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St. Helens #3
Orchid
New York Times bestselling author JAYNE CASTLE
The wildly popular alter ego of bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz creates "delectably entertaining paranormal romantic suspense" (Booklist) in the "unique, synergistic world of St. Helens (Library Journal), the not-so-distant space colony where hearts and minds are gloriously in sync!
A top psychic for exclusive Psynergy Inc., Orchid Adams doesn't expect even the best marriage agencies on the space colony of St. Helen's to find her a husband who measures up to her dreams. It's just as well, because she's got her hands full with a baffling murder. One thing is certain: her new client, Rafe Stonebraker, is definitely not marriage material. But Rafe -- primitive, elemental, powerful, perhaps dangerous -- is perfect for an affair....
An unlicensed private eye with an edgy reputation and a psychic talent so awesome he hides its true power, Rafe has some serious secrets. Not only is he trying to solve a strange theft, he is about to replace his grandfather as CEO of Stonebraker Shipping and is fighting to ward off a hostile takeover. He needs a wife -- and fast -- to salvage his credibility. Orchid Adams doesn't fit the profile he had in mind, but she fits in his arms. Will their mind/body merger spark a rollicking and rocky partnership, just as his latest case threatens to end their world?
The wildly popular alter ego of bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz creates "delectably entertaining paranormal romantic suspense" (Booklist) in the "unique, synergistic world of St. Helens (Library Journal), the not-so-distant space colony where hearts and minds are gloriously in sync!
A top psychic for exclusive Psynergy Inc., Orchid Adams doesn't expect even the best marriage agencies on the space colony of St. Helen's to find her a husband who measures up to her dreams. It's just as well, because she's got her hands full with a baffling murder. One thing is certain: her new client, Rafe Stonebraker, is definitely not marriage material. But Rafe -- primitive, elemental, powerful, perhaps dangerous -- is perfect for an affair....
An unlicensed private eye with an edgy reputation and a psychic talent so awesome he hides its true power, Rafe has some serious secrets. Not only is he trying to solve a strange theft, he is about to replace his grandfather as CEO of Stonebraker Shipping and is fighting to ward off a hostile takeover. He needs a wife -- and fast -- to salvage his credibility. Orchid Adams doesn't fit the profile he had in mind, but she fits in his arms. Will their mind/body merger spark a rollicking and rocky partnership, just as his latest case threatens to end their world?
327 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1998
About the author
Jayne Castle
65 books2,072 followersThe 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 203 reviews
December 1, 2019
Yikes.
This book.
This series.
I'm not sure why I did this to myself. On purpose. I didn't review the previous two books because I have a herniated disc and after a few weeks of giant needles in my spine I've had a great excuse to just lay down and stay horizontal reading book after book without worrying about reviews. Because I earned it damnit.
BUT.
I'm healing and I decided I just had to get off my ass and sit up for a while to write a shortish (for me) review of this book/series. Must...warn...other...people...
I love Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz's Arcane series and this series (written as Jayne Castle) kind of ties in. Which means I'll read it. I'm well aware that she has a formula, regardless of what time period she's writing. I don't have a problem with that. But this series? It's not formulaic, it's downright lazy. They are exactly the same, sometimes down to exact dialogue. In many ways, I get it. I do. I looked it up and apparently she's written something like 120 books. There are only so many plots/characters, but come on. Books two and three of this series were such blatant rip-offs of the first. Not only are the H/h in each book indistinguishable from one another personality-wise, but the plot is also so over-used and stale. I was determined to finish this series because I just couldn't believe it was possible for these books to really be so similar yet actually published. Maybe if I hadn't read the previous two books this would just be a good ol' average, 3 star read. Pretty good, nothing special, not terrible. Because it isn't. It's a decentish book. But, I have read the other two. Recently. Maybe too recently.
There are entire scenes of dialogue that occur in all three books. The heroines have the same talent. The heroes are all broody hard to match off the chart talents. They'll never find a match! They're unmatchable! The first sex scene in each book is identical to the others.
The very end of each book is the same, down to the phone call and who is on the other end of the line. My eyes could not have rolled back in my head any further without getting stuck. Maybe it's unfair that my dislike for this book is so entwined with the previous two, but I can't help it. While the book itself isn't horrible, the other two books in the series ruined it for me.
