining snippet. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2021
This is a great Christmas gift! Wishing you the best for the Holidays ! 🎄🎄❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for the wonderful Christmas gift <3
Merry Christmas to all of you!! Love, love, love the snippet. I now need to re-read the series for the bajillionth time.
Omg thank you, an early Christmas gift and love this line “Team Facts and Team Facts Be Damned.” In a team facts person 💯
I like this because it’s the kind of house you pass down for seventeen generations and a million Baylor children grow up there. It feels like if they buy this house, that’s a signal that they are all settling down (eventually) in the family compound to have crazy families and an amazing, extremely defensible HEA– you know, like four or five (or eleven, I wouldn’t complain) books from now.
First, No Maps! I want my imagination to wander wild in the wonder of your words. Thank you and Merry Christmas and hope your coming new year is better than this virus and (political diatribe deleted) polluted year has been.
I am definitely on team But the House 😄😄
Wishing the whole of House Andrews a wonderful Christmas and New Year. May you all stay safe 🙏
Thank you for the wonderful gift! Wishing you and your family the Merriest Christmas!
Thank you for the Christmas snippet.
I love how they are going to spend $20 million for the house but their mom won’t let them get a maid—that is funny! Thanks for trying to keep them real!
Wonderful snippet. Thank you. Team buy it with a nice loan from Connor. Can’t wait for this book as I love these characters. Looking forward to BH in January.
Merry Christmas. May we all get the vaccine I. The new year, sooner rather than later.
Wow that’s a cool house.
Thank you. Merry Christmas 😃
Dang, i am actually jealous of fictional people right now. I really, really, REALLY want live in a wizard/princess tower toooooooooo. Also American Hogwarts is totally Haunted.
How about option three, Team Sunnydale? (As in Buffy and the house is situated over an interdimensional hellmouth 😉 )
Merry Christmas, happy holidays and much love to everyone in the world.
Thanks so much for the wonderful early Christmas gift! I hope you and your family have a veryMerry Christmas 🎄
I totally want to live there!
Thank you, thank you! I’m excited to see more of this house whenever Ruby Fever comes out.
Hope you get to enjoy some down time and your family.
I’m on team whatever Ilona and Gordon decide will be wonderful, as usual. Also, I’m wishing you both a wonderful, relaxing Christmas with your family and a Happy New Year with no one you know getting sick, Ilona’s hands not hurting anymore, and at least a year with no repairs needed on the house. Thank you for sharing your imagination, creativity, and writing skills with us. Merry Christmas!
I forgot – Ilona, I hope you have a wonderful birthday and get lots of beautiful yarn.
Thanks for the snippet, can’t wait for the whole book to come out. Really like the Website and will miss the regular updates till we get past the Holidays.
Thanks for the many gifts you and Gordon have brought us, and this snippet is first rate,to say the least,a Christmas Eve joy.
My wife and I wish the best if the holiday season to you,Gordon,D1,D2 and the critters, we are grateful our S is home for the first time in a year, his music is here with him, and we are safe and happy even if it is ridiculously warm here in NJ.Our best wishes to the family on this comment section,may the new year see the demise of this horrible virus along with other things we all could do without,2021 will be an amazing year if we can say at the end ‘wow,that was an amazingly boring year’s😃 Blessings and warm hopes for you and yours.
Bwahaha that was hilarious. Thank you so much.
For me it’s the OG Team Nevada and Connor all the way!
Happy Holidays, Health and Happiness for the new year.
Love the new home for House Baylor! They totally deserve it!
Have a safe and restful holiday with your family!
So so great! Love the quirkiness of their new home.
Thanks for this & Merry Christmas!!🎄
Loved it!! Thank you!
Thanks for the “snippet” and Merry Christmas to you all!
Thank you. Love the detailed description of the house… It certainly gets my vote!
Blessings for good health this season, everybody!
Merry Christmas!
Would be a dream to have a big family all running around an amazing estate like this.
I’m going to need Arabella’s trilogy just so I can read about all the details and improvements they make to the grounds 😀
Thank you, if they buy this place it sounds like a very interesting place to live.
Let a ghost be there!!!! Or a past death
Wishing you and yours Peace, Love and Joy this Holiday Season!
Looking forward to Jan 12th!
Great loved it when is it released … tomorrow?…..yes please thank you
Wow! Awesome compound for House Baylor! Room for a small army. Everyone happy! Love it! Thanks for the snippet!
Merry Christmas! Thank you for the extended snippet. Your writing just flows. It really is a gift. I can’t wait for the book 🎄🎁🎄
Thank you, merry Christmas 🎄
What a lovely gift! “Team Facts and Team Facts Be Damned” had me lol’ing.
