Book and Audio Review: Amaryllis by Jayne Castle

Amaryllis
Author: Jayne Castle
Narrator: Tanya Eby
Series: St. Helen's Series (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (November 20, 2018); Pocket Books (September 7, 2010)
Length: 9 hours and 51 minutes; 318 p.

Description: Acclaimed for her novels of "delectably entertaining paranormal romantic suspense" (Booklist), the wildly popular alter ego of best-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz takes off on a star-dusted excursion to a rich civilization where danger and passion are just a heartbeat away....

Amaryllis Lark is one of the best psychic detectives on St. Helen's, the Earth colony recently cut off from the mother planet, yet not so very different from home....

Lucas Trent, the rugged head of Lodestar Exploration, isn't keen on the prim type - and from her crisp business suit to her cool evaluation of his request to bust a corporate thief, beautiful Amaryllis is excruciatingly proper.

But when a bold hunch heats up into a twisting murder investigation, by-the-book Amaryllis must let her guard down and break some rules - and a red-hot love affair ignites. Now, as they race to solve a puzzle of deadly intrigue, no power - otherworldly or otherwise - can keep them apart.

My Thoughts: The planet of St. Helens was discovered and settled from Earth when a curtain appeared in space above Earth. However, soon after the curtain was discovered and groups of settlers from the Pacific Northwest left to resettle St. Helens, the curtain disappeared stranding the colonists. Two hundred years have passed during which the Earth technology disintegrated due to something in the atmosphere and the settlers had to learn to use native materials to survive. The settlers also began to discover that they were developing paranormal powers that are growing stronger with each new generation.

In order to preserve society, the Founders decided that the family was the basic unit that needed to be strengthened. Marriages were permanent and therefore not to be entered into lightly. Businesses that did complicated tests were established to guide people into successful marriages with compatible people. Few, if any, contract marriages without going through these agencies.

One important point about the paranormal powers on St. Helens is that successful use depends on pairings of talents and prisms. The talents can do things but only if they can focus their powers through prisms. 

In this story Amaryllis Lark is a very high talent prism. She is also illegitimate since her parents ran away together despite the fact that her father was already married. They died soon after they ran away leaving Amaryllis to be raised by her uncle and aunt in a small farming town where she was also actively ignored by her father's relatives and where she was the victim of cruelty because her parents never married. Amaryllis has made a new life for herself in New Seattle first at the university where her talents as a prism were honed and now in a business that contracts prisms to high level talents. 

Lucas Trent is one such talent. He has made his fortune prospecting for and selling jelly-ice which is used to power everything on St. Helens. He is a hero in the Western Islands since he gathered a group of people to defeat pirates who were trying to take over the islands and the jelly-ice business. Now he needs a prism so that he can find out why his VP is selling out his business secrets.

The two couldn't be more opposite in character. Amaryllis is a definite rule follower and quite uptight; Lucas is more free-wheeling. Both are registering with a marriage bureau to find their best matches knowing that the other would never qualify. The only problem is that they are falling in love. 

Well, not the only problem. Amaryllis is concerned that the death of her mentor at the university was not an accident and decides to look into it. Also a local politician seems to be using his charisma talent to convince potential donors to support his candidacy for governor. And the discovered VP isn't going away quietly and would still like her revenge on Lucas.

This was a fun story set in an interesting world. It was filled with adventure, danger, and witty banter. It was also an excellent romance.

Favorite Quote:

"Do you think they'll drum you out of the Corps of Upright Ethical Prisms if anyone finds out about this?"

"I should think that you'd be more concerned with being laughed out of the Western Islands Adventurer's Club for failing to strike the right note of devil-may-care recklessness."

"There is no Western Islands Adventurer's Club. I disolved their charter in a fit of pique years ago."

"There's no Corps of Upright Ethical Prisms, either. I think it was disbanded due to lack of interest." Amaryllis glanced around. "Come on, let's go. The sooner we get into the building, the sooner we can get out."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.