April 14, 2024
This is the third in this series and I love all three. Hopefully Ms. Krentz will get back to writing about St. Helens and Psynergy, Inc. Each has its own special twist. In this one, Orchid Adams is an ice-prism and a romance writer on another world, St. Helens. Rafe Stonebraker is a delightful strat-talent, a hunter of prey. Ms. Krentz manages to keep Rafe wonderfully in character throughout the book, which is both funny and believable in an other-worldly way. Note: This is the ninth time I have read this series. I think that says it all.
September 8, 2017
Third in the St Helen's series and by far my favourite. The hero in this is the third in the trio of three male friends who together spearheaded the defeat of the pirates who tried to take over the Western Isles some years ago, and who has made cameo appearances in the previous two books. Rafe Stonebreaker, grandson of the CEO of Stonebreaker Shipping, has paddled his own canoe up till now, after estrangement from his grandfather. He has made his money with stockmarket portfolios, having an astute assessment of business, courtesy of his particular psychic skill, known as a strat talent (presumably strategy, but on the planet of St Helen's where this is set and everyone has some psychic ability, strat talents are fairly rare 'exotics' who are regarded as primitive and possibly dangerous hunters).
As the story opens, Rafe is planning with his grandfather, with whom he has now reconciled in the face of a threat to the firm, to attend the forthcoming board meeting in a few months time and make his bid to become the new CEO. Rafe's cousin, who has worked for the business for years is also gunning to take over, but due to a belief instilled into him from childhood by his mother, who blames Rafe's grandfather for her husband's death, he plans to sell the business to a rival and break up the firm, throwing two thousand people out of work. St Helen's is a very family values planet and Rafe needs to be married when he attends the board meeting, or at least engaged. The problem is, divorce is unknown and everyone is carefully matched through matrimonial agencies who also take into account the compatibility of the candidates' psychic talents. A lot of eligible young women have been put off by Rafe's exotic talent, although he has secured a (fake) certification which states he is only 6 rated. In common with the heroes of the previous two volumes, in reality his talent is off the scale, higher than a 10, the official maximum.
To be able to use a psychic talent for more than a few seconds, each talent needs the co-operation of someone known as a Prism who is able to project a psychic crystal through which to focus the psychic energy. Strat talents need the assistance of a particular and rare type of Prism, known as an ice Prism, who can fine tune and adjust the prism they create. Rafe also has a sideline in private investigation and this gives him the excuse he needs to hire ice Prisms from each of the available bureaus so that he can, unbeknown to them, assess their suitability as a mate. Meanwhile, he engages the services of a representative of a top marriage agency - a continuing minor character seen in the previous two books - to find him a wife. When the story opens, the latest prism he has hired to help him with an investigation is the eponymous heroine of the novel, who has been mentioned in the other two books as the author of romantic novels featuring (supposedly mythical) psychic vampires. (As the previous novels have shown, such people are not quite as mythical as the public would like to think.)
Orchid is working part-time as an Ice Prism in between novel writing, in order to pay the bills. She is also looking for a marriage partner and having the same difficulty as Rafe. Ice Prisms such as herself are difficult to match, and she has only had one agency date in the last year, a man who turned out to be a creep wanting to use her family background and contacts to get himself a lucrative position in the academic town where she grew up. Initially, she and Rafe rub each other up the wrong way, but she comes to see that the societal preconceptions about strat talents are not true in Rafe's case, while he comes to realise that her value to him is not just her ability to craft a prism which perfectly matches the needs of his talent. The two become involved in a murder mystery which is connected with Orchid's past involvement in a project at an institute which was supposed to be delving into the ability of prisms like herself to make therapeutic adjustments to the skewed talents of the mentally ill, but instead proves to be completely unethical.
This story is much more successful in the melding of the character conflict and interaction, with the murder mystery. The sex scenes are also less heavy-handed and leave more to the imagination than book 2 in particular. Also the heroine is far more likeable than those in the previous two books, and holds her own with the somewhat taciturn hero. He in turn is an interesting character who starts off very dark and serious but gradually lightens up through his growing attraction to and then love for Orchid. A good wrap up for the series as a whole.
As the story opens, Rafe is planning with his grandfather, with whom he has now reconciled in the face of a threat to the firm, to attend the forthcoming board meeting in a few months time and make his bid to become the new CEO. Rafe's cousin, who has worked for the business for years is also gunning to take over, but due to a belief instilled into him from childhood by his mother, who blames Rafe's grandfather for her husband's death, he plans to sell the business to a rival and break up the firm, throwing two thousand people out of work. St Helen's is a very family values planet and Rafe needs to be married when he attends the board meeting, or at least engaged. The problem is, divorce is unknown and everyone is carefully matched through matrimonial agencies who also take into account the compatibility of the candidates' psychic talents. A lot of eligible young women have been put off by Rafe's exotic talent, although he has secured a (fake) certification which states he is only 6 rated. In common with the heroes of the previous two volumes, in reality his talent is off the scale, higher than a 10, the official maximum.
