This is my favorite of this series. I like that it is not about one of the heads of the Great Houses. I've been fond of the gruff hero in each of the books where he's been a minor character. The heroine is very sweet. ( )

Another wonderful entry in the Celta series, as the reader learns still more details about life on this planet. These books are a mix of romance, fantasy, and science fiction, the paranormal label is a bit misleading.

Celta was settled by people from Earth a long time ago, there's a derelict spaceship on the planet. The people have developed Flair, a type of psi power. Each book describes new uses for Flair and shows more of the social structure of the planet.

In this book, the reader learns more about the Flair associated with musicians and policemen and still more of the convoluted politics of the First Families. The Fams (psychically connected pets) play a central role in the plot.

Great fun, reminiscent of Anne McCaffrey and Pern.

Highly recommended. ( )

Trif Clover desperately wants to find her HeartMate, to the point where she has decided to risk ridicule and embarrassment by going door to door throughout the city and looking for him with her charmkey. What she doesn't realize is that he's living in her apartment building.

Guardsman Ilex Winterberry made sure to wait until after Trif had searched her building before moving in. He wishes he could court her properly but 1) he's 25 years her senior and feels that he's far too old for her and 2) he's had visions that tell him he'll die soon, and HeartMates always die within a year of each other. He refuses to cut Trif's life short. All he'll allow himself to do is watch over her and be her friend. As he investigates a recent series of murders, he worries about Trif's similarity to the victims and does his best to keep her safe.

It's been years since I last read the four books prior to this one. Although this was a reread, it wasn't the best way to jump back into the series. Ilex's murder investigation led to him talking to lots of characters I knew had been in the previous books but otherwise couldn't remember much about. It wasn't much of a problem that I could barely remember T'Ash, Danith, Straif, and Mitchella's books, but not remembering Holm and Lark's book (Heart Duel) definitely was. The Holly family's curse, caused by the head of the household's disapproval of Holm and Lark's marriage, had a prominent place in Heart Quest, and I couldn't for the life of me remember why T'Holly had been against their marriage.

Another thing I had forgotten about this series was the cheesiness of its setup. The planet Celta was colonized 405 years prior to Heart Quest, and apparently all or most of the colonists were Celtic pagans (I think?). Either they arrived with psi abilities (Flair) already in place, or something about the planet gave some of them psi abilities. At three points throughout their lives, Celtans with Flair go through Passages that (I think – again, it's been a while since I read those earlier books) help their Flair settle and, in some cases, allow them to connect with their HeartMates (soulmates). HeartMate relationships are supposed to be strong and wonderful, but not all HeartMates manage to find each other or even want that kind of close connection if they do.

The world also has something called Fams, telepathic animals that can bond with particular people. I love cats, but I have to admit that Owens' cat Fams tend to annoy me. I think it has something to do with the way she has them speak – their first person singular pronouns are always capitalized, to show their lofty opinions of themselves. Greyku, Trif's vain kitten Fam, was particularly bad. She either didn't know or didn't care that Trif wasn't wealthy and begged for things like jeweled collars and an artist who could dye her fur. I liked Vertic, Ilex's fox Fam, much more – he came across as being more settled and mature, and he certainly didn't talk as much.

Anyway, the first half of the book spent a bit too much time on characters who weren't directly related to this book's main story – the Holly family curse, Danith and the Fams, and Saille T'Willow's drastic decision to find his HeartMate by sending his HeartGift out into the world where anything could happen to it. Thankfully, the book felt more focused in the second half. Trif finally learned who her HeartMate was and got the chance to change his mind about being with her, and Ilex's murder investigation finally began to uncover promising information.

The murder investigation was so-so. Although Ilex's methods were intriguing, a blend of normal and psi evidence-gathering, a recording of one survivor's memories, and little magical poppets that could eventually point Ilex and other guardsmen to the murderers, the murderers and their motives wouldn't be worth much more than a yawn to the average mystery reader.

The progression of Ilex and Trif's romance was much more fun, although I have to admit that there were times when the age gap between them was a bit much for me. The way Ilex obsessed about it in the first half of the book kept reminding me of it, and there were several times when the gap between Trif and Ilex's maturity seemed as great as the gap between Greyku and Vertic. I could understand Ilex's fear that his death would end up killing Trif too if they bonded, so it was frustrating when Trif kept ignoring that fear and saying she didn't care.

On the one hand, this book reminded me why I hadn't read any of this series in years. The romance could have been better, the mystery was so-so, and the Fams tended to be annoying. On the other hand, I still had fun. Ilex was a great character, several of the side characters were intriguing, and I liked the fantasy and sci-fi elements despite their cheesy aspects. It's too bad the AI-run Residences don't have a more prominent place in the series.

Additional Comments:

I noticed four typos, two of them within a couple pages of each other. In one instance, the typo interfered with the meaning of the sentence enough that it took me a few beats to figure out what the character was saying.

Extras:

The beginning of the book includes a map of Celta.

Rating Note:

I debated between 3 and 3.5 stars. It's probably more of a 3-star book, but I liked Ilex enough to bump it up to 3.5.

(Original review, including read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

As a child the hero foresaw his own death. As a result he has forbid himself the happiness of accepting his heartmate. His mate is young, much younger than he and he can't stomach the idea that her brilliant personality and vibrant life would be snuffed out with his death. But he can't stop himself from being close to her, moving into her apartment complex so he can be near her. He’s tormented with the knowledge that she’s going out daily in search of the mate she’s seen in her dreams. Fashioning a key and going door to door, she’s putting herself in grave danger as a murderer is about. So, despite the pain of knowing he can never tell her who he is, he befriends her- offers to teach her to teleport more easily so she need not use public transport. The heroine is young and naïve and impatient. She refuses to wait for her heartmate to find her and instead actively seeks him out despite being told that he doesn’t want her to find him. Helping her is the very handsome, very kind police man next door. She acknowledges she’s attracted to the older man and when she realizes that he’s attracted to her, she pursues him even without the knowledge that he’s her heartmate. But when he finally succumbs to his desires and to her insistent calls, she’s both delighted that her friend is her fated mate but also heartbroken upon his rejection of their bond. She tries for a time to be content with their passionate love affair, pretend not be devastated when her attempts to bond with him are rejected but soon her patience runs out and she can no longer accept their arrangement. The hero is steadfast in his vow to never be the cause of her death but he’s heartbroken over the fact that he’s the cause of her unhappiness. I freaking loved this story so much. I thought it was a very whimsical world this author has invented that possessed a fairytale environment that did have some dark undertones and characters that were both playful and tortured. I loved the hero. I thought he was perfect in his role as both protector and undercover mate. In this world having a heartmate is the greatest honor in a person’s life and to be constantly tormented with having your woman in front of you but being unable to be with her must be beyond difficult. I loved the fact that though he worries for her safety he never tries to smother her. Instead he does everything in his power to make sure she’s protected when he’s not able to be around. I loved the heroine with her innocence but will of iron as she ventures out into the world to find the man in her dreams not knowing that all this time he’s been right there beside her. I loved the fact that she is willing to at least try to be happy with whatever relationship he can give her but I loved her more for acknowledging that a half love is far worse than no love at all. Despite her young years she was smart and level headed, allowing others to protect her and offer advice yet knowing her own mind and desires. ( )

I liked that the characters in this novel were of the lower nobility. It was a nice change from the previous entries in the series.

I understood Ilex's reason for wanting to keep Trif away from him, especially in the beginning. I really liked the way the story progressed and the overall arc of the romance.

Trif really matured as the story progressed. I loved the way she pushed for what she wanted. ( )