(2003)Pretty good fantasy, but don't know if I want to read any more of this series. Joanne Baldwin is a weather warden, who can control the weather and keep it from being more chaotic and destructive than it already is. She is on the run, though, for she is accused of killing a senior warden, which she did, sort of: a thread of corruption runs through some of the most powerful wardens, one of which put a Demon Mark on her and then died. Her only hope now is to get a djinn from her old friend Lewis, who stole three of them from the council of the wardens many years ago. As she runs, she picks up a hitchhiker who knows things an ordinary person wouldn't, and who offers help. With djinns and other wardens, including those sent to arrest her, all giving her conflicting information, Joanne never quite knows whom to trust in this romantic escapist romp rife with danger, excitement, and even classic cars. Regina SchroederCopyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved

Despite adoring Caine's YA series 'Morganville Vampires', I haven't had a chance to read her older aged series before now. However a recent trip to the Book-off in NYC provided me with a quick option to pick up a number of volumes of her Weather Warden series and I'm glad I did!

This definitely warrants more of a 4.5 from me, then a standard 4. Joanne (Jo) fast became someone I wanted to know all about. Brash, quick-witted and plus mildly paranoid (well she starts out mildly and rapidly becomes VERY paranoid) and she's my new best friend.

Despite landing (more or less) in the middle of the action, ILL WIND does a good job of bringing us up to speed on all important points without relying on Jo explaining everything to everyone she meets. Instead Caine takes a much more conversational tone whenever Jo does remember what led up to her being hunted for murder. This was largely successful as a way to illustrate who Jo was and explain the circumstances.

David, oh David. Having read the blurbs for the next 8 or so books I knew the importance of David the second he showed up, but it was still somewhat of a shock to read everything about him. Caine does a good job laying the foundation though (little things, like the way he answered certain questions and moments when he was unguarded). I wanted to know more about him, understand his motivations a little better. Contextually his actions are against everything else we learn.

I was heartbroken when we finally learned the truth of who was hunting Jo. I can only think of one other person in the book who I would have been like 'No way! Why?!' other then who it turned out to be. I did feel a little blindsided though. In hindsight, it makes sense, but at the time I suppose I was just like Jo, wondering when and how it happened.

The ending also caught me by surprise since...um how did that happen? I mean Its explained, its given an explanation of sorts at least, but I hope its something that's given more time in the next book(s). It didn't seem...organic. I didn't see how the book was building up to it, didn't see the clues as well as with the other pieces of the puzzle.

As for the next book, I can't wait to dive in. I'm itching to get to one of the later books, but don't want to skip because this doesn't feel like a series you should play skip-a-loo with. Certain things that occur and are spoken about likely will make sense in future volumes and for that it keeps me hooked. ( )

For years I have been yearning to read Ill Wind by Rachel Caine. I love her Morganville Vampire series so I wanted to dip my toes into her adult novels. I am glad I finally found the first book in this series and picked it up. It's super cute and a definite must read for fans of Rachel's writing!

The general idea of this book is what originally pulled me in: people can control weather. These wardens seem to be something along the lines of the government (different levels, different specialties) and they try to keep each other in line. Certain people are more powerful than others, and of course our lead is! Joanne is the special one in this book, and she has some hunky fellas to chase after.

There's also demons (djinns - they seem like genies, but... bad guy genies?) which seem interesting. I didn't fully understand why they existed in this universe, but they do!

Now to get back onto track: this book is mostly romance with a splash of fantasy. Joanne falls in love with a hitchhiker who proves to me more than he says he is (or... doesn't say he is?). The end of the book leaves us with an awful cliffhanger (which infuriates me! Why would Rachel do this to me?!) so I'm left knowing I have to read the rest of this series to actually know what happens.

In my humble opinion, this book felt very niche to me. Especially when I look at other reviews! Some people hate it and some people love it, and there doesn't seem to be much inbetween. As a fan of Rachel, I really enjoyed it! Joanne isn't my favourite character (she didn't seem super bright to be brutally honest) but I like where the story is going. I'd love to see how the whole controlling weather aspect of this story rolls out (haha, jokes... rolling in and out... like a thunderstorm... yeah, I'm hilarious). I also really enjoy seeing the romances play out, so... yeah.

Side note: I want more info on Lewis. He felt like a wasted character since he was talked about a lot but did very little. I'm assuming the future books will expand on him.

Overall, I liked this book. I want to pick up the next book in this series as soon as I can get my hands on it. Rachel's writing has always been a guilty pleasure for me, and it shall continue!!

Three out of five stars. ( )

I felt that after awhile, the action with her manipulating the weather got repetitive. It was interesting the first few times, but after that it got annoying. I'll probably give the second in the series a try to see if it improves because I really like the concept. ( )

Finally, a paranormal book with a new spin. I love Rachel Caine so when I stumbled across two and three of this series I scooped them up and found the first in this series on my library downloadable books. Yea! I am off to start the second book.
Note: I have just finished reading this a second time because I love Rachel Caine that much! :) ( )