Joanne has left the Weather Wardens and now works a normal and miserable job as a local weather girl–without her weather powers. Even if she wasn't at risk for having her powers taken away from her, she's too tired, too depleted to use the effectively. But strange things are going on in Florida, and Weather Warden are spread thin because they seem to be disappearing in numbers too high to ignore. To complicate matters, her sister appears on her doorstep, divorced, in need of a new start, and blind to the idea of limited budget. Meeting a British business man who finds her sister interesting keeps her sister out of her pocketbook, but complicates matters, though not nearly as much as the Las Vegas cop that's come looking for answers to the death of his former partner–answers only Joanne can provide. Life spins out of control, and it's all Joanne can do to keep ahead of the storm.
Impression: Still enjoying this wonderful series and not seeing any of the problems that tend to hit longer series in terms of technical issues and quality of writing. This one had a nice turn in that I was able to figure out a few things for the ending while others were unexpected surprises. As a reader, this made me feel smart, while not giving me a boring ending that left me wondering why I was still reading. I think my only issue, maybe, was that the ending is definitely more of a cliff hanger than they have been in the past, but I didn't find that as irritating as I'm sure some would. It just has me wanting to get the next book. But I'm also behind on the series, so I'm not waiting anxiously for the next book to be published.
Some really good things happen in this book in a general sense. In a lot of series, the past can be forgotten in an effort to make the books readable in any order. Not the best way to handle a series because actions must have consequences for characters. In [I]Windfall[/I], Joanne reaps the results of a number of things that occurred in the previous books, and this book forces her to deal with them. The added mix of her sister was entertaining, and it was nice to see a secondary character grow and change as a result of the events unfolding around her.
Still highly recommended, fun reading. And Rachel Caine is still keeping me up at night. Nothing says more for a book than that.
Back in human form, Weather Warden Joanne is going to Las Vegas after Kevin, an unstable seventeen year old in control of the most powerful djinn ever created, but the kid and his djinn aren't making it easy. She needs to get the djinn, Jonathan, out of Kevin's hands and either in a bottle or back to his place as a free djinn. But Jonathan has other plans. Djinn are disappearing, and he intends to find the reason for it and stop it even at the cost of humanity itself. Turns out getting into Vegas is easier than doing what she came for: all she needs to do is die...again. Once there, all she has to do is figure out how to grab Jonathan, keep the Wardens at bay, and help a secret society that wants to bring Kevin down without becoming permanently dead and before all hell breaks loose. Yea, this should be easy.
Impression: Rachel Caine really needs to stop keeping me awake all night. I love, LOVE the Weather Warden series. Joanne is a smart ass you can't help but love: flawed but meaning to do the right thing even if it goes against the rules of the Wardens. For her, right trumps law. The characters grow and change with each book (I wish I'd managed to write reviews of the previous 2 books; but maybe I will when I reread the series, because I will reread it), the plots are fast paced but complicated enough that you don't necessarily see the end coming without making the end seem implausible. Even better, the books aren't losing in quality, story, or editing along the way; this book (book 3) is just as good and just as interesting as book 1.
I highly recommend these books. They are well written, fun reads. There is some sexual content, but it's not too explicit, and the romance/sexual element doesn't take over the story or make no sense. Characters can resist their libidos when in danger (which is one of my big complaints about most paranormal and other romance) and don't do anything stupid or out of character because they're in love/lust. The magic in unique, the stories have enough complexity to be interesting without making the book work to read, and the action is almost nonstop. They're a lot of fun, and I can't wait to get into book 4.
Joanne Baldwin is on the run for a crime she didn't commit: the murder of a senior weather warden. Joanne can control the weather and has been trained to safely tame the weather, but something goes horribly wrong when Bad Bob, a warden known for his temper and his dislike of Joanne, asks her to help him with a project. Bob ends up dead and Joanne has only one option that won't result in her being stripped of her powers: to hunt down Lewis, one of the most powerful wardens known, and get help in removing the demon mark that's trying to work its way into her. Only one of the Djinn he holds can save her. Her road trip takes her across the country and pits her against the other senior wardens, and some of her discoveries along the way are even less pleasant than her confrontation with Bad Bob.
Impression: It's always hard for me to pick out a new (to me) author to try, and more times than not, I end up not being too happy with them. Fortunately, I loved the first in Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series and am looking forward to picking up more when I can. The story opens with Joanne already on the run and there's few dull moments from that point on. The author does provide moments where the reader can catch his or her breath, but keeps the action going through the novel.
The characters are entertaining and have complexity, although I did figure out the "secrets" of two of them, one relatively early after his appearance. The weather work is well detailed and fascinating, and the plot is less straight forward than it appears, and while I saw some of the ending before it happened, there were still plenty of surprises to hold my interest. And knowing some of the ending didn't give it all away, particularly Joanne's fate. However, everything that happens is well set up in the story itself. The story holds a reader's interest, the writing is nice and clean. I would like to see a little more depth in future excursions, but it's a great opening for a new series.
Unless otherwise noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by me.
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I will no longer be linking to Amazon and no longer recommending Amazon as a place to purchase books I review. Amazon has repeatedly used bully tactics to reinforce its policies, even if those tactics cause harm to authors or limit customer choices. Amazon usually apologizes for the events after the fact, but that they continue to use the same methods makes those apologies hollow. I will not purchase from or encourage others to purchase from a business that chooses to take from the pockets of authors (who as a whole earn a lot less than general public realizes) and decide what the public should and should not read.
