The Lost Night

I am a huge fan of Jayne Ann Krentz no matter what name she uses when she writes. I love her characters and the crisp dialog. This book was no exception. Rachel Blake is a young woman with a strong and unusual psychic talent who was raised in the Harmony equivalent of a hippie commune. She never fit in and leaves to find her place in the world. After an unsuccessful attempt to live in the larger world which leaves her facing the unwanted attentions of a psychic vampire, she travels to Rainshadow Island which is a the sort of place that welcomes those who don't fit in elsewhere.

Rainshadow Island is the property of the Sebastian family and is also the site of a large Preserve that was set up by the aliens who first settled Harmony but who show more have disappeared leaving behind various ruins and gadgets. Not many humans can get through the psychic barrier that guards the Preserve and those who can often get lost inside forever. Rachel is one of the few who got in and managed to get out again. Unfortunately, she lost her memory about how she did it and what she did inside.

Harry Sebastain comes to Rainshadow Island because the Preserve seems to be sending out something that is disturbing the psychic balance of the island. He is also coming to check on a treasure that was hidden in the Preserve by his great-grandfather. Harry also has an unusual psychic talent. His talent managed to scare away his wife and cause them to divorce. Divorce is a major social stigma on Harmony which values a strong, stable family unit above almost everything else.

Rachel and Harry meet and fall in love. She isn't the least bit afraid of him. In fact, her psychic ability meshes with his perfectly. But before they can live happily ever after, she and Harry have to find his great-grandfather's treasure, find out what is destabilizing the Preserve, and protect her from the psychic stalker who is obsessed with her.

One of the fun parts of the Harmony series is the inclusion of a special kind of pet - dust bunnies. Rachel's dust bunny Darwina is a fine example of the species. Dust bunnies are cute and fluffy until there is danger. Once there is a dangerous situation they develop into very dangerous creatures. Darwina is obsessed with Rachel's childhood toy Amberella which is the Harmony equivalent of the Barbie doll. She is also a big fan of Rachel's cookies. I like the way Rachel talks to her as if she could understand every word. And, who knows, maybe dust bunnies can. They certainly form psychic connections with their chosen people.

This was a fun romance in a nicely drawn world. show less

I am a huge fan of Jayne Ann Krentz no matter what name she uses when she writes. I love her characters and the crisp dialog. This book was no exception. Rachel Blake is a young woman with a strong and unusual psychic talent who was raised in the Harmony equivalent of a hippie commune. She never fit in and leaves to find her place in the world. After an unsuccessful attempt to live in the larger world which leaves her facing the unwanted attentions of a psychic vampire, she travels to Rainshadow Island which is a the sort of place that welcomes those who don't fit in elsewhere.

Rainshadow Island is the property of the Sebastian family and is also the site of a large Preserve that was set up by the aliens who first settled Harmony but who show more have disappeared leaving behind various ruins and gadgets. Not many humans can get through the psychic barrier that guards the Preserve and those who can often get lost inside forever. Rachel is one of the few who got in and managed to get out again. Unfortunately, she lost her memory about how she did it and what she did inside.

Harry Sebastain comes to Rainshadow Island because the Preserve seems to be sending out something that is disturbing the psychic balance of the island. He is also coming to check on a treasure that was hidden in the Preserve by his great-grandfather. Harry also has an unusual psychic talent. His talent managed to scare away his wife and cause them to divorce. Divorce is a major social stigma on Harmony which values a strong, stable family unit above almost everything else.

Rachel and Harry meet and fall in love. She isn't the least bit afraid of him. In fact, her psychic ability meshes with his perfectly. But before they can live happily ever after, she and Harry have to find his great-grandfather's treasure, find out what is destabilizing the Preserve, and protect her from the psychic stalker who is obsessed with her.

One of the fun parts of the Harmony series is the inclusion of a special kind of pet - dust bunnies. Rachel's dust bunny Darwina is a fine example of the species. Dust bunnies are cute and fluffy until there is danger. Once there is a dangerous situation they develop into very dangerous creatures. Darwina is obsessed with Rachel's childhood toy Amberella which is the Harmony equivalent of the Barbie doll. She is also a big fan of Rachel's cookies. I like the way Rachel talks to her as if she could understand every word. And, who knows, maybe dust bunnies can. They certainly form psychic connections with their chosen people.

This was a fun romance in a nicely drawn world. show less

I love Jayne's work, whatever name she publishes under. This book was no exception. She has a real gift for character and for dialogue, and I love how you get to see the vulnerability of her heroes as well as her heroines.
She definitely captured the constant fear that someone experiences when they have a fugue state in their past. I liked how Rachel was always dressed for a trek in the jungle after her lost night.
I liked how well Rachel handled Harry's talent, and also his attitude about it. She's just what he needs after the disaster of his marriage. And I like his faith in her strength of mind in the face of everybody else thinking she's fragile.
The unexpected villain was a great twist, and the setting was a character in itself. All show more told, a great read. show less

The mysterious Preserve on Rainshadow Island is heating up; the Foundation sends Harry Sebastian to investigate. His chief suspect is aura reader Rachel, who walked out of the Preserve a few months ago missing 24 hours of her life. Complications, naturally, ensue.

As always, the dust bunny steals the show. Darwina is not only charming and cute, but a natural predator--which comes in very handy when facing down fire-bombers and tentacled monsters.

This one drew me in and kept me reading, it's not stellar prose but it just was a very enjoyable light read. Rachel has found herself a home on Raidshadow Island, having failed to live in the Harmony Community and in the regular Sanctuary society. She runs a bookshop and cafe and enjoys her life.

Her life changes when Harry arrives, descendant of a notorious pirate whose treasure is rumoured to be in the Preserve. A preserve that's becoming unsettled. Together Rachel and Harry have to work together to solve the mysteries and stay alive while a psychotic criminal tries to hunt them down.

FYI – This review is written by a huge Jayne Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) fan. I have been reading her books for over 15 years now and I have no plans on stopping!

Rachel Blake has an unusual psychic talent as an aura healer, and an unusual childhood. After trying to fit in with the mainstream community and finding that it isn’t working for her, she moves to Rainshadow Island. There she reopen’s her Aunts bookstore and sells not only books she also sells her very own specially blended just for you teas. Soon she meets Harry Sebastian who has been to Rainshadow Island to check on the unusual paranormal activity happening in the Preserve, his family’s private woods.

Harry is drawn to Rachel and thinks she might be the key in show more helping find out what is going on at the Preserve. After all, she is the only person who has ever gone missing in the Preserve and lived even though she doesn’t remember it.

Big surprise – I loved The Lost Night. I always feel like Jayne Castle’s characters are people I wish I knew in real life. They have such personalities and interesting psychic abilities. Then we have the dust bunnies. I want one so bad!! Darwina always seem to steal the show in whatever scene she was in. The plot didn’t have any big surprises in it but it was a nice mystery/romance. All in all it is a book I can see myself rereading and enjoying again.

The Lost Night is the first book the Rainshadow series, a spinoff of the Harmony series. It can be read as a standalone. This is an adult paranormal romance with a suspenseful mystery set in a futuristic world. show less

This is the first book in the Rainshadow series, but it follows Canyons of Night as far as story line. Rachel is a misfit in her home society and in the mainstream community, so she moves to Rainshadow Island to take over a book and tea shop she inherited from a couple of aunts. There she seems to fit. Harry Sebastian’s family owns the Preserve, an off limits area of the island with heavy psi disturbances. Harry is in charge of the family security operations. He comes to Rainshadow to check out the unusual number of recent trespassers and the growing heat and storms being generated by the Preserve. Rachel is one of the trespassers who went into the Preserve and returned with amnesia for the 12 hours she was there. This is typical of show more the Harmony world books. I enjoy the unusual setting, the characters that don’t fit in, the way h/h gravitate to each other and have growing relationships with no big misunderstandings. show less