Scan barcode
A review by amyiw
Amaryllis by Jayne Castle
3.0
I liked this 3 1/2. It is a bit old school futuristic paranormal romance with a standoffish woman, strung tight. Big businessman trying to hide his talents.
A curtain/veil opened on Earth 200 years earlier and allowed intrepid humans to venture to a planet in another part of the galaxy, St Helens. Unluckily the curtain closed, so St Helens has evolved through the founders perseverance though 200 years later many question those motives and really what were the founders beliefs. Many people have gifts but those gifts take two people to use, the psy and the focus.
St Helen's society is very conservative in some ways yet liberal in others. Divorce is looked down upon and almost impossible to get. Children out of wedlock is a no, no and bastards are treated very unkindly. There is birth control for both males and females so it doesn't stop relationships. It does make many cautious about making their own matches, so they go to psychic counselors whom specialize in finding the perfect fit.
So our heroine works as a for hire focus, for psychics. Lucas, a wealthy businessman hires her to attend a party to investigate a traitor in his firm. They immediately have sparks and stumble upon other happenings during the investigation. They continue to look into the questions that opened up, while getting closer and having a relationship develop. It was a pretty good story and world though I felt a little like I was in the 70tys. Being on their own planet where no Earth made object functions or exists, makes it easy to develop a technology that is behind the times even though it is in the future. It was also written in 1996 which was the edge of the PNR boom of the 2000. This was a lead in and IMO, a basis for much of the Psychic PNR of today. Nalini Singh says it is one of her favorite series, and I can definitely see where it may have influenced her.
I enjoyed the romance and the story and will continue on with the series. It wasn't my favorite but it was good for an early PNR.
A curtain/veil opened on Earth 200 years earlier and allowed intrepid humans to venture to a planet in another part of the galaxy, St Helens. Unluckily the curtain closed, so St Helens has evolved through the founders perseverance though 200 years later many question those motives and really what were the founders beliefs. Many people have gifts but those gifts take two people to use, the psy and the focus.
St Helen's society is very conservative in some ways yet liberal in others. Divorce is looked down upon and almost impossible to get. Children out of wedlock is a no, no and bastards are treated very unkindly. There is birth control for both males and females so it doesn't stop relationships. It does make many cautious about making their own matches, so they go to psychic counselors whom specialize in finding the perfect fit.
So our heroine works as a for hire focus, for psychics. Lucas, a wealthy businessman hires her to attend a party to investigate a traitor in his firm. They immediately have sparks and stumble upon other happenings during the investigation. They continue to look into the questions that opened up, while getting closer and having a relationship develop. It was a pretty good story and world though I felt a little like I was in the 70tys. Being on their own planet where no Earth made object functions or exists, makes it easy to develop a technology that is behind the times even though it is in the future. It was also written in 1996 which was the edge of the PNR boom of the 2000. This was a lead in and IMO, a basis for much of the Psychic PNR of today. Nalini Singh says it is one of her favorite series, and I can definitely see where it may have influenced her.
I enjoyed the romance and the story and will continue on with the series. It wasn't my favorite but it was good for an early PNR.