Heat Stroke (Weather Warden, #2) by Rachel Caine

• Title: Heat Stroke (Weather Warden, Book 2)
• Classification: Adult Fiction
• Genre: Fantasy
• Format: Paperback, 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc (August 3, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0451459849
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459848
• Author's Website:  http://www.rachelcaine.com/Rachel_Caine_-_Writer/Home.html

     "Back in the good old times before, well, yesterday, when my name was still Joanne Baldwin and I was human, I'd been a Weather Warden. A card-carrying member of the Wardens Association, the international brotherhood of people in charge of keeping Mother Nature from exterminating the human race. I'd been in the business of controlling wind, waves, and storms. Being an adrenaline junkie goes with the territory...
     I didn't want to think about it too much, but I kept coming back to the fact that I'd died. Last mortal thing I remembered, was I'd been a battleground for two demons tearing me apart, and then I'd--metaphorically speaking--opened my eyes on a whole new world, with whole new rules. Because David had made me a Djinn. You know, Arabian Nights, lamp, granter of wishes? That kind. Only I wasn't imprisoned in a lamp, or (more appropriately) a bottle; I was free-range. Masterless. 
    Cool, but scary. Masterless, I was vulnerable, and I knew it."

Joanne Baldwin (Jo) went from Weather Warden to djinn in the blink of an eye. But there's a reason djinn aren't born/created every day. The cost of creating a new djinn is steep, and David broke djinn law by making Jo one. Now they need to answer to Jonathan, the most powerful of djinn, to find out what their punishment will be...

In this book, David and Jo's relationship gets kicked up a notch as the two spend the first few days of Jo's second lease on life together. Their bliss, however, is cut short when reality sets in and Jonathan catches up with them. Jo finds out David split his life force in half so he could use part of his to sustain her. Now she'll be put to the test to see if she can survive as a normal djinn without syphoning off more of David's life source.

I loved how Joanne can't let anyone know she's alive and a djinn. Her vulnerability as a free djinn was what worried me when she first became one at the end of 'Ill Wind'. By being masterless she could be claimed by someone and when a djinn is claimed their free will is taken away, which of course is what happens. I liked how Joanne gets a first hand taste of what a djinn has to endure in this book.

Lewis is truly becoming one of my least favorite characters of the series. I just don't understand Jo's attraction to the man. He just irritates me to no end. He's supposed to be this nice guy, but to me he just seems like a cocky womanizer, and I don't care for the way he treats Jo.

David was even more likable in this book. I like him more than Jo. He's very loyal and seems like the perfect match for me, er, I mean Jo. lol Sorry, please pardon my little book character crush. *sigh* The punishment handed out to David is not pleasant. Jonathan was not very happy to find out he'd converted Jo.

Jonathan was a new character who seems very menacing. He doesn't like mortals and talks of a war going on to free the djinn from the control of humans. He's also the first djinn ever created and the most powerful. He's the one in charge of enforcing djinn law and handing out punishment. He's not someone whose bad side you want to get on. He definitely adds an extra dimension to the series.

This is such a fun book. It contains more romance than the previous book, and I loved how the relationship between Jo and David progressed. It contains drama produced by Jo trying to deal with being a djinn in every sense. Plus, there is the added drama of djinns being stolen and dying. I must admit, however, some of the explanations were a touch lacking and by the end of the book I still didn't quite understand everything about the sparkly power leak. Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 roses. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one scores a STEAM rating - too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you looked flustered and flushed.