Orchid [Hardcover]

Jayne Castle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1999

New York Times bestselling author JAYNE CASTLEThe 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?

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Determined to rescue his family's company from impending ruin by becoming CEO, Rafe StonebreakerAwho's gifted with psychic strategizing abilitiesAhas everything in place to make it happen, except the one thing he desperately needs to win over the boardAa wife! But it isn't easy for such an exotic talent as Rafe to find a wife through a recognized matchmaking agency. Then he encounters the icy writer of psychic vampire romance novels, Orchid Adams. With her typical offbeat humor and flair, Castle once again takes a pair of powerful, "unmatchable" protagonists, sets them down in her innovative, synergistic world of St. Helens, and gives them a mystery to solve, villains to outwit, and a passion to explore. Readers will be waiting for this terrifically sexy romance, the third in the series. Castle (Zinnia, LJ 8/97) also writes as Amanda Quick and under her own name, Jayne Ann Krentz; she lives in the Seattle area.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Review

As with Zinnia and Amaryllis, Jayne Castle's latest is an expedition to the world of St. Helen's, that wonderful planet on the other side of the Curtain where everyone is endowed with some kind of paranormal, psychic ability. In Orchid, the romance and mystery revolves around Orchid Adams and Rafe Stonebraker. Rafe Stonebraker is a very powerful strat-talent. His ability heightens his senses and creates an awareness of his surroundings that normal talents cannot fathom. At this point in his life, Rafe is trying to take the reins of his grandfather's shipping firm, but having been the family outcast for years, his return is looked on as less than favorable in many people's eyes, and there may even be a fight for the CEO slot. The one thing that might clench his acceptance is a proper wife. Bypassing the matchmaking agencies that seem reluctant to help, Rafe sets out on his own to find the wife he so desperately needs. Contracting with Orchid Adams to help with some private investigation work he has, he quickly realizes he has found what he wants. Orchid's ice-prism ability more than matches his talent, and the focus that they achieve is far greater than anything either of them expects...and she likes his house. But marriage? Can it be that this primitive, all-consuming fire that burns between them is more than a hang-over effect of the prism/talent link? When a strange alien artifact is stolen by one of Orchid's friends, a tangled web of danger and mystery weaves itself around Rafe and Orchid. A mad killer is trying to cover his tracks, but Rafe and Orchid are fast on his heels. More than once, bullets fly and the body count rises. Once the danger threatens Orchid, it will take all of Rafe's talent and then some to protect this strangely linked pair. Orchid is fast-paced, lively, and invigorating. The characters are fun and sexy, while the plot propels them at alarming speed. If there were a complaint against Jayne Castle's latest book, it would have to be the heavy meta-zen-syn gobble-de-gook that seems to unbalance the book at times. But as a romance, there is no doubt that Orchid is a winner! A fun, fast frolic on another metaphysical plane! White-hot and ice-cold! Jayne Castle! The story burns on! Orchid is totally out there! A romance that will link your senses to the primitive side! Karen Ellington -- Copyright © 1998 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Thomas T Beeler (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574901745
• ISBN-13: 978-1574901740
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,503,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

When a curtain opened allowing travel between Earth and a new world, it was a tourism opportunity like no one could have envisioned. Travelers moved back and forth between worlds with ease until...the curtain closed.

Abandoned on the new world with no access to Earth technology, the unexpected colonists had to learn to survive. And survive they did. JAYNE CASTLE chronicles the lives of their descendants in her best selling HARMONY SERIES. Turns out folks on HARMONY are starting to exhibit paranormal abilities and -- wouldn't you know it -- some of those people with psychic talents descend from members of the ARCANE SOCIETY (a bestselling series that Jayne writes under her two other pen names, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ and AMANDA QUICK).

Jayne is busy working on CANYONS OF NIGHT, Book 3 in the LOOKING GLASS TRILOGY due out in Summer 2011. Writing as JAYNE ANN KRENTZ she will release Book I, IN TOO DEEP, in Winter 2011. And writing under her historical pen name, AMANDA QUICK, she will contribute Book II in the trilogy, QUICKSILVER, in Spring 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to the St. Helens series!, July 1, 2002

By 

"ophelia0526" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orchid (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the author's third (and last?)romance set in the futuristic Earth colony of St. Helens, where humans have evolved to possess psychic powers. There are two different types of powers. Talents possess pyschic power to perform specific tasks, such as form illusions, perform complex math, garden, etc. However, talents need the aid of prisms to project and control their powers. The world of St. Helens are governed by the social rule of marriage for life. Divorce is forbidden, so the job of finding one's mate is carried out by marriage agencies.

the characters:
Rafe Stonebraker is a high level strat-talent. His psychic abilities allows him to predict human behavior (hunting instinct, competition). He is the heir and grandson of the current CEO of Stonebraker Shipping, a powerful corporation that's in the high social circles of St. Helen's. He abandoned his position and established his own investing company, thereby estranging himself from the rest of his family. He also enjoys his hobby of performing investigative work at night.

