Heat Stroke (Weather Warden, Book 2)

I loved "Ill Wind", the first in this series, and immediately after finishing it bought the next 3 books in the series. Heat Stroke, although a very good book (thus the 5 stars) didn't quite work as well for me - it felt rather like a linking book, with a far more `up in the air' ending. It was a relief to me to know that I had the third book already so could continue the story. Caine's world is more interesting in this book as we start to learn what being a Djinn entails. Joanne is settling into her new life and existence as a Djinn and having to learn, very rapidly, how to control her new powers. We meet new characters, including the almost-deity Jonathan, as well as meeting again some of the previous characters like Paul and Lewis. Caine isn't afraid to kill off some of her characters (I'm not going to spoil it by saying who), although I keep being rather worried for David. We have so many hints at possible love-interest between Joanne and Lewis, Joanne and Paul, that you wonder when David's going to get the chop. Fortunately not in this book. You can spend a lot of time thinking about the interesting side issue as to whether Djinn have the same levels of morality as humans when they can be commanded to kill people, to rape people - perhaps this will be further explored in the next books. The main `threat that involves Joanne saving the day' in this book I found a little confusing. Yes, the twinkly sparkly things were rather different than a dragon or evil despot, but I didn't really understand how it all worked. Perhaps reading the book again will help me to get it straight in my mind. Nevertheless, the middle section of the book dragged a little to me, as Joanne whizzes around the world and Djinn world finding things out and trying to solve problems with her huge power but very limited understanding of the situation. Once again, she comes across very much as a Stephanie Plum character (from Janet Evanovich's very funny crime novels) and I love her sassy nature. She's an excellent heroine. The end of the book definitely improved, and we were left dangling on a precipice of an extremely serious situation that no doubt Joanne, David and Lewis will be doing their utmost to fix in the next book. I did like this book, but I feel that it perhaps didn't have quite the immediacy of her first offering. The writing is great fun as always, well-paced and humorous in many places, and so it is worth a read.

I read the 3rd book in this wonderful series before I read the 1st and 2nd. I guess reading the 3rd first helped me understand some things. But this book does tie up how everything in the 3rd book happened. If you asked me to rank the first 3 books in order (the 4th book hasn't made it's way to NZ yet), this would be my No.1. It's full of action, drama, romance, humour and sex. From the opening chapter of Joanne and David on the road, right up to the cliffhanger ending, this book is non stop. And that's a good thing. There are about 4 different storylines going on, and you'd think it would be hard to understand, but Rachel Caine makes it fantastically easy. Joanne is the best main character in a book series ever - she's full of attitude, quick wit and humour, yet still manages to care about David so much and will do anything for him. Speaking of David, he is one of my favourite characters in the series - he sounds amazing and gorgeous, and I loved how Jo and David's relationship kept evolving throughout the book. Jonathan, Kevin, Yvette, Rahel, Lewis and Patrick all provide steady characters as well - some are villains and some are on the good side. The humour in this book is brilliant - Joanne's inner thoughts as a Djinn are hiliarious, especially when she is enslaved by a 16 year old boy who gets to her dress up in a French maid's outfit. There's dark humour and random moments that make you think 'What the heck was that?' before laughing at the randomness of it all. The cliffhanger isn't annoying to me, probably because I'd already read the 3rd book. It helped me understand all that was going on. This book isn't as heavy on the way the Wardens Association and how the Djinn work as the others, it's more with the dialogue and events happening. A non stop ball of fun, drama and a lot of humour, this is recommended. The whole Weather Warden series is, and Rachel Caine is now one of my favourite authors.

In the first book, Joanne dies, but then wakes up a Djinn, thanks to hunky David. She thinks at first that everything will be alright, but when the head honcho, Jonathan, of the Djinn insist on seeing her and David, she realizes her mistake. David had to give up a piece of himself to save her and now according to Jonathan, David will die unless Joanne learns to become a Djinn in her own right, or dies. But that's not all! Strange blue lights are coming into the world. Only the Djinn sees it and apparently it is lethal to them. It's up to Joanne and David to figure out what and stop it. But that's not all! Now that Joanne is a Djinn she runs the risk of being claimed. And is, by a pimply face, hormonal teenage boy with a psycho step mother. What a great series. You will have the hardest time putting this down. I've read the first book and second in only one day each. I'll have to go out to buy the third, which could not happen soon enough since this one leaves you with a cliff hanger. Happy reading!

Being dead is so much more than you were ever told. That's what you find out, only after the fact. And only when a Djinn has whisked you away and made you his. Which, as a matter of fact, makes him half of what he was and the two of you so much more. Unfortunately, that's not quite enough to save the world. You get turned into a 16 year old's living dream. His wicked stepmother messes with your lover. The Uber-Storm kicks in and many Free Djinn die. The adrenaline rush of this book only settles as you turn the last page. Damn! You'll have to wait again to see what's next. Heat Stroke? Hot stuff!

I read the first book in the Weather Warden series, Ill Wind and really enjoyed it. Heat Stroke was an excellent follow-up to the first book. Heat Stroke pretty much takes up from where book one left off. From beginning to end it is action packed and keeps you hooked. While the first book introduces you into the world of the Weather Wardens, this book focuses more on the world of the Djinn and the underlying tensions between them and the Wardens. This book also goes more into depth about Joanne and David's growing relationship and the repurcussions of the actions taken to protect that relationship in book one. As well as these two main characters, the secondary characters really stood out in this book and helped flesh out the story. I hope the author gives more focus on Louis in the next book, he shows great potential and I feel his character deserves some more examination. The book ended in a big surprise change for Joanne and a cliffhanger as a whole for the series and while frustrating will definitely have you looking forward to book three in the series, Chill Factor. Great job Ms. Caine!