Zinnia

Author: Jayne Castle
Published: June 1997 (Pocket)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Series: St. Helens #2
Rating: 8/10

Zinnia features Nick Chastain, an old Western Islands friend of Lucas Trent (of Amaryllis). In a world where marriage is highly prized and respected, Nick is at a disadvantage. His parents weren't married, so he's a much despised bastard (very regency romance). He bears his father's last name, but the family won't accept him because he's illegitimate and owns a casino. However, owning a casino has given him a lot of power and oodles of money, and Nick is a man with a five-year plan for gaining (a.k.a. buying) respectability.

After reading Amaryllis and Zinnia, I really see these St. Helens paranormal romances as a springboard for Castle/Krentz's later books. Zinnia was set up to take the media heat off of an affluent married couple and their threesome partner, a big-name politician. This is later used in Silver Master, where Celinda had pissed off a client and he ruined her reputation and career.

Zinnia Spring's nickname, the "Scarlet Lady," would stop most women cold, but Zinnia rises above it by dressing defiantly in red! Ever since a tabloid ruined her reputation and her interior design business, this headstrong young woman has made a living using her psychic abilities - a highly prized skill that sets her apart on the space colony of St. Helen's. But when she's hired by casino owner Nick Chastain, their meeting of the minds - and hearts - has her seeing stars.

I found that I liked reading about Zinnia and Nick's relationship more than the one in Amaryllis, as Nick's matrix talents are so interesting. As a matrix, and of course, a rare and off-the-charts rating, he sees patterns in the world around him. Think A Beautiful Mind, but without the schizophrenia. He'll be driving and something will "feel wrong in the matrix," so he changes lanes and avoids a fender bender. Zinnia is a rare (and of course, powerful) prism who specializes in focusing for matrix talents. While most people think that matrix talents are paranoid conspiracy theorists, Zinnia is really understanding and compassionate to them.

The first time Zinnia and Nick connect psychically, it's almost a psychic vampire incident, as Nick found her by accident, and Zinnia automatically created a prism for him, and he had never had such a perfect focus. He didn't want to let go of the focus, and like the psychic vampire myths, tried to take control of the unknown prism. While the link was shocking to Zinnia, she had the same sexual attraction over the link that Nick did. This appears to be a running theme in the St. Helens books.

They agree to work together to figure out who murdered one of Zinnia's clients. This particular client was going to sell Nick's father's journal to him. The journal was practically an obsession to Nick because he wanted to know if his father really went insane due to his matrix talent or if he was set up. There was a cover-up conspiracy over a decade ago, where his father's exploration trip may or may not have taken place. Someone has gone to great pains to make it appear as if it never did, and in the process may have killed Nick's father.

Good romance and good mystery; a definite step up from Amaryllis, and I have the last book in the trilogy, Orchid, on order.