To be able to use a psychic talent for more than a few seconds, each talent needs the co-operation of someone known as a Prism who is able to project a psychic crystal through which to focus the psychic energy. Strat talents need the assistance of a particular and rare type of Prism, known as an ice Prism, who can fine tune and adjust the prism they create. Rafe also has a sideline in private investigation and this gives him the excuse he needs to hire ice Prisms from each of the available bureaus so that he can, unbeknown to them, assess their suitability as a mate. Meanwhile, he engages the services of a representative of a top marriage agency - a continuing minor character seen in the previous two books - to find him a wife. When the story opens, the latest prism he has hired to help him with an investigation is the eponymous heroine of the novel, who has been mentioned in the other two books as the author of romantic novels featuring (supposedly mythical) psychic vampires. (As the previous novels have shown, such people are not quite as mythical as the public would like to think.)
Orchid is working part-time as an Ice Prism in between novel writing, in order to pay the bills. She is also looking for a marriage partner and having the same difficulty as Rafe. Ice Prisms such as herself are difficult to match, and she has only had one agency date in the last year, a man who turned out to be a creep wanting to use her family background and contacts to get himself a lucrative position in the academic town where she grew up. Initially, she and Rafe rub each other up the wrong way, but she comes to see that the societal preconceptions about strat talents are not true in Rafe's case, while he comes to realise that her value to him is not just her ability to craft a prism which perfectly matches the needs of his talent. The two become involved in a murder mystery which is connected with Orchid's past involvement in a project at an institute which was supposed to be delving into the ability of prisms like herself to make therapeutic adjustments to the skewed talents of the mentally ill, but instead proves to be completely unethical.
This story is much more successful in the melding of the character conflict and interaction, with the murder mystery. The sex scenes are also less heavy-handed and leave more to the imagination than book 2 in particular. Also the heroine is far more likeable than those in the previous two books, and holds her own with the somewhat taciturn hero. He in turn is an interesting character who starts off very dark and serious but gradually lightens up through his growing attraction to and then love for Orchid. A good wrap up for the series as a whole.
January 16, 2023
UPDATE:
I listened to the audio version of ORCHID narrated by Tanya Eby. I was satisfied with her reading and will most likely listen again in the future. I now own and have enjoyed the audio version of Castle’s 3 book Fantasy Romance trilogy - St Helen’s. Krentz/Castle/Quick is one of my favorite “please take me away!” authors. Her heroes are strong and honorable, the heroines spunky, the dialogue quirky and fun. The stories always bring a smile in the end.
ORIGINAL POST -
Orchid, book #3 in JACs “Oldie” lite fantasy, paranormal romance trilogy is a favorite of mine & this was a repeated reread for me. I recommend the St Helen’s planet series for readers who enjoy Jayne Ann Krentz’s much later paranormal Arcane & fantasy Harmony planet novels, or any reader who prefers lite fantasy/paranormal books rather than dark, occult, or angst-filled stories. These are light-hearted & fun. They are not meant to be deep, thought provoking, or “epic” in nature.
The male characters are independent men who may have gotten dirty and fought hard to obtain their place in life, but they have always lived by a code of ethics & integrity, and are loyal to “their” people. The women might not always make the smartest decisions but they too, are loyal to family and friends, and are willing to fight for what they believe is right. The main characters in this trilogy all have been born with special psychic-like “talents” that at an early age must learn to control to avoid potential personal harm or harm to others.
The MMC, Rafe Stonebraker, is an off-the-charts strat talent or “Hunter” talent. Born into a financially successful family business, in his 20’s Rafe stepped away from the promise of an easy and lucrative business career and instead focused his high-end natural talent to create and operate his own impressive and successful financial investment fund. A decade or so later, now established and wealthy, Rafe accepts side private investigations that interest him to fill his quiet evenings, and has begun a search for a wife. Born into a family of academicians, Orchid decided in her young 20’s to move away from home and pursue her own interests. She is now an established published author of gothic romance novels and consults part-time as a full spectrum Ice prism for a focus agency. On assignments, Orchid assists clients in finding answers to questions through the cooperation of her prism focus and the clients’ talent. Rafe hires Orchid to consult for him on a private investigation he is pursuing. Impressed with her unusual Ice prism abilities and high-end talent, Rafe’s curiosity is piqued. But there is a problem when dead bodies start piling up.