Thank you for sharing your writing and lives with us this year. Merry Christmas, Casa Andrews! 🎄
Will Cornelius handle the training of the livestock? Will we see killer sheep roaming the land?
Shockingly bad movie Black Sheep comes to mind. Lol
Killer sheep! Yes!
Thank you, Merry!!
its sounds delectable .
Thank you!! Happy holidays
I am so looking forward to reading this book! Merry Christmas!!!
wanderfl, grate
Thank youe
Have wonderful holydays
What an awesome Christmas present to wake up to! Thank you!
Merry Christmas to you and your family! And thank you for the snippet!
The house sounds… mostly awesome and kinda weird, which is fitting for the Baylors. I was wondering, is it based on or inspired (even loosely) by anything specific? It seems too out there to be, but stranger things have happened.
Favorite Christmas present (don’t tell my husband;)
Thank you very much
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thank you! That was great. Have a wonderful holiday:-)
Thank you
And happy holidays!
Buy it. Definitely. Zeus will love it.
Ooo. I never considered Zeus. You are right, perfect place for him. Perhaps out lounging by the pool? Many tigers like water, perhaps an almost- sort- of tiger would too. Thanks for the image.
Thank you for the Christmas present. 😃🥂 merry Christmas!
Since I have vivid fantasies about living in a lighthouse, I am very much team “Buy the house, but more importantly, THE TOWERS!”
Stay safe and happy holidays to all!
Happy Christmas! Thank you! Team Arabella! Yes! It will be an adventure, and there is that wonderful thick gated wall and room to grow their house. Maybe the Bear Sergeant will want to transfer? House Andrews, thank you for helping so many of us get through 2020, and sharing so generously with us.
Thank you for the snippet. It is wonderful. Happy Holidays to House Andrews.
PS Author T A White had a podcast/live streaming a couple of days ago on Facebook for her new book “Threshold of Annilation”, and was asked who her favorite author was. She answered she had many, but Ilona Andrews was one of her very favorites, and went on to explain why she loved your books and your writing style.
I found TA White because Ilona recommended another series by her. Read all 4 books and loved it.
Another reader mentioned this new 3rd book in the series & I was so bored waiting for BH that I inhaled all 3 books. Pretty good but the loose ends drive me crazy.
Hoping BH has enough loose ends so we get a series but not enough to drive me crazy. Fingers crossed. Jan 12 can’t come fast enough.
So glad they hopefully found the right house! And thank you for the excellent Christmas present.
I’m Team Fact Be Damned, as my own house proves! We’ve been renovating non stop for 10+ years now… I blindfully stated it would be a breeze to make it habitable because I so loved the setting. Well, the setting IS awesome but the renovations might only be finished by the time my kids have their own families (they’re between 2 and 8 y.o… )
Thanks for the snippet! It sounds awfully good for something you don’t feel like working on 😉
Merry Christmas! 🎄 Hope you enjoy your holidays
Wow, that is some property! Trying to visualize it all. Yes, buy it so everyone can remain together and have room to not drive each other crazy.
Thank you for the snippet! Wishing you and yours the best Christmas and an amazing New Year.
Thank you. I LOL’d at “Torturing her was delicious.” I can hear my siblings or myself saying that. Merry Christmas.
Thanks so much for this snippet! This place sounds much more like a “Baylor” house than any of the other House mansions we’ve seen in the books. Someone wondered where Grandma Frieda would have her workshop. There’s bound to be a huge garage somewhere on the grounds, and probably bigger than the Baylors need for their own cars. Maybe a stable as well, that can be converted for either regular car parking or for Grandma Frieda.
I’m on Team Facts for real life, and Team Facts Be Damned for fictional worlds. Happy Holidays to all, and may next year be much, much better than this one has been! 🙂
The problem is, Grandma doesn’t need a garage, hotel-style, she needs a mechanics shop that can accomodate a (light) tank. That’s a lot of heavy equipment – hydraulics, cranes, welding, fuel and ammo storage, and also requirements to the building’s foundation and the roads.
They will probably build the shop next to the parking lot, but it will be a lot of work, and it will clash with the powerful-Prime-mansion image. It’s hard to be rich.
Team Facts for life, though TFBD sounds interesting to play in at least once a month.
I wonder, where are Runa’s brother and sister?
And Merry Christmas 💖
Merry Christmas! Great snippet!
Oh, GAWD! I LOVE IT!!!
I just started Emerald Blaze last night. Reserved it as a Christmas present to myself, and broke it out early. (Christmas Eve is ok for one gift, right?)
So … now I’m back to addicted again, and am THRILLED that House Baylor is getting such a fab new home! Yay, House!
Ilona & Gordon – hope you and family are having a lovely day. Thanks for the snippet gift. Truly making my day!
Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.
