Search - Amaryllis (Curtain: St. Helen's, Bk 1)

First in the New Seattle books, furistic and fun. A curtin is discovered in space, that allows intant trasportation to another planet. A society is set up, but then the curtin disappears. And the society is left to cope alone.
Paranormal powers develop... Prisms, that focus the powere of a talent. And Talents so varied that they are still being discovered. And the size of talents are also being tested and the levels are always being recalibered.
This is a story of Amaryllis and Lucus and what they are together as they learn that not all powers can be catagorized, or that not all marriages can be found by a matchmaking service.

Writing as Jayne Castle, Judith Ann Krentz has a series of books set on far off worlds, originally colonized by Earth, but now cut off from their home world. Amaryllis, Zinnia, and Orchid are the first (in that order), set on the planet of St Helens where psychic energy is evolving to replace no-longer working Earth-based technology.

In these first forays into a futuristic setting for this author, the off-world details occasionally feel a little awkward. None of these 3 made me feel like reading an entire book in one sitting. That said, They kept my interest, the characters are interesting, and there is a mystery to solve as the hero and heroine fall in love in each book. From Amaryllis to Orchid, the books seem to become more polished and entertaining as the series develops.

The other-world marriage customs (using matchmaking agencies) were believable, but some of the descriptions of the technology and psychic powers felt less real, and the author just did NOT know what to do with other-worldly plants, animals, and by-products. In particular the practice of naming plant and animal items on the new planet with hyphenated versions of Earth names, drove me *crazy,* i.e. coff-tea, "shaggy six-legged ox-mules," honey-syrup, bee-flies, twin-snakes. Argghhh! And yet, they have (non-hyphenated) cars, trees, clocks, and phones.

If the frequent consuming of coff*hyphenated*tea doesn't get to you like it did me, you will enjoy getting into Ms. Castle's new universe.

Zinnia is still my favorite but the mystery is great and Lucas getting Amaryllis to loosen up is alot of fun!!

Amaryllis Lark and Lucas Trent get off to a rocky start, but slowly acknowledge their growing attraction to each other. This is fueled by their Prism/Talent Link that leads them into a nice little murder mystery to solve.

I thought that this one was not one of her better ones. The plot was good just took to long getting there.

love the paranormal romance!