READER CAUTIONS - Not recommended to young readers or readers who prefer Clean fiction.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS - Orchid has scenes of sexual intimacy between the main characters which is somewhere between the nature of sweet and steamy. IMO the sexuality is a result of the growing relationship between the characters although no long-term commitments are made until toward the end where they get their HEA.
PROFANITY - Profanity is used, but rarely.
VIOLENCE - PG - deaths occur off-scene and are not described in a dark or graphic fashion.
I listened to the audio version of ORCHID narrated by Tanya Eby. I was satisfied with her reading and will most likely listen again in the future. I now own and have enjoyed the audio version of Castle’s 3 book Fantasy Romance trilogy - St Helen’s. Krentz/Castle/Quick is one of my favorite “please take me away!” authors. Her heroes are strong and honorable, the heroines spunky, the dialogue quirky and fun. The stories always bring a smile in the end.
ORIGINAL POST -
Orchid, book #3 in JACs “Oldie” lite fantasy, paranormal romance trilogy is a favorite of mine & this was a repeated reread for me. I recommend the St Helen’s planet series for readers who enjoy Jayne Ann Krentz’s much later paranormal Arcane & fantasy Harmony planet novels, or any reader who prefers lite fantasy/paranormal books rather than dark, occult, or angst-filled stories. These are light-hearted & fun. They are not meant to be deep, thought provoking, or “epic” in nature.
The male characters are independent men who may have gotten dirty and fought hard to obtain their place in life, but they have always lived by a code of ethics & integrity, and are loyal to “their” people. The women might not always make the smartest decisions but they too, are loyal to family and friends, and are willing to fight for what they believe is right. The main characters in this trilogy all have been born with special psychic-like “talents” that at an early age must learn to control to avoid potential personal harm or harm to others.
The MMC, Rafe Stonebraker, is an off-the-charts strat talent or “Hunter” talent. Born into a financially successful family business, in his 20’s Rafe stepped away from the promise of an easy and lucrative business career and instead focused his high-end natural talent to create and operate his own impressive and successful financial investment fund. A decade or so later, now established and wealthy, Rafe accepts side private investigations that interest him to fill his quiet evenings, and has begun a search for a wife. Born into a family of academicians, Orchid decided in her young 20’s to move away from home and pursue her own interests. She is now an established published author of gothic romance novels and consults part-time as a full spectrum Ice prism for a focus agency. On assignments, Orchid assists clients in finding answers to questions through the cooperation of her prism focus and the clients’ talent. Rafe hires Orchid to consult for him on a private investigation he is pursuing. Impressed with her unusual Ice prism abilities and high-end talent, Rafe’s curiosity is piqued. But there is a problem when dead bodies start piling up.
READER CAUTIONS - Not recommended to young readers or readers who prefer Clean fiction.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS - Orchid has scenes of sexual intimacy between the main characters which is somewhere between the nature of sweet and steamy. IMO the sexuality is a result of the growing relationship between the characters although no long-term commitments are made until toward the end where they get their HEA.
PROFANITY - Profanity is used, but rarely.
VIOLENCE - PG - deaths occur off-scene and are not described in a dark or graphic fashion.
July 21, 2015
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle
First published: 1998
Length: 327 pages
Setting: Future on the planet of St Helens.
Sex: Reasonably explicit but infrequent.
Hero: Off-the-scales strat-talent (hunter).
Heroine: part-time professional ice-prism. Writes Vampire Paranormal Romance.
Paranormal: Every psychic talent requires a prism to control and direct their talent. Prism must be at least as strong as the talent or risks "burning out".
Winds up the trilogy as an interesting off-shoot to her Harmony and Arcane Society series.
There's nothing particularly startling or novel about Orchid. It's an sf romance with a light mystery. Easy to read. Quick to engage. Well-written. Some hot, explicit sex. It completely suits it's sub-genre without challenging the reader.
I enjoyed it. But I'm happy to finish it and move on to the next book on my tbr.
2.5 stars rounded up. Because Catle/Krentz/Quick writes well.
St Helen's:
Book 1 Amaryllis - Amaryllis Lark and Lucas Trent
Book 2 Zinnia - Zinnia Spring and Nick Chastain
Book 3 Orchid - Orchid Adams and Rafe Stonebraker
References:
Author's website: http://jayneannkrentz.com/orchid/
(ISBN 978-0-671-56902-0)
-CR-
First published: 1998
Length: 327 pages
Setting: Future on the planet of St Helens.