Team “This is going to be awesome!”
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
I’m a big fan of rambling and wacky and walled in. I also like the hypothetical farm animals. But that’s a lot of money!
Thinkin’ of You Both Tody.
Christmas Hugs and Many Thanks for All Your Wonderful Stories
Cheers
Be Safe Be Well
Mar
Hehehe Meant Thinkin’ of you both today
Doh!
I love it.
Fun! Thanks! and have a great holiday!
Buy it !
And Merry Christmas !
And thanks for all the fish … er… wonderful stories !!!
Merry Christmas! Thanks for the snippet. I vote for the house.
Thank you- love this snippet ❤️ It’s the topper to a great day! Merry Christmas🎄 and hope everyone has a healthy, happy, and much better year in 2021🎉!!!
Thank you for this lovely glimpse into Ruby Fever. Getting very excited.
I hope that you & the family had a happy, safe and Merry Christmas.
I can’t wait to see the back of 2020, and prying that 2021 will bring better things. Thank you for the stories, your views on life & family and the many pitures of animals. Happy!
Merry Christmas and thank you for this really fun snippet!
Lots of love and wishes for health, happiness, and prosperity for the New Year.
Thank you and happy holidays!🎄⛄️🎉
I vote for whoever gives me a Tower of my own
This excerpt has made me positively happy. Thank-you sooooo much for the christmas present. Can I please go live with them?
It sounds like just the oddball place for their diverse family needs! I’ll take a tower by the pool any day (and I’ve seen many pools cleaned up to look like new on house flipping shows.) But then, I haven’t had to deal with the Pit.
I’m with Arabella, in fact I want her tower! LOL
Does this place actually exist somewhere? It sounds like something that would be in Texas. Bigger is better.
When do we move in? 🙂
Merry, happy new year, complete with towers and casitas. What’s not to love? Just hurry a little, okay?
Hope your Christmas was merry and bright. Love the house. I foresee many home improvement episodes in the book(s). Sign me up for a ground floor casita. And, yes, they will need an army of cleaning and upkeep. The upkeep in the 8000 square foot house will be enormous. The grounds? Yowsa! I figure those who inhabit the casitas might be able to care for them, but -go for it. Bring on people who like housework and yardwork. Does no one have a magic for housekeeping?? Something much more useful than monster making?
Animators should be able to make magical equivalents of roombas, automated lawnmowers, etc…. Probably a question of cost effectiveness. Patricia’s rate (with discount I hope) vs cleaning staff salaries.
When can I move in. Lol.
Happy Holidays!
Such a wonderful gift you gave!
Wishing you two and all of your family a wonderful winter time.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas or if you don’t celebrate- hope you had a great day!
I love this new house idea and I’m Team Facts although I love Team Facts Be Damned too 🙂
Thank you so much for the snippet! It was sooo wonderful! I can’t wait to read more! I love the whole Baylor family!!! But I really have a soft spot for Catalina, Alessandro and Leon.
So true for the last 8 months.
Leon frowned. “You mean like a separate office building? One where we could conduct business and then leave and not be at work? People have such things?”
Thank you, Ilona Andrews, for the post and snippet. I am for buying it if professional structural engineer report shows salvageable. If it says not, then no. Interesting can mean many things as different people perceive differently depending on background. But professional engineers have a national inspection code so what they see in California is understood by engineers in Florida or wherever.
Thank you for all the stories and posts this year. You and Gordon and the menagerie made my world a better place.
Goats will pretty much eat anything that isn’t tied down and even then… hopefully they are covered in the referenced agricultural exemption as being okay. Self reproducing, self propelled, organic and inorganic substance recycling… notice I said nothing about vet bills. Either annual or emergencies. Some communities/ places are funny about what livestock is allowed ie no chickens but as many turkeys or ducks as you want.
My Dexter bull, Rhodesian Labrador and 10 cat aka the black panther to non family visitors have my security down pat. We are On our, hmm, PC, so “multiple” delivery driver as they deliver once and never return. Except the Amazon guy owned by Great Danes — he delivered twice. Amazon is up to 12, UPS 2, FedEx guy never returned after he got pulled out of ditch down the road so I had to drive into town and pick up package of sheets. (Neighbor has pigs of the non pet 100s of pounds variety that were not thrilled with vehicular presence in ditch. Poor traumatized city guy.) Same mail carrier as had in January 2019. Continuity. Of course some of my packages have toured the USA before being delivered.
Thank you!❤️
Sorry, I`m team Facts.
Thank you so much for the snippet. 😀
On team Arabella!
One of my best Christmas presents was an empty box from my younger son. It contained a note that my present will arrive on or after January 12th. I can scarcely wait!
I might add that he’s the on who introduced me to Kate and Curran, though I had already met Kate when she was still a merc and she met Saiman.
I’m so excited they get their own house and since i’ve been pouring over landscaping ideas for my house (small, ugly house, definitely not worth 20 mil) I could just picture the pool and surrounding areas mentioned.
Not having to work this week and a snippet makes this the best Monday ever!
I hope you all are having a nice downtime as well!
As large as this property is, does it come with mineral and water rights? There would be better security if it has all the rights. The mineral and water rights owners will have access to them.
Homeowners in Texas do not know and are surprised to find a door knocker saying, “I’m going to start drilling in your front yard. I’ll pay you the going rate for the access. I won’t pay for your house because you can still live in it. If you want to sell it, I’ll buy it for less than the Tax Value.”
If you don’t know who owns the water and mineral rights, ask your Title Company. In West Texas, a railroad probably holds the water and mineral rights.
Thank you and Happy Christmas!
Team facts for me please as we got screwed by our surveyor who missed the dodgy roof which had to be replace in less than 2 years!
I love the towers though- did I imagine you showing us a house for sale with towers in the not too distant past?!
Being a Brit I’ve googled casitas and I’m till not to sure what these but sounds nice and private, just what Arabella and Bern need.
A casita is a small house in Spanish, so in this case it probably means a fancy guest house.
I want to go there. Now.
Hello ilona, I hope you have been well?
Being that you hinted to multiple dimensions in sweep in peace, is there a possibility of telling a story where the abitrators (George and Klaus) visit the Kate Daniels and Nevada universe?
I strongly believe such stories will be amazing. And I believe you can pull it off.
What an awesome idea! Pretty please with a bow on top?
I love love LOVE it! Thank you thank you THANK YOU for this! I’ve missed the Baylors 😍
Ooooo! Thanks for the fabulous gift, House Andrews and a very happy holidays! Love the snippet and can’t wait for more!
At this point I will point out 13 days 9 hours and 20 minutes till ryder and maybe 365+ days till Ruby Fever.
Not counting …. really…..
Thank you for the snippet and happy holidays!
Enjoy your holiday. Keep safe. Thanks for the snippet. I Love this family.
Thank you! Best Christmas present this year. Wishing a safe, peaceful holiday season to all members of Casa Andrews.
Yes please!!! I love it too.
Thank you
Thank you! Hopefully your holiday season is peaceful and healthy.
Test for Mod R
Thank you for the holiday snippet, I am so looking forward to the next instalment
This was a WONDERFUL way to end the year!! Thank you to House Andrews for helping us all through a tough year!
One question that I’ve had through Emerald Blaze and really both Catalonia books is this … when did Arabella get good enough at math to be in charge of the House Baylor finances? One of my favourite moments was the epilogue of HL3 when Arabella has to do math in her “alternate form” and writes “this sucks” – it makes me laugh every time! Did she go to university or college or something or get an interest along the way and is self taught? Arabella always makes me smile so I’m so curious 🙂
2020 has been quite the year, but made more bearable thanks to House Andrews. You guys really are amazing. Thank you so much! Happy holidays, take care, stay safe and sane!
#BUYTHEHOUSE #TEAMFACTSBEDAMNED
I’m so glad they’ll get a beautiful house & I love that the place has its own personality. Thank you & Happy Holidays! E
Wow! What a super Christmas present. I loved reading this. A place like this will give all the family members scope to develop. It sounds exciting. I wonder where Grandma Frieda will set up shop. So many possibilities.
I appreciate the practicality of considering who will clean and maintain a place like this. Of course, for myself, I personally would prefer a place without monsters and paranormally gifted human predators. This place looks big enough to host a few. For myself, ghosts like the ones in Busman’s Honeymoon (Dorothy Sayers) would be welcome, no Amityville Horrors need apply. But that’s for my real life, not for my reading.
I was re reading Sapphire Flames after reading this.
Is anyone else terrified at the thought of Catalina’s alarm clock? Chapter 9, paragraph one “my alarm clock went off and dragged me out of bed”. What sort of mad and bad ass clock physically drags someone out of bed? How? Does it wait for you to wake up or does it just yank you out? Why would you buy something like that or was it a gift? What if you hit the snooze button, would it smack you back?
Thank you for the snippit and hope you all had a great holiday period!!! I can’t wait for the next book in this series. Can I just check am I the only person that thinks that linus could be caesar???
So much fun to be had!!
I have a weakness for a home that needs a some work- my grandfather was a contractor and I practically grew up on construction sites – so I was sold pretty much from the moment they passed the gates, lol. I want to visit the property so badly!
I’m more a Team Facts for everyday life, but in books…. anything goes 😛
Yes, I vote buy it!
I’ve read this snippet so many times already 🤣
Best view i have ever seen !