#7: Ill Wind (Roc) by Rachel Caine

Weather is an element, at least in Joanne's world, and like the other elements, it must be controlled. Monitored. Tamed. And something just plain forced to play nice. That's where Joanne and others like her come into the picture. They are Wardens, responsible for keeping humanity safe from Mother Nature and all of her potentially deadly children. But sometimes things get out of control and a girl ends up having to run -- or drive -- for her life.

I have had this book on my TBR stack for a while now, so I was glad to finally have the chance to read it from beginning to end. I went on a bit of an urban fantasy kick, in case that's not clear from this string of reviews. I've been reading romances for so long that I had to sort of change things up. The Weather Warden series is one of those that gets listed as an example of the genre, and I have to say that it's a pretty good representative.

I couldn't help making comparisons between this book and my pal C.E. Murphy's Urban Shaman, though. A lot of that is because both of the heroines are named Joanne and they both have a love affair with their cars. Don't let that keep you from reading either story, though. They're really not alike beyond those two things, and I most likely only got caught up in that because I know Catie's story so well.

I really enjoyed the fact that Joanne (Rachel's Joanne) is not perfect. She's an incredibly powerful Weather Warden, and yet she still screws up. She's still "human". She also does things she knows she shouldn't do, she takes risks even when she knows the consequences are probably going to cost her something in the future, and she does them anyway. She's not perfect. I like my characters flawed.

There are also Djinn in the book. As a fan of the creatures, I have to cheer. And while Joanne may not have "her own", I was more than pleased to meet the Djinn who accompanies her on her flight across country. Why? Simply put. He's hot. Picture me grinning shamelessly. He's not a hero in the romance sense of the word because, as stated, this is urban fantasy so not really focused on the romance. But as far as this month's challenge goes, and whether he worked for me, my answer is a resounding yes.

I have Heat Stroke, the second book in the series, already on its way to me and am looking forward to reading it...sometime. The one thing I will caution about however, is reading the blurbs on the back of the books. This is the second time that reading the blurb on the back of the second book has spoiled the ending of the first for me. You would think that the people writing them would realize that's a bad thing.

Writing is like a drug. Anyone who tells you it isn't is trying to sell you something more addictive. Like crack.