Sex: Reasonably explicit but infrequent.
Hero: Off-the-scales strat-talent (hunter).
Heroine: part-time professional ice-prism. Writes Vampire Paranormal Romance.
Paranormal: Every psychic talent requires a prism to control and direct their talent. Prism must be at least as strong as the talent or risks "burning out".
Winds up the trilogy as an interesting off-shoot to her Harmony and Arcane Society series.
There's nothing particularly startling or novel about Orchid. It's an sf romance with a light mystery. Easy to read. Quick to engage. Well-written. Some hot, explicit sex. It completely suits it's sub-genre without challenging the reader.
I enjoyed it. But I'm happy to finish it and move on to the next book on my tbr.
2.5 stars rounded up. Because Catle/Krentz/Quick writes well.
St Helen's:
Book 1 Amaryllis - Amaryllis Lark and Lucas Trent
Book 2 Zinnia - Zinnia Spring and Nick Chastain
Book 3 Orchid - Orchid Adams and Rafe Stonebraker
References:
Author's website: http://jayneannkrentz.com/orchid/
(ISBN 978-0-671-56902-0)
-CR-
April 11, 2013
It's not really bad. The plot is essentially the same as the previous two Jayne Castle books I read. As are the characters. And the magical system. She just changes the names and cranks them out. The bad guys were slightly more surprising than the other two books I read. I like how the details of the magic change from book to book and it is a fascinating system, but I don't think it makes up for the lack of good pacing, plotting, and character development in the books.
March 28, 2009
This was the first of the alternate universe books I read by Jayne (and this was after reading several under her alter ego Jayne Ann Krentz). Now, I've read just about all of them, and eagerly await each new one making it into paperback.
February 6, 2009
Loved this series and only wish there were more. The physic part keeps up your interest.
December 7, 2017
St. Helen's is the first series by Jayne Castle I have read. While it has all the trademark cliches of classic PNR novels, the thing that sets it apart is off-the-charts chemistry between main couple that sizzles from the pages and intriguing mystery that makes it unputdownable.
I enjoyed it very much, and I will definitely read more from this author.
I enjoyed it very much, and I will definitely read more from this author.
February 25, 2013
Well, I was going to write individual reviews for each of the books in the series. But then I read the second one. And then the third. And I noticed something- the plots of each were quite remarkably similar. But I suppose it really says something about the books that I actually enjoyed reading what was essentially the same book three times in a row. Of course, the details were different, but quite a lot of each was exactly the same.
1. Start out with one super-powerful (and rich and secretive) man who has decided it's time for him to get married, and has gone to a matchmaking agency to get the process started. He must also have an off-the-charts talent (magical ability), but reveals this to no one.
2. Add an abnormally powerful woman who can focus the hero's talent as no one before ever could. (And who all work for the same company.)
3. Have a murder occur, and have the heroine convinced she's the only one who cares enough to get to the bottom of it, and then have her do everything in her power, including a few things that border on TSTL, to solve it, despite having absolutely no investigative experience.
4. As far as sex is concerned: have one kiss that almost proceeds to sex, but have the heroine bail at the last moment, frightened by the hero's power. In the next encounter, however, she's more than willing, and all encounters proceed almost exactly the same
5. End with the matchmaking agency confirming that it's just as they thought, they're perfect for each other!
Okay, I could go on, but I'm getting bored now, so I'll stop.
Anyway, even though all three books were nearly the same, I still enjoyed them. I just wouldn't necessarily recommend reading them back-to-back.
1. Start out with one super-powerful (and rich and secretive) man who has decided it's time for him to get married, and has gone to a matchmaking agency to get the process started. He must also have an off-the-charts talent (magical ability), but reveals this to no one.
2. Add an abnormally powerful woman who can focus the hero's talent as no one before ever could. (And who all work for the same company.)
3. Have a murder occur, and have the heroine convinced she's the only one who cares enough to get to the bottom of it, and then have her do everything in her power, including a few things that border on TSTL, to solve it, despite having absolutely no investigative experience.
4. As far as sex is concerned: have one kiss that almost proceeds to sex, but have the heroine bail at the last moment, frightened by the hero's power. In the next encounter, however, she's more than willing, and all encounters proceed almost exactly the same
5. End with the matchmaking agency confirming that it's just as they thought, they're perfect for each other!
Okay, I could go on, but I'm getting bored now, so I'll stop.
