Jayne Castle – The Hot Zone

The third book in the Futuristic World of Harmony: Rainshadow series, published August 26, 2014.
Genre: sci fi romance / paranormal romance
Cover: strong, I like it



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...


Sedona Snow wakes up from drug induced nightmares to find out that she is being held a prisoner in some kind of lab, and that someone calling himself a doctor is running experiments on her. She was on a Guild mission in the Catacombs when she was abducted. Her new dust bunny friend helps her to escape, and together they find their way aboveground. When Sedona finally gets home to her new husband, she finds out that he has already replaced her with her secretary, she has been gone almost a month. As he received word that she was presumed dead in the Catacombs, he just filed for divorce and moved on.
Sedona is used to being abandoned, both her parents’ families did that the day she turned 18, as she was an illegitimate child and an embarrassment to them. Now she has started a new life for herself on Rainshadow Island. It is perfect for her, it seems to attract people that don’t fit in society, and those that have strange powers like she has. Ever since her abduction, her powers seem stronger, and she has this new one controlling fire.

The Sebastian family who owns most of Rainshadow Island, has hired the Guild to map the recently discovered Catacombs, and the Guild has appointed a new Guild Boss to run things, Cyrus Jones. But Cyrus also has another mission; he needs to find Sedona Snow and asses her mental state. They now she was experimented upon, and if she is still alive after being taken of the serum that was tested on her, that is a real miracle. His own power is even more frightening, he can go cold and make other people’s powers stop working. Temporarily, or permanently. No wonder Arcane Match could not find a wife for him, everyone is afraid of that. But one look at Sedona Snow is enough for Cyrus to know that she is it. But Sedona is weary of men after what happened to her, and especially of Guild bosses. They can’t be trusted.

When Sedona is attacked in her own home that night, and barely manages to escape, her dust bunny Lyle fetches Cyrus, her new next door neighbour, for help. She doesn’t expect that he believes her story, but his own psychic senses prove her story true, and he stays to keep her safe while she crashes from the overextension of her psychic powers. The next morning, he offers her a job down in the Catacombs with his team, knowing that anyone who has ever worked down below, wants to go back. Sedona is very relieved that he believes her, and that he thinks she is not broken of fragile. Her friend Rachel has confirmed that her aura is healthy and whole, but Sedona knows not everyone will believe her story.

And then her ex-husband suddenly shows up on her doorstep, claiming he has been looking for her and he wants her back. Sedona doesn’t trust him one bit, and Cyrus thinks it a too big coïncidence that he shows up right after Sedona has been attacked. How did he find her? Sedona is contacted by her grandfather’s lawyer firm, and now by her mother’s sister. Why are all those people suddenly looking for her? They have ignored her her whole adult life. So she is not really inclined to answer the phone or listen to the messages they leave behind.

When some treasure hunters get into trouble in the Catacombs, Cyrus and Sedona and a team of hunters go down to rescue the man left behind. And what they find is beautiful and dangerous, and stranger than any hunter has ever seen before...

With the mad scientist and his guild hunters, her ex-husband, and her own family after her, Sedona has to trust someone. And Cyrus has proven himself to her, when he refused to leave her behind in the crystal forest. So when they all start telling Sedona that she can’t trust a Jones, and certainly not him, she doesn’t believe them. The attraction between them is so strong, she can’t deny it as being alien psy influencing them any longer.


What can I say about this series that I haven’t said in my reviews in the past years? I just love this series, the setting is amazing, the characters are instantly in your heart and the stories keep being fresh and adventurous. Sure, the relationship feels like it is always the same, but I don’t care one whit about that. A woman with strong and unique powers is in danger, and the man with even stronger and darker and more violent powers instantly falls for her, and together they save themselves and solve the mystery. Add in a cute dust bunny, and I am lost in the world of Harmony for hours.

I like the adventure, the strange new psychic powers Jayne Castle invents. There are some nice love scenes as well. I just like her writing style, in any of her pen names, and her sense of humor. It is quiet, not over the top, and just how I like it.

I totally recommend this series if you like characters with psychic powers saving themselves from danger, and finding their perfect match.

9 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian