Deception Cove by Jayne Castle Series: Harmony #10
Published by Jove on August 27, 2013
Genres: Fantasy Romance, Paranormal romantic suspense
Pages: 342
Format: Paperback
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon
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Also in this series: The Hot Zone, Siren's Call
Also by this author: The Hot Zone, Siren's Call
In the world of Harmony, Rainshadow Island is home to a mysterious preserve, secrets that have been kept for centuries, and a treasure worth killing for...
As a light-talent, Alice North has the rare ability to make things disappear, including herself—a gift that comes in handy during her magic act with her dust bunny Houdini.
Business mogul Drake Sebastian is day-blind, since his sight was nearly destroyed in a lab accident. But he’s the one man who can see Alice when she disappears—and he needs her.
On Rainshadow Island, two dangerous Old World crystals are missing, igniting a paranormal storm. Drake thinks Alice is the key to finding them, and proposes they head there, but only after a Marriage of Convenience.
Alice’s honeymoon on Rainshadow is guaranteed to be memorable, as the island—and the passion between her and Drake—is about to explode...
Review
The third Rainshadow* book hits the ground running as magician and light-talent Alice, leaving the theater after her act was closed down, is threatened by two thugs in an alley. Not coincidentally, Drake Sebastian comes to her rescue — needlessly, as it turns out, because Alice is pretty good at taking care of herself. She should be; she’s had a lot of practice.
There are two intertwined plots in Deception Cove: the need to find a pair of missing crystals that are wreaking havoc on Rainshadow Island’s mysterious Preserve, and the thugs and stalkers someone keeps sending after Alice. As usual, Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) blends paranormal futuristic fantasy, thrills, sizzling passion, and humor in more-or-less equal measure. After a bad first marriage, Alice is predictably cautious about getting involved with Drake, but an MC (Marriage of Convenience, a “trial marriage” on Harmony) appears to be the best way to keep her safe from her stalker while she and Drake track down the crystals. I enjoyed the relationship between them, as they find themselves having to trust each other in order to stay alive.
No Harmony book is complete without a dust bunny, and Houdini is a charmer (and boosts my rating from 3 to 3.5 stars.) We also see a few old friends, particularly Charlotte and Rachel from the previous two Rainshadow novels. Unfortunately, their husbands, Slade and Drake’s brother Harry, are off in the Preserve on a rescue mission; they don’t appear until everything is resolved.
My only quibble with Deception Cove are that it’s a little harder to follow and a little less believable than most of the previous books set in this world (insofar as any of them are believable — which is, of course, half the fun.) The plot seemed a hair less well thought-out and tightly executed as I generally expect from Castle/Krentz, but it was still an exciting and thoroughly escapist read.
Deception Cove is not a good starting place if you’re unfamiliar with Castle’s Harmony/Ghost Hunter novels. At the very least, start with Canyons of Night, the first Rainshadow book, starring Charlotte and Slade. Better yet, go right back to the beginning and read After Dark, the first in the Ghost Hunters series.
*Goodreads counts this as Rainshadow #2, with Canyons of Night as Rainshadow #0.
About Jayne Castle
The author of over 40 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense, often with a psychic and paranormal twist, in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 30 million copies of her books in print. She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries. Ms. Krentz is married and lives with her husband, Frank, in Seattle, Washington. Pseudonyms: Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick, Stephanie James, Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor, Amanda Glass.
Herding Cats - Burning Soup
Oh I LOVE her books as Krentz and Amanda Quick. They were some of the first I picked up when I started reading. I think I read one of the Castle books–I remember the dust bunnies lol– but it’s been so long I can’t for the life of me remember which. I need to get back and try them again though 🙂
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
The Harmony books are one of my guilty pleasures – they’re really pretty unlikely, but they’re so much fun! And I love the dust bunnies. (I want one.)
kimbacaffeinate
Wonderful review Lark, I am anxious to see where she takes us next.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Thanks, Kimba! Me too. She said on Facebook (I think) that she’s starting the next one, so there will apparently be more Harmony books – and more dust bunnies. Yay!
Bea
I read one Castle book and it didn’t do much for me but I do enjoy her Krentz and Quick books. Sorry it wasn’t as good as the others in the series.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
In a way, it’s good that she uses three names, because although all her books combine humor, romance, and suspense, the tone and setting are different for each pen name. I did enjoy the way she tied the three together with the Arcane series, but she says she’s not going to do that anymore.
Pamela D
I have been meaning to try this series out. I love her books as Amanda Quick.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
These share some of the humor, sizzle, and suspense of the Quick books, but the futuristic SF/fantasy feel is very different. I find them fun, though they require a pretty high level of “willing suspension of disbelief”!