Anyway, even though all three books were nearly the same, I still enjoyed them. I just wouldn't necessarily recommend reading them back-to-back.
November 2, 2023
Third and last in the St. Helens series, this book pulls in the last of the three friends who fought off pirates on the islands. They are all exotic talents with extremely strong abilities that they've had to hide. Rafe is a strat talent (Familiar to those who enjoy the Arcane Society books) and made his own way in the world until his grandfather was ready to retire and he came back to take over the family business. There are complications there with a cousin who's a tech talent and feels that the Stonebraker family caused his father's death. Rafe's parents are both academics, as are Orchid's parents. She comes from a very mellow family, immersed in a philosophy that she feels stifles her feelings of romanticism. She writes psychic vampire novels during the day and works as an ice prism at night. Rafe has an investigative business at night that he's used to help his ennui and together they work to solve some mysteries in Orchid's past and heal the distances in their own families and relationship. This is another HEA ending, but it is well written and enjoyable to read, or re-read as I've done today. I highly recommend Jayne Ann Krentz under any of her nom de plumes.
November 17, 2015
**
New York Times bestselling author JAYNE CASTLE
The wildly popular alter ego of bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz creates “delectably entertaining paranormal romantic suspense” (*Booklist*) in the “unique, synergistic world of St. Helen’s” (*Library Journal *), the not-so-distant space colony where hearts and minds are gloriously in sync!
**
Atop psychic for exclusive Psynergy Inc., Orchid Adams has her hands full with a baffling murder—which doesn’t exactly allow time for husband hunting. Is it even possible there’s a man on St. Helen’s who measures up to her dreams of wedded bliss? Take her new client, Rafe Stonebraker: primitive and elemental, an unlicensed P.I. with some serious secrets, Rafe is hardly marriage material. So why does his powerful presence have Orchid imagining the most *outrageous *affair? Rafe is embroiled in solving a strange theft while thwarting a hostile takeover of Stonebraker Shipping; he needs a wife—and fast—to salvage his credibility. Orchid Adams doesn’t fit the profile he had in mind, but she fits in his arms. Will their electrifying connection end up getting them burned?
**
New York Times bestselling author JAYNE CASTLE
The wildly popular alter ego of bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz creates “delectably entertaining paranormal romantic suspense” (*Booklist*) in the “unique, synergistic world of St. Helen’s” (*Library Journal *), the not-so-distant space colony where hearts and minds are gloriously in sync!
**
Atop psychic for exclusive Psynergy Inc., Orchid Adams has her hands full with a baffling murder—which doesn’t exactly allow time for husband hunting. Is it even possible there’s a man on St. Helen’s who measures up to her dreams of wedded bliss? Take her new client, Rafe Stonebraker: primitive and elemental, an unlicensed P.I. with some serious secrets, Rafe is hardly marriage material. So why does his powerful presence have Orchid imagining the most *outrageous *affair? Rafe is embroiled in solving a strange theft while thwarting a hostile takeover of Stonebraker Shipping; he needs a wife—and fast—to salvage his credibility. Orchid Adams doesn’t fit the profile he had in mind, but she fits in his arms. Will their electrifying connection end up getting them burned?
**
August 22, 2010
I love Janye Castle's futuristic stories about people from Earth who traveled to new worlds via a strange "Curtain," which then disappeared, leaving them stranded with Earth technology that wouldn't work. They developed psychic abilities, which manifested in each of them in different ways. Orchid is the story of Orchid Adams, a romance writer and part-time psychic "prism" for Psynergy Inc. and Rafe Stonebraker, businessman and part-time private eye. He needs a wife to help build his image so he can take over as CEO of Stonebraker Shipping from his grandfather, as he's fighting a hostile takeover. Rafe has a powerful psychic talent, and Orchid is a well-matched prism for his talent, which makes their partnership unique as they work together to solve a strange theft and the death of one of her friends. On St Helen, all marriages are arranged by matchmakers, and they are for life, so it's a serious business. The sparks fly as they realize they were meant for each other, even if they haven't been formally "matched."
May 15, 2015
This was one of the books that got me hooked on Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Jayne Castle, aka Amanda Quick). It was and still is a great romance with just enough SF and adventure to make it fun. However, to be completely fair, I must say that I like the world of Harmony better. I think it's because of the Dust Bunnies. I wouldn't mind having one or two arould the house.
January 7, 2008
Have read this about a million times but am generally always in the middle of something brainless. It's trashy romance meets psychics on a different planet. Yeah, I know, but it's better than it sounds.
