Review: Hot Zone by Jayne CastleThe Hot Zone by Jayne Castle
Series: Rainshadow #3
Published by Jove, Penguin on August 26, 2014
Genres: PNR, Romance, Sci-Fi
Pages: 338
Format: Paperback
Source: Advance Reader Copy
Goodreads
four-half-stars

The world of Harmony has its wonders, one of them being Rainshadow Island. Just beneath its surface, a maze of catacombs hides a dangerous secret...…

Halloween—with its tricks and treats—is a dust bunny’s dream come true. Just ask Lyle, Sedona Snow’s faithful sidekick. But for Sedona, it’s a nightmare. Though her new job managing a small hotel and tavern on Rainshadow is helping her move on from her tragic past, a bizarre disaster down in the catacombs has brought a pack of rowdy ghost hunters to her inn.

And now, Sedona’s ex has arrived on the island, claiming he wants to get back together, just as a newcomer appears to have a strong interest in her. Cyrus Jones is the new Guild boss in town. He has his own agenda when it comes to Sedona, but even the best-laid plans are no match for the passion that springs up on Rainshadow….

I haven’t read Jayne Castle in years, and as I flipped through this book, I can’t remember why. I was just checking it out, but I got so caught up in it, I forgot to stop reading.
The Harmony/Rainshadow series is a long one, and it really does have the potential to become confusing. But Ms. Castle does a fantastic job of pulling you into her world without making it difficult to read as a stand-alone.
I enjoyed this story so much that I’ve changed my original rating from a 4 to a 4.5, I mean, I liked it so much, I bought the first 3 books in the Rainshadow series.
Some quick info-basically some colonists were stranded on this planet 200 years ago, and normal humans were discovered to have psi-abilities. Think Superman-he’s normal on Krypton, but our yellow sun gives him super powers. Same sort of deal. On earth, humans may have had, oh like good intuition, or charisma, or be able to sense danger. Well, in Harmony, those same humans would have strong psi-powers.
This is largely due to the Alien presence from before they settled there. The aliens (who don’t live there anymore, and haven’t for centuries) built underground catacombs and tunnels. Their energy left an imprint and the whole planet is abundant in psi-energy.
It begins with Sedona locked in an underground lab, and she’s being constantly injected with a serum to keep her in a dreamstate. She’s able to escape, but finds out that her husband has divorced her in the 3 weeks she’s been missing, (it’s not a love match, so she’s more pissed than heartbroken), and she has discovered she has a new psi-talent. This is big stuff.
People who have more than one talent usually go insane.
She stays stable, moves to Rainshadow, and tries to get on with her life.
Until Ghost Hunter Cyrus Jones shows up.
(ghost hunters have talents to manipulate the psi-energy and they call them ghosts, they don’t do what we’d consider ghost hunting).
He’s the new Guild Boss around Rainshadow and is tasked with cleaning the energy from the newly discovered catacombs. But he also knows who Sedona is, and he wants to see if she’s mentally stable.
Suddenly, though, her ex is on the island professing undying love, her mother and father’s parents were trying to contact her (they’d disowned her), and the mad scientist who’d held her captive wanted her back.
Sedona is suddenly very popular, which isn’t good for a girl who’s trying to keep a low profile.
While she and Cyrus hit it off, she can’t help but wonder why he shows up here and now? can she really trust him?
This world was really interesting and I don’t think I’m quite ready to leave it yet, so I”m going to backtrack and start with the 1st book in the Rainshadow series now.
So, final verdict, you should read this book. The world is easy to slip into, it’s intriguing and yet still light enough to be a heavy angsty read.
Enjoyable and interesting, I highly recommend Jayne Castle.
***ARC courtesy of Jove and Penguin books

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four-half-stars