Jayne Castle - Canyons of Night

Charlotte Enright, owner of a small antiques shop called Looking Glass Antiques on Rainshadow Island, and Slade Attridge, the community's new chief of police, have something in common: they possess strong paranormal talents.  They met several years ago when they were in their teens spending the summer on the island.  Slade saved Charlotte from a gang of drunken toughs, but then at the end of the summer Slade and Charlotte went their separate ways and started their adult lives.

Now, fifteen years later, they have both been drawn back to Rainshadow island.  They will discover the adult passion they have for each other and start to explore some of the mysteries of the forbidden section of the island known only as the Preserve.

Book 3 of the Looking Glass Trilogy

Book 12 in the Arcane Society series

Sparrowgal's rating: 7.5/10

Sparrowgal's thoughts - spoiler alert!

This was the second book that I had read in the series set in the future, under the Jayne Castle pseudonym.  This one is not set in the cities but on an island, with a secret within the Preserve - a wilderness on the island that seems to be imbued with power, and growing power by the sounds of it.

The heroine and hero of this book are extremely likable.  Charlotte was shy and geeky when a teenager, but blossomed in adulthood but still has some of that awkwardness about her with her panic attacks.  Her talent, subtle, is a "rainbow" talent, an aspect of aura talent that also allows her to tune objects so that they resonate in harmony with someone else's talent, making the item "fit" to the person.  It doesn't sound like her talent can do much, but by the end of the book she can neutralise people's power but turning items opposite to someone's frequency to nullify their talent, or render them unconscious if they pick up an object.  She is now looking after the antique shop that her aunt had, and there is an item of interest in her shop that people seem to be willing to kill for.

Slade comes back to the island because he thinks he's losing his powers, but actually what has happened is that he has opened up a new power - all this occurred after he was exposed to a blast of some sort of energy.  Charlotte helps him tap that power and he is able to use that power to channel into others and permanently neutralise their talent.  A formidable talent indeed.

In the end, one of the townsfolk was working in conjuction with someone Charlotte had previous dealings with, who wanted the snowglobe.  The snowglobe was the Bridewell Engine, which Millicent Bridewell created to allow her to infuse energy into glass in such a way that it could be used as a weapon.