Ever since a false tabloid story ruined her reputation and her interior design business, Zinnia Spring has been labeled the “Scarlet Lady of St. Helen’s. Now, headstrong Zinnia makes a living using her psychic abilities—a highly prized skill that attracts the attention of another planetary outcast, Nick Chastain. The rough-edged casino owner craves what he doesn’t have—respectability—and he enlists Zinnia to help find his father’s journal and dig up answers to his own mysterious past. Zinnia doesn’t have to be psychic to know what else Nick wants; soon they’re reaching the electrifying heights of ecstasy—and danger. For when a ruthless killer crosses their search, it will take everything in their power to keep their feet on terra firma and survive a deadly trap!--Zinnia by Jayne Castle, Copyright ©1997 by Jayne Ann Krentz, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
My Review
Continuing the St. Helen’s series after Amaryllis, Zinnia follows Miss Zinnia Spring, interior designer and prism, someone with the ability to focus the psychic powers of others. While most prisms can lend their ability to just about any talent, Zinnia’s prism works best with matrix talents, making her a highly-prized prism at Psyengery, Inc.
Casino owner Nick Chastain is a matrix-talent, someone with the ability to see all possible angles of any given situation and pick the one with the best outcome. Where others see chaos and random events, Nick sees patterns and connections between events. When he inadvertently links up with a matrix-prism at his casino, he’s stunned to discover there’s someone who has the ability to absorb the full force of his abilities, where before he’d always had to control the amount of power he fed to a prism.
The link is abruptly broken and Nick is desperate to reconnect. Before he has a chance to seek out the creator of the prism, Zinnia bursts into his office and demands to know why he’s kidnapped a client of hers.
As the illegitimate bastard of the Chastain clan, Nick’s main goal in life is to buy himself respectability. For that he needs a respectable wife. But so far, the best match-making agency on the planet has been unable to find a woman meeting Nick’s requirements. He also needs his father’s journal, detailing the Third Chastain Expedition into the wilds of the Western Islands. Officially, the expedition was cancelled by the university, but Nick believes otherwise and the journal—which Zinnia’s missing client claims to have access to—is the proof.
Reluctantly, Nick allows Zinnia to partner with him as he works to find out what exactly happened to the book dealer and to his book. Who would have the most to gain by keeping the book hidden? What secrets could it possibly reveal? And how would they handle the irresistible attraction that flared between them whenever his matrix-talent linked with her matrix-prism?
Casino owner Nick Chastain is a matrix-talent, someone with the ability to see all possible angles of any given situation and pick the one with the best outcome. Where others see chaos and random events, Nick sees patterns and connections between events. When he inadvertently links up with a matrix-prism at his casino, he’s stunned to discover there’s someone who has the ability to absorb the full force of his abilities, where before he’d always had to control the amount of power he fed to a prism.
The link is abruptly broken and Nick is desperate to reconnect. Before he has a chance to seek out the creator of the prism, Zinnia bursts into his office and demands to know why he’s kidnapped a client of hers.
As the illegitimate bastard of the Chastain clan, Nick’s main goal in life is to buy himself respectability. For that he needs a respectable wife. But so far, the best match-making agency on the planet has been unable to find a woman meeting Nick’s requirements. He also needs his father’s journal, detailing the Third Chastain Expedition into the wilds of the Western Islands. Officially, the expedition was cancelled by the university, but Nick believes otherwise and the journal—which Zinnia’s missing client claims to have access to—is the proof.
Reluctantly, Nick allows Zinnia to partner with him as he works to find out what exactly happened to the book dealer and to his book. Who would have the most to gain by keeping the book hidden? What secrets could it possibly reveal? And how would they handle the irresistible attraction that flared between them whenever his matrix-talent linked with her matrix-prism?
I give this story FIVE STARS.
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