Orchid Adams is a strong prism who works at Psynergy Inc. She is also a writer of romance psychic vampire novels. Her family are all academics who live and work in a research center community. She too was raised there, but she left and established herself in the city of New Seattle at her first chance.

the story:
Stonebraker Shipping is in the myst of a financial failure. Rafe wants succeed his grandfather's position as CEO after he retires to save the company. In order to win the approval of the board of directors, Rafe has to present himself to be a responsible and settled down person. That means he has to find a wife quickly. After seeing his friends' successful marriages to high level prisms (Lucas Trent and Nick Chastain, the main characters of the first two novels Amaryllis and Zinnia), Rafe too wants to find a wife who is a strong prism that can handle his powers. He employs Orchid to work on some of his simple investigations. However, a case of a missing alien relic have lead them to a trail of murder cases that were somehow linked. At the same time, their love blossoms...

overall comments:
Orchid is my favorite of the three stories in this series. The heroine is strong and intelligent. The characterization of Rafe emotionally are very descriptive and informative. His thoughts and emotions flowed as I was reading the book. It would be good to have more additions to this series, but I think it ended with this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I want more !...:), March 16, 2003

By 

M. B. Alcat "Curiosity killed the cat, but sa... (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid (Mass Market Paperback)

"Orchid" can be read either on its own or after reading "Amaryllis" and "Zinnia" (see my reviews on those books), and it is exactly as great as them.

To sum up, this novel is a wonderful futuristic paranormal romance written by Jayne Castle (also known as Jayne Ann Krentz). To enjoy it you will need some (or a lot of)imagination: the plot is set in the colony of St. Helens, where the pioneers from Earth that settled there were stranded after the connection between Earth and St. Helens disappeared (+ or - 200 years before the beginning of this story), and people have developed psychic abilities unknown in Earth (but needed by them to survive in a new world). Anyway, given that, you will enjoy a wonderful novel.

The main characters are Orchid Adams and Rafe Stonebraker. Rafe Stonebraker is a highly talented strat, who is looking for a wife. His search (or hunt) will take him to Orchid Adams, a full spectrum ice prism who seems to be all wrong, but feels right... The plot includes also some investigations and a lot of really good love scenes. You cannot help but be involved in this novel. Seemingly bizarre at first (specially if you haven't read "Amaryllis" or "Zinnia" before starting with "Orchid"), it bewitches the reader...

You end up wanting more. I've just bought "After Dark", by the same author. Hope it is as good as this one!!!.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED IT, May 5, 2004

By 

Elaine C McTyer "avid reader" (Dawson, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the third and last of the St. Helens triligy. I really wish she would write more in this universe.

Orchid Adams is one of my favorite characters. After hearing about her in AMARYLLIS, and ZINNIA, we finally meet her in this book.

Orchid writes PV (psychic vampires)novels. Imagine her surprise to meet a real PV, while she works as a 10+ Prism. A prism is a psychic who helps a psychic with a talent,use his talent. Sound confusing? It really isn't. It is just nature's way of controlling powerful psychics.

Rafe Stonebraker is a powerful talent. He's looking for a wife, since he is a strat-talent (hunting and tracking), one looked on as somewhat exotic, he decides to hunt his own wife. His biggest problem is that he is an off the wall talent. In other words he's more than a 10. Which would make other people wary, if they knew. He would be considered a PV.

He also has a list of qualities he is looking for in a mate, because there is no divorce on St. Helens. Added to that he needs to marry before taking over Stonebraker Shipping.

Rafe is an undercover detective, for a select few who know about him. His new case concerns an Ice prism, who supposedly stole an ancient relic. It turns out that Orchid is an Ice prism, too. She is also a friend of the Ice prism he is investigating. It seems Ice prisms are few and hard to find.

With a mind and stubornness all her own, she and Rafe set out to find the truth.

From a green and blue wedding in Northville to A showdown with another strat-talent, Rafe and Orchid entertain us to the max.

I loved this book and didn't want it to end. Enjoy!!!!!