Format: 214 pages, Kindle Edition
Release Date: January 29, 2026
Publisher: NYLA
Source: Amazon
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Show as little as possible. Make them think that illusion is all you have. Your life depends on it.
Augustine Montgomery is an Illusion Prime, the highest rank of magic user. The people who have seen his real face can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The people who've witnessed the full extent of his power are dead. Illusion isn’t just his brand of magic. It’s become his lifestyle.
One day Diana Harrison walks into the office of Augustine’s premier PI corporation. Diana is also a Prime, a mage who bonds with animals through her magic and prefers their company to humans. Something precious has been stolen from House Harrison. Something Diana must recover at all costs before it perishes.
Augustine is cold, rational, and calculating. He doesn’t get emotionally involved, but something about Diana disturbs the careful balance of Augustine’s inner world. She asks for his help, and he can’t refuse.
Neither Augustine nor Diana are who they appear to be. Both would die to keep their secrets. But the enemy they face is unimaginably powerful, and saving the life at risk will demand the ultimate price, one neither ever expected to pay – complete honesty.
Augustine Montgomery is an Illusion Prime, the highest rank of magic user. The people who have seen his real face can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The people who've witnessed the full extent of his power are dead. Illusion isn’t just his brand of magic. It’s become his lifestyle.
One day Diana Harrison walks into the office of Augustine’s premier PI corporation. Diana is also a Prime, a mage who bonds with animals through her magic and prefers their company to humans. Something precious has been stolen from House Harrison. Something Diana must recover at all costs before it perishes.
Augustine is cold, rational, and calculating. He doesn’t get emotionally involved, but something about Diana disturbs the careful balance of Augustine’s inner world. She asks for his help, and he can’t refuse.
Neither Augustine nor Diana are who they appear to be. Both would die to keep their secrets. But the enemy they face is unimaginably powerful, and saving the life at risk will demand the ultimate price, one neither ever expected to pay – complete honesty.
Beast Business, by authors Ilona Andrews, is a 200-page novella set in the Hidden Legacy world. The story features Augustine Montgomery, the impeccably suited Illusion Prime who heads a high-end investigative firm, and Diana Harrison, the animal mage Prime and older sister of Cornelius Harrison, with a guest appearance from Arabella Baylor, the youngest sister in the Baylor clan.
Diana approaches Augustine for professional help when something extraordinarily precious—a rare and vulnerable arcane creature—is stolen from House Harrison. Time is critical, and the stakes are personal. Augustine, ever the cool pragmatist, agrees to assist, citing business alliances, but Diana's presence unsettles his carefully maintained control.
What unfolds is a taut, action-packed investigation blending mystery, magical confrontations, and dangerous enemies. The story also gives significant page time to Arabella Baylor, whose own beast-related abilities play a key role. The ebook and print editions include bonus content: an extended Arabella POV story and several previously blog-published shorts set in the same world.
Augustine has intrigued readers since his first appearance—aloof, flawless, and hiding behind layers of illusion both literal and figurative. Here, we finally see beneath the mask: his precision, his lethality, and the reasons he guards his true self so fiercely. The authors reveal more of his capabilities without retconning prior books, resulting in a protagonist who feels both formidable and human.
Diana is a revelation. Previously a background figure, she steps forward as a competent, no-nonsense Prime who genuinely prefers animals to most people. Her bond with creatures is profound, and her protective instincts drive the plot. The dynamic between her and Augustine is electric: sharp dialogue, mutual wariness giving way to respect, and a slow-burn attraction built on shared competence rather than instant lust. Their chemistry crackles without overwhelming the story.
If you've loved Nevada's truthseeker gifts or Catalina's leadership struggles, you'll adore seeing Augustine and Diana take center stage—and you'll finish desperately hoping for more stories with them (and Arabella). I have to say that this novella needs more. The loose ends need to be tied up, and yes, Arabella needs a full length novel like her sisters had. Especially after reading the final short story that seems to be set a few years into the future. Otherwise, if you have read other Hidden Legacy novels, you will be remiss in not reading this book as well.
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