Illusion Town

July 11, 2016
Beginning a new adventure set on the world of Harmony, Castle (Siren’s Call) delves deep into the futuristic paranormal underground to create a scintillating mystery that just happens to be a captivating romance as well. Hannah and her dust bunny companion, Virgil, are quite happy living in Illusion Town, a city where “the thrills are real.” They run a shop specializing in crystals, and glory in Hannah’s role as the finder of lost objects. Hannah breaks her cardinal rule and agrees to a date with a client. Unfortunately, they wake up the next morning to find that they’re married, with no memory of where and how they got that way. The deeper they delve into that mystery, the more questions are raised related to their psychic abilities and their respective careers. The eerie setting—part alien, part postapocalyptic, part Las Vegas—serves as an excellent background for the unexpectedly sweet romance. Some hilarity ensues, courtesy of Virgil, but the vast majority of the plot contains nuanced layers of history wrapped in enigmas, leading to an unexpected and delightful conclusion. Agent: Steven Axelrod, Axelrod Agency.

August 1, 2016

There's nothing like waking up in a sleazy motel room in Illusion Town's Shadow Zone with someone you barely know to get the day off to a great start. Strong dreamlight talent Hannah West and wealthy engineer Elias Coppersmith do just that, and things go from bad to worse. Not only are they virtual strangers, but they're also on the run--from whom or what they don't know--and they're married (at least temporarily). Deadly catacombs, delicious sensuality, treachery, and lots of hilarious dust bunny hijinks are layered in as Hannah and Elias foil the bad guys and find each other--and a permanent, covenant marriage--in the process. VERDICT Mystery, paranormal danger, and creepy villains keep the tension high and the passions mounting as Castle expands her creative futuristic world with a pleasure city infused with a psychic Las Vegas vibe. Another shimmering read from this incredibly innovative author. Castle (Siren's Call) lives in the Seattle area.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
Hannah West has one hard and fast professional rule: never date a client. But after she wakes up in Illusion Town married to Elias Coppersmith, Hannah realizes there is a first time for everything. As far as Hannah can recall, she only accepted a dinner date from Elias after completing a finder job for the mining engineer; so, technically, he was no longer a client. But both bride and groom are a little bit fuzzy about exactly what happened between going to dinner single and waking up as Mrs. and Mr. the next day. The one thing Hannah and Elias can remember is that some sort of threat prompted the nuptial. Now all the couple has to do is figure out exactly how to neutralize this danger before someone tries to dissolve their marriage permanently. Castle (aka best-selling Jayne Ann Krentz) obviously had a lot of fun putting her own clever spin on the married in Vegas romantic trope in the latest of her Harmony books, and readers will also have a blast with this fast-paced futuristic romantic thriller that delivers the author's irresistible brand of dry wit and sexy suspense.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)