August 22, 2015
It 's nice to read a book written well, where the story is original, funny, romantic. Rafe and Orchid are the protagonists and together they own a beautiful couple. And then there's adventure, action, funny lines.
August 20, 2015
This started out very slowly, and I didn't like it as much as the other two books; but then it started moving along and got to be pretty good. This author's books can be like potato chips - you can't read just one.
November 14, 2023
4.5 stars.
Nov 2023 - re-listened.
____________
July 2022 - re-listened.
____________
Sept 2020
It was good to be able to revisit St Helen's with these new audiobooks. Wish there were more to this series!
Nov 2023 - re-listened.
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July 2022 - re-listened.
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Sept 2020
It was good to be able to revisit St Helen's with these new audiobooks. Wish there were more to this series!
March 22, 2015
My star rating:
Plot: 3.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
World: 4/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Enjoyment level: 4/5 stars
Plot: 3.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
World: 4/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Enjoyment level: 4/5 stars
November 10, 2014
classic JAK loved it!! I will definitely have to find the first 2 books in the series
April 7, 2020
Spicy romance--my favorite of the St. Helen's trilogy. I love a feisty heroine.
April 19, 2019
Loved it. Great read.
November 8, 2018
I love this series. It is engaging, fun, and pulls you into the story.
November 26, 2021
I really couldn’t with this book. I could only read to the first scene the main characters are together. The terms for things are completely nonsensical. A powerful psychic is a psychic vampire—except they don’t feed on psychic energy. An “ice prism” can customize their psychic energy…though what ice has to do with that, I don’t know. Every animal is a bat-snake or a chameleon-cat or a dog-pony… And even though we are in the future on a colonized world, notions of marriage has regressed to those of the 1900s. So not worth finishing.
February 21, 2024
I listened to this in audio and enjoyed both the story and the narration. It definitely follows a similar pattern to the first two in the series. The men are all off-the-chart psychic talents, and the women are all off-the-chart prisms, which in this world means they're strong together binding their talents. Following the pattern of the other two books, both characters (Rafe and Orchid in this case) are hard to match for marriage, but somehow find each other and are perfect.
Yes, it's predictable, but for the most part it was enjoyable.
Yes, it's predictable, but for the most part it was enjoyable.
July 18, 2019
3.25 / 3 Stars
Liked Orchid and Rafe's relationship. Although I'm finding these St. Helen books are basically different names with the same high magical/mystical abilities and people out there wanting to corral their abilities for their own gain.
Liked Orchid and Rafe's relationship. Although I'm finding these St. Helen books are basically different names with the same high magical/mystical abilities and people out there wanting to corral their abilities for their own gain.
February 27, 2018
enjoyed this more
February 13, 2023
As an off the charts level exotic talent, the hero knows that the chances of finding a wife with an agency match is next to impossible. So, when he meets the heroine, she herself a powerful and rare talent, he's intrigued by her.
Their connection both with their abilities and their attraction to each other drives him to do anything in order to keep her close. Despite the fact that they aggravate each other to no end and have zero in common, they quickly fall in a sexual affair.
The hero is looking for a wife but his social awkwardness and his primitive talent make him less then prince charming. He bugles up his chances at first by stating she should consider marrying him because he needs a wife to take over the family business and she herself doesn't have any other prospects. With such gentlemanly words it's no surprise when she turns him down flat. The hero has had a bad experience with agency matches and as such is extremely distrustful of them. Turns out they have a lot more in common then they think-both being powerful talents and neither able to find a match with the marriage agency. They also both have a taste and a talent for private investigation which is what brought them together in the first place.
The hero hires her to aid in the search of a stolen artifact which leads them into a major conspiracy with murder and corruption.
I liked this book but I didn't absolutely love it. I found the ending to be rather dull and a major let down considering how much I adored the story up until that point. The chemistry between the characters was great and the fact that they didn't need a scientific match to fall in love. I really liked the heroine. She was a cool customer. She kept her composure in every situation-especially when confronted by the hero's cousin. She really made them feel stupid with her calm demeanor-letting them know that nothing they could say would faze her. It made me admire her character a great deal. I really loved the hero because he grew so much as a character. He was able to tease and joke with her and though he didn't say he loved her until the end- it was so clearly evident in the way he spoke to her and about her. Very nice book in a very nice series. I must say all the books I've read so far in the St. Helen's world have been pretty good.
Their connection both with their abilities and their attraction to each other drives him to do anything in order to keep her close. Despite the fact that they aggravate each other to no end and have zero in common, they quickly fall in a sexual affair.
The hero is looking for a wife but his social awkwardness and his primitive talent make him less then prince charming. He bugles up his chances at first by stating she should consider marrying him because he needs a wife to take over the family business and she herself doesn't have any other prospects. With such gentlemanly words it's no surprise when she turns him down flat. The hero has had a bad experience with agency matches and as such is extremely distrustful of them. Turns out they have a lot more in common then they think-both being powerful talents and neither able to find a match with the marriage agency. They also both have a taste and a talent for private investigation which is what brought them together in the first place.
The hero hires her to aid in the search of a stolen artifact which leads them into a major conspiracy with murder and corruption.
I liked this book but I didn't absolutely love it. I found the ending to be rather dull and a major let down considering how much I adored the story up until that point. The chemistry between the characters was great and the fact that they didn't need a scientific match to fall in love. I really liked the heroine. She was a cool customer. She kept her composure in every situation-especially when confronted by the hero's cousin. She really made them feel stupid with her calm demeanor-letting them know that nothing they could say would faze her. It made me admire her character a great deal. I really loved the hero because he grew so much as a character. He was able to tease and joke with her and though he didn't say he loved her until the end- it was so clearly evident in the way he spoke to her and about her. Very nice book in a very nice series. I must say all the books I've read so far in the St. Helen's world have been pretty good.
September 28, 2015
It was a reread but I don't know how many years ago I read it first. Long enough for me to have forgotten that the first three Harmony books were St. Helens books. It is clearly the same world with minor changes.
The jelly-ice really annoys me. Jelly Ice lights, locks, candles, and I don't know how many other things. It is like everything is made of jelly ice. Why are pets named catdogs? With no descriptions of what they are? Why is a microwave an icewave? What does ice have to do with reheating food? And refrigerators have a perfectly good name and a second name of icebox. Why call them icerators? People don't use crystals (amber) to focus their abilities but instead use other people who are called prisms who have the ability to function as a crystal. Place names are all, based on west coast cities. New Seattle and such.
After these three books, it seems that the author realized some things were not working and revamped the entire world, changing the name of the planet to Harmoney and changing the cities and how people talk about psych abilities and how those abilities are channeled and used. But the Curtain is there, matchmaking agencies, talents and the families that had psych abilities on the old world and bringing them to the new world, the focus on marriage and family and the difficulty of divorce.
The stories are okay but I wouldn't mind seeing a version of this book, and the others, rewritten as proper Harmony novels. I think they would be much better.
The jelly-ice really annoys me. Jelly Ice lights, locks, candles, and I don't know how many other things. It is like everything is made of jelly ice. Why are pets named catdogs? With no descriptions of what they are? Why is a microwave an icewave? What does ice have to do with reheating food? And refrigerators have a perfectly good name and a second name of icebox. Why call them icerators? People don't use crystals (amber) to focus their abilities but instead use other people who are called prisms who have the ability to function as a crystal. Place names are all, based on west coast cities. New Seattle and such.
After these three books, it seems that the author realized some things were not working and revamped the entire world, changing the name of the planet to Harmoney and changing the cities and how people talk about psych abilities and how those abilities are channeled and used. But the Curtain is there, matchmaking agencies, talents and the families that had psych abilities on the old world and bringing them to the new world, the focus on marriage and family and the difficulty of divorce.
The stories are okay but I wouldn't mind seeing a version of this book, and the others, rewritten as proper Harmony novels. I think they would be much better.
December 17, 2021
2021 re-listen: Not much else to add.
2019: This is my 3rd time through this trilogy. I originally read them in paperback, then digitally when they came out in ebook and now, finally, in audio. I originally tumbled into them after discovering the Harmony series. Which led me to reading the Arcane Society series and off-shoots. I'm glad Jayne decided to release these in audio. I've now added them to my "permanent" collection. Tanya Eby does a great job with the narration.
Orchid Adams writes psychic vampire romance novels, and also works part-time as a prism. An ice prism, her talent is considered exotic. In the St. Helen's world, anyone with a psychic talent needs a prism in order to focus and truly use that talent. Rafe Stonebreaker is an off-the-charts "strat" talent. Those who are familiar with the Arcane series will recognize what that means. Rafe has cameos in the first two books, and Orhid is also mentioned as those heroines are big fans of her books. There's mystery, romance, and a bit of mayhem. Fun book. Fun trilogy.
Original review: It's fun to read these three "St. Helens" books to see the ties to the Arcane Society and how the Harmony series came into focus.
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