Illusion Town Features Action, Romance, and a Really Cute Dust Bunny

Illusion Town is not the easiest place to live. There are lots of shady people, to say the least, and the struggle to survive can get quite real. There’s also a clear line drawn between the haves and have nots—and those who hover somewhere in the middle. This is exactly what makes Illusion Town such a terrific setting for a romance. Our leading lads and ladies must endure quite a bit of hardship before they can enjoy a happy ending; hardship that ultimately brings them closer together.
Hannah and Elias have just woken up and realized they got married the night before. They know they went on a date, but they have no idea how they ended up in a so-called Marriage of Convenience, which pretty much means exactly what it says. In Illusion Town, it’s a marriage that’s supposed to be easily broken with little to no questions asked. It’s not always taken seriously.
Although readers who are unfamiliar with the world of Harmony might struggle a bit to keep up with the story in the beginning, the first third of the book is pretty action-packed. There is a lot of thinking and surmising and investigating going on. Just when you start to wonder when Hannah and Elias are going to catch a well-deserved break to get to, ahem, know each other better, they do, and things quickly heat up.
What makes the love story between Hannah and Elias so much fun is their contrasting feelings. Hannah, who has para-psych abilities and is known as the Finder (she works to recover lost and stolen stones of value), is a very no-nonsense lady. You get the sense that she didn’t always get the cuddles she needed growing up. She’s nice, but also very independent.

As for Elias, he is an engineer from a wealthy mining family, and between him and Hannah, he’s actually the more enthusiastic one about their marriage. He realizes quite quickly that he likes being married to her, and why not? She’s beautiful and tough, the kind of person you would want on your side in a jam. And for him, it seems like Hannah brings a tenderness to his life that has been sorely lacking. He doesn’t see their marriage as one of convenience. It’s a marriage, period, and it’s really fun to see that no matter what they are going through, her wellbeing is foremost on his mind.
No Harmony story would be complete without a dust bunny, and Hannah and Elias are accompanied by hers. His name his Virgil, and he’s awesome. Dust bunnies, a familiar presence in Castle’s world of Harmony, are six-legged furry creatures with two sets of eyes. That may not sound too cute, but they are actually precious little fluffballs of cuddliness capable of absolute love and loyalty. Virgil brings a great balance to the story’s grittiness. With all of the misery and injustice going on in Illusion Town, it’s comforting to know that there is some cute little creature by Hannah’s side.
Virgil aside, Hannah also has some pretty neat humans on her team, so to speak. There’s Runner, a delivery guy with his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in Illusion Town. There are also Hannah’s two “aunts.” They are married to each other, and they were good friends with Hannah’s late mom, so they’ve got a major protective streak going on. Their presence brings a very human, emotional anchor to the story in a world filled with para-psychic problems.
The combination of romance and intrigue in “Illusion Town” makes it a promising start to Castle’s new series. Hannah is a lot like Illusion Town herself—isolated and mysterious. She’s balanced out, though, by the more emotionally adventurous Elias. With their complementary personalities, not to mention a little help from Virgil, this is clearly one couple that’s going to withstand some tough times, and